Mono-colored cycling lands are a great addition to mono-colored decks and any deck that cares about discarding cards or having lands in your graveyard
Every combination of modes on the card is good here, though note that if you choose the tap and the return target permanent mode, they can fizzle the whole spell if the first mode is removed
An ETB and death trigger on one dork can be quite powerful, like Solemn Simulacrum, and it's very powerful
He's a 2/2 for 2 ink that quests for 2 lore
Urzas Incubator, Gauntlet of Power, Helm of Awakening, and Crawlspace are all great reprints
Was it tricky to design around the comic book versions with that in mind, or did you enjoy getting back to some of their roots instead