Maps of Eternia

Check out a couple of the maps put out as posters with the Masters of the Universe Classic line. Plenty of good adventure fodder to be had!

Here's Preternia (get it?):

And for your sci-fi or space opera needs, here's the "Extent of the Horde Empire":

Wednesday Mini-Comics: The Battle in the Clouds

This is the third mini-comic released with the Masters of the Universe toys. Like the rest, it was written by Don Glut and written by Alfredo Alcala.

We open on Eternia's tallest peak where Stratos is somehow able to hear the sounds of battle far below. He flies down and finds He-Man riding the Battle Ram is putting a beating on Skeletor near Castle Grayskull. Somehow, now Castle Grayskull is near the ocean, because He-Man is able to toss a defeated Skeletor into it.

As He-Man and Stratos fly away, Mer-Man  pulls Skeletor from the water and offers to make a deal with him. He'll help Skeletor defeat defeat his foe in exchange for He-Man's weapons. The two villains start blasting away at He-Man,

Stratos swoops in and gives He-Man a lift to get him out of danger quicker, but a "great gust of wind" knocks He-Man off the Battle Ram, he he falls--only his super-garment protects him. He's just knocked unconscious. Stratos doesn't realize He-Man's gone. He just keeps flying.

Skeletor and Mer-Man see He-Man's fall go. In order to get up the mountain to where he fell to snatch his gear, the evil warriors steal Teela's horse.

Mer-Man gets to He-Man just as he's waking up. He's able to over-power him and steal his super-strength suit. His next stop: the Battle Ram.

He-Man plans to stop him. He goes to the edge of the forest and calls Battle Cat. The two head over to He-Man's place to get his force field suit (Apparently separate from his super-strength suit. Pretty inconvenient.), then to Man-At-Arms' cabin. They decide to fly the Wind Raider up to where Stratos took the Battle Ram and thwart Mer-Man.

He-Man is impatient with the speed the Wind Raider is making and grumbles he could have climbed up himself if he only had his super-strength suit. Man-At-Arms opines that "brute strength must sometimes give way to science" and opens it up full-throttle, shutting up He-Man pretty quick.

Meanwhile, Mer-Man has found the Battle Ram. When the Wind Raider reaches the peak, he attacks them with a volley of ray blasts. Man-At-Arms falls out, and only his armor saves him from dying in the fall. Battle Ram and Wind Raider hit each other head on.  Stratos strikes the decisive blow, though:

The battle in the clouds won, He-Man and Stratos fly off to get back the super-strength suit from the defeated Mer-Man and then rescue Man-At-Arms and Teela.

The Power of Grayskull Compels You!

Dark Horse have been doing a great job with their series of Masters of the Universe reference works. The artbook was great, but for sheer information value and rpg inspiration James Eatock's He-Man and She-Ra: A Complete Guide to the Classic Animated Adventures and most recently He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: A Character Guide and World Compendium are goldmines.

The character guide and world compendium is so thick, I don't think I've given it a complete look through, yet. There is so much there! It covers ever continuity from the original minicomics through the on-going collector toy revival and the current DC Comics (though I don't know how up to date it is on the last group). It even has stuff from foreign comics and kids books. Major characters get much more extensive write-ups, and ever character or thing that has appeared in multiple media gets a discussion of the different portrayals.

At $35, some might balk at the cover price, but it's length and detail make it well worth it.

Wednesday Minicomic: KIng of Castle Grayskull

Taking a break from Storm, let's consider the second Masters of the Universe minicomic packaged with the first wave of toys in 1982. The comic, like the rest, was written by Donald Glut and drawn by Alfredo Alcala.

We open on He-Man and Battle-Cat happening by Castle Grayskull. He-Man tells his mount that the castle was "built by unknown hands before the Great Wars" and "whoever controls the castle controls the universe!" He-Man doesn't know it but he's being spied on from a parapet by Skeletor, who apparently scaled the outside of the castle to get there because he's got no way inside.

Skeletor uses his mystic blade to spy on the doings inside the castle as well. He see's Teela (the warrior-goddess) summoned by the Spirit of Castle Grayskull to be its guardian. The Spirit tells her that one day a king will come claim the castle's throne, but only after he finds and unites the two halves of the Power Sword. Not knowing it's being eavesdropped on, the Spirit reveals the location of the halves.

Skeletor, feels like kingship would suit him. He comes to the highest peak of Eternia, the home of Stratos, and melts one half free from rock. Next, Skeletor takes Mer-Man with him to surprise He-Man at his homestead, and before the hero can grab his super-strength outfit, they blast him. They get the other half of the sword from the rock his house is built on. Given how easy these halves were to find and the fact that two heroic warriors lived close by them, one wonders why they weren't found before?

Anyway, Skeletor rubs some gray clay on his face to disguise it and opens the jawbridge with the united power sword. Teela might have been a poor choice as guardian because a little gray facepaint has her totally fooled. She welcomes Skeletor as the King. No sooner has he sat in the throne, than he triggers the trapdoor and drops Teela into the dungeon. Skeletor marvels at all the weapons and computers and what not and boasts the secrets of the universe are his to command.

Meanwhile, this all apparently happened so quick that Mer-Man is still fighting He-Man (apparently He-Man's house is next door to Castle Grayskull), who has now managed to get his force field suit on. He-Man suits up again to increase his strength and heads out to get Skeletor.

Skeletor sees him coming on a viewscreen. When He-Man arrives, Skeletor punks him by causing the jawbridge to flip him inside. He-Man confronts Skeletor in his throne room, but in the face of his threats Skeletor calls "oafish" and zaps him with energy.

He-Man wakes up some time later in the dungeon with Teela. He tells her "Skeletor has gone insane!' Given that this is the sort of shenanigans we've seen the Lord of Destruction get up to in the first mini-comic, one wonders what He-Man is passing that opinion on. Maybe it's that Skeletor didn't strip him of his super-powered duds, which clearly was a dumb move as He-Man rips the door off the cell.

Skeletor notes their escape and sends animated suits of armor to stop them. Our heroes keep smashing them, but more keep coming. Skeletor moves in to watch the victory he is sure is coming up close--and Teela knocks the Power Sword from his hand.

Skeletor figures its time to beat a hasty retreat. He runs to the roof with the heroes on his heels. He tries to blast them with the laser cannon, but then:

Both hero and villain survive the fall. Skeletor gets chased off by Battle-Cat before he can blast He-Man with his energy blade.

The Spirit of Castle Grayskull again takes possession of the Power Sword and, maybe realizing its previous hiding places left something to be desired, now sends one half into another dimension. He tells the heroes that it maybe centuries before the true King of Castle Grayskull comes to claim it. He calls them Masters of the Universe and bids them go fight evil. In a spoiler heedless moment, we are told the Spirit smiles as they ride away because he knows He-Man will one day become the King of Castle Grayskull.

Wednesday (MIni-)Comics: He-Man and the Power Sword

Let's take a break from Storm this week to look back at the mini-comic origins of the Masters of the Universe. I don't mean the 80s cartoon with a Captain Marvel in purple tights and a Prince Valiant haircut, a cowardly lion tiger, and a moral for kiddies every episode. I mean the first, more pulpish, post-apocalyptic, sword & sorcery version--before even the 1982 DC comics limited-series. I mean the version appearing in the the four original mini-comics (though technically, these first four were picture books, not comics).

They were written by Donald Glut, who knew how to adapt Sword & Sorcery material for younger audiences with his comics work, including Dagar the Invincible and Tragg and the Sky Gods for Gold Key. Glut talks about the origins of some of the concepts in an online interview. The evocative art for the four stories was by Alfredo Alcala, a comic book artist who's worked for DC and Marvel, on books like Conan, and Kull the Conqueror. What the two gave us was darker, moodier, and more streaked with pulpy highlights, than the decidedly brighter, more superhero-esque cartoon to follow. (I should point out all of the mini-comics are now available in a somewhat larger tome.)

So without further ado, here's my commentary on the first mini-comic, 1981's He-Man and The Power Sword:

We open with a bona fide Hero's Journey "Call to Adventure." He-Man, greatest warrior of his primitve jungle tribe, leaves his people to go defend the legendary Castle Grayskull ("a place of wonders") from the forces of evil. Instead of having a secret identity, He-Man is part of a proud (sometimes) barbaric lineage of Sword & Sorcery characters. He's got a nobler goal than Conan or Brak, but like those forebears he's fascinated by a wondrous elsewhere.

He-Man becomes the first of his people to "trudge the craggy cliffs and quake-torn valleys" outside of the jungle. It's not long before his courage and "jungle-bred stength" is needed. He sights a jade-skinned woman in a cobra headress fighting a purple monster that looks like it might be from a lost in space episode. He-Man rushes into the fray and despite the woman's mystical blasts ("She is a sorceress!" he thought), he pretty much does the monster slaying himself.

Had this not been a kid's book, the shapely Sorceress might have rewarded the warrior other ways, but since it is, He-Man instead gets "Supernatural Aid" (again with the Hero's Journey!). The Sorceress gives him the treasures she's guarded all these years, things made "centuries before the Great War by Eternia's scientists."

Here's one of those cool details. We've got a Great (so great its capitalized) War, and scientists making medieval appearing weapons. One might wonder what kind of scientists those were, but this yarn provides hints but no answers.

He-Man takes the loot which includes a "strange vehicle" (understatement) that's "combination battering ram, catapult, and space-warp device." Those pre-Great War scientists did some out-of-the-box thinking.

Meanwhile, Skeletor, and his minion Beastman, and ogling the "warrior-goddess" Tee-La (it was hyphenated in those early days) who's watering her "unicorn charger." The two villains attack, as Skeletor plans to make Tee-La his bride. We're told she "fights like a demon, her body possessing the spirits of many ancestral champions," but Skeletor's energy blade wins the day.

They carry her with them to Castle Grayskull--"a fortress so ancient no one knew its origin." Over the objections of the Spirit of the castle, Skeletor forces open the Jaw-Bridge. Skeletor's after the other half of the Power Sword so that "the magic fires, created by ancient scientists and sorcerers will blaze again." Cool.

It turns out Skeletor is from another dimension. The Great War ripped a whole in the walls between dimensions and threw him into Eternia. He plans to open another rift and bring through an army of conquest. This origin, of course, is ignored in later mini-comics and comics.

Elsewhere, He-Man is visited by Man-At-Arms. What happens next is weird: "'And what brings the famous Man At Arms to my humble house?' He-Man asked sarcastically." Why all the sarcasm, He-Man? Anyway, Man At Arms ("whose people are the masters of all weapons") fills He-Man in on Skeletor's shenanigans. The two set out to stop him, with impulsive He-Man space-warping ahead.

Somehow, in the bowels of Grayskull (sold separately), Skeletor knows He-Man is coming and sends Beastman up to shoot the turrett laser at at him. Beastman proves surprising effective at this, and has He-Man down when the Man-At-Arms cavalry arrives to turn the tide. The He-Man makes the Jaw-Bridge open wide and the heroes head inside to find Tee-La.

Skeletor's had enough time to get the the Power Sword reunited. As the blade crackles with "green fire" he boasts: "I am invincible. There is nothing I cannot do. Nothing!" The best use this power for is apparently making weapons come to life and fight He-Man.

At that moment, the Sorceress reappears glowing with the same green energy as the power sword (Ah hah!). She chastises Skeletor for abusing power and splits the sword again. He-Man, Man-At-Arms, and the just freed Tee-La throw a beating on the two villains, but let 'em cry "mercy!" and run off (it's a kid's book, remember?). The Sorceress again hides the Power Sword and changes the lock on the castle.

"Do you think that's the last of those two or the Power Sword?" Man-At-Arms asks.

Do I really have to tell you He-Man's answer?

There you go, Great Wars, green Sorcereress, extradimensional portals, barbarian heroes, super-science, and sorcery. That's how it started.

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.

Wednesday Comics: The Key to Castle Grayskull

"The Key to Castle Grayskull"

Masters of the Universe #2 (January 1983), Written by Paul Kupperberg; Pencils by George Tuska, Inks by Alfredo Alcala

Synopsis:  He-Man and Battle Cat enter the jungles of Eternia is search of a talisman. They meet Ceril, a long time friend of He-Man's, and other members of his primitive tribe. He-Man recounts his origin: how as Prince Adam he came upon Ceril's village on a hunting trip and found it in the thrall of the sorcerer, Damon. Adam would have been defeated by Damon as well, had not the Goddess intervened, transforming him into He-Man. Since that day, Ceril's tribe have been allies of Adam's father.

As luck would have it, Ceril has seen the talisman He-Man seeks. They are on their way when demons appear and attack them. He-Man manages to get to the cave where the talisman is, entering where others cannot due to the protection of his power-vest. He-Man grabs the glowing talisman, and he and Battle Cat disappear.

Meanwhile, Stratos, Teela, and Man-at-Arms fly toward the churning waters of Sea of Blackness. Using a potion that Tarrak gave them, they are able to breath underwater for an hour. With the clock ticking, they locate the talisman in a temple in a city of the mer-people. Before they can get to it, they're attacked by Mer-Man and his people.

Mer-Man plans to betray Skeletor and take the power sword for himself. The odds don't look good for the heroes, but then Skeletor appears and confronts Mer-Man's betrayal. He also warns the mer-people not to harm his allies, unless they too want to face his wrath. Teela takes issue with that, so Skeletor is like "have it your way." and removes his protection.

Their time running out, and the mer-people pressing the attack, Stratos manages to grab the talisman. The heroes disappear. They find themselves in a strange place:

Skeletor shows up and taunts them again. He sends them deeper into the weird realm to retrieve the power sword. Neither the heroes nor Skeletor know that they are being watched.

Again demons attack the heroes. Their numbers seem endless. The heroes can't figure out who would have sent them if Skeletor wants them to succeed. Suddenly, the demons are blown away by a strange wind. Then:

Commentary:
Prince Adam's origin related here has never appeared in other media. 

Wednesday Comics: Masters of the Universe

"To Tempt the Gods"

Masters of the Universe #1 (December 1982), Written by Paul Kupperberg; Pencils by George Tuska, Inks by Alfredo Alcala

Synopsis:  On Eternia, a world with a "medieval exterior" but whose technology nevertheless outstrips that of Earth, there's a party (dancing girls) for the Queen. Man-At-Arms asks the King where his heir Prince Adam is. The two commiserate over how irresponsible Adam is.

That's Adam's cure to jump the hedge and make an appearance. Apparently, he's been dallying with a young lady...

They are commemorating the arrival of the Queen on Eternia 25 years ago. Adam heads off the his chambers to get his gift for his mother. He regrets he has to play this false personality and disappoint his father.

At his door, Adam is assailed by magical power. The room is filled with demonic presences. Adam dives over his bed to escape--and finds Cringer waiting there. Cringer tells him Skeletor had his presence known here.

The mention of Skeletor's name galvanizes Adam into action. He and Cringer run to the Cavern of Power. There, they are transformed into He-Man and Battle Cat. Even then, they here the sound of mocking laughter.

Skeletor gloats that he has the Goddess captive. He did battle with her, and though she kept the two halves of the power sword from his grasp, he managed to defeat her. He knows that only a heroic soul will be able to find the power sword, and he plans to force He-Man to do it for him by having him seek out three talismans representing the sea, the sky, and the cosmos that will lead to the swords.

He-Man knows the cosmic star cluster is in the hands of the royal wizard, Tarrak. He meets Teela, captain of the guard, and enters the palace, He meets his parents, though they don't recognize their feckless son in the heroic He-Man. They enter Tarrak's chambers and find:

Man-At-Arms here's the clamor of battle and joins in. Once the demon's are defeated, Tarrak reveals that they stole the talisman in the shape of the nexus constellation.  Someone else is after the talismans, too.

Meanwhile, Avion is attacked by dragonriding beastmen. It's Stratos they're after. The birdman flies to the castle. His strength failing, only Tarrak's magic saves him. He-Man notices Stratos is wearing the talisman of air. Our heroes now have one in hand.

Commentary:
This issue is the introduction of Prince Adam. He's a bit more Don Deigo Vega in concept than the overmuscled Billy Batson he'll become in the cartoon. Still, the genius of the "fantasy superhero" are definitely here. Eternia is much more "standard fantasy comic" than it is later, down to Teela's outfit that doesn't look anything like the toys (until this). Still, this is much closer to the universe sketched in the original Don Glut mini-comics than what is to follow.

Zodac really has a Metron of the New Gods vibe here. This begins the transition from his original intended role as a villain to the heroic role he has in the mythology now.

Under interesting detail: Stratos's wife is completely human rather than anthropoid like him.

MOTU Minis Maximized

Dark Horse has release a collection of the Masters of the Universe mini-comics that came packaged with the toys. This compact, but weighty tome (nearly 2.5 inches thick) not only contains the comics from the original toyline (1982-1987), but also comics for the follow-up He-Man toyline, the She-Ra line, and the recent comics from the Masters of the Universe Classic toys--plus a bunch of extras.

As I've mentioned before, my favorites are the original series written by Donald Glut and drawn by Alfredo Alcala that present a pulpier, less superheroic version than the ones DC would follow them up with, or particularly the ones after the cartoon became popular. Still, all of them have good bits--plenty of things stealable for a game. Like these time demons:

Earth-Eternia

Map by Grimklok

Is He-Man's Eternia the future or past of our own world? This map super-imposing the two hints that their only a cataclysm apart, one direction or the other. Something like a run away comet hurtling between the earth and the moon, perhaps?

Someone should do a comparison map with She-Ra's Etheria:

Stuck in My Head

I keep thinking about a post-apocalyptic fantasy plus super-science game, played in FASERIP, maybe. Something like a well-known toy and cartoon property, but less kiddy: like the equivalent of Savage Sword of Conan to its Conan the Adventurer.

A world where the heroes are like this:

And they fight foes like this:

In situations like this:

From Here to Eternia

A recent post and discussion over at Spell Card! got me thinking about my love for Masters of the Universe. I don't mean the 80s cartoon with a Captain Marvel in purple tights and a Prince Valiant haircut, a cowardly lion tiger, and a moral for kiddies every episode. I mean the first, more pulpish, post-apocalyptic, sword & sorcery version--before even the 1982 DC comics limited-series. I mean the version appearing in the the four original mini-comics (though these first few were picture books, not comics).

These four were written by Donald Glut, who knew how to adapt Sword & Sorcery material for younger audiences with his comics work, including Dagar the Invincible and Tragg and the Sky Gods for Gold Key. Glut talks about the origins of some of the concepts in an online interview. The evocative art for the four stories was by Alfredo Alcala, a Filipino comic book artist who's worked for DC and Marvel, on books including Conan, and Kull the Conqueror. What the two gave us was darker, moodier, and more streaked with pulpy highlights, than the decidedly brighter, more superhero-esque cartoon to follow.

To illustrate what I mean, let's take a look at the first in the "saga." Here's my commentary on 1981's He-Man and The Power Sword:

We open with a bona fide Hero's Journey "Call to Adventure." He-Man, greatest warrior of his primitve jungle tribe, leaves his people to go defend the legendary Castle Grayskull ("a place of wonders") from the forces of evil. Instead of having a secret identity, He-Man is part of a proud (sometimes) barbaric lineage of Sword & Sorcery characters. He's got a nobler goal than Conan or Brak, but like those forebears he's fascinated by a wondrous elsewhere.

He-Man becomes the first of his people to "trudge the craggy cliffs and quake-torn valleys" outside of the jungle. It's not long before his courage and "jungle-bred stength" is needed. He sights a jade-skinned woman in a cobra headress fighting a purple monster that looks like it might be from a lost in space episode. He-Man rushes into the fray and despite the woman's mystical blasts ("She is a sorceress!" he thought), he pretty much does the monster slaying himself.

Had this not been a kid's book, the shapely Sorceress might have rewarded the warrior other ways, but since it is, He-Man instead gets "Supernatural Aid" (again with the Hero's Journey!). The Sorceress gives him the treasures she's guarded all these years, things made "centuries before the Great War by Eternia's scientists."

Here's one of those cool details. We've got a Great (so great its capitalized) War, and scientists making medieval appearing weapons. "What kind of scientists are those?" one might well wonder. I know 8 year-old me did.

He-Man takes the loot which includes a "strange vehicle" (understatement) that's "combination battering ram, catapult, and space-warp device." Those pre-Great War scientists did some out-of-the-box thinking.

Meanwhile, Skeletor, and his minion Beastman, and ogling the "warrior-goddess" Tee-La (it was hyphenated here) who's watering her "unicorn charger." The two villains attack, as Skeletor plans to make Tee-La his bride. We're told she "fights like a demon, her body possessing the spirits of many ancestral champions," but Skeletor's energy blade wins the day.

They carry her with them to Castle Grayskull--"a fortress so ancient no one knew its origin." Over the objections of the Spirit of the castle, Skeletor forces open the Jaw-Bridge. Skeletor's after the other half of the Power Sword so that "the magic fires, created by ancient scientists and sorcerers will blaze again." Cool.

It turns out Skeletor is from another dimension. The Great War ripped a whole in the walls between dimensions and threw him into Eternia. He plans to open another rift and bring through an army of conquest.

Elsewhere, He-Man is visited by Man-At-Arms. What happens next is weird: "'And what brings the famous Man At Arms to my humble house?' He-Man asked sarcastically." Why all the sarcasm, He-Man? Anyway, Man At Arms ("whose people are the masters of all weapons") fills He-Man in on Skeletor's shenanigans. The two set out to stop him, with impulsive He-Man space-warping ahead.

Somehow, in the bowels of Grayskull (sold separately), Skeletor knows He-Man is coming and sends Beastman up to shoot the turrett laser at at him. Beastman proves surprising effective at this, and has He-Man down when the Man-At-Arms cavalry arrives to turn the tide. The He-Man makes the Jaw-Bridge open wide and the heroes head inside to find Tee-La.

Skeletor's had enough time to get the the Power Sword reunited. As the blade crackles with "green fire" he boasts: "I am invincible. There is nothing I cannot do. Nothing!" The best use this power for is apparently making weapons come to life and fight He-Man.

At that moment, the Sorceress reappears glowing with the same green energy as the power sword (Ah hah!). She chastises Skeletor for abusing power and splits the sword again. He-Man, Man-At-Arms, and the just freed Tee-La throw a beating on the two villains, but let 'em cry "mercy!" and run off (it's a kid's book, remember?). The Sorceress again hides the Power Sword and changes the lock on the castle.

"Do you think that's the last of those two or the Power Sword?" Man-At-Arms asks.

Do I really have to tell you He-Man's answer?

There you go, Great Wars, green Sorcereress, extradimensional portals, barbarian heroes, super-science, and sorcery. How cool is that?