Hey!! Kids Comics: Masters of the Universe Mini-Comics 4

Masters of the Universe Mini-Comics 4

Year: 1981

Cover artist: Alfredo Alcala

"The Vengence of Skeletor"

Writer: Donald F. Glut
Illustrator: Alfredo Alcala

Publisher: Mattel

Issue: Series 1 --- 4 of 4

Plot: The conclusion of the story featuring an all-out slugfest between He-Man, Stratos, and Teela against Skeletor, Beast Man, and Mer-Man!

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Originally, writer Don Glute was tasked by Mattel with creating a backstory for the fledgling Masters of the Universe toyline. Glute crafted a story featuring a much darker, post-apocalyptic version of Eternia than that of the later more familiar animated cartoon produced by Filmation.

Glute's story was made into a four part series of mini-comics which were included with the action figures. The Vengeance of Skeletor is the fourth title in this series of mini-comics and was packaged with Beast Man, Man-At-Arms, Stratos, and Zodac action figures.

Tormented by his constant defeats at the hands of He-Man and the other heroic warriors, Skeletor finally loses what little sanity he has. Singling out He-Man as only thing which stands in the way of his desires, he vows to get rid of him once and for all! Calling on his lackeys Beast Man and Mer-Man, Skeletor tasks them to go off and eliminate He-Man.

He-Man is speeding on his way to meet up with Teela on the Battle Ram, but Beast Man and Mer-Man are waiting to ambush him. Pouncing on He-Man from above, they both beat his ass. Teela arrives too late to help, however she witnesses Mer-Man dragging He-man away.

Mer-Man pitches an unconsious He-Man into the sea to drown and runs off to meet up with Skeletor at Castle Grayskull. The icy water revives He-Man just before he is attacked by a giant sea-monster!

He-Man's struggle for survival against the creature appears to be futile. Stratos arrives in the nick of time to drive off the monster. He-Man is so fatigued from his battle that he begins to drown, however Stratos is able to pull the weary warrior to safety.

Stratos and He-Man go and find Teela and they all set off for a showdown with Skeletor and his henchmen at Castle Grayskull where Skeletor is revelling in He-Man's supposed defeat.

Surprised to find that He-Man remains alive, Skeletor orders his minions to slay the heroic warriors. An all out battle wages between the forces of good evil... but the tide turns when He-Man dodges Mer-Man's attack causing him to accidentally blast Beast Man instead!

Realizing he is about to be defeated once again, Skeletor focuses all of his rage on Mer-Man with a blast from his energy blade. Mer-Man slowly begins to die as the heat from the blade drives all the moisture from his hide. He-Man, pissed off at the sight of this abuse, saves Mer-Man by driving the Battle Ram into Skeletor, disarming him.

As the villains are being driven away from Castle Grayskull, the Spirit of the Castle makes an appearance, calling the heroes "Masters of the Universe" and encouraging them to remain ever vigilant for whatever evil scheme that Skeletor might cook up next.

Alfredo Alcala once again does a magnificent job illustrating a barbaric prototype Eternia. However, he draws and colors both Stratos and Mer-Man as they appeared King of Castle Grayskull. Although this creates some confusion as to this story's placement in the series, most sources cite this one as the last.

Once again the Power Sword doesn't come into play and there is no plot to break into Castle Grayskull, just Skeletor's psychotic desire to murder He-Man. Skeletor's sanity has always been questionable at best, but in this story he sinks into complete insanity! Pretty strong stuff for a children's story. The animated series would never even attempt to approach something like this.

The Vengeance of Skeletor may not be the best story in the series, but it does make a suitable conclusion. It's also notable that both He-Man and Skeletor require the assistance of others in order to accomplish their goals.

	Here is the enitre mini-comic for you to download and read as a CBR file, just follow the link on the left. CBR files hold comic book pages as images in a compressed archive format enabling them to be viewed, sequentially, from within a comic book reader program or app such as CDisplayEx.
DOWNLOAD CBR FILE

Well, this adventure concludes our look at the original series of Masters of the Universe mini-comics, What are your thoughts? Which do you prefer, the storyline of mini-comics or that of the Filmation animated series? Please leave a comment below.

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