The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1714: Masters of the Universe #3, September 1986

One thing I am curious about is whether or not the artists on these toy-related series had any prior knowledge of the toys that were coming out. I remember when Hordak's Slime Pit was released, but I wonder how close to the release of that toy this comic showed up, similarly with the Meteorbs from last issue. Given the amount of time that a comic takes for production, is it possible that the toys had been out for some time, which would make the comic a reminder of their existence, or is this more a preview of things to come, which would suit the advertisement aspect of the comic far better.

It doesn't really matter, but I find that's the case with so many things that fascinate me. I often think that if I wasn't so drawn to things of ephemeral importance in our society, I'd probably be in a much better state than I am these days. But there's something about the things we throw away, and about the people who love them so much, that I just can't leave behind.

I'm missing two issues of this series, and as nostalgia increases for people of my age, they're harder and harder to track down. I'd like to because I really do think this is the most pure iteration of the characters and series, outside perhaps of the mini-comics that came with the original toys. While the Star series, and the cartoon it's based upon, humanize the characters somewhat, the mini-comics tend to treat the characters far more archetypally, which is perhaps a better way of approaching them. Each character is defined by a single aspect (Triclops, Beastman, Man-At-Arms), a way of thinking about characters that is much more in line with pantheonic thinking, rather than human. If they're Masters of the Universe, shouldn't there be something godly about them? The Star comics series, in giving them more human personalities, takes these aloof gods and renders them much more like the Greek pantheon. Neither is necessarily a bad take on archetypal beings.

"The Slime Pit has exploded! And there, coming through the debris, is He-Man!"

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1713: Masters of the Universe #2, July 1986

I've waxed lyrical about the Star Comics Masters of the Universe before, so what better title that this to kick off a week exploring Marvel's all-ages comics line from the mid-80s. Much like the Transformers and G.I.Joe titles that preceded it, this comic has to wrestle with being both story and prolonged advertisement, and writer Mike Carlin handles this divide with grace. There is the introduction, on an issue-by-issue basis, of new toys and characters, a problem that plagued the Transformers comic to such an extent that I actually stopped buying it at one point. Unfortunately the point that I stopped buying the comic was just as the popularity of the franchise was starting to wane, and the stories were much less dependent on cleaving to the toys. The same happens with MOTU, and by the last couple of issues (which I reviewed a few years back) the attention to the toys has all but disappeared. Not quite the case with today's early issue, but the fact is that the story, action, dialogue, characters, are all very nicely realized, with the advertisement becoming something of a backdrop to the action.

I really love this series, though part of me is wondering if my youthful attachment to it maybe had something to do with the muscular main character and his distinct lack of much clothing...

"I too crave vengeance on the blond one--..and perhaps together we can destroy both of our enemies for all time!"

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 782: Masters of the Universe #1, May 1986

I've waxed lyrical about the end of this series already, a fantastic story pencilled by today's featured creator, Ron Wilson, so I thought we'd look at the beginning of the series as well. Unfortunately, it pales in comparison quite a bit. I mentioned in my previous posts on this series that it's only when a toy-based comic gets to a point where the toys upon which it was based are no longer popular that the characters and story can actually come out from beneath the marketing and flourish. At the time of this first comic's appearance, He-Man and his compatriots were still popular enough to have a television series and a still-lucrative toy line. Though the series is only 13 issues long, it was published bi-monthly, so we're seeing 2 years worth of comics. And 2 years can be a long time in the life of a children's toy. By the time 1988 rolls around, and "Lifetime" is presented in the final issues of the series, the toy line was winding down. Hence the good story.

This is, of course, not to say that today's story was necessarily bad, only that it was definitely skewed toward showing the toys to kids, rather than telling them a story. We get two views of castles in this issue, one of Greyskull and one of Skeletor's lair, Snake Mountain. And they are, quite literally, views of what the toy versions of those locations would look like if placed on a rocky, barren landscape. I know this not only because I've seen the toys, but because I had them way back when. Even at the issue's end, when He-Man is trapped in Hordak's "Fright Zone," the creature that attacks him looks literally like the hand puppet that comes with that set. While this might be good for advertising, some creative license needs to be taken in depicting toys as dynamic objects within a narrative.

Mr. Wilson's depictions of these toys, however, are very accurate, and given the ridiculousness of the characters he's been given to draw, he does a decent job of trying to twist someone like Leech, a character who drains life energy through suction cups on his hands, though the toy version simply has large flat suction cups for hands - how exactly does he do anything else? He looks like the toy in the comic, but really looks like he wouldn't survive long trying to do anything other than stick to a window. This said, it's also the first issue of the series. I imagine that rather than doing character design work, Mr. Wilson was simply given reference pictures of the toys and told to go to.

Masters of the Universe continues to be a popular franchise, though mostly with those who enjoyed the toys as kids, and in the later series of the story it gets a bit of a grit-washing in order to appeal to those grown fans. But the Wilson/Carlin iteration of the series was the longest-running comic during the first run of both toy and cartoon, and therefore holds an important place in the history of the franchise.

To be continued.