I’ve mentioned this briefly before in the blog, but I thought this topic deserved its own post. It’s well known that early on in the development of the Masters of the Universe line, allegiances of certain characters were in flux. One of the most dramatic examples of that is Zodac, who is at times presented as heroic, neutral and evil in official Masters packaging, comics and cartoons. I go over that in depth in my post about Zodac. The history of Stratos and Mer-Man is actually similar, but the details are a bit murkier.
The very earliest surviving characterizations of Mer-Man peg him as a Heroic Warrior. In an early draft by Don Glut for what would eventually become the first minicomics (using the title “Fighting Foe Men” as the name of the line), Mer-Man is listed among the Heroic Warriors and is given this backstory:
MER-MAN (alternative name: Sea-Man) — The last survivor of an extraterrestrial race of water-dwellers. When his water-world was drawn into its sun by the force of gravity and evaporated, Mer-Man — a scaly humanoid with fishlike gills and fins — escaped to Eternia and took residence in its seas. There this intelligent being took command of the sea’s creatures. He can exist on land, where his strength, accustomed to the pressures of the sea’s depths, is increased — but extreme heat can dehydrate him, weakening and eventually killing him.
Don Glut
The same story also groups Stratos (who was called Wing Man at the time) with the Heroic Warriors:
WING-MAN (alternative name: Air-Man) — One of the last of a race of mountain-dwelling beings who have mastered the air. Wing-Man is a denizen of mountain peaks hidden high above Eternia’s clouds. He utilizes a flying craft equipped with various weapons resembling characters of flying creatures — a deafening bird’s cry siren, a hornet’s sting, etc. But he can fly without use of the craft, thanks to a set of foldable wings — including a set of bird’s wings, bat’s wings, insect’s wing, etc. He has a good sense of humor and is a natural practical joker, which makes him bearly [sic] tolerable to such brooding characters as He-Man.
Don Glut
An early internal Mattel document, as seen in The Power of Grayskull documentary, explicitly affiliates Mer-Man with He-Man, but is non-committal about Stratos.
In a series of early promotional slides intended to generate buzz about the new line (called “Lords of Power” at the time), Mer-Man is grouped with the Heroic Warriors. Skeletor and Beast Man seem to be the only Evil Warriors here.
Even in Mattel’s 1982 dealer catalog, the only figures explicitly called out as evil are Skeletor and Beast Man. Stratos, Mer-Man and Zodac at this point seem to be in a category apart from either the Heroic or Evil Warriors. Perhaps the idea was to leave it ambiguous and let kids decide how to use them.
At around the same time, Mattel put out a kit for manufacturers of licensed products, intending to direct them how to use the Masters of the Universe brand in their products. In here we see Stratos as a villain. Mer-Man is given no specific allegiance.
Image source: He-Man.org
The minicomics that came with the first figures always characterize Mer-Man as evil. From that point on Mer-Man is solidly in the Evil Warriors camp. However in Stratos’ first appearance in the comics, he is shown with the Evil Warriors. Thereafter he is always grouped with the heroes.
Stratos is an Evil Warrior in He-Man and the Power SwordStratos is a heroic warrior in The Vengeance of Skeletor
In a 1982 JCPenney catalog, Stratos and Beast Man are listed together as a set, described as “Winged sky baron, and his savage henchman.” JCPenney sold many unique figure two-packs, although I’ve never seen any other evidence of this particular set, or the Man-At-Arms/Zodac set either. You can browse these gift sets here.
In the first Mattel Masters of the Universe France catalog, we see a description of Beast Man that indicates he is a “companion” of Stratos.
Stratos himself is described as half-man, half ape, and very strong:
Mer-Man, meanwhile, is described as the companion of He-Man:
Finally, we see in 1983 and beyond an attempt to further solidify the two factions in Masters of the Universe. To that end, Mer-Man is given the title “Evil ocean warlord” rather than his original “Ocean warlord,” and Stratos is called “Heroic winged warrior rather than his original “Winged warrior:”
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One of several copies of The Fighting Foe-Men scriptEarly minicomic art by Alfredo Alcala, depicting Man-At-Arms with an early weapon from a previous piece of concept art. Image source: Power of Grayskull documentary. Image courtesy of Jukka Issakainen.
It’s fairly well known by now that early on, Masters of the Universe had a number of working names. One of them was Lords of Power, a topic I’ve covered previously. Another was The Fighting Foe-Men, which will be the topic of this article.
Former Masters of the Universe Classics brand manager Scott Neitlich shared a number of early MOTU documents his his retrospective video below on the rollout of the Classics toyline. I’d like to discuss those documents relevant to the Fighting Foe-Men idea:
Don Glut, under contract from Mattel, wrote a story treatment for the line, apparently with the idea of turning the treatment into the mini comic books to be included with the figures. The Fighting Foe-Men document includes many working figure titles and a few ideas I recognize from my interview with MOTU designer Mark Taylor, so Glut may have just taken whatever the Mattel team had at the time and expanded it out into a first attempt at a MOTU mythos:
“THE FIGHTING FOE-MEN” (working title) presentation by Donald F. Glut
SETTING
In the distant past, or possibly the distant future, a great global war broke out on the distant planet Eternia. The war was waged among the powerful scientists and sorcerers that ruled that planet. The energies unleashed during that war destroyed the two warring factions, and sent Eternia into a space/time warp, where it remains held in a timeless limbo.
Eternia is a rugged, primitive type world, inhabited by various warlike races. Occasionally other beings from distant worlds are cast into the time warp to take refuge on Eternia. The planet’s surface is a savage world of dense jungles, dark forests, active volcanoes, etc. The seas are turbulent and infested with bizarre formes of marine life. The skies are dominated by all manners of strange flying creatures. What little remains of Eternia’s past science has been channeled into various weapons of war — weapons appearing both primitive and yet strangely futuristic.
The idea of a post-apocalyptic Eternia is one of Mark’s ideas, so this may have been communicated to Glut.
Among the remnants of the pre-war days of Eternia is the ominous and awesome Castle Grayskull. The Castle is so ancient that none of Eternia’s inhabitants knows who (or what) built it. What is known is that the Castle is equipped with all manners of weapons, traps and devices. The place is a veritable fortress. Legend has it that the Castle harbors, in some secret place, the mysterious Power Gem — the product of both pre-war science and sorcery. The Power Gem will make its possessor all-powerful and the master of all Eternia. Naturally, then, Castle Grayskull and the Power Gem are coveted items and the reason for much conflict on Eternia.
I hadn’t seen this “Power Gem” concept before. Obviously it was dropped, and it was replaced by the Power Sword.
Skeletor talks about the Power Sword in He-Man and the Power Sword, written by Don Glut, illustrated by Alfredo Alcala
Don Glut, in a 2001 interview with Matt Jozwiak, said: “The Power Sword was a sort of homage to the various “Power Stone” stories in the 1940s Superman comic books.” The Power Gem must have been a variation on the Power Stone theme, and then it became the Power Sword.
Castle Grayskull concept, by Mark Taylor
HEROES
Among the various characters living on Eternia are four strange beings that we can consider heroes. They are:
He-Man — A native of Eternia, raised by his jungle-dwelling tribe. He is a mass of muscle, with incredible physical strength and a short-fuse-temper. His prowess got him awarded, by the tribe’s elders, a series of fantastic weapons and costumes which they had found in the ruins of a fortress once occupied by Eternia’s pre-war scientists. The costumes augment his strength, each one giving him a single new power — a forcefield, the increased strength of a Hercules, etc. He-Man loves his people, but he craves excitement and adventure, and so has set off on his own. He does not always fight fair and often resorts to underhanded methods to get the job done.
The costumes that give He-Man different abilities are familiar from the first minicomic (although in this case, the tribal elders give him these items, rather than the Sorceress), but the characterization of He-Man as someone who is a short-tempered lout who doesn’t fight fair is something that was obviously abandoned quickly.
He-Man concept art, by Mark TaylorHe-Man’s forcefield garment, as mentioned in the Glut’s Fighting Foe-Men treatment
Early minicomic art by Alfredo Alcala, depicting He-Man and the Sorceress with an early concept vehicle, the Battle Catapult. Image source: Power of Grayskull documentary. Image courtesy of Jukka Issakainen.
Battle Catapult concept by Mark TaylorEarly minicomic art by Alfredo Alcala, depicting He-Man and the Sorceress battling a monster. Image source: Power of Grayskull documentary. Image courtesy of Jukka Issakainen.
MAN-OF-ARMS (alternate names: Arms-Man, Knight-Man, War-Man) — A cold, calculating and totally confident Master of All Weapons. He was trained since childhood by his people in the arts of battle, and is master of such weapons as the laser-axe, the electro-sword and any others that come his way. Unlike He-Man, he is a planner and never plunges into battle without ample preparation. He has left his people to right wrongs wherever he finds them, but knows that, if necessary, he can summon his people to his side as an army.
This depiction of “Man-Of-Arms” (Man-At-Arms) seems pretty close to Mark Taylor’s own conception of the character, and seems at least compatible with his appearances in early minicomics. However, Man-At-Arm’s mission and motivation was given to He-Man in the published minicomics.
Early minicomic art by Alfredo Alcala, depicting Man-At-Arms in a concept vehicle design by Mark Taylor. Image source: Power of Grayskull documentary. Image courtesy of Jukka Issakainen.
Concept vehicle by Mark Taylor. Image source: The Power and the Honor Foundation
An early concept that became Man-At-Arms. From Mark Taylor Sketches Vol 1
Early “Man-Of-Arms” with laser-axe illustrated by Alfredo Alcala
WING-MAN (alternative name: Air-Man) — One of the last of a race of mountain-dwelling beings who have mastered the air. Wing-Man is a denizen of mountain peaks hidden high above Eternia’s clouds. He utilizes a flying craft equipped with various weapons resembling characters of flying creatures — a deafening bird’s cry siren, a hornet’s sting, etc. But he can fly without use of the craft, thanks to a set of foldable wings — including a set of bird’s wings, bat’s wings, insect’s wing, etc. He has a good sense of humor and is a natural practical joker, which makes him bearly [sic] tolerable to such brooding characters as He-Man.
Wing-Man or Stratos has quite an interesting characterization here, as a kind of Eternian practical joker. My guess is they dropped those details because he was just a supporting character. The part about his various sets of interchangeable wings was interesting. I’m not sure if that was ever in the works at Mattel or if that’s something Glut came up with on his own. I would guess it is the former, since a variety of costumes were offered for Mattel’s Big Jim and Barbie figures.
Stratos concept. Image courtesy of Rebecca Salari Taylor
MER-MAN (alternative name: Sea-Man) — The last survivor of an extraterrestrial race of water-dwellers. When his water-world was drawn into its sun by the force of gravity and evaporated, Mer-Man — a scaly humanoid with fishlike gills and fins — escaped to Eternia and took residence in its seas. There this intelligent being took command of the sea’s creatures. He can exist on land, where his strength, accustomed to the pressures of the sea’s depths, is increased — but extreme heat can dehydrate him, weakening and eventually killing him.
I had heard something like this characterization for Mer-Man before, but hadn’t seen evidence to support it until now. Mer-Man’s susceptibility to dehydration is familiar from the comics, but otherwise his backstory and heroic characterization is totally unlike anything seen in MOTU canon.
Mer-Man as a hero was also something that shows up in a figure sheet included in one of the extra scenes in the excellent Power of Grayskull documentary:
Image courtesy of Jukka IssakainenMer-Man getting dehydrated in the heat of Skeletor’s blade
Image source: The 2016 Mark Taylor B-Sheet Collection . Scan by Axel Gimenéz
VILLAINS
Each of the villains is out for his own gain, usually to obtain the Power Gem for himself, but they occasionally accept one of them as their leader — Beast-Man
BEAST-MAN — Another native of Eternia’s jungles whose tribe — or pack — has seemingly always been at war with their natural enemies, the human tribe of He-Man. Beast-Man has formidable strength, but it is his ferocity that makes him a natural leader. He has the agility of a gorilla. But when he dons his various costumes, he takes on the powers of other animals — the speed of a gazelle, the charging force of a rhino, etc. Beast-Man, though he despises He-Man’s tribe, yearns to take one or more of its females as a bride. He is totally evil and corrupt. His only redeeming quality is the “love” he bears for his own race, though it is actually more like instinct than any real emotion. His voice is gutteral, almost a growl.
This is a quite surprising casting of Beast Man as the primary enemy of He-Man. I had heard that this was once the case, but had never seen actual evidence until now and I had honestly dismissed the idea. In this treatment he is given parallel powers to He-Man, in that he gains different power from wearing different costumes.
Update: Andy Youssi, whose dad was a freelance artist from Mattel and who got a chance to see the early prototypes as a child, had this to say about Beast Man:
“One thing I do remember from when my dad was doing artwork and we had those prototypes is that he did originally get intel that Beast Man was the main villain, so that’s how I played with the figures at first. (I thought Skeletor was his lackey, and even had Beast Man hit him with a whip like Skelly was a slave.) We’ve searched for where we got that info, but can’t find anything . . . must have either been communicated to my Dad word of mouth from the Art Director, or some paperwork we no longer have.”
Beast Man and Mer-Man prototypes. Image via Andy Youssi
Early Mark Taylor Beast Man concept art
DE-MAN — A regular demon in the flesh. De-Man once inhabited an alien dimension resembling Dante’s version of Hell, but was thrown into Eternia’s dimension when the great war created a rift between the two dimensions. De-Man is possibly Beast-Man’s most dangerous ally. He has incredible powers and weapons, which can throw bolts of fire, electrical energy, cold. etc. He can control the very elements, bringing down a terrible storm from a cloudless sky, etc. He speaks in a raspy voice and is waiting for just the right opportunity to turn against Beast-Man and seize the Power Gem for himself. Then he will reopen the dimensional rift and bring more of his own race – to conquer eternia.
Some of De-Man’s (Skeletor’s) story here shows up in He-Man and the Power Sword (specifically the part about De-Man as a demon from another dimension). The control over the weather wasn’t really explored. De-Man’s obsession with the Power Gem became Skeletor’s obsession with the Power Sword.
Mark Taylor’s De-Man (Skeletor) concept art, published by Super7 and the Power and the Honor Foundation. Image courtesy of Axel Giménez.Skeletor’s origin story
WOODS-MAN (alternate names: Tree-Man, Green-Man) — Another naturally-born Eternian. The master of the Forests and Jungles, Woods-Man has the power to control all plant life. Being a manlike plant himself, Woods-Man does not have the ability to speak — but he does have a telepathic ability to communicate with others of his kind or other plants. His secret ambition is to subjugate all animal life and make Eternia’s plants the rule or this planet.
I can’t confirm this either way, but Woods-Man may have been the Mark Taylor concept below:
From Mark Taylor Sketches Vol 2
KA-MAN (named for the crocodilian Caiman) — a humanoid reptile, not too smart, but incredible sinister and evil. Being reptilian, the scaly warrior is cold-blooded and susceptible to changes in temperature. When he speaks it is hardly more than a hiss. Like a lizard, he can scale walls, change his color to match his environment, look about in all directions with his globelike eyes, etc. His various costumes give him extra reptilian powers — the rattle and striking power of a snake, the fiery breath of a dragon, etc. Naturally his snakelike fangs are venomous. His small reptile’s brain affords him little thinking ability and makes him extremely susceptible to taking orders.
Ka-Man again has the concept of having various costumes that give him different powers. It’s hard to know for sure, but Ka-Man might be this Mark Taylor concept below. It’s certainly reptilian and has “globe-like” eyes. According to Mark’s wife Rebecca, this was originally a private sketch by Mark, which he later proposed as a henchman for Skeletor.
From Mark Taylor Sketches Vol 2
After the characters are set up, Glut lays out a story synopsis for the first comic book in the series, followed by a longer summary. He sets up the heroes as independent and squabbling warriors who must reluctantly form a team to stop the villains. He-Man’s arrogance at first prevents them from working together, after the forces of Beast-Man bring them to the brink of destruction, they must unite in order to survive. I’ll post the entire document at the end. I’ve made the text darker to make it easier to read, although the screen shots aren’t great as far as resolution goes. I’m also typing out the synopsis and summary, and I’ll add a few unrelated illustrations that happen to more or less align with the story. Teela appears in the story, but she is given no short bio, unlike the male characters. At this point she is just playing stereotypical “damsel in distress” role, which thankfully was not to be her real function in the the vast majority of stories.
HE-MAN STORY SYNOPSIS
In the distant past, warring factions succeeded in destroying each other, sending the planet Eternia into a space/time warp. Filled with war-life races and tribes, only a few remains of the cities were left along with many bizarre forms of life.
He-Man (raised in the jungle, with massive muscles and power-giving costumes) is trying to begin a new life where he can seek and choose his own adventures.
He is interrupted by Wing-Man and told that lights have been seen in the Castle Grayskull (indeterminably old, uninhabited, holds secret “power gem”). He-Man journeys to Castle Grayskull to discover that Beast-Man has captured the beautiful Tee-la and taken her into the Castle. He hopes to make Tee-La his bride when he uncovers the power-gem and gains its supreme power.
He-Man recruits Mer-Man and Wing-Man to help recapture the castle. On the way he must defeat Man-of-Arms (later becomes an ally.)
Beast-Man, Ka-Man, Tree-Man and De-Man manage to overpower and capture the three attackers. The revived Man-of-Arms launches his own attack but is near defeat. When He-Man uses all his strength to break free himself and his companions, He-Man rushes to the defense of Man-of-Arms, and together they defeat Beast-Man and his evil gang. Beast-Man pleads for mercy, and He-Man releases him after he promises not to try to recapture the power-gem.
Tee-la is returned to her people and He-Man wonders if Beast-Man will keep his promise. (Probably not.)
SUMMARY OF 1st BOOK
In the woods of He-Man’s former tribe, a beautiful young woman named Tee-La is captured by Ka-Man. Her people come to her defense, but are suddenly confronted by Woods-Man and De-Man. Woods-Man commands the vines and plants to attack the tribe, while De-Man adds to the attack by firing his laser weapon. Ka-Man makes good his escape with Tee-La, with De-Man and Woods-Man following.
Elsewhere, He-Man is busy starting his new life away from his tribe. Putting on a costume that increases his strength, he starts building himself a dwelling by carving out huge slabs of rock from the mountainside and setting them into place.
He is interrupted by Wing-Man, who flaps overhead with his hawk-wings. Wing-Man says that lights have been observed in the windows of Castle Grayskull and he fears it may have been taken-over by evil beings seeking the legendary Power Gem. He wants He-Man to go with him to investigate. He-Man is angry for the interruption, saying he chooses his own adventures, and hurls a boulder at Wing-Man to drive him away.
At the castle, Beast-Man awaits the return of his three henchmen with their prize, the lovely Tee-La.
When she is brought to him, she panics and tries escaping the castle, only to fall victim to one of the castle’s numerous traps. Beast-Man says that soon he will have the Power Gem that will make him supremely powerful and the ruler of all Eternia — and that she will then become his bride. She cringes at the terrible thought.
Meanwhile, as He-Man finishes his rock dwelling, he sees stepping out of the jungle a number of his former tribesmen.
They related to him how Tee-La was captured and taken away to be given to the Beast-Man, He-Man’s natural (and worst) enemy. Now his attitude changes. Donning another costume, the one that gives him his forcefield, he gets into his chariot and starts rolling in the direction of the distant Castle Grayskull.
Wing-Man, in his flying craft, flies low over the castle when he is spotted by Beast-Man and his cohorts.
De-Man creates a storm and Wing-Man finds himself trying to dodge bolts of lightning. He dons his wings in time to “bail-out” before a bolt destroys his ship.
But as he saves himself, he is defeated by Ka-Man, whose dragon’s breath burns his wings to a cinder. He drops into the waiting arms of Beast-Man. Beast-Man says that Wing-Man’s presence has given him the idea of how to find the Power Gem… use a hero.
In the sea, Mer-Man notices the temperature of the water changing. It begins to bail and become intolerable. Surfacing, he discovers that it is the work of De-Man, who is using his demonic powers to create a heat-wave. Finding himself dehydrating, Mer-Man succumbs to the intense heat and becomes the prisoner of De-Man.
He-Man is still on his way in his chariot, rolling over the rugged terrain, when he is stopped by Man-of-Arms, who wishes to accompany him, having heard there are wrongs to be righted at Castle Grayskull. The arrogant, single-minded He-Man says he neither needs nor wants any help. Man-of-Arms takes his rejection as a personal insult and challenges him to battle, using on of his fantastic weapons. But the weapon cannot pierce He-Man’s forcefield and Man-of-Arms is easily defeated by He-Man’s strength. Man-of-Arms is left beaten and defeated, while He-Man continues on his way.
At the castle, Beast-Man — threatening Mer-Man with more heat, and with the deaths of his other two captives, Wing-Man and Tee-La — forces him to do his bidding. Beast-Man reveals an ancient scroll which states that the Power Gem might be located somewhere beneath water. There is a subterranean lake beneath the castle and that is where Beast-Man believes the Power Gem to be. Mer-Man swims to the bottom of the lake, finding a light in the murky depths. As he grasps the glowing stone, he fears that Eternia is now in the hands of its most evil inhabitant.
He-Man, in his chariot, reaches the castle and challenges his enemy, Beast-Man.
Beast-Man appears atop the castle saying that he now can do anything. He holds up the glowing stone, but it does nothing. This is not the Power Gem! Laughing, He-Man launches his attack with his chariot’s weapons. But the angry Beast-Man commands his three cohorts to defend him. De-Man’s power cuts through He-Man’s forcefield, after which he is overpowered by the attacking Ka-Man and Woods-Man.
Now He-Man, Wing-Man and Mer-Man are all chained in the castle’s torture room. Wing-Man tells He-Man that they should have teamed up earlier. Seeing the captive Tee-La, He-Man believes, at last, that Wing-Man was right. He-Man struggles with all his might, but cannot break his bonds. Beast-Man laughs … when he is interrupted by a commotion from outside.
It is a revived Man-of-Arms, making his own attack — with his own array of fantastic weapons — on Castle Grayskull. Beast-Man orders his cohorts to repel the attack and make Man-of-Arms his prisoner, also. As this is done, He-Man continues to struggle with his bonds and finally — looking once more at Tee-La — musters the superhuman effort to break them. Then he frees the others.
Outside, Man-of-Arms is fighting valiantly like a true knight of old, but is rapidly falling to the overpowering opposing forces. As he is ready to suffer defeat, He-Man, Wing-Man and Mer-Man, acting as a team, rush to his defense. Mer-Man and Wing-Man attack De-Man, Ka-Man and Woods-Man, while He-Man goes after Beast-Man. While the heroes and villains pit power against power, He-Man and Beast-Man engage in a furious one-on-one battle, a fight which eventually takes them to the very top of the castle. Finally He-Man manages to raise Beast-Man over his head and threatens to dash him to the ground, when Beast-Man pleads for mercy. Being human and not a beast, He-Man succumbs, and lets Beast-Man go, on the condition that he promises that he and his allies will never return to seek the Power Gem or cause trouble. Beast-Man promises.
As He-Man, Tee-La and the other heroes watch the departing villains, and prepare to return the young woman to her people, Man-of-Arms wonders if Beast-Man will keep his promise. Probably not, says He-Man, but at least when that time comes the heroes will be ready for them. For He-Man has learned something this day — that sometimes it is good to have allies in battle (not always, but sometimes!). They make a good team, he says, and someday they might again band together for battle.
THE END
Included among the documents is what looks like feedback from Mattel for some changes to the story. Those changes include making Grayskull more mysterious and emphasizing that it holds the secrets of the universe. Mattel also wanted to make De-Man (Skeletor) the primary villain. He-Man was to be made more heroic and less arrogant and underhanded; he was also supposed to get along with the other heroes. In this feedback, Tee-La (Teela) was to be written out of this particular story. That last edit obviously didn’t take, as Teela features prominently in the minicomics written by Glut.
“Tee-La” attacks “Beastman” in the first MOTU minicomic, He-Man and the Power Sword
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Recently the news broke that Mattel were making an exclusive He-Man & Prince Adam 2-pack for San Diego Comic-Con 2019.
“Pixel Dan” later managed to confirm that it will be a new toyline from Mattel for adult collectors, called Masters of the Universe Origins — with the Four Horsemen on duty to handle sculpting. They did not sculpt He-Man and Prince Adam, but will be taking care of the following figures. A retail release is expected during Fall 2020. At San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Mattel showcased other figures for the line, including Skeletor, Beast Man, Teela, Evil-Lyn and Man-At-Arms which are based on their original vintage action figures but with more articulation and some enhancements like a new face-sculpt for Evil-Lyn or the addition of a mustache for Man-At-Arms.
Early versions of the figures with a few differences from the final toys, such as the gold handle on the sword and the knife going all the way through the top of He-Man’s boot.
The idea with these new action figure designs and theme seems to hearken back to… well to the origins of the characters. With the exclusive packaged figures; this version of blue-vest savage Prince Adam design debuted in DC Comics special preview “Fate is the Killer” for Masters of the Universe (published August 5th, 1982) and the same design appeared in mini-series issue #1 “To Tempt the Gods” (released September 9th, 1982). His first appearance had a different look (from DC Comics presents #47 “From Eternia — With Death”.)
From Eternia – With Death, 1982. First appearance of Prince Adam. Written by Paul Kupperberg, pencils by Curt SwanFate is the Killer, 1982. Second appearance of Prince Adam. Written by Paul Kupperberg, art by Curt Swan/Dave HuntTo Tempt the Gods, 1982. Third appearance of Prince Adam. Recolored by Jukka Issakainen. Written by Paul Kupperberg, pencils by George TuskaMasks of Power, 1984. Written by Michael Halperin, artwork by Alfredo Alcala
The DC Mini-series design of blue-vest Prince Adam later appeared in Mattel’s minicomic wave 3 (1984). Accordingly the packaging art by Axel Giménez, Val Staples and Nate Baertsch for the 2019 exclusive was requested by Mattel to pay homage to style of the early minicomic art, and they did a great job emulating the spirit of Alfredo Alcala.
Another noteworthy thing with these figures is the addition of a boot-knife for He-Man.
The boot-knife has always been a fascinating accessory. As a weapon it’s easy to carry and can be very effective. Many illustrations with Tarzan have him using a knife, and as Conan the barbarian once said “Cimmerians generally prefer… the dagger.”
It’s no surprise Masters of the Universe has many influences from fantasy and barbarian settings, mixed with sci-fi elements.
In the early concept art by Mark Taylor, He-Man can be seen with the boot-knife.
Second color version of Mark Taylor’s He-Man concept, August 3, 1981. Image source: The Power and the Honor Foundation
Accordingly, Taylor recalled the boot knife’s inspiration:
“[Mark said] It’s a dagger. It came from our scuba diving days.”
Rebecca Salari Taylor
And that is an interesting tidbit about the boot-knife dagger. Big thanks to Rebecca and Mark for sharing this with me!
He-Man of course isn’t the only character in Mark Taylor’s B-sheet artworks to have a dagger in their boot. Man-At-Arms sports one too. Though the showcased MOTU Origins figure doesn’t seem to have one in his boot.
From the Mark Taylor Portfolio, published by Super7/The Power and the Honor Foundation
The dagger perhaps makes its most famous appearance in the very first minicomic “He-Man and the Powersword” (1982), written by Don Glut and illustrated by Alfredo Alcala. For fans this was the first place they remember seeing it and in a way feels ubiquitous to the early stories much like Teela’s Horse, where you could imagine it showing up in activity/coloring books and other early material. Curiously though the dagger does not appear in any other minicomic (that is to say, the small comics that came packed with the figures) after the first one.
In the minicomic pages He-Man, a warrior from a jungle tribe comes across the Sorceress who bestows him “the treasures I have guarded all these years” and we see an axe, a shield, the power harness and other items and vehicles which He-Man receives. The Sorceress described the items being invented before the Great Wars. Possibly the dagger came from that era. He is seen with the dagger in his boot in subsequent pages but sadly it is never mentioned in the text and we don’t see him use it.
The next time we would see the dagger, came in DC Comics Presents issue #47“From Eternia — With Death!” where He-Man meets Superman for the first time (released April 8th, 1982). The story is also the first time we see Prince Adam and after he goes into the Cave of Power and is transformed, the dagger appears in his boot. Sadly in this action adventure He-Man doesn’t use the dagger either, and out of 6 panels where it shows up, one time it switches to He-Man’s left boot, instead of the right one.
After that, DC Comics published a special preview “Fate is the Killer” for Masters of the Universe (published August 5th, 1982) inside over a dozen DC-titles. Here the dagger is present on the cover-art, but it’s nowhere to be found in the pages.
Following the schedule of DC Comics, the dagger had been phased out completely by the time DC Mini-series #1 was released (September 9th, 1982).
There is also an early copy ad where He-Man is illustrated with the dagger. The same image was re-used for Castle Grayskull instruction-sheet, but for that the dagger was removed.
Now it has been mentioned that the new Masters of the Universe Origins action figures will also come with minicomics. Hopefully in the case of He-Man, we get to see him feature his dagger in action.
Another instance where a knife from a boot was seen in action came with the 1987 Masters of the Universe motion picture.
1987 Masters of the Universe movie poster by Drew Struzan. Image source: The Art of He-Man
Early on He-Man spots a captured Gwildor by Skeletor’s Troops and intervenes the group. During the fight He-Man reaches to his right boot for a knife and throws it at one Trooper.
This was shown in the concept art for He-Man by Jean “Moebius” Giraud and William Stout.
The boot knife is a cool addition in the movie and hearkens back to the early minicomic roots of He-Man.
Hope you enjoyed this look on He-Man’s boot dagger and its origins. My thanks to Adam for having me come up and write this guest post! Thanks also to James Eatock and Øyvind Johannes Meisfjord for help with some images. If you discover the boot dagger in other media, drop us a note!
Back in 1987, Tom Bradley, mayor of Los Angeles, declared April 28 to be Masters of the Universe Day, in celebration of the live MOTU Power Tour performance that was running at the time.
It continues to be commemorated by fans to to this day, but I would propose an additional day to celebrate the most powerful toyline in the universe: March 1.
From December 1981 to January 1982, Mattel filed trademarks for their completed Masters of the Universe toyline, in preparation for the big product launch. The line (largely designed by Mark Taylor, vehicles by Ted Mayer) was first shown to the public on February 17, 1982, at New York Toy Fair. I believe it was first made available in retail stores on March 1 of 1982. That’s based on a piece of evidence taken from the first MOTU minicomic, He-Man and the Power Sword.
Included near the back of the minicomic was a cash rebate offer. Parents who purchased two of the eight MOTU figures available that year could get a rebate of $1.25.
There was a purchase date restriction on the offer. Purchases had to be made between March 1, 1982 and January 31, 1983.
I believe the earlier date represents the earliest date that these toys would have been available in stores – shortly after they were unveiled at New York Toy Fair. That would mean that March 1, 1982 was the day that children all over the country (and later, the world) were first introduced to the world of He-Man.
Since Masters of the Universe Day is already taken, I’d suggest we commemorate March 1 as He-Man Day.
Incidentally, in the animated He-Man episode, The Energy Beast, King Randor tries to create a He-Man Day, but He-Man is too modest at the time to accept it. I’d say after 36 years defending Eternia and Grayskull from the evil forces of Skeletor, he’s more than earned it.
Update:
Chema Villalba recently sent me another piece of evidence for a spring 1982 release of He-Man. In The Business of Children’s Entertainment (referencing 1982 promotional material) it is said that Mattel had introduced the Masters of the Universe line in the spring of that year:
Thanks to Chema for the reference!
Update2: upon further research, the first time Masters of the Universe was in stores was probably May 13, 1982, or thereabouts (which still matches the Spring release schedule provided by Chema). That is the date of the earliest newspaper advertisement for MOTU toys that I have found.
One more thing – I recently noticed in a 2015 Slashfilm article about the MOTU toyline and movie, one of the people they interviewed was Joe Morrison, an EVP of Marketing at Mattel. Joe is quoted as saying:
When we got the go-ahead from management to do the original toy line, we put in an estimate of, like, $12 million in sales. Well, we didn’t even release the toy until May of that year and we wound up doing $32 million. These were significant numbers in 1982.
Now, it’s possible some figures were released earlier. There has long been talk of early “Test Market” figures that were distributed in a small geographic area to test how well the figures would sell. Supposedly this information came from a source at Mattel, but I can’t confirm it. It’s possible that those Test Market figures predate the May release date, but so far I have no solid evidence for that, other than perhaps the previously-mentioned March 1 rebate date.
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