Masters Of The Universe Annual 1984
Just finished reading"Masters Of The Universe Annual 1984" published by World International Publishing.
Okay, I confess, I cheated in order to obtain the year World published this annual. I used an online Roman Numeral Converter. Like most elementary school kids of my generation, I learned about Roman Numerals and I struggled to remember who to translate them into "normal" numbers in tests and pop quizzes. Let's face it, unless your like my Number One Minion, Zack, who actually studied and can read and speak Latin, there really is no practical use for Roman Numerals unless you want to befuddle people regarding copyright and legal documentation.
Now while this annual is mainly a collection of prose stories, I think this was based on material by Mattel to World before He-Man, Teela, and the other characters of the Masters Universe were fully fleshed out. None of the stories are set within the established cannon of the original cartoon series, on which this annual is based on. For example, it's hinted in this annual that Battlecat kills Evil-Lyn in a rather gruesome manner and Adam's parents are shown as rather elderly. There is also a rather odd depiction of Prince Adam and Man-E-Faces that is shall we say - provocative. Orco is called Gorpo.
In addition to including an extensive background on Eternia and the people who live there called appropriately "Welcome to Eternia," which I suspect was written by someone at Mattel, this annual contains the following prose stories: "The Sinking of Marais," "The Tale of Man-E-Faces," "The Crystal Cage," The Ruby Phoenix," and "The Siege of Avion." There is a comic section titled "The Necklace of Evil."
It will be interesting to see if the path taken by Mattel and World for later "Masters Of The Universe" annuals is similar to this one. I think this was put together before "Masters Of The Universe" hit the airwaves.
Recommended as an interesting look at divergent paths.
Four Stars.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302507667666
Okay, I confess, I cheated in order to obtain the year World published this annual. I used an online Roman Numeral Converter. Like most elementary school kids of my generation, I learned about Roman Numerals and I struggled to remember who to translate them into "normal" numbers in tests and pop quizzes. Let's face it, unless your like my Number One Minion, Zack, who actually studied and can read and speak Latin, there really is no practical use for Roman Numerals unless you want to befuddle people regarding copyright and legal documentation.
Now while this annual is mainly a collection of prose stories, I think this was based on material by Mattel to World before He-Man, Teela, and the other characters of the Masters Universe were fully fleshed out. None of the stories are set within the established cannon of the original cartoon series, on which this annual is based on. For example, it's hinted in this annual that Battlecat kills Evil-Lyn in a rather gruesome manner and Adam's parents are shown as rather elderly. There is also a rather odd depiction of Prince Adam and Man-E-Faces that is shall we say - provocative. Orco is called Gorpo.
In addition to including an extensive background on Eternia and the people who live there called appropriately "Welcome to Eternia," which I suspect was written by someone at Mattel, this annual contains the following prose stories: "The Sinking of Marais," "The Tale of Man-E-Faces," "The Crystal Cage," The Ruby Phoenix," and "The Siege of Avion." There is a comic section titled "The Necklace of Evil."
It will be interesting to see if the path taken by Mattel and World for later "Masters Of The Universe" annuals is similar to this one. I think this was put together before "Masters Of The Universe" hit the airwaves.
Recommended as an interesting look at divergent paths.
Four Stars.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302507667666
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