Wednesday, January 16, 2013

HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE MAGAZINE #8



He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Magazine #8 is the Fall 1986 issue.

This one kicks off with a horrendously dated ad for Kool-Aid Koolers, which features a kid wearing at least three shirts with his green pants tucked into his red socks, which he’s wearing under unlaced blue Wilson high-tops. The text of the ad is not only grammatically incorrect, it also tries to pass off an electric bass as a guitar – nice try, kid.

If your eyes survive that, there are plugs for Pee-Wee’s Playhouse and ALF (this latter inexplicably coming under the headline “Space Dog”), plus other long-forgotten shows and movies. 

In this issue’s terrible story, “The Struggle for Eternia,” Snout Spout and Extendar “patrol Eternia all day” by riding the little monorail around the Eternia playset, Skeletor successfully creates a diversion by having his minions throw rocks at them, He-Man, in his own plane, doesn’t notice that Skeletor’s giant aircraft is parked on top of Central Tower, and King Hiss and Skeletor run away because Snout Spout squirts water at them.

Activities here include a fairly easy (for the faithful) set of trivia questions, a nicely illustrated maze, yet another why-bother connect-the-dots, and tips for making He-Man-themed jack-o-lanterns.

In addition to the poster version of Earl Norem’s cover, there’s also a Norem-painted book cover of He-Man fighting Monstroid, which on one hand is pretty cool but on the other hand features Snout Spout riding a jet ski. (There’s also another nice Norem painting on page 3.)

Contrary to the promises of issue #7, there’s no behind-the-scenes movie spotlight here. 

Read it HERE