Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Wednesday Comics: Within These Walls...Armageddon

"Within These Walls--Armageddon"
Masters of the Universe #3 (February 1983), Written by Paul Kupperberg; Pencils by George Tuska, Inks by Rodin Rodriguez

Synopsis:  Zodac flies through the space between planes. He's been watching the heroes of Eternia pursue the goals of Skeletor, but now its time for him to get involved to prevent Skeletor's victory and save the world from destruction.

He arrives in time dispatch the last of the demons the heroes are fighting. He warns them that there is another enemy besides Skeletor, but he cannot say who it is. As they converse, they are sorcerously observed by another:


Damon spies on Skeletor, too, also unaware that he is being observed. Damon's machinations are toward a single goal: the acquisition of the power sword, whose halves are held in a stasis field he sees but can't penetrate.

Meanwhile, Zodac explains how the talismans are to be used: They can open a portal to the power sword and summon the mystic falcon Zoar. The heroes pass through it.

Skeletor throughs a little tantrum because he can't figure out who is trying to thwart his plans. Suddenly, he's attacked by a tentacled creature. Skeletor dispatches the creature and Damon reveals himself--and his plan:


Skeletor's mystic blast can't harm him. They're arcane powers are too well matched. Skeletor pulls a sword to do things the old fashion way.

Elsewhere, Man-E-Faces is strangely drawn to Castle Grayskull, then mystically pulled inside. Damon and Skeletor have fallen through a portal to Grayskull, too--just as Damon planned. It was the only way villains like he and Skeletor could get inside. Skeletor claims to have been aware of Damon's game all along. He blasts Damon from behind.

The heroes also arrive in Grayskull, in a room with multiple doors. Stratos and Man-At-Arms are trapped by what they find behind their respective doors. Teela enters a maze, but takes the novel approach of blasting a hole through the floor to get out of it.

She drops him on Skeletor and He-Man and Battle Cat burst through a wall soon after. Too late:


Skeletor uses his power to summon Beast-Man and transform Man-E-Faces to a bestial form. He-Man defeats both of them easily, but only the quick thinking of Teela keeps him from falling into Skeletor's trapdoor.

Meanwhile, Zoar frees the Goddess from her other dimensional prison. The two transport to Castle Grayskull just in time to to snatch the power sword from Skeletor's grasp allowing He-Man to defeat him. The Goddess wraps it all up:



Commentary: Damon is introduced to very little purpose, and Man-E-Faces to even less. The story feels rushed at the end, like it was suppose to be a longer limited or lead into something longer, but it never materialized.

1 comment:

The Angry Lurker said...

Always liked the series of comics, a bit more serious than the cartoon!