Lord Fallen Eldor of He-Man.org came across this fascinating, never-published He-Man comic from the 1980s, apparently made by Whitman Comics.
It’s a very different origin story for He-Man, with a level of character development that rivals the MYP series. There’s something approaching actual pathos in He-Man’s story–and they even explain where he got the goofy name. It makes for an intriguing might-have-been for the MOTUniverse.
Here’s what the eBay description was:
ADRIAN GONZALES (1937 – 1998) drew for such 1960s Philippine comics publications as Hiwaga Komiks and Tagalog Klasiks. Like many of his countrymen, he went to work for the US market during the 1970s, where he drew for Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction, World’s Finest, and others.
This is the original art for page 3 of an unpublished Masters of the Universe origin story, retelling He-Man’s origin, circa 1984. The art is in very good condition with light overall wear and aging. The image area measures 14″ x 17″.
This story is so different from any Masters incarnation we’ve ever seen–even the early minicomics–that I’d love to know what the story is behind it.
Anyway, start here and change the end number (3, 4, 5) to move forward. They go up to 32 and end on an unfortunate cliffhanger… http://www.lewiswaynegallery.com/images/12498_3.jpg
Also, I want a Moonspinner figure now.
Also: what’s the deal with Man-At-Arms referring to a sign written in English as “mysterious runes”? A lot going on in this comic!
Surprisingly interesting stuff. I'd love to buy a page or two.
i just saw this stuff on the org. man if i would have seen it on ebay i would have bought it up faster than a cocaine heartbeat!!
Nice find!!!
As if the Wonderbread mystery wasn't enough…now this mysterious origin story!
Cool stuff!
Wow. That's awesome!
I wouldn't want this to be the official canon. But it definitely is a great read!
I really enjoyed that. Certainly gives a little bit of depth to He-Man. One thing I never really liked about the Filmation/MYP incarnation was that He-Man really has no driving force behind him. What if Batman never lost his parents and was just a millionaire playboy vigilante? It would take a lot away from the character. He-Man on the other hand has suffered no great loss, he's just absolute good in every way. At least with the mini-comic origins where he was given the armor from the Green Goddess he was just a common man/barbarian and he was granted this power.
Referring to the sign in English as "ancient runes" is interesting. It would be interesting to think of Eternia as being thousands of years in Earth's future.
I think my favorite part probably is how He-Man saves Battle Cat. I'd guess that around page 32/33, the tiger would've returned to save He-Man and Teela from the demons. Wouldn't surprise me if some fanfic authors will jump onto this comic.
Wow, that was awesome!
One thing I love about MOTU is the crazy diversity of story between stuff like this, minicomics, Filmation, 200X, and others. In addition to all the official and semi-official stuff is the imagination stuff I came up with as a kid which often I think hits my nostalgia more than anything else.
Demons! Gimme some Demons!
I really like this; it has a much more mature feel to it than basically everything else we got back in the day. I can imagine that as the reason why it never saw print, actually!
dude!!!! great find, that was a blast!
Very cool — thanks for the link. The early muddled stuff is my favorite MOTU media by far. I think I liked this story better when John Milius did it in "Conan the Barbarian," though.
He-Man Begins? This story is awesome! Thanks Poe!
I love the play between Teela and He-Man.
That's quite cool.
I think I like it more than the story shown in the cartoons.
That was a great read.Was the official comicbooks this good or are they neutered like the cartoon.Wish there was a script for these.
@MechaShiva: I'm very fond of the three-issue DC Comics miniseries, which isn't quite as interesting as this in terms of storytelling, but is full of Kirby-esque blood and thunder.
I'm not sure about the other comics, like the Star comics…
Thanks Poe, stuff like this is what makes the internet great. Couldn't load page 5 for some reason though. Would really like to read the whole script if it exists.
His art is similar enough to my own I'd be interested in finishing it, inking the rest and colorizing it similar to the first 4 mini-comics. To have an "original" non-authorized origin comic would be great — kind of a comment to Mattel's foolishness for never using it. Never cared for the cartoons, even though one of the guys who worked on it had worked with my Dad. Liked the first mini comics though, and their more illustrative quality — it was like Conan for little kids!
History in the making.
@Poe
Cool.I'm going to look them up.
@Emerald
Yeah,I hope the script's still around,continuing this "lost" comic would be great.
Wow – kind of makes me think we got cheated back in the 80's with the U rated crap they eventually shovelled out in the Cartoon. I'm sure they were scared with the "maturity level" contained but I would have been totally ok with this as a kid.
Proof that even then Mattel were creatively clueless too.
i knew it from the start that Teela and He-man had a thing going!!
as a comic artist i kinda like to complete the drawings with ink & color…maybe a save for not so busy times! thank you, Poe!
Awesome! does this mean that a Filipino drew the first He-Man stories? I normally don't jump on the nationalism bandwagon but I loved MotU as a kid and I never thought someone from here had a hand in its creation.
Very cool.
@slangards:
Go Check up on Alfredo Alcala who drew for the mini comics,he is also Filipino.
That was some good ole-fashioned 80's fun. Very evocative of a lot of the origin stories of the time.
I second the comments above that I'd love to see a comic treatment of this story.
I think the main character designer for the Transformers cartoon was also fillipino.
@Kid Nicky: @Kid Nicky:
You mean,Floro Dery,he simplified the Diaclone designs to be animation friendly for the series and did a lot of stuff in the movie,Lol,spot how many Pinoy artists in the design credits for the 80's Transformers movie.
Add that to the TF:TM drinking game!
Please, has someone inked and continued the unfinished comic???
That'd be REALLY COOL!!!!