MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE #2 (DC, 1983)

Masters of the Universe #2 (“The Key to Castle Grayskull!,” January, 1983) continues DC’s three-issue mini-series by Paul Kupperberg, George Tuska, and Alfredo Alcala. Here, by the bidding of Skeletor, He-Man and friends continue their pursuit of the means to obtain the Power Sword; along the way, they fight a bunch of monsters.

It’s fun to see Skeletor sticking up for the Heroic Warriors; it also helps quite a bit that most of the monsters they fight are pretty cool looking. That said, there’s also a bunch of weird stuff in here about Zoar the falcon turning Adam into He-Man, a bunch of random villagers who know He-Man’s identity (when even Man-At-Arms doesn’t), and Adam with his vest tucked into his furry briefs.

We get more carelessness with the art – Tuska draws Adam instead of He-Man in one panel (the art’s still a plus, though). At least Teela’s back into her regular outfit (although she’s again jarring us with contemporary dialogue (“Down the hatch, guys.”)).

Solid art and quality action make this an entertaining read.

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MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE #1 (DC, 1982)

Masters of the Universe #1 (“To Tempt the Gods!,” December, 1982) begins DC’s three-issue mini-series. It’s written by Paul Kupperberg and illustrated by George Tuska and Alfredo Alcala. Here, Skeletor threatens to kill the Goddess unless He-Man helps him obtain what he needs to retrieve the halves of the Power Sword.

Skeletor extorting He-Man is a novel concept, although there’s really not a lot of different ways that can play out. The story is pretty decent, but it’s burdened with an awful lot of exposition, which is not unexpected. The writing incorporates the stiff, formal, fantasy-genre dialogue, but Kupperberg carelessly puts in the occasional jarring break* (unless he was trying to be funny and not succeeding). While we’re on carelessness, he’s also spelling “Grayskull” with an “e.”

Of greater interest than the story itself is the final evolution of the DC mythos: Adam’s irresponsibility has evolved into his cover story…somewhat – he’s having his cake and eating it too. Suggesting that this story takes place somewhat early in He-Man’s career, He-Man doesn’t have free access to the Royal Palace, and here we see his first interaction with his parents as He-Man. At least he has the good sense to realize that he looks exactly like Prince Adam in different clothes. We also get a tiny bit more astronaut Marlena backstory.

The art has a fitting pulp style, although Tuska’s characters in motion are frequently in bizarre positions. Alcala’s heavy inks make for good atmosphere, which goes a long way. And together they give us some real violence. But there’s some carelessness here, too (in the first few pages, the characters go from indoors to outdoors mid-scene), as well as some inexplicable goings-on: Teela’s wearing some kind of metal Viking bra, and most of Stratos’s people look like, well, regular people.

In all, this is a promising start to DC’s last classic He-Man story.

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*He-Man: “There has never been anything quite like the sharp edge of blade and axe to fell demons!”

Battle Cat: “Bah! I say ’tis fang and claw these creatures fear most!”

Teela: “Argue later, you guys!”

THE POWER OF…POINT DREAD! (mini-comic, 1982)

The Power of…Point Dread! is a 1982 Masters of the Universe mini-comic by Cohn, Texeira, and Smith. Here, Skeletor uses his yoga powers to reclaim Point Dread and the Talon Fighter and then launches an assault on the Royal Palace.

It’s always nice to see such a well-populated Eternia. And thanks to the art, this is about the darkest story we’ve had so far: in this, the last of the pre-Filmation mini-comics, we get a full-fledged battle, with soldiers getting violently killed. The creative team does a good job of depicting this clearly without being graphic (although they overdo it with the close-ups of angry faces).

Aside from Skeletor losing his magic crystal out the window, there’s no dumbness to speak of here (heck, Beast Man is really on top of things). Good story, good change of pace.

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MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE PREVIEW (DC, 1982)

Masters of the Universe Preview was published as a 16-page supplement/promotional in over a dozen DC titles in November, 1982 (DC’s three-issue MOTU mini-series came out the following month). Titled “Fate Is the Killer,” it was written by Paul Kupperberg and illustrated by Curt Swan and Dave Hunt.

Here, Zodac shows up and makes a bunch of ominous declarations, He-Man picks a fight with Zodac, Skeletor gets both halves of the Power Sword (again), and Superman shows up (again).

Zodac talks a lot of smack considering that he turns out to be completely wrong and almost ruins everything. A lot of what happens here doesn’t make a great deal of sense, partly because of Zodac but mostly because of the writing. Superman, on the last page: “Er…will someone please explain to me what I’m doing here?” Please, by all means.

There are plenty of new story elements here. Previous comics and mini-comics used formal period-style dialogue; this one does too, and adds some needless archaicisms. Most jarring, Prince Adam is quite the pimp here. Whereas in the cartoon he pretends to be carefree and irresponsible, here he’s really into wenching it up and his playboy lifestyle.

On the whole, this comic is kind of a mess. At least we get to see He-Man run the Power Sword through Skeletor’s gut.

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