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3rd Series

The Obelisk

Plot: As every year, a huge mysterious Obelisk rises from the ground. He-Man wants to prevent Skeletor from using its power, so he and his friends guard the north side of it. Skeletor approaches from the south, but he's beaten up anyway. The Sorceress tells He-Man about the magic of the Obelisk: everytime someone says Power to good it releases something to help the good guys. If Power to evil is exclaimed, the evil are aided. He-Man tries it out, but Skeletor has also heard everything and calls the Obelisk for help. They both continue to yell their words, and each time a new being - good and evil - appears. Suddenly, the Obelisk crumbles and falls apart. All summoned creatures disappear and the evil guys run away. But the Obelisk will return...
Comments: The Obelisk as a mysterious 'being' is very interesting! And thanks to Alfredo Alcala, the artwork is also of top class. But the rest... well... how foolish can anyone be? Attacking from the south because the good guys are guarding the north? We're talking of an Obelisk here! As if the side would matter - it's not that huge! And the secret of it and the solution are also not too spectacular.

The Siege of Avion

Plot: The Ilkorts, a tribe of monsters who are the mortal enemies of the bird-people of Avion, attack. In spite of He-Man's and Man-at-Arms' resistence, they capture Delora, Stratos' wife. Skeletor uses this confusion to steal the Emerald Staff. That is Avion's most precious artifact, it enables the people to fly. Without it, they'll soon lose this ability. He-Man, Man-at-Arms, Teela and Stratos form a rescue squad to get both Delora free again and get the staff back. In Snake Mountain, the Ilkorts, Skeletor and several illusions await them. In addition, Skeletor summons a huge monster using the power of the staff. He-Man's powersword unravels the illusions and Delora is free. Skeletor's demon proves to be too strong even for He-Man though. In the moment Stratos grabs the staff, Skeletor has lost its power. Everything's returned to its/their rightful place.
Comments: Well, Stratos is one of the lamest characters of the whole line. Stupid monkey-face! But Skeletor's demon.... rrrrrrr......
Thanks to eastpaw and Hellspawn for the scans!

Masks of Power

Plot: Skeletor sends two Orcs to get the Masks of Power from an ancient ruin for him. But the tiny creatures wear the masks just to try them out and are changed to huge mighty monsters by them. Possessed by the masks, they begin searching for the Sword of the Ancients which they sense are deep beneath Snake Mountain. They imprison the Lord of Destruction within his own dominion. He-Man and Fisto follow. They can't free Skeletor but he commands Mer-Man to show the heroic warriors the way through the maze. With his help, the good guys even manage to dive through an underwater passage. Finally they find the Sword of the Ancients buried in a quartz rock. The monsters weren't able to remove it. But it's no problem for He-Man! He uses this sword to destroy the masks - the creatures change back to ordinary Orcs. Skeletor offers He-Man to rule Eternia together, but He-Man declines. He drops the sword in the Mystic Mountains and it's swallowed by the ground.
Comments: A new and stronger evil than Skeletor! The good and bad guys working together! A very good comic. And it even shows how possessed of fighting He-Man is: if he had accepted Skeletor's offer in the end, there wouldn't have been any need for war anymore and everyone could have been happy! Skeletor is ready to make compromises - He-Man obviously not...
Thanks to Marvin for the German version!

He-Man and the Insect People

Plot: The Sorceress tells He-Man and company about some evil coming from below the surface of Eternia. The friends enter the caves and encounter some horrible giant monsters. This all happens because Beast Man is holding the queen of the Kex, some kind of mixture of humans and insects, as his prisoner. He's waiting for the eggs to hatch because as long as he controls the queen, more monsters will be born and be under his control. The good guys save the Kex people in the very last moment and Beast Man runs away.
Comments: At last Beast Man gets the attention that he deserves! He's not just Skeletor's lackey, but an independent warrior!

Dragon's Gift

Plot: Skeletor wants to turn the king into a statue with a cursed amulet. It strikes Man-at-Arms instead (yay, party!). He-Man and Teela seek advise from Granamyr, the oldest and wisest dragon on Eternia. After some trouble with a few monsters, they reach his cave. He agrees to help them if they do something for him in return: chop down an ancient tree and bring it to him. A manticore is guarding this tree. It is no match for He-Man though. The tree (who has a face and can talk) agrees to be chopped down to save Man-at-Arms' life. He-Man suddenly gets a concious though and spares it. Granamyr proclaims this was all just a test of He-Man's mercy and wisdom and that he has done well. The dragon provides them with a spell to save Duncan.
Comments: Urgh! Exactly like one of those cartoon episodes with this hideous moral :( Granamyr is lame, lame, lame! And the story doesn't even make sense: why would He-Man first agree to 'kill' this tree but then (after it has agreed!) not do it? Bah. Back to the drawing board.
Thanks to Ravenscribe and Hellspawn for the scans!

Slave City

Plot: He-Man saves an unkown woman from a horde of ugly monsters. She tells him about the city of Targa where the evil Lodar rules. He enslaved the woman's tribe. He-Man heads off to this city to free the people, but he's knocked out by a giant boulder rolling down a mountain in a storm. The monsters bring him into Lodar's prison. Lodar decides He-Man has to fight an Indian called Garn in an arena. The victor should be set free. He-Man wins, but he refuses to kill his competitor. Instead, he attacks Lodar and of course wins. Lodar's henchmen flee at the sight of their master loosing.
Comments: Objectively, this is nothing but an average minicomic. But for some reason the German authorities labelled it as 'too brutal' for release here. Also note that most of the figures it came with (Adam, Orko and Zodac) didn't even appear in the story!

Double-Edged Sword

Plot: He-Man and Battle Cat are attacked by man-eating plants in the Vine Jungle. They also save a boy: Leon, the grandson of consul Ari. The old man brings a warning that Skeletor is about to attack the palace. Exactly this happens. Beast Man captures Leon and Skeletor throws both him and He-Man into a giant hole in the ground which Evil-Lyn seals magically. Without He-Man, the heroic warriors don't stand a chance against Skeletor's vine monsters. He-Man fails to break the seal, but together with Ram-Man he manages to break free. The evil guys run away.
Comments: The 'moral' of this one is not overly subtle. Work together, work together, work together. Even a bit annoying...

The Clash of Arms

Plot: Fisto is scouting the borders on Stridor. Tri-Klops, Clawful, Webstor and Jitsu attack them and take Fisto as their prisoner. Stridor escapes. Evil Lyn and Skeletor decide the hero should fight for his life in the Circle of Doom (a kind of roman Colosseum). He manages to beat Clawful and Jitsu. But then Whiplash enters the arena. The exhausted Fisto doesn't stand a chance against the blows of the dragon's tail. But Stridor has called He-Man who arrives at the arena in the very last moment! With his energy weapon, he scares off Skeletor's men, frees Fisto and destroys the Circle of Doom completely.
Comments: This is an interesting comic because it shows that Skeletor also has a kind of 'kingdom'! Besides, did you notice that on the last page you can see that Castle Grayskull lies in direct neighbourhood of the Circle of Doom? ;)
Thanks to Lord Deimos for the German version!

The Temple of Darkness

Plot: Zoar is captured by Skeletor in the Sands of Time and is imprisoned in the Temple of Darkness. He-Man, Man-at-Arms, Teela and Ram-Man set up to rescue her. The Lord of Destruction uses the the magic of a jewel to create a sandstorm and a giant scarab, but the heroes can't be stopped. Within the temple, the evil one throws Time Demons and another scarab at them, but to no avail. Skeletor accidently drops the jewel, the temple disappears, the Sands of Time turn into a Jungle, the Sorceress is saved.
Comments: The story isn't the most original thing. But it's still a good comic, very dark, violent and last but not least imaginative. Comparable with Geldor.
Thanks to Marvin for the German version!

The Secret Liquid of Life!

Plot: The Sorceress and He-Man see how He-Man's old friend Prince Dakon runs away from Geldor and his monsters who have kidnapped Dakon's future father-in-law, Torgul. Torgul knows about the location of the Secret Liquid of Life and Geldor wants to own it. He-Man, Teela, Buzz-Off, Ram-Man and Dakon set out to free him. Meanwhile, Geldor tricks Torgul into telling the secret place. The heroic warriors come too late but they have no problem beating Geldor's remaining monsters up. Now both parties know where the liquid is: in the Ogre's Cavern! There, He-Man and company encounter walls, Gnolls and a giant blue monster with visible brains before they finally find the liquid. But Geldor is there too, and he holds Maran (Torgul's daughter and Dakon's bride) and Teela as hostages! He-Man pretends to give him the liquid, but in the very last moment he drops it. From it, a giant tree emerges within seconds, destroying the cave and taking Geldor with it.
Comments: It's striking how few actual 'regular' Masters characters appear in this issue! The villain and the three main characters around whom the story unfolds were all just made up especially for this tiny comic. The full title is It's He-Man versus Geldor for The Secret Liquid of Life by the way.