Masters of the
Universe #3, “The Garden of Evil,” is by the usual creative team of Mike
Carlin, Ron Wilson, and Dennis Janke. Here, Hordak’s troopers kidnap Prince
Adam and imprison him in the Slime Pit.
Oh, goodness. The only way this comic makes any sense is if
Hordak has brain damage. When Hordak is presented with Prince Adam, who’s drawn
as being just as large and muscular as He-Man, Carlin shatters our suspension
of disbelief by making him say, “This fool looks nothing like He-Man! He’s not
half the size!” But then he recognizes the Power Sword as being explicitly
He-Man’s, because no way could two swords ever look the same.
This brain damage seems to be contagious, as Adam tries to
transform into He-Man in front of the Horde Troopers, and then does so later in
the presence of Hordak (who, naturally, doesn’t notice).
There are still more problems. The Slime Pit doesn’t
actually seem to do anything but get people slimy – there’s no mention of its
zombie brainwashing powers. Here, not even good guys can pick up the Power
Sword without injury. And Orko, who features prominently in this story, is
written as uncharacteristically aggressive, with raging ego issues. There’s
plenty of character development for him here, including some temptation issues
reminiscent of Samwise and the ring from Lord
of the Rings, but it’s so out of character for Orko as to be worthless.
The art is about as usual for this team, although the
backgrounds tend to be scant and the Fright Zone seems to be a giant cave on
the inside. But if innumerable close-ups of Hordak’s bulbous head are what you’re
looking for, then this is the comic for you.
I hesitate to tempt fate by saying so, but it’s hard to imagine we can do any
worse than this.
RECOMMENDED AGAINST
Read it HERE
