From Eternia—With Death! is the first Masters of the Universe story published by DC Comics.[1] It is the lead feature in DC Comics Presents #47 (published April 8 1982, cover dated July 1982).[2] Superman, the regular lead character in the DC Comics Presents series, is thrust into the world of Eternia in a crossover with the Masters of the Universe characters.
Summary[]
At the Royal Palace, Man-At-Arms is training Prince Adam, who causes him grief by messing the training. Teela observes this and highlights Adam's lack of responsibility.
Later, at the Dragon's Breath Inn, Adam is partying and drinking beer with some fellows while his pet Cringer only wants to return to the calm of the palace. A man known only as "Crusher" insults Cringer, getting into a fight with Adam that is interrupted by Teela and a troop of Royal Guards. Then, Adam sees the falcon and knows he's being called, so he leaves Teela to go to the Cavern of Power. There, Adam and Cringer take their forms of He-Man and Battle Cat and are greeted by the Goddess, who tells them that Skeletor is trying to get inside Castle Grayskull.
Outside Grayskull, Skeletor talks about the need of having both halves of the Power Sword to open the castle. Beastman notices Skeletor only has one half, but he tries to use it to open Grayskull anyways. The magic energies released by this action cause a portal cloud to appear on Earth, bringing Superman to Eternia. Superman believes "the skull-faced clown with the overgrown pocket-knife" cannot harm him, but since the Power Sword is magical, and magic is one of Superman's weaknesses, the sword cuts Superman. Beastman then attacks Superman, but the brute is defeated and Skeletor blasts Superman away.
He-Man finds Superman and recognises him from what he has been told by his earthen mother, so they decide to face Skeletor together, and then Man-At-Arms reaches them in the Wind Raider. Everybody faces Skeletor, but he mind-controls Superman, who faces He-Man until defeating him. Then Skeletor tries to make Superman to open Castle Grayskull, but Superman concentrates enough to use his heat vision to melt the ground beneath Skeletor's feet, and then harden it with his super-breath to trap Skeletor. Skeletor tries to cast a new spell to control Superman, but Superman catches him, so Skeletor decides to escape instead, and vanishes. Superman still doesn't totally understand what just went on, but he doesn't have time for an explanation from the recovered He-Man, because his super-vision spots a time-space warp opening up over Eternia, that he must reach to return to Earth. He-Man bids farewell to his new ally.
Characters[]
- Heroic Warriors
- Cringer/Battle Cat (first appearance)
- Prince Adam/He-Man (first appearance)
- Man-At-Arms (first appearance)
- Teela (first appearance)
- Allies
- Goddess (first appearance)
- Royal Guard (first appearance)
- Superman (first MOTU related appearance)
- Zoar (first appearance)
- Evil Warriors
- Others
- Crusher (first and only appearance)
- Josh Coyle (first and only MOTU related appearance)
- Locations
- Vehicles
Notes[]
- This is the first appearance of the Prince Adam identity. In this early stages, he seems to have some degree of strength as Adam, even though not as much as his He-Man identity. Cringer also makes his first appearance and is able to speak.
- Teela refers to Man-At-Arms as her father for the first time.
- Adam's parents are only referenced to as "the Eternia King and an Earth woman lost in time an space". The fact that Adam's mother is a "lost traveler" from the planet Earth is mentioned here for the first time.[3]
- This story was reprinted in the trade paperback version of DC Universe vs. Masters of the Universe and Showcase Presents: DC Comics Presents Superman Team-Ups Vol. 2
- The title "From Eternia -- With Death!" is a pun on From Russia With Love, a James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming.
- A futuristic car and a Wind Raider are visible in the establishing shot of the Royal City.
- Prince Adam is seen using the boars head training device that came with the original Castle Grayskull playset. Also, both he and Teela appear to have greater than human strength as they easily handle a large training weight.
- Prince Adam mentions that Teela is the newest member of the Royal Guard.
- He-Man refers to the Goddess by that name, but also as "Mighty Sorceress"
- The Goddess resides in the Cavern of Power instead of Castle Grayskull.
- Skeletor is in posession of one half of the Power Sword, but does not wield his Havoc Staff. He-Man is only armed with his axe.
- He-Man states that he is all but impervious to Skeletor's magic.
- The Jawbridge door to Castle Grayskull is missing it's skull and bones shield decoration.
- Events from this adventure will be referenced when Superman is transported to Eternia once again in Fate is the Killer.
- The characters use various colorful expressions, such as:
- "Great Krypton" (Superman)
- "The curse of the Dark Ones be on you" (He-Man)
- "By the Royal Crown, no!" (Man-At-Arms)
- Man-At-Arms compairs Prince Adam to an "Ignorant Beastman"
- "By the Gods" (Crusher)
- Skeletor uses "By the Dark Gods" and "By the Dark Ones", and also refers to himself as "The Dark Lord".
- "Choloh's Beard" (Beastman)
- "Craters of Wegthor" (Superman)
- "I hope to Rao" (Superman)
- "By all that is unholy!" (Skeletor)
- "May the Dark Ones curse you for all eternity" (Skeletor)
- The title of the first issue of the Injustice vs. Masters of the Universe comic book series, To Eternia with Death, is a reference to the title of this 1982 comic book.
External Link[]
References[]
- ↑ From Eternia with Death (English). The Good Old Days (July 1982). Retrieved on 19 March 2019.
- ↑ Paco Taylor (24 September 2017). 15 Facts You Never Knew About He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe (English). CBS. Retrieved on 17 March 2021.
- ↑ David Wharton (27 January 2017). 15 Things You Didn't Know About He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe (English). Screen Rant. Retrieved on 25 April 2022.
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