And now, to the beginning.
This is, obviously, the pre-Filmation mythos at its most
raw, and there are all kinds of idiosyncrasies for fans who are most familiar
with the cartoon. The Sorceress is green, and she doesn’t live in the castle; that protector role is served by “The Spirit of the Castle.” He-Man has two identical harnesses: one that enhances his strength and a “forcefield
garment,” both created “centuries before the Great War by Eternian scientists.” There
are two halves of the Power Sword, and He-Man doesn’t have either of them. Teela
is a “warrior-goddess” (but she still gets kidnapped). He-Man himself is kind of
snarky.
It’s all very interesting. Not that this is some great story
that makes a lot of sense, but that the MOTU world, in its primal stage
and in this open, unstructured, primordial fantasy setting (this latter would
be carried over to good effect in the cartoon), are brimming with potential. Alcala’s
memorable art goes a long way toward this. His beefy, top-heavy characters tie
in well with the action figures, his Skeletor is particularly menacing, and the use of color and shading give the book
excellent atmosphere.
I was slightly impressed by just about every part of this
except the plot. As these sorts of things go, that’s not bad at all.
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RECOMMENDED
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