He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Minicomic Collection from Dark Horse Books

[Captain Atkin]

Dark Horse Books is putting out a collected edition of all of the vintage Masters of the Universe minicomics!

Originally posted at Edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com:

The toy juggernaut Masters of the Universe and its subsequent action figure lines featured memorable pack-in minicomics that aided in playtime for children across the world. This oversized hardcover collection features sixty-eight U.S. releases, including all minicomics from the ’80s Masters of the Universe line, the ’80s Princess of Power line, and the ’80s and ’90s He-Man line, plus an introduction to the minicomics in the current Masters of the Universe Classics toy line. Relive the illustrated adventures that fueled your imagination!

Over 1000 pages of minicomics collected for the first time featuring interviews with the original comics creators!

Series Overview: This oversized hardcover collection features sixty-eight U.S. releases, including all minicomics from the ’80s Masters of the Universe line, the ’80s Princess of Power line, and the ’80s and ’90s He-Man line, plus an introduction to the minicomics in the current Masters of the Universe Classics toy line.

[Mechanizor]

YAY... Finally!!!! :fakerrocks:

[Andy]

Great news!!

...even if they are including the MotU classics minis.

[Mechanizor]

I hope not, Neitlich's legacy should be abolished completely...

[RoboSteveo]

Does anyone know if the unpublished 80s mini-comic "Return from Terror Island!" will be included in this book?

[Emiliano]

Does anyone know if the unpublished 80s mini-comic "Return from Terror Island!" will be included in this book?

That comic is owned by one of our PAH Foundation's member, and so far we haven't been approached about it

[GREP-A-TOR]

did the PAH contact them?

[Captain Atkin]

That comic is owned by one of our PAH Foundation's member, and so far we haven't been approached about it

It would be amazing if the "Return From Terror Island!" mini-comic was included as part of this book! That is something I have wanted to see for years. A few pictures were posted by James Eatock a few years ago. The mini-comic was never coloured, so if it could be coloured and included in the book it would make it a "must buy" in my eyes. It would certainly make the book extra special

[Black Zodac]

Would be very cool to see a colored version of this comic in the book. This is a real gem of a find.

[Battle Ram Man]

This is really exciting! I hope they're blown up a bit bigger than the originals

[Croc-O-Bite!]

I'll be preordering this immediately.
First the art book and now this. 2015 is shaping up to be a great year for MOTU! (Plus I'll finally get a Prahvus figure too!!!)
I hope Darkhorse hurries up and contacts that PAH member about the unpublished mini comic, what a great addition that would be to an already wonderful book.
I can't wait to read all the original Alcala stories (before Filmation came along), without needing my laptop to do it.

[Shawn]

The first four "mini comics" are fairly easy enough to find, not that expensive. He-man and the Power Sword seams to be climbing in price the last couple years, it really shouldn't be since it's not that uncommon. It's not super rare like Ultimate Battle Ground, The Energy Zoids or Menace of Multi-Bot are. Luckily for us all, those free high rez scans look GREAT on a 7" Tablet.

[Matthew L. Martin]

I ran the numbers yesterday, and there are either 64 or 65 vintage minicomics--it depends on whether the "Fantastic Fashions" catalog for PoP is counted. The press release says there will be 68, so we can expect the three-part "The Powers of Grayskull" from 2012 and maybe "The Secret Origin of Skeletor!" from 2013. Those aren't exactly great works, but from what I've seen, they aren't as bad as what we've seen out of "The Fall of Eternia".

I'm looking forward to this for convenience, nostalgia and the interview extras. I wonder if they'll fix the layout goof in "The Powers of Grayskull: The Legend Begins" (the original version), where pages 2-3 are pretty obviously meant to be a single splash page, but the layout places them on back-to-back pages.

[Shawn]

Good point about the Fantastic Fashions. If that is included, then IMO so should the other catalog for MOTU with the movie cover.

Another good point about the layout goof, I like reading them digitally just for THIS reason alone. Since there are a few different versions of a couple of the comics, (He-man and the Power Sword page count springs to mind) I wonder how they will handle that? Should they include both versions? include the Text of both versions and make a note of which art pages are missing in the 2nd edition?

What about Power of the Evil Horde and the Danger at Castle Grayskull/Power of point Dread. Depending on how they are counting, that's two or three "mini comics" right there. That would leave marginal room for the MOTUC stuff. IT does say "introduction too" so perhaps , it's just a page talking about and listing them with release dates? I wouldn't be opposed to them getting a single page at the back end.

[orkothegreat]

YES !!!! take my money and shut up !!!

[Shawn]

What would be cool, is if this collection include vintage bios from the licensing kits and style guides. I know that might add to the page count, but if the mini comics are going to be produced at the original size, then there will be plenty of room to add that type of stuff in the blank spaces. It would go well with the interviews from the creators and make the book feel 100% complete. It will be interesting to see what new info Darkhorse might be able to find that fans have not!

If Power of the Evil Horde and Danger at Castle Grayskull/Power of Pint Dread are counted, (and they had BETTER BE!) perhaps they won't include the MOTUC mini comics at all? I would hate for any vintage "mini comic" NOT to be included with this collection! NONE of the six MOTUClassics mini comics belong in this collection, not just because of quality, (perceived or otherwise) or personal preference, but this collection should be PURE VINTAGE. MOTUC story is largely based on MYP, which is a reboot, whereas vintage mini comic (and Filmation) are the basis for ALL MOTU stories. We already have too much confusion concerning what is Canon and which stories are in continuity with what. Adding MOTUC mini comic will further confuse people who don't know any better. Including MOTUC mini comic would be similar to what George Lucas did regarding the Special Editions VS The UNALTERED Orig Trig. Besides, MOTUClassics can be Vol. two. Include all of Teh Bios, throw in that concept art (Mighty Spetcer, Wun-Dar, Vykron VS Gygor) 30th anniversary art from Udon, The vehicle box art and the Maps and MOTUC can be celebrated with it's own awesome art book!

I'm curious what order the mini comics will be in? I know it doesn't seam like it, but we do have SOME continuity between certain issues. "Reading order vs production order" is a conversation I certainly hope is being had. I for one, vote reading order, as that is more important to me. Production order can be noted, continuity cannot.

I'm excited, but concerned, just like with the art book. Things seamed to be working out for the best now that the Power and Honor foundation became involved with that. Do we have to start another Letter writing campaign to get that unpublished mini comic included? I hope not. I hope Dark Horde and the Power and Honor foundation can work together again!

Speaking of unpublished mini comics, another thing that NEEDS to be included is what little info we have about The Powers of Grayskull parts 2 & 3. Given that it's only a couple internal Mattel documents (some of which was published in the 2009 SDCC art book) and the He-Man.org Opening the Vault Interviews, that couldn't take up that much space, and it would most certainly be more fitting for this collection then including a 3 part reboot of a story that never got finished in the first place Perhaps include He-Ro and Eldor's card backs in this book? That might not fit, but it would wet the appetite for a art book dedicated completely to card back and card box art.

I guess I just don't want anything to be missing. We've waited so long. This needs to be PERFECT.

[PhantomZodak]

This oversized hardcover collection

what are the dimensions? it would have to be pretty big for me to buy it.

[Croc-O-Bite!]

I just pre-ordered this on Amazon.ca :hemanrocks:

[Matthew L. Martin]

what are the dimensions? it would have to be pretty big for me to buy it.

Right now, sources are listing it at 1120 pages. That implies a straightforward 1:1 page conversion. I really can't see how they expect to make a profit with something that big at a $30 price point, but maybe production costs are the only costs associated with this.

[Captain Wow]

Just pre-ordered this book today. It'll be pretty sweet considering I had wanted to buy all the original minicomics to have a complete set. I used to have a bunch of them as a kid but our house burned down in 1995 so I lost them all (and my vintage figures and Grayskull too ).

[Mechanizor]

I also just pre-ordered my copy from Amazon with a discount... However it's going to be a loooong wait. :skeletormes:

[PhantomZodak]

Right now, sources are listing it at 1120 pages. That implies a straightforward 1:1 page conversion. I really can't see how they expect to make a profit with something that big at a $30 price point, but maybe production costs are the only costs associated with this.

i mean the dimensions as in wide & height. how many inches/centimeters are the pages

[Matthew L. Martin]

what are the dimensions? it would have to be pretty big for me to buy it.

More information has been released, and you may be disappointed--it's 6" x 9". They have, however, increased the page count to 1232. More Classics minicomics, more interviews and background material, or "Return to Terror Island"?

I just want that darned PoG outline. If it exists, show it to us already!

[Mechanizor]

More information has been released, and you may be disappointed--it's 6" x 9". They have, however, increased the page count to 1232. More Classics minicomics, more interviews and background material, or "Return to Terror Island"?

6x9? That's a lot smaller than I anticipated!

[Battle Ram Man]

I don't mind the size per se, but a book that thick is going to be hard to read, and will probably fall apart at the binding if read too much.

[Mechanizor]

Exactly, unless if the paper quality is crappy thin!

[Draego-Man]

They should be doing this with four squares across each page, so that four minicomic pages are represented on a single page of the book. That way they could keep the same size images as the minicomics, but also keep the page count of this book down. It would be stupid to do it any other way.