Masters of the Universe (comics)


The Masters of the Universe media franchise has appeared in several comic book series. Most were small publications, which were included as bonuses with action figures. Standalone comic-book series were also published by DC, Marvel Comics, London Edition Magazines and Image Comics.

Publication history

Original Mattel minicomics (1981–1983)

The original action figures were packaged with minicomics, with stories about the characters. In the early comics He-Man is a wandering barbarian on Eternia, a world dealing with the aftermath of a war which devastated its civilizations and left behind fantastic machinery and weapons. The war opened a rift between dimensions, allowing the evil warlord Skeletor to travel to Eternia. Skeletor has set his sights on the ancient Castle Grayskull, a fortress of mystery and power; whoever controls Grayskull will become Master of the Universe. To prevent Skeletor from achieving his goal, He-Man has received special powers and weapons from the Sorceress and defends the castle from Skeletor. He-Man is supported by allies such as Man-At-Arms and Teela, the adopted daughter of Man-At-Arms. Skeletor finds one half of the Power Sword, the key to Castle Grayskull. He-Man received the other half from the Sorceress, and must prevent Skeletor from linking the two halves and gaining access to the castle. To distinguish these stories from the minicomics which were released as tie-ins with the TV series, fans called this first version of Eternia "mini-Eternia" and the words were combined into Mineternia in 2003 by the minicomics fansite Eternia Minor.

DC Comics inserts and limited comics series (1982)

Debuting in DC Comics Presents issue #47, the series crossed over to the DC Universe in a story that was a team-up with Superman. The story continued in a Masters of the Universe insert preview titled "Fate is the Killer", which appeared in several DC Comics comic books dated November 1982. The following month, a Masters of the Universe limited series was published, written by Paul Kupperberg and pencilled by George Tuska, which lasted for three issues.

International MOTU comic series (1983-1990)

Original comic-book content was also created in Germany by Interpart/Condor Verlag for 18 issues, Ehapa Verlag for 21 issues and also by Mattel itself. Both the German and British comics were often translated to provide content for other countries.

Later Mattel minicomics (1985–1987)

With the introduction of Hordak, the minicomics began to diverge from the He-Man and She-Ra animated series and Etheria became Hordak's base of operations.
Years earlier, Hordak had been overthrown by his minion Skeletor and banished from Eternia. He returns, accompanied by the Evil Horde, to conquer the planet. Occasionally allying with Skeletor, Hordak is opposed by He-Man.
In the mini-comic King of the Snakemen, Skeletor discovers a pool of energy buried in Snake Mountain which contains ancient emperor King Hiss. Hiss discloses that he had conquered a number of planets before invading Eternia. Large portions of the planet had fallen to the Snake Men before they were defeated by the Council of the Elders and banished to another dimension. Hiss now seeks to recover his fellow Snake Men and bring vengeance to Eternia.
Details about Eternia's past are revealed in subsequent minicomics surrounding the Three Towers: Grayskull Tower, Viper Tower and Central Tower. The giant structure is raised from underground by Hiss and Skeletor and is the focus of adventures as He-Man tries to prevent all three villains from acquiring the towers' secrets.
Hordak recognises the towers, and claims to have helped build Central Tower. The return of the Towers enhances the Sorceress' magic, and she helps King Randor in his search to discover what happened to his long-lost brother Keldor. Skeletor is determined to stop the search.

Princess of Power minicomics (1984-1986)

Included with the She-Ra dolls beginning in 1985, these differed from the cartoon series. She-Ra used the Crystal Castle as her home, and Catra is the primary villain.

Marvel Star Comics series (1986-1987)

Marvel's Star Comics imprint published 13 issues in 1986.

UK magazines (1986-1991)

First published in the UK by London Editions Magazines, the fortnightly comic series lasted for 72 issues between 1986-1988, with an additional comic running for 28 issues between 1988-91. Storylines included the battle for control of Viper Tower, a team-up of the three villainous factions and the destruction and rebuilding of Eternos. The 'Secret Files of Scrollos' strip featured origin stories for many characters including Sy-Klone, Rio Blast and Modulok, and the series included the characters of Horde Prime and Scrollos. There was also a short-lived She-Ra comic title that lasted for 14 issues between 1986-87, with 3 specials including the 'Twins of Power' special featuring both He-Man and She-Ra. The later issues of both the fortnightly MOTU comic and the Adventure Magazine reprinted stories from the German MOTU comics published by Ehapa, translated into English. In September 1989 the latter comic was renamed 'He-Man Adventure' and was now based on the 'New Adventures' toy line, again reprinting stories from the German Ehapa comics until the comic was discontinued in 1991.

Newspaper comic strip (1986-1991)

A newspaper comic strip, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, was produced from July 20, 1986 until 1991, written by James Shull and Chris Weber and distributed by McNaught Syndicate. While most American newspapers dropped the strip mid-run, it was translated and distributed around the world.
Fifteen storylines were presented over the course of the run. The complete run was published in 2017 by Dark Horse Comics as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Newspaper Comic Strips.

He-Man minicomics (1989)

Four minicomics were included with the 1989 space-themed relaunch. The story was similar to the UK magazine version of He-Man's New Adventures, differing from the cartoon series.

2000s MVC and Image Comics series (2002-2005)

From 2002-2005 Image Comics and MVCreations published several series of comics and one-shots that mirrored tales of the 2002 Mike Young Productions show; the comic series elaborated and added to the mythos by introducing characters that never made it in after the 39 episodes of the television series. The first issues were seen in the summer of 2002 in the form of special promotional/preview issues, with three mini-series continuing on after; 'The Shards of Darkness' in fall 2002, followed by 'Dark Reflections' and 'Rise of the Snake Men' in 2003. After delving into the back-stories of Skeletor's henchmen Beast-Man, Mer-Man, Trap-Jaw and Tri-Klops in a four issue 'Icons of Evil' series, a short-lived ongoing series, solely produced by MVC, continued on for eight issues in 2004. Along with these, a handful of special or 'pack-in' one-shots and trade paperback collected volumes were also produced.

Dark Horse / DC minicomics (2011-2015)

produced the first three minicomics for inclusion in Mattel's Masters of the Universe Classics toy line, continuing the series of minicomics introduced in the 1980s Masters toys. The minicomics were written by Tim Seeley and drawn by Wellinton Alves, with covers by Eric Powell. According to Seeley, these minicomics would conclude the story originally planned to be the new direction of the 1980's action-figure line before it was cancelled. The story dealt with the Powers of Grayskull line, which included King Hiss and He-Ro, tying the toy continuity to the He-Man line and known as The New Adventures of He-Man. Seeley said that this comic line was intended to blend the He-Man continuities and select the best stories and ideas from MOTU history.
DC took over the Masters of the Universe Classics minicomics in 2012, with artwork by Wellinton Alves and Axel Gimenez. Five more minicomics were published to be included with the MOTU Classics line action-figures; the first told the origin story of Keldor, the second dealt with He-Man and Skeletor's final battle after their intergalactic New Adventures. The third begins ushering in the Son of He-Man era ; which then continues for two more issues, culminating in the Third Ultimate Battleground.

DC Comics (2012)

A Masters of the Universe comic book series was relaunched by DC Comics in June 2012, first appearing as a series of digital comics. This was quickly followed by a six issue mini-series and all new revised origin issues for He-Man, Skeletor and Hordak. After a crossover mini-series with superheroes from the DC Comics universe in 2013, an ongoing series ran for 19 issues through 2014, before being replaced by the 'He-Man The Eternity War' 15 issue series in 2015/2016. This introduced a new back-story for He-man's sister She-ra, Skeletor, Hordak, and the Snakemen; moving the storyline further along, with a new Horde invasion of Eternia and He-Man taking the Eternian throne, amongst other new developments. He-Man/ThunderCats, a crossover with another heroic 1980's action figure line, ThunderCats, was also produced for 6 issues in 2016-2017. The current DC Masters of the Universe property is a 6-part crossover series with DC Comics'.

List of minicomics

The following is a list of the mini-comics released with the Masters of the Universe, Princess of Power, He-Man, and Masters of the Universe Classics toys.

Original minicomics

Many of the comic books were collected into trade paperbacks:

Dark Horse collected editions

The minicomics books have been collected into a hardcover anthology collection by Dark Horse Books:
The complete run of the newspaper comic strip produced from July 20, 1986 until 1991 was published in 2017 by Dark Horse Comics:
DC has collected editions of their various current Masters of the Universe comic series, which began in 2012.