The Man of Tomorrow meets his match in The Power of Greyskull! Your Major Spoilers (Retro) Review of DC Comics Presents #47 awaits!

DC COMICS PRESENTS #47

Writer: Paul Kupperberg
Penciler: Curt Swan
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Colorist: Gene D’Angelo
Letterer: Ben Oda
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: 60 Cents
Current Near-Mint Pricing: $350.00
Release Date: May 16, 1982

Previously in DC Comics Presents: It really all began with Star Wars. The massive success of the movie was one thing, but the follow-up success of the toy line was where the REAL money turned out to be hiding. Mattel debuted the Masters of the Universe prototypes (which, they said in subsequent legal proceedings, had no influence from Conan The Barbarian, even though multiple Conan creators were involved in the design) in 1982, making them larger than the Star Wars or G.I. Joe figurines of the era, shipping them with mini-comics that explained the lore, but it wasn’t until the second wave of figures were released that DC Comics was contracted to produce the mini-comics. But one thing about the Bronze Age of Comics was the need to fit nearly everything into their shared universe, an obsession that I frankly blame on Stan Lee.

It beings in Eternia, as Man-At-Arms (who looks frankly bizarre missing his handlebar mustache from the Filmation cartoons) tries in vain to teach Prince Adam the finer points of combat. Instead of listening to the tactical lessons, he uses his tremendous superhuman strength to bull through the obstacle course, even tying a huge barbell in a knot. No secret identities here, my friends…

At least, not on Eternia.

In the city of Metropolis, though, Clark Kent has to work hard to keep people from guessing his identity, even to the point of humiliation. This page is the first inkling I had that something was up with the art, as that last panel just DOES NOT look like classic Curt Swan Superman. We get more scenes in Eternia, a world that still more resembles the Hyborian Age of Conan than what Eternia would come to be, including Prince Adam having a drink in the local tavern, starting a bar fight and suddenly getting summoned by the Sorceress, who brings him news of Skeletor’s latest plot.

The skull-faced muscleman’s attempts to break into Castle Grayskull somehow break through the dimensions into Earth-1 (or whatever Earth-1 offshoot this takes place on) dragging Superman through a portal to fight his foe super-mano-a-he-mano. Superman breaks free, but the effort leaves him drained, as magical things have a tendency. He is thrown clear, right into the path of He-Man (who doesn’t have his Power Sword, but instead wields a battleaxe) and the two heroes make a run for it. After some quick exposition (which once again shows the odd pairing in pencil and ink), they attack Skeletor, who finally takes control of the Man of Steel, to explosive effect!

Since it’s the Bronze Age, and nobody is gonna upstage Superman in one of his own books, he takes the bout, but manages to shake Skeletor’s influence long enough to encase the villain in stone. That;’s when… um… they seemingly run out of pages?

Superman leaves Eternia, still puzzled by what just occurred, while He-man promises they might team up again. (I don’t think that actually happened, but Masters of the Universe appeared as bonus insert stories throughout DC’s November ’82 titles, including issue #51 of this book.) DC Comics Presents #47 is not just the first full-size He-Man, but the first appearance of Prince Adam, a key piece of He-Man lore, as well as the stepping stone to the later MotU limited series, and while it’s pretty much a by rote “hero meets hero and they fight” tale, the dialogue is fun stuff, earning 3 out of 5 stars overall. Even though the Swan/DeCarlo team doesn’t feel particularly well-matched, the art is solid throughout the book, moving back and forth from looking like Curt’s work to looking like Mike’s, but never looking less than okay.

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