He-Man Week: Revisiting Marvel Comics’ ‘Masters Of The Universe’ #1
by Tony Thornley
Nearly forty years ago, He-Man got his first comic series, and as the newest adaptation of the most powerful man in the universe heads into theaters this week, we stepped back to take a look at Masters of the Universe #1 from Marvel Comics’ Star Comics imprint.
Back in 1986, the world was still at the height of He-Mania. At that point, the Filmation cartoon had firmly established the world around He-Man, and the Masters of the Universe was still a massive franchise. Interestingly, though the cartoon technically only ran from two seasons, from 1983 to 1985, those two seasons produced 130 episodes, meaning He-Man would air in syndication for years after that. This series debuted in that period, not long after production ended, but according to an ad inside the book, in the midst of that second season releasing.
(Note: Please forgive any weirdness with the images, they were captured by my phone’s scanner app from my copy of the comic itself.)
In Masters of the Universe #1 — from Mike Carlin, Ron Wilson, Dennis Janke, Janice Chiang, and Bob Sharen — Skeletor is doing his best to try to keep the evil of his mentor Hordak from escaping into Eternia. To do so, he would make another desperate attempt to steal the secrets of Castle Greyskull. Of course, He-Man steps in to intervene, but not without unintended consequences.
This comic is interesting. It feels very much of its time. It’s an overly wordy, exposition heavy comic of the 1980s. That’s not to say it’s bad, but it’s a lot. It’s kind of like an extended version of one of the minicomics, in that it’s clearly trying to sell toys, but also this time tell a generally satisfying story.
The weird thing about it though is how much it feels like it comes from a time that He-Man lore isn’t very well established. Teela never calls Man-at-Arms her father and wears her snake head-dress the entire time. Man-at-Arms doesn’t seem to know Prince Adam’s secret. Hordak and his henchmen seem to be popping up for the first time.
Wilson and Janke’s art is mostly very solid. There’s a lot of close-ups, and a few of the Horde looks more like their toy than their animated appearance (specifically Leech), but it’s really solid for an all-ages toy tie-in. I loved both the “I have the Power” page and Hordak’s reveal.
This comic is very much of its moment. It doesn’t have any real complexity, like G.I. Joe or Transformers did, which is why it fell into the Star Comics line. It is a satisfying little snippet though for any He-Man fan, and absolutely worth trying to find a copy of.
