HE-MAN NEWSPAPER STRIP PART 2

"NINJOR STALKS BY NIGHT" | "TERROR TAKES TIME"
Story: Chris Weber | Art & Lettering: Gérald Forton
Colors by: Connie Schurr | Editor: Karen Wilson

What's that? You say you want a He-Man adventure that introduces a formidable new villain, that features a compelling plot, and that even throws in some soap opera style material, along with a better look at the Eternian governmental structure than anything ever seen on TV or in prior comics? Then friend, "Ninjor Stalks by Night" is the story for you!

Seriously, though -- I know we're only three story arcs in as of this tale, but it's easily the highlight of the newspaper strips thus far. We begin with a new villain, Ninjor, plotting to kill He-Man while, at the Royal Palace, Adam performs his usual "uninterested goof-off" routine to make sure no one realizes he and He-Man are the same person. Adam lamenting the fact that his secret forces him to keep up this front was something that popped up now and then in the Filmation series, as was his father's occasional disappointment in him -- but for the most part, it was usually case of "Oh, that Adam!" as everyone laughed things off in the end. (Which isn't to say the cartoon didn't delve into the relationship further than that once in a while; it certainly did. But mostly it was superficial.)

Ninjor's plan involves kidnapping Man-At-Arms and Extendar, to use them as bait for He-Man. Adam is about to change into He-Man and search for the missing duo when Randor finds him and assigns him "homework" for a council meeting the next day. But Adam blows off the assignment to search for his allies, instead. Interestingly, when Randor spots Adam holding his Power Sword above his head, the king tells his son to be careful handling the sword, because it's an heirloom. Now, while later MASTERS continuities would indeed establish that Adam and Randor are descendants of King Greyskull, the first warrior to wield the blade, in Filmation's storyline, it was established that the Sorceress held the weapon until the day it was time to give it to Adam. So, while the line was probably written as a throwaway, it turns out to disregard Filmation continuity and support an as-yet-uncreated continuity instead.

He-Man and Battle Cat eventually locate Man-At-Arms in Eternia's Nipana Hills. The two are attacked by Scare-Glow and Blast-Attak, who test He-Man's abilities before Ninjor subdues the hero with sleeping powder. The sudden arrival of Teela prevents Ninjor from taking further action, and the villains escape once more with Man-At-Arms. Later, at the palace, Adam attends Randor's council meeting, where the king orders that all councilors will be assigned bodyguards until the kidnappers of Man-At-Arms and Extendar can be found. Teela is assigned as Adam's guard, and Adam immediately conspires with Orko to escape her watchful eye.

That night, Ninjor sneaks into the palace and kidnaps Randor from under his guards' noses. Adam is named the ruler of Eternia in his father's absence, and soon finds that affairs of state and Teela's presence keep him from changing into He-Man to locate Randor and the others. Meanwhile, we learn that Ninjor has been hired by Skeletor as part of a bid to seize Eternia's throne, but Ninjor has his own agenda -- Skeletor's prize weapon, the Havoc Staff, was actually created by Ninjor's people millennia ago, and Ninjor wants it back.

The following night, Ninjor strikes again, kidnapping Adam -- but, once he's tossed into a cell with Randor, the prince reveals that he's actually Orko in disguise. Back at the palace, Adam is now free to change into He-Man. As he and Battle Cat head out to trail Ninjor, Skeletor arrives at the palace to take control. I'm not sure why the absence of Randor and Adam has him thinking everyone else on the planet will roll over and serve him, though -- unless he plans to reveal his true heritage as Randor's brother and a rightful heir to the throne! But, while that would be an outstanding development for this storyline, it's not to be. That relationship between Skeletor and Randor existed only in the minicomics at this time, nowhere else.

He-Man and Battle Cat catch up with Ninjor, who tells He-Man that he will only release his allies if he will steal the Havoc Staff. With no other option at hand, He-Man leaves to carry out Ninjor's assignment. He and Battle Cat return to the palace, beat Scare-Glow and Blast-Attak, and relieve Skeletor of his weapon. Then Ninjor appears immediately, grabs the staff, and summons a dinosaur (!) from Eternia's distant past to fight He-Man, but our hero wins the day. Skeletor escapes with his staff back in hand, and Ninjor and his dino vanish.

The storyline ends with Adam, rather than He-Man, arriving at Ninjor's stronghold to spring Randor, Orko, and the others. As can be gleaned from the above, this arc features more twists than your usual He-Man story, and the political side of Adam's and Randor's lives, while still left fairly undeveloped, is nice to see. The idea that Randor rules Eternia with a council, and that Adam sits on that council in order to one day rule, makes sense. And now, thanks to "Ninjor Stalks by Night", I'm imagining a MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE continuity with some GAME OF THRONES-style political maneuvering alongside the expected action and adventure. This arc proves that something like that could be a lot of fun if done well.

The next storyline, "Terror Takes Time", begins with Adam basking in the approval of Randor, who is extremely pleased with his son's navigation of the ship of state during his captivity. But our hero's thoughts soon turn to the fact that he recently battled two villains from the past -- King Hiss and Ninjor's dinosaur, which we're now informed is called Tyrantosaurus Rex (a toy from very late in the MASTERS line). Adam worries that something's going weird with the fabric of time, and heads to Castle Greyskull to consult the Sorceress.

And, though it seems to me that Adam's theory is half-baked -- while Tyrantosaurus was brought forward through a time portal, King Hiss simply woke up from hibernation in the modern day -- the Sorceress peers into the past and finds something isn't right in Eternia's prehistoric era. She sends Adam back to investigate, and Chris Weber tosses in a cool idea: since Castle Greyskull hasn't yet been built in the ancient past, Adam can't call upon its power to transform into He-Man. Thus the Sorceress equips him with a small pendant containing a fraction of the power of Greyskull, which Adam can use to change for very brief periods.

In the past, Adam discovers that Hordak has gone back in time with his henchman Mosquitor, having concocted a plan to steal all of the precious element that would eventually be used to build Greyskull. Thus Hordak would then be able to return to a Greyskull-less present, and easily conquer Eternia. To handle all the manual labor for his scheme, Hordak has brought a small army of slaves from modern day Etheria, allowing Adam to name-check that world, as well as his sister, Adora, and her friend Bow -- as well as the Battle of Bright Moon, the major conflict from "The Secret of the Sword", the TV serial that introduced She-Ra. Further, after joining up with the slaves and leading them in revolt, He-Man even shouts out the battle cry "For the honor of Greyskull", which was Adora's incantation to transform into She-Ra. So, it seems that while She-Ra herself is off limits to appear in this strip, the trappings of her series are fair game to be mentioned anytime.

He-Man of course saves the day and Hordak and Mosquitor retreat to the future. A time portal appears as scheduled to return He-Man to the present, but it's only big enough for one, forcing him to leave the Etherians behind to fend for themselves in a prehistoric Eternia inhabited by the savage ancestors of the Snake Men. It's a nice predestination paradox on Weber's part, as He-Man hints that these modern day Etherians will become the ancestors of all modern day Eternians, thus tying both worlds together in a more intimate way than ever before.

The other major development in this arc is that Adam/He-Man falls for the leader of the Etherian slaves, a woman named Verona -- but there's a bit of a triangle, as another slave named Martin has feelings for Verona as well, while she isn't certain whether to give her heart to Adam or Martin. Eventually she chooses Martin, and of course He-Man returns to the present day by himself anyway, quashing any thought of a future relationship between the two, but still -- it's nice to see Filmation's usually chaste He-Man actually develop some romantic feelings for another person!