Saturday, July 28, 2012

HE-MAN MEETS RAM-MAN! (mini-comic, 1982)


He-Man Meets Ram-Man! is a 1982 Masters of the Universe mini-comic. It’s written by Gary Cohn and illustrated by Mark Texeira and Tod Smith. Here, Skeletor tricks/forces Ram-Man to bash down the gate to Castle Grayskull by ramming it with his head for hours.

Ram-Man is yet another character with mental capacities at or below those of this comic’s target audience. This is a little more forgivable, though, given that in any continuity, he’s always the dullest tool in the entire shed. Which is perfectly understandable, considering that he rams things with his head for a living (why does he even need an axe?).

Thus we begin the second series of mini-comics (from here on out, they’re actual comics – a considerably better format for this medium). These are shorter books – 15 pages versus 22 previously. And here we get a hint that this pre-Filmation Eternia is a somewhat darker place: we have He-Man actually killing something (it’s a giant, savage monster, but still). He-Man’s still using the axe, but there’s no mention of the “forcefield garment” – hopefully we’re done with all that.  

Mark Texeira has become known primarily for his painted art, but his pencils are just fine. They’re nothing fancy, but they’re perfectly competent, and his action scenes are fluid (well, except for on the cover). He-Man’s hair is a little long and Beast Man looks kind of like a clown, but these are minor things.  

On the whole, it’s an enjoyable action comic.

RECOMMENDED

Read it HERE