The Future Heroic Warriors
Welcome back to Strange Times & Places, where I’m warning you ahead of time that you’re getting two of these in a row (I’m going on vacation and these are easy to find time for). I misspent my teen years moderating THE He-Man & The Masters of the Universe fan forum, so I’m looking to issues #12 & #13 of the Marvel/Star MOTU comic for this week’s entry. Incidentally, a new He-Man collection came in recently and was loaded into our front showcase…I wonder why my teenage fandom has come back with a vengeance?
How’s It Different?
This is more or less a For Want of a Nail story. A somewhat angsty Prince Adam inadvertently sends the Sword of Power into the future and follow to retrieve it, finding a future where Skeletor has succeeded in conquering in Eternia.
Royals, Fallen on Hard Times
What’s The Story?
Arriving in the future, Prince Adam is quickly arrested and tossed into Prison Mountain (formerly Skeletor’s HQ at Snake Mountain). He discovers his parents rotting in a cell and ultimately escapes alongside an Errol Flynn-esque prisoner named Andras with the aid of the nearly powerless Sorceress (who expends her life force freeing him). Andras brings the young Adam to the remaining Heroic Warriors – Teela (following in her mother’s footsteps as Sorceress), a gray haired Clamp Champ, a new Man-At-Arms (OK, that’s Andras), and…a middle aged Prince Adam. They take the young Adam’s arrival as a sign that it’s time to take the fight to Castle Skeletor (formerly Castle Grayskull) and restore freedom benevolent monarchy to the land.
Best of Differences
- Andras, the charming new Man-At-Arms, is the son of a comics-original supporting character named Lt. Andra. As a JSA fan, I appreciate a good legacy hero with ties to the original.
Skeletor’s Throne Room in Castle Grayskull
- Clamp Champ, one of the later additions to the MOTU canon, doesn’t often get a lot of focus in other media adaptations of the toyline. It’s nice to see him get a chance to shine here.
- Prince Adam grows himself an amish beard in the future, but otherwise doesn’t change his look in the slightest. Clearly, he’s great at laying low.
- This is, I think, the first version of Teela to be shown following in her mother’s footsteps as the Sorceress of Grayskull. That has since come to pass in both the Masters of the Universe Classics bios and DC’s Masters of the Universe
Couldn’t one of them at least worn the Battle Armor or Thunder Punch harness?
Worst of Differences
- The first part of the story shows the literal army of super-powered heroic warriors that He-Man has assembled by this point in his career. It’s like the full line-up of the Satellite-era Justice League, in terms of numbers and raw power. But I guess without He-Man, they just fall apart against Skeletor?
Come Back Next Week for a New Installment of Strange Times & Places!
