A Hero in Need is
a 1986 Masters of the Universe children’s
book written by Elizabeth A. Ryan and illustrated by Fred Carrillo. Here, Skeletor
abducts Orko to use him as bait to trap He-Man.
The friend-rescue is the laziest plot in children’s
hero-driven media franchise storytelling, and it’s not even all that well done
here. These are some seriously small-time antics by Skeletor, but least we
get to see somebody, anybody other
than Teela get it this time. I was also half-surprised there wasn’t a moral
about wearing a seatbelt or driving defensively at the end. And since when can
Battle Cat go faster than a Sky Sled?
If there’s anything of note going on here, it’s that Teela
finally has even the slightest suspicion that He-Man and Prince Adam are the
same person. It’s resolved completely by formula, though, and only serves to
highlight, in an immersion-breaking way, just how clueless Teela and Skeletor
are not to figure it out, not to mention how there’s really no good reason why
Teela can’t be told.
Carrillo’s art is fine, although with all the running around
in the forest, one page looks much like another. He-Man’s transformation is
nicely done, though. And while it isn’t one of his best, any Norem cover is
better than no Norem cover.
In short, in spite of some decent art, A Hero in Need’s story is
just too weak and too small-time for the book to generate much interest.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
Read it HERE
