He-Man and Masters of the Universe (no, there’s no article) is a 1985 Masters of the Universe children’s book written by John Grant and illustrated by Robin Davies and George Fryer. In six short stories, He-Man encounters a stegosaurus, Queen Marlena contracts a deadly virus, Man-At-Arms leads a mining expedition, He-Man gets his Talon Fighter hijacked, alien refugees land on Eternia, and Skeletor travels back in time to recruit an ally.
All of that sounds quite a bit more interesting than most of
it actually is. The shorter format works better for Grant, as there’s less need
for the nonsense filler he tends to put in the other Ladybird He-Man books. However,
it’s still plagued by Grant’s lazy, holey plotting that doesn’t respect the
intelligence of his child audience.
To wit: in “Dragon from the Lost Valley,” a stegosaurus is
apparently a ferocious dragon on Eternia (and what’s to keep it from coming
back out of its valley, or Skeletor from going in after it?). In “Pinnacle of
Peril,” why can’t Man-At-Arms just override the controls the instant he finds
out the Talon Fighter’s been stolen? In “Warlord of Eternia,” Skeletor and
Evil-Lyn go back in time and their magic doesn’t work because energy weapons
haven’t been invented yet.
Even worse, Grant has little regard for the things that make
He-Man He-Man (or perhaps more
accurately, the things that don’t).
He doesn’t know what color Panthor is, or Orko, for that matter. The characters
are all telepathic, and He-Man shoots beams out of his sword, which also glows
for danger and apparently has a built-in radio (which is particularly
inexplicable given everyone’s telepathy). Castle Grayskull is used as
headquarters for the Heroic Warriors. Zodac is one of Skeletor’s dull minions.
I could go on; suffice it to say that these are all the sorts of things that readers
of all ages may well find insulting.
That said, it’s not all a disaster here. Aside from the
glaring stupidities in Grant’s writing, the stories are all more or less
fundamentally sound, and work well enough. “Menace in the Marshes” actually has
some atmosphere and suspense, although, in typical Grant fashion, He-Man
reveals his secret identity to Mer-Man’s entire army. And how, exactly, they
were going to go about mining in a marsh remains unclear. “Warlord of Eternia”
is a neat idea, and one of the better entries here even though He-Man doesn’t
appear. It’s nice to see Beast Man doing well for himself for a change.
Davies, who illustrated all the other Ladybird He-Man books,
does about half of the illustrations here, and it’s more of the same, with his
good colors, chubby Castle Grayskull, and character depictions ranging from
adequate to terrible (just look at page 42; ugh). Of special note, the art
design for Eternia’s past in “Warlord of Eternia” is well done. Fryer does the
other half of the art; his work is less stylized than Davies’, but generally
more competent.
What to say? The title of the book is dumb and it doesn’t
get a great deal better from there. This is a mediocre collection at best.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
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