Battle under Snake
Mountain is a 1986 Masters of the
Universe children’s book written by John Braden and illustrated by Pablo
and Judith Marcos. Here, King Hiss discovers an underground passage leading
from Snake Mountain to Castle Grayskull.
This was written as a read-along book, so it has more drama
injected into the narrative, particularly early on. Much of the book is a lot
of good setup for what seems like a solid plan – so it’s too bad that
the climax involves poor execution on the part of the Snake Men (He-Man
shouting to create an earthquake isn’t that impressive either).
There are some canonical eyebrow-raisers going on here that
will make the reader wonder if Braden was working from anything other than a
pile of toys. Snake Mountain is King Hiss’s fortress, and Skeletor’s never
mentioned. He-Man lives in Castle Grayskull and sleeps there (he has a He-Man
bed and everything), and every indication is that Prince Adam doesn’t exist. He-Man’s
also got some kind of Spider-Man-esque danger sense.
The art is a strength, as the Marcoses demonstrate good
attention to detail and excellent use of shading. Their characters are good-looking
and faithful to the figures (even if King Hiss is a little cone-headed). The
only complaint is that what Braden describes as a “giant barge” is illustrated
as a tiny dinghy.
In the end, a weak, predictable resolution and blatant canonical
ignorance bring down an otherwise well-written story with nice art.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
Read it HERE
