Written by Adam McCombs
“Temple of Nepthu” by the late, great Michael Halperin is a mini comic adaptation of the Filmation He-Man and the Masters of the Universe script for “Temple of the Sun.” The story features Nepthu, a Filmation villain of the week.
In “Temple of the Sun,” Nepthu is a poor man who finds the eponymous temple in the Sands of Time. Finding the Sun Scarab artifact inside, he is transformed in appearance and gains magical power. Nephthu captures the Sorceress in her form as Zoar the falcon when she happens to be flying overhead. She sends a message telepathically to Prince Adam, who transforms into He-Man. Nepthu sends some sand demons to attack the heroes when the come to rescue the Sorceress. He-Man eventually defeats Nepthu by breaking the Sun Scarab. Zoar meanwhile had been transformed into crystal after she had tried to break free. She was returned to normal after the Sun Scarab was destroyed.
Now let’s take a look at Michael Halperin’s adaptation, “Temple of Nepthu.” Many thanks to Danielle Gelehrter for sharing this scan with me!
In Halperin’s version, Nepthu is actually an ancient wizard, not some poor traveler who was magically transformed. Halperin’s script was written June 8, 1983, just a month after the script for “Temple of the Sun” was approved. Perhaps the early draft for the Filmation episode also featured Nepthu as an ancient wizard – I don’t have any information to support that, however. The temple is Nepthu’s home, and he captures the Sorceress in falcon form when she flies too close to it over the Sands of Time. Nepthu views her capture as an omen of power. Meanwhile, the Sorceress telepathically calls for He-Man to come to her aid. He sets off with Teela, Man-At-Arms, Battle Cat and Ram Man on the Attak Trak.
In the story, Nepthu has a scarab with a jewel affixed to its back that he uses to magically attack the heroic warriors as they approach. He causes a magical sand storm to impede their progress, and then creates a giant scorpion. After defeating these elements, Man-At-Arms remarks that the temple appears only every 300 years.
He-Man uses his Power Sword to get into the temple. Upon entering, Nepthu sends Time Demons to attack the heroic warriors, described as living creatures made from clock parts. After defeating them, Nepthu threatens the Sorceress with the scarab if they come any closer. The Sorceress telepathically tells He-Man to “get the jewel of the desert — that makes the scarab strong.”
Meanwhile, Man-At-Arms leaped at Nepthu, causing him to drop the scarab. The scarab started to grow and began to attack the heroic warriors. After some fighting, He-Man managed to flip the insect on its back, causing it to lose its jewel. Without the magical stone, the scarab turns back into an ordinary bug and scampers away. Nepthu starts to lose his powers, and the Sorceress as Zoar the falcon is freed. The Time Demons start to dissipate and the Temple of Nepthu gradually vanishes away.
This story was repurposed into “Temple of Darkness.” Many of the same elements and plot points are there. However, Nepthu was replaced with Skeletor. The Temple’s name was changed to the Temple of Darkness. Instead of the Attak Trak, He-Man raced to the temple on the Road Ripper, while the others rode on separate Attak Traks. (I think this was done not only to promote the new Road Ripper vehicle, but also to address the reality that the Attak Trak toy seats only one figure.) There isn’t a giant scorpion, but Skeletor attacks the heroes with a magical sandstorm and the giant scarab. And like “Temple of Nepthu,” the scarab is defeated by flipping it over and popping the jewel from its back.
“Temple of Darkness” was written by Michael Halperin, with pencils by Larry Houston, inks by Gerald Forton, colors by Charles Simpson, letters by Stan Sakai. Here is the full list of Halperin’s mini comic credits, many of which were adapted from Filmation episode scripts (links go out to the full comic scans on He-Man.Org):
- Dragon’s Gift
- Masks of Power
- He-Man and the Insect People
- Siege of Avion
- The Secret Liquid of Life!
- Double-Edged Sword
- Temple of Darkness!
- Slave City!
- Ring of Dreams (unpublished)
- Temple of Nepthu
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