THE TERROR OF TRI-KLOPS! (mini-comic, 1982)

The Terror of Tri-Klops! is a 1982 Masters of the Universe mini-comic, again by Gary Cohn, Mark Texeira, and Tod Smith. Here, Skeletor recruits Tri-Klops, who attacks He-Man while he’s in the middle of putting the moves on Teela.  

You’d think, “ah, Skeletor’s finally comes up with a real villain,” but all marketing to the contrary, Tri-Klops is portrayed as a lawful neutral-style warrior. At least Tri-Klops is refreshingly competent: he punches Battle Cat in the face and takes out all his non-He-Man opponents in one hit each.

This is a nice little story with more good art and dynamic action scenes. Tri-Klops talks through his teeth all the time and looks like he might actually be Clint Eastwood under that helmet, so points for that. And this comic gives us another hint at the evolution of the mythos: Battle Cat is talking.

This is easily the best of the second-wave mini-comics thus far.

RECOMMENDED

Read it HERE

THE ORDEAL OF MAN-E-FACES! (mini-comic, 1982)

The Ordeal of Man-E-Faces! is a 1982 Masters of the Universe mini-comic by Gary Cohn, Mark Texeira, and Tod Smith. Here, Skeletor enchants Man-E-Faces to become a monster, then kidnaps Teela.

Cohn is clearly not trying very hard. This is the second issue in a row we get a new good guy helping Skeletor before coming around and fighting against him (then again, these characters are inherently kind of silly). Skeletor has the Power Sword somehow. And we get a scene where Man-E-Faces explodes…into a robot.  

What redeems this comic is that it gives us a glimpse of the next stage of the mythos’s evolution. We have the Royal Palace of Eternia here, and a town with an economy, and there’s no indication of the previous post-apocalyptic backstory (not that that’s necessarily better at this point, but it’s interesting). We also have the short-lived long-haired, blond Teela.

There’s really not a lot you can do with Man-E-Faces; this is good enough.

RECOMMENDED

Read it HERE

HE-MAN MEETS RAM-MAN! (mini-comic, 1982)

He-Man Meets Ram-Man! is a 1982 Masters of the Universe mini-comic. It’s written by Gary Cohn and illustrated by Mark Texeira and Tod Smith. Here, Skeletor tricks/forces Ram-Man to bash down the gate to Castle Grayskull by ramming it with his head for hours.

Ram-Man is yet another character with mental capacities at or below those of this comic’s target audience. This is a little more forgivable, though, given that in any continuity, he’s always the dullest tool in the entire shed. Which is perfectly understandable, considering that he rams things with his head for a living (why does he even need an axe?).

Thus we begin the second series of mini-comics (from here on out, they’re actual comics – a considerably better format for this medium). These are shorter books – 15 pages versus 22 previously. And here we get a hint that this pre-Filmation Eternia is a somewhat darker place: we have He-Man actually killing something (it’s a giant, savage monster, but still). He-Man’s still using the axe, but there’s no mention of the “forcefield garment” – hopefully we’re done with all that.  

Mark Texeira has become known primarily for his painted art, but his pencils are just fine. They’re nothing fancy, but they’re perfectly competent, and his action scenes are fluid (well, except for on the cover). He-Man’s hair is a little long and Beast Man looks kind of like a clown, but these are minor things.  

On the whole, it’s an enjoyable action comic.

RECOMMENDED

Read it HERE

BATTLE IN THE CLOUDS (mini-comic, 1981)

Battle in the Clouds (1981) is the fourth and last of the original series of Masters of the Universe mini-storybooks by Donald F. Glut and Alfredo Alcala. Here, Mer-Man steals He-Man’s strength-enhancing harness and the Battle Ram, and Teela gets captured for the third time in four books.

Man, what is going on here? The book ends in mid-story, with Teela still kidnapped and Mer-Man still in possession of the strength harness, like Glut wrote a 26-page story and they stuck with the 22-page format anyway. Mer-Man is still completely incompetent, and Stratos is close behind. Marketing-wise, it’s time to push the vehicles: the Battle Ram, the Wind Raider, and Battle Cat.

Aside from the usual quality art from Alcala, this is a pretty weak effort.

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

Read it HERE