He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Minicomic Collection

Ok, simply glorious. Nice format, comics somewhat oversized for reading pleasure.
Paper much nicer than found in most books these days.
Overall very high production value. At this price it feels more like a non-profit gift to the generation that grew up with these toys!

For many fans of the "Masters of the Universe", it all began with getting toy as a Christmas present or for their Birthday or maybe it was just a tuesday. With said toy action figures came little pack-in Mini-Comics that opened an entire new world mixed in with fantasy and sci-fi.

The Collection book published by Dark Horse has in its 1232 pages...
- 49 Masters of the Universe minicomics.
- 11 Princess of Power minicomics (+ Fantastic Fashions).
- 04 He-Man (the new adventures) minicomics.
- 03 Masters of the Universe Classics minicomics.
- 02 Booklets "Power of Point Dread/Danger at Castle Grayskull" and "The Power of the Evil Horde".
- The 2002 Target exclusive He-Man and Skeletor comic.
- Two previously unpublished comics ("Return From Terror Island" & 2003 Smash Blade He-Man/Spin Blade Skeletor comic).
- Never-before-seen vintage minicomic script "Ring of Dreams".
- Dozen Interviews as well as some Trivia-notes

SPECS
At first you'll notice its a heavy book but the binding is solid and paper quality is excellent so you don't have to worry about it breaking apart. The minicomics are placed one page per page in the book for more natural reading, instead of having two or four images in a single page. The oversized images are roughly 1.5x bigger from vintage minicomics.

CONTENT
Sadly there aren't really in existence original full minicomics hidden in some dark vault to be utilized. Some b&w pages have come to light from art collectors during the years, so Dark Horse and team of dedicated fans did an amazing job with scanning and restoring the old minicomics.

For example if you've seen the 2001 Commemorative series reproduced minicomics, the quality in this new book is much better.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
One of the best things with this Collection Book is for fans to have a chance to read unpublished materials. Especially "Return From Terror Island" is a great addition thanks to James Eatock contributing it. So even to the most hardcore fans and collectors who have spent years acquiring the minicomics, there is something new to discover here. And the 2003 infamous Smash Blade and Spin Blade variants that were planned to have a comic pack-in too, is here for the first time fully (previously only one page was seen in "The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe").

The Interviews are something where I always hope to learn more and they succeed in that. I would wish even more interviews from creators.

REVIEW
Simply put, personally as a fan I've wanted for the vintage minicomics to be collected in one coffee table-book for over 20 years now. So this is highly recommended for any fan who grew up with He-Man and She-Ra. And especially if you didn't own all that many minicomics when you were younger, you can immerse yourself to the worlds of Eternia and Etheria with this book.

For the price/page-count ratio, I recommend this book. It looks great on a bookshelf. :-)

***Final note. I did contribute to the book the little trivia footnotes (though couple lines have errors which happens with a book this massive). So you can consider me biased but I truly think the book came out great, even if you would remove my contribution from it. The work that was done speaks for itself.

Man this brings me back to my childhood. I loved those he-man mini-comics and this has most of them in one place! Plus she-ra , new adventures and more.

It loses a star by claiming to be complete but is missing one minicomic! In 1986 secret of the sword was released at the movies. Kids who went got a free mini-comic called secret of the sword that retold the movie. This rare minicomic is not in this book. The title is a lie!

Still the rest are all here and it's great 80s fun. If you have kids they will love this but the book is kinda heavy with 1000 pages!

It's a great book.

Over 30 years after Prince Adam first held aloft his magic sword and said “By the Power of Grayskull”, He-Man, Skeletor, and the Masters of the Universe receive the benefit of this enthusiastically-mounted collection courtesy of Dark Horse Comics.

With every MOTU action figure parents bought for their kids, a special minicomic was included. The minicomic not only served as a marketing tool for the figure, vehicle, or playset, but also provided fans with some background on how everything fit into this increasingly expanding universe. MOTU served as a springboard for many writers and artists who were, at the time, still struggling to establish themselves, hence many of the stories seem much higher in quality than one would expect from an action figure line that would later inspire not just one, but several animated series targeted primarily at children.

One of the most interesting aspects is seeing the evolution of MOTU from its uneven beginnings into how it’s fondly remembered today. How many of the younger generation realize that in He-Man’s first origin story, there was no Prince Adam? Or that Hordak and the Horde were originally intended to be enemies for He-Man, and not She-Ra? With astute attention to detail and feedback, the creative teams seemed to know exactly how to appeal to the sensitivities of boys and girls, crafting tales of adventure and magic that entertained, but also imparted important moral lessons to impressionable minds.

The collection itself is amazingly put together, with a durable hard cover and its own attached bookmark. The minicomic book pages have been beautifully restored and resized to more traditional comic book page proportions without any sacrifice on the literary, artistic, or physical presentation. They seem even more brand new than their original paper versions and will last much longer. This will cater to the nostalgia crowd, as will the sequence of interviews with the people involved that are placed in between each set of stories.

Featuring the work of Donald F. Glut, Bruce Timm, and many more of the genre’s greatest writers and artists, the Masters of the Universe Minicomic Collection is a wonderful trip down memory lane and a fine tribute to one of the best loved sagas of the 1980s. A fine addition to any fan’s shelf.

He-Man has had many incarnations. This has lots of them.

It begins with the first Incarnation. With Eternia being a world that was once devastated by a great war. Castel Grayskull, Point Dread and the Talon Fighter were remanents of the world before that war. He-Man came from a caveman like culture, and had been the greatest warrior in his tribe. He was entrusted by the sorceress to guard Grayskull. Both Skeletor and He-Man each had Half the Power Sword. Each seeking to gain the others half.

Next comes the comics most similar to the Original 80's cartoon series. He-Man is who Prince Adam becomes when Energized with the Power of Grayskull. Free to enter Grayskull at will, with the Sorceress living in Grayskull. He-Man defending Eternia and Grayskull against Skeletor, Hordak, and eventually King Hiss.

Next comes He-Man finding his long lost Twin Sister. With her becoming She-Ra and defending the planet Etheria against the Evil Horde.

Next came the 90''s He-Man. Not as good. Skeletor escapes into the future, forcing He-Man to follow him. The Power of Grayskull and the Wisdom of the Ancient Eternians merged with the Power and Technology of a time ship - the Star Ship Eternia.

Finally comes the comics based on the 21st century's reboot of the 80's cartoon series. With adventures similar to the 80's cartoon/comics, but not rip or knock offs. Those comics, and that series, honored the spirit of the first cartoon and comics nicely.

In every version: He-Man is a Warrior, a Protector, a Leader and Champion. The enemy of Skeletor and Defender of The Power of Grayskull. Most of all, in any version, He-Man is always "The Most Powerful Man in the Universe".

This is not some cheap book with thin pages...this book is thick, heavy, and includes every mini-comic including the larger sized book which came with the epic Point Dread playset (which had also included a read-along record...no record included here though). If you're like me, and lost all your mini-comics, thus losing some of the memories of some of the stories and photos, this book is like a time warp that brings it all home. Full of extras, this book will make you feel like a kid all over again.