MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: THE MOTION PICTURE (Star, 1987)

Masters of the Universe: The Motion Picture is a 1987 one-shot adapted from the live-action film by Ralph Macchio and illustrated by George Tuska and Art Nichols. Here, Skeletor has finally succeeded in taking Castle Grayskull, and only a remnant of the heroic forces remains.

As you’d expect, there are a bunch of little story changes here to simplify and compress the story to a single (double-size) comic; some are good, some are bad, and some are simply interesting. Lubic, for example, is incredibly less annoying here. Beastman is talking; Blade isn’t. The ending has been changed substantially, most notably in that He-Man never surrenders (there’s also no explanation for how Lubic is suddenly on Eternia with them). There’s also no explanation for why Evil-Lyn betrays Skeletor at the end (one is forced to conclude from the film that Macchio read the script and took the Evil-Lyn-Skeletor relationship, which Macchio completely neglects, in a somewhat different direction). And there’s the scene cut from the film with the discovery of the ancient space mission.  

The pencils are by George Tuska, who also drew the three-issue DC mini-series that ran in 1982 and 1983. The art is adequate overall; the characters are fair, but the backgrounds are sparse, and poses are sometimes good and sometimes awkward. The effect of the comic’s climax is neutered quite a bit by the fact that Tuska draws Grayskull as being three stories tall or so (which is about the size we’re used to), but the He-Man-Skeletor showdown is centered around characters potentially falling to their deaths from about fifteen feet up. Yes, traditionally, the castle has that huge chasm around it, but Tuska certainly doesn’t draw it (and if it’s there, then the Power Sword is gone too).

The most obvious and notable thing about the art is that, with the exception of Beast Man, all the characters are drawn in the manner of their action figures, and Castle Grayskull is the good old rough-hewn stone fortress we know and love. Blade is given his non-speaking pre-production appearance, and is oddly colored, and Karg is a bizarre Darth Vader/bunny/Snooki hybrid.

This isn’t a great comic, but it’s an interesting alternate take on the movie, and if you have any regard at all for the film, it’s worth looking at for that reason.

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HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE MAGAZINE #11

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Magazine #11 is the Summer 1987 issue – and, as you’ll note from Dolph Lundgren’s shaven thighs and absurdly large one-handed laser rifle on the cover, it’s the movie issue as well.

With the cancellation of She-Ra: Princess of Power Magazine (which featured regular prose stories and no comics because…girls are smarter?) after only six issues, She-Ra now becomes a fixture in these pages. In this issue, that means a three-page prose story featuring as many She-Ra action figures as could be crammed in. And the He-Man of the Issue has been discontinued, as the Princess of Power analog wasn’t brought over.

In this issue’s ridiculous comic story, “Blast from the Past,” Skeletor retrieves his army of gun-toting dinosaurs from the past but loses because he doesn’t keep the Cosmic Key with him, all the new henchmen from the movie show up – including freaking Karg, and the colorist turns in a very sloppy performance.

Aside from the movie characters being thrown into that story, there’s actually very little going on movie-wise: a page and a half of photos and a couple of paragraphs summarizing the plot and lauding the production values in an attempt to whip readers into a movie-going frenzy.  

There are a number of interesting ads here: a Garbage Pail Kids movie I don’t remember at all; a twentieth-anniversary Star Trek commemorative plate featuring Bill Shatner sitting in a pile of tribbles; Lorimar selling single episodes of various cartoons for $15 each; and a Jif ad with an eyeball-destroying amount of color (and dignity-destroying outfits).

Evolving from the previous issue’s feature on dinosaurs, this issue features two pages of summer factoids that have nothing whatsoever to do with He-Man – if you saw these pages on their own, you wouldn’t have the slightest clue what magazine they came from. And one of the few activities here isn’t He-Man-themed either! Man, we’re really going downhill.

This issue’s Norem poster (there’s only one) features He-Dolph fighting Blade, with movie versions of everybody. It’s pretty darn faithful, although Norem’s interior illustration of movie He-Man doesn’t look anything like Lundgren.  

You know what? After this issue, I’m just thankful they didn’t put Snout Spout in the movie.

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MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE #10 (Star, 1987)

Masters of the Universe #10, “Courage,” is written by George Caragonne and illustrated by Alan Kupperberg and Danny Bulanadi. Here, Man-At-Arms is disabled by Skeletor’s henchmen, and Prince Adam and Teela go in search of a remedy.

Caragonne continues to impress. He does a good job of making Prince Adam pay a price for his assumed cowardice, and the interplay between Teela and Adam is excellent. Caragonne also does a little world-building, he gives us a couple of nice plot twists, and he gets bonus points for using “Let the power return!”

There are only two real complaints with the writing. First, a number of scenes, most notably those featuring the Mind Beast, are rushed; sometimes the comic doesn’t flow well at all, which can be confusing and frustrating. Second, it’s really hard to believe that the Sorceress couldn’t discern either imposter. This story also highlights precisely how there’s no good reason whatsoever for Adam not to tell Teela his identity, but obviously that isn’t Caragonne’s call to make.

There is a horrendous error in this comic for which the buck must stop with the editor. On pages 2, 3, and 4, the Heroic Warriors are attacked by Saurod and Blade. On page 5, they’ve suddenly become Kobra Kahn and Webstor, respectively, in both the text and the art. Clearly these pages were redone at the last minute to include movie characters with new action figures, but somebody really messed up with page 5.  

Kupperberg has had a very respectable career, but his art here makes a bad impression, as the early action scenes are confusing and the first battle is rushed through. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt in this case, though, because those pages were obviously redone, and the rest of the pages are noticeably better. (He also has an unusual take on the Wind Raider.)

Aside from the henchmen editing fiasco in the first few pages and the relatively minor plot issues, this is easily the best Star comic yet – this is the kind of character development we’ve been waiting for.  

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MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE #9 (Star, 1987)

Masters of the Universe #9, “The Hate Stones,” is by new writer George Caragonne and illustrators Dick Ayers and Danny Bulanadi. Here, the Horde launch a direct assault on the Royal Palace, inflicting casualties and leading Orko to seek vengeance.

Ah, Caragonne, where have you been all this time? His writing is a breath of fresh air, as he brings a higher degree of competence to all the characters, good and evil. Here we’ve got tactics, reasonably well-handled character development, and a moral issue that, while overt, isn’t administered like a brick to the head.

But it’s not all sunshine and bunnies. Caragonne introduces a new character, which is fine, and she helps save the day, which is also fine. But as she does so, He-Man brings up a good plot question which isn’t addressed. This isn’t some long-running character thread; Andra’s only seen in cameos after this (and just because you acknowledge a plot hole doesn’t mean it ceases to be a plot hole). One also wonders why Hordak didn’t open the energy well in the first place.

Ayers’ art is pretty good, although he makes some unusual changes to some of the characters. Montork looks like a sombrero-wearing villain. Dree Elle doesn’t look like her cartoon counterpart, either (in fact, she’s unsettlingly busty), nor is her name spelled right. Hordak has weird little green minions in addition to his troopers.

This one may not be any kind of classic, but it’s immeasurably better than any of the previous eight issues.

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