He-Man and the Power Sword

He-Man and the Power Sword is the title of the first Masters of the Universe minicomic. It was published in 1982 and packaged with the He-Man action figure.

Characters

;Heroic Warriors: He-Man, Teela (here as "Tee-La"), Man-At-Arms, The Sorceress;Evil Warriors: Skeletor, Beast Man, Mer-Man (cameo), Zodac (cameo).

ummary

He-Man leaves his jungle tribe to join the Heroic Warriors. The Sorceress equips him with magical armor and some weapons. He camps near Castle Grayskull. Skeletor and Beastman attack, sneak into the castle, kidnap Teela and want to put the two halves of the sword together but He-Man, with Man-At-Arms and the Sorceress' help, fights them off.

Notes

In this first minicomic, there are many differences between the original "MOTU" concept and the television series:
* Prince Adam does not exist. He-Man is a barbarian from a jungle tribe.
* In later depictions, the Battle Ram is a generic vehicle to both Heroic Warriors and Evil Warriors. Here, the Battle Ram is He-Man's personal vehicle.
* The Power Sword is important in both continuities, but in the TV series it allows Prince Adam to transform into He-Man, and in the minicomic it is a sort of "key" to gain entry into Castle Grayskull. Also, in the comic, the sword has been split into two separate halves, with Skeletor trying to track down both halves to gain its power.
* In subsequent early minicomics, the Sorceress is not featured, but instead a character called The Goddess acts as a spirit guide to He-Man and is very similar to Sorceress. However, it is the generally accepted belief that the two characters are one and the same, with variations occuring as the Masters of the Universe mythology found its feet.
* The original Sorceress is very different from her later incarnation on the animated series. Here, she does not inhabit Castle Grayskull, and has green skin and a cobra-themed outfit. The original "Teela: Warrior Goddess" action figure was designed to be used as either Teela or the Sorceress, depending on if the figure was sporting the included cobra armor and weapons. The figure had brown or red-brown hair and Caucasian-looking skin, despite Sorceress originally shown as having green skin and Teela originally having blonde hair. Later, Sorceress was adapted into the original television series a falcon-themed fcharacter who lives in Castle Greyskull. Teela is shown with the snake armor in some media.

External links

* [http://www.he-man.org/primary_sects/comics/html/mini_comics/motu/comic_pages/00000001/00cover.shtml "He-Man and the Power Sword"] at He-Man.org

Chronology