BONUS BOOK - Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! (1982)

BONUS BOOK - Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew (February, 1982)
"This Bunny Unbound!"
Writers - Roy Thomas & Gerry Conway
Pencils - Scott Shaw! & Ross Andru
Inks - Bob Smith
Letters - Gaspar
Colors - Adrienne Roy
Editor - Len Wein

Man, it's no joke that New Teen Titans was kind of the "straw that stirred the drink" for DC Comics back in the early/mid-80's... we're about to cover a handful of Insert Previews/Bonus Books that first appeared in issues of that particular mag!

We begin with a look at the... I dunno, "re-imagining" of the Funny Animal genre?  A blend of the Funny Animal and the Superhero... it's Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! (though, the Crew doesn't really play much of a factor in the story we're about to look at).  This preview first appeared in New Teen Titans #16 (February, 1982)... which is pretty early in the run.  It's cool when we realize that the New Teen Titans concept itself kicked off the Insert Previews of the era... and is now being used as a launchpad for new and revitalized IPs!

Let's get to it!

--

Our story opens in Metropolis, where Clark Kent is delivering the WGBS evening news broadcast.  Top story of the day is people, ordinary humans, are going from acting completely normal one moment... to wild apes the next!  After the report, Clark heads off to investigate the situation in his "work clothes".  He spies a fella who was in the middle of crossing the street... when he is suddenly bathed in a glowing light, and reverted to ape-behavior!

After wrangling the man-ape, Superman decides to head into the altitude and see if he can track down the source of that light-beam... which he feels came from, of all places, Pluto.  What he discovers is that the Earth is surrounded by a sort of energy barrier... which, somehow, a glowing meteorite is able to effortlessly pass through.  Our man grabs hold.

The thing goes boom... shattering into a half-dozen pieces.  The flash of light from the blast manages to temporarily blind Superman as he plummets back toward... the Earth?

Flyin' blind, Superman attempts to find his way back to the Daily Planet Building.  Once inside, he finds it curious that his head keeps hitting the ceiling.  Oh well, looks like Superman's become a giant again!  As he laments in the panel, it wouldn't be the first time!  He changes back into his Clark Kents before anyone might see him, and goes to sit down at his desk... 

... Only, it ain't his desk!  It's the workstation of Roger Rabbit (not that Roger Rabbit), the creator and artist of the Just'a Lotta Animals comic book series!  As you might imagine, the bunny is pretty freaked out at the giant pink monster who just tried to sit on him.

Clark gets his bearings and tries to reconcile just where he might've wound up.  It's clearly not the same Earth he'd woken up on that morning, that's for sure.  Turns out, he's not at the Daily Planet, but inside the building of Wombat Communications.  Perhaps a play on DC's parent company Warner Communications?  Anyhoo, we (and he) can see that the entire world is comprised of anthropomorphic animals.  The most interesting part of this page to me is a newspaper that mentions a Prez... which, makes me hope they're talking about that Prez.  As Clark and Roger try and figure things out, the latter heads over to his window box to start chowin' down on some carrots.

Roger tells Clark that they're having similar evolutionary problems on his Earth... ordinary anthropomorphized animals are his with a beam... and start acting the way they "used to"... kinda like the humans on Earth-1 acting like apes, ya dig?

It's probably worth noting that the carrot Roger is eating is... glowing.  Superman notices this fact, and uses his x-ray vision to get a better look at the window box.  It would appear that a rogue chunk of that meteorite landed there!  He swats the carrot away...

... which causes (a now-glowing) Roger to recoil and punch the Man of Steel through several walls of the building!

After apologies are exchanged, Superman vows to get a better understanding of everything that's going on.  Meanwhile, Roger realizes that not only is he super-strong... he's also got super-hearing, and... well, super-everything.  Once Superman's gone, Roger heads back into his office to try on an old superhero Halloween costume.

Before long, he's already caught up to Superman... who, is pretty shocked to see puny Roger all buffed up.  Also, flying!  Well, okay... not actually flying, he's got more of a "Hop, Skip, and Jump" trajectory.

Together, they head to the U.N. Building (that is, United Nature)... where all of the anthro-aminals have "reverted to type"... which is to say, they're acting like, ya know... amin... err, animals.

Roger proclaims himself to be "Captain Carrot", and the pair'a heroes get busy saving the animals from themselves.  When the dust settles, a bevy of television monitors around the U.N. podium begin to light up... it would appear that there were five other Funny Animals affected by those rogue meteorite shards, and given powers beyond anyone's wildest imagination!  There's our Zoo Crew!

The story ends with Superman revealing that all of their problems have originated on Pluto... and Captain Carrot following him to their next adventure (which we've already discussed here... ages ago!)

--

Ya know, as a self-proclaimed fake-ass comics historian, I've always felt like I should like Captain Carrot a whole lot more than I actually do.  I mean, it's fun enough... I just can't help but to feel that it falls just short of actually being interesting.  It kinda gets tackled on the one-yard line for me, ya know?  Almost there, but not quite.

What we get here, however, is probably my... I dunno "favorite" Captain Carrot story?  Probably... well, almost certainly, due to the Superman bits... and it's actual connectivity to DC Universe lore.  I thought having two different artists for the two different characters was an awesome touch to boot!  It gave the story a very... uh, Roger Rabbit (that Roger Rabbit) look and feel.

As for the story... well, it's light and fun.  Nothing offensive, though I suppose your evolutionary mileage may vary?  In revisiting plenty of these Insert Previews (or Prevues), it's pretty eye-opening seeing how many have Roy Thomas' name attached.  He was new to DC at this point, and it looks like they were rolling out the red carpet for him... just letting him explore different concepts and genres, and carving out his own corner of the universe.  As much as I kinda get the dry-heaves over just giving a newcomer carte blanche, especially in the "nowadays"... at least back then, the stuff that Thomas was doing didn't usurp the entire direction of the company!

This was decent enough... and, worth checking out.  If you're a Captain Carrot fan, you're going to really dig this.  If you're not... well, there's still a Superman story here to enjoy!  And heck if we're being technical, an entire issue of New Teen Titans sandwiching it!  This story is included in the SHOWCASE Presents: Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! volume.

UPDATE (February 11, 2020):
Advance Look at Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew, from Amazing Heroes #5 (October, 1981):

UPDATE: February 16, 2020:
A blurb from Amazing Heroes #1 (June, 1981) regarding the return of the "Funny Animal"

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Interesting (and Relevant) Ad:

BONUS BOOK - Wonder Woman (1982)

BONUS BOOK - Wonder Woman (February, 1982)
"New Wonder Woman Preview"
Writer - Roy Thomas
Pencils - Gene Colan
Inks - Romeo Tanghal
Letters - John Costanza
Colors - Adrienne Roy
Editor - Len Wein

And now for an Insert Preview (or "Prevue" as the cover page puts it) that I've never bothered to read before.  It's features like this that remind me what an "embarrassment of riches" we fans have these days when it comes to options and reading material.  In my younger days, where I'd only be able to buy like one comic book a week, I'd have absolutely loved any extra content I'd get... be it a letters page, a back-up story... or a free "Prevue", I'd be so appreciative... and would just devour all of the content.

These days though?  There are just too many options out there... too many readable-pages competing for my attention.  I can be choosier... and even go as far as to dismiss or ignore things that, at a glance, won't interest me.  That's this NEW Wonder Woman feature in a nutshell... something that, upon first look, was boring... starring a character, who I also feel is quite boring.  Just never felt like it was worth my time.

I guess that's what this little BONUS BOOK project is all about!  Broadening my horizons by actually reading some long-ignored part of my comics library... and hopefully finding something worth checking out and sharing!

This Wonder Woman story was included in DC Comics Presents #41 (January, 1982)... though, you might've noticed (but probably not) that the insert feature itself bears a "Feb" cover-date.  As for the DCCP ish, this insert interrupts a... rather lackluster team-up between Superman and the Joker.  Maybe we'll discuss that sometime... or not.

--

Our story opens in Washington, D.C. where Colonel Steve Trevor and Captain Diana Prince are en route to a rendezvous point to drop off a locked briefcase.  Unfortunately for them, it looks like this clandestine meeting might just have been a set-up!  They are approached by a pair of gun-toting spies!  Trevor tosses the suitcase to Diana and instructs her to take off running with it.  As she is his subordinate (least I think she's supposed to be), she does as she's told... running down an alley to protect the loot while he fights off Boris and... Boris?

In the alley, Diana socks the briefcase away in a garbage can and changes into Wonder Woman... who, isn't obliged to obey the Colonel's orders.

Wonder Woman bursts through a wall as though she was Kool-Aid Man, and proceeds to engage in some bullets-and-bracelets before beating up the bad guys.

In the interim, Boris and Boris's buddies have stowed Steve Trevor in the back of their town car... and are attempting to get away.  Wondy ain't about to sweat these fools... and makes pretty short work of them.  The geeks are kayoed, Steve Trevor is saved, and a pair of onlookers appear to be extremely excited to be in the presence of their hero.

As Steve is loaded into an ambulance (and Wonder Woman pretends not to be too worried about him), that pair of groupies decides to approach her.  Ya see, they represent the Wonder Woman Foundation... a non-profit outfit that has been promised full financial backing... from somewhere... to promote Equality for all Women.  They'd like for Wonder Woman to kind of be their public face... which, ya know, stands to reason if the foundation is named after her.  Also, they want her to change her outfit... ditching her old halter to one with "W's" on it.

Wonder Woman takes a moment to ponder this... and decides that, before agreeing to anything, she ought to talk it over with her mother.  And so, she boards her invisible robot plane and heads Paradise Island way.

Upon arriving back home, she finds that the Amazons are a bit subdued.  Getting a closer look, she learns they're not only "subdued"... but bound and shackled!  Turns out they'd been visited by Hercules and Hermes... two grade-a a-holes!  They've stolen Hippolyta's Magic Belt of Strength, and have more or less taken over the place!

Diana decides to challenge Hermes to a race... for the Magic Belt of Strength.  Ol' Hermes ain't one to look like a chicken, and so... he agrees.  He hurls the Belt into the distance and he and Wonder Woman race to procure it.  Wonder Woman wins.

This only leaves Hercules to deal with... and so, Diana challenges him to a test of strength.  Which, after a whole lot of Roy Thomas banter and captions... she wins!

After the dust settles, and the Olympians vamoose back from whence they came, Diana chats up her mother regarding the new halter.  Hippolyta encourages her to wear the new one... and represent women everywhere (which I thought she already did anyway...).

We wrap up with the new-look Diana hopping back on her invisible robot plane to head back to the States to check on Steve... and the realization that, uh-oh... Steve Trevor is... dying!

--

I suppose I ought to admit right off the bat that I never realized that Wonder Woman's costume didn't always have "W's" on it!  I'm not sure quite how to describe that old design... but, when the groupies handed her the halter with the W's... I didn't really see what the big deal was!  In flipping back a few pages, I was able to realize that... yeah, it's different.  I didn't get to appreciate the importance of this... or, how... I dunno... "landmarky" this change might've been though.

I get that there's symbolism... but, drawing so fine a line under the W's representing Women Everywhere kind of lessens the importance of everything she'd done while wearing her old costume.  I mean, are we supposed to believe that Wonder Woman only started representing Women after she wore a shirt with a "W" on it?  I dunno... I'm probably thinking about it too hard... and through a scarily less-subtle 2019-2020 lens, where everything needs to be completely spelled out for us.  Otherwise, how would we ever know how morally superior the writer feels they are?

Speaking of "current year" lamentations... it's so darned refreshing to see a story where a character gets a new direction/new look/new creative team... and not a shiny new #1 issue to go along with it!

As for the story itself... ya know, it wasn't half bad!  I was expecting this portion of today's piece to be full of yawns... but, I kind of dug it!  Well, the first half anyway.  I'm not sure there's a writer who's ever walked the Earth who can make a Paradise Island story "work" for me.  I even resort to skimming those early issues of New Teen Titans that occur there!

The first half of the story though?  Top notch superheroics... building tension, leaving some questions unanswered, just all around good stuff.  The second-half... ehh, it was perhaps a, for lack of a better term, "necessary evil".  We needed Diana to chat with Hippolyta... and since this isn't a "current year" comic, we weren't about to get 16 pages of identical photostatted "talking heads".  Gotta appreciate the effort here of actually delivering a bit of action, regardless of how uninspired I might've found it!

Overall... a good outing, and a story I'm happy I finally got around to reading!

UPDATE: February 18, 2020:
An advance preview of Wonder Woman's new costume from Amazing Heroes #3 (August, 1981):

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Interesting (and Relevant) Ad:

BONUS BOOK - New Teen Titans (1980)

BONUS BOOK - New Teen Titans (October, 1980)
"Where Nightmares Begin!"
Writer - Marv Wolfman
Pencils - George Perez
Inks - Dick Giordano
Letters - Ben Oda
Colors - Adrienne Roy
Editor - Len Wein

I had planned to cover a different book today... considering it's my... yeesh, 40th Birthday.  I think I remember there being an issue of Green Arrow where he deals with the fact that he's approaching/approached middle-age...

But, ya know what?  I'm just not feeling it.  There's no need to malaise over the fact that time moves forward... because, heck... being old enough to turn 40 definitely beats the alternative, doesn't it?

Anyhoo, today we're going to continue looking at "Bonus Books" or "Insert Previews" or whatever we wanna call it... I use the terms interchangeably.  Today, we're going to look at the Insert that kicked 'em all off... the first appearance of the NEW Teen Titans from 1980.

This insert appeared in DC Comics Presents #26 (October, 1980), and was one that eluded me for quite some time.  It was actually one that I flat-out just assumed I'd never get.  Online speculation, CGC slabbing, and ridiculous streaming-TV tie-ins have really done a number on many collect-ability aspects of the hobby.  Folks who never gave a second thought to comics are suddenly "buying in" on whatever they assume the latest "hot book" is gonna be.

Hrmm... in my now advanced age, I could swear we already went through something like this... and barely made it out the other side.  Ah, I'm probably just talkin' nonsense.

Anyhoo, I said all of that so that I might say this... earlier this year (April, 2019) I actually came across a copy of this very issue at a record store!  In near perfect condition (I don't use terms like "mint" because, c'mon... that's subjective as hell)... for ONE American Dollar... and Ninety-Nine American Cents!  A buck'99!  I nearly fell out.

So yeah, I now have this issue... so, it's fair game to actually talk about.  Only problem there is, I kind of already discussed this story when I looked at Tales of the Teen Titans #59 (November, 1985) where it was reprinted!  Oh well... there ain't no rules to none of this... and, let's face it... barely anybody reads this blog anymore as it is... so, chances are, this is new-to-you!

Enjoy!

--

We open with Robin stood before S.T.A.R. Labs being filled in by a couple of police officers about a terrorist stand-off going on inside.  They're threatening to detonate a bomb if their demands aren't met... and so, Robin goes to rush on inside... only, he's overcome with a most strange sensation.  He suddenly finds himself stirred back to "reality" by Wonder Girl... and he's now stood before the... never before seen - Titans Tower!  He doesn't have a clue what's going on... and I'd wager most of the folks reading this at the time felt the same way!

They head inside, where Dick is reunited with Beast Boy (now going by Changeling) and introduced to a couple of brand-new faces: Starfire and Cyborg!  Dick hasn't ever seen these people before... but they definitely know him.

Wally speeds on to the scene a moment later, and Robin's just happy to see another familiar face.  Everybody looks at Dick like he's got three-heads... because he really shouldn't be this confused.  After all, they're teammates!

Finally, Raven arrives.  This is another brand-new face to both Dick and the original readers of DC Comics Presents #26.

She comes with the dire news that a certain scientist managed to open a portal into another universe.  Now, if you think that sounds like a really bad idea... you're right.  From this portal oozes a gelatinous beast that overcomes the scientist.

The Titans (?) decide to hop-to and see if they can't topple this terror.  Gar attempts to rally the troops by doing a little Titans-Rah-Rah.  The best he can come up with is... "Titans--Let 'er Rip!", which I'm sad didn't catch on.

The team heads out, and finds the Flan-Beast atop a high-rise building.  Raven sends her soul-self into the monster... and finds herself immediately separated from it.  Even in her first appearance, Raven was so over-powered that she had to be kayoed within the first couple of beats of battle!  Worth noting that Wally is particularly protective of Raven... which is neat, considering their upcoming arc.

The rest of the Titans try and take the fight to the Pudding-Horror, however, all of their offense proves to be ineffective.  Then... Robin "wakes up".  He's back outside S.T.A.R. Labs, where one of the Police Officers informs him that he had to shove him down out of the way of a terrorist bullet!

Robin shakes off the weirdness, and decides to attempt to infiltrate S.T.A.R. Labs via his "rocket grappler".  No sooner does he scale the building than he is thrown back into that other reality... where he's battling the Custard-Critter!

The Titans fight the monster for a bit longer... not gaining much in the way of ground.  Then... after Cyborg is able to wound it using some heavy-duty decibels the thing finally attempts to flee.  At this point, Robin has an idea.  He's certain that the Wobbly-Wicket is heading back to its "point of origin", and he has a sneaking suspicion that place is somewhere inside S.T.A.R. Labs.  Upon arrival, Cyborg is none too pleased to head inside.

Robin rushes inside and chats up that scientist that called the thing here in the first place.  He informs him that there's no way they can beat this baddie... and their only hope is to send it back from whence it came.  Since this things primary attack is converting Oxygen to Methane... they realize they're going to have to get this Whopper into an air-tight room.  Starfire volunteers to act as a lure, since she doesn't need to breathe Oxygen anyway.

Then, they do the thing... and everything's hunky-dory.

As the dust settles, Cyborg has words with the scientist... who we learn is actually his father, Silas Stone... also, the man who created Cyborg's mechanical body (though, if we're being technical, he also created his organic one).  It's clear that there's no love lost between the Stone men.

Suddenly... Robin "wakes up" again.  The Officers thank him for ending the terrorist stand-off without a single loss of life.  He hasn't the foggiest idea what any of them are talking about.  Then, he's approached by a most grateful Dr. Silas Stone... which ups the confusion all the more!

We wrap up with Robin heading off, questioning just about everything that just went down.  He ultimately writes it off as a dream/nightmare and decides to just sleep it off.  Raven is nearby, however, to inform him (and us) that this was no dream... the New Titans are his (and our) future!

--

Unfortunately, it's pretty damned difficult to just "forget" everything that happens after this... and treat it like the (in some cases "literal") brand-new thing that it was when it appeared in DC Comics Presents #26.

I'd love to be able and go back to experience this one the way it was meant to be experienced.  It's just such a strange way to introduce, not only brand-new characters, but a whole new concept for an existing property.  I wonder if there were people who were annoyed by this... if there were any readers who felt this besmirched the "sanctity" of the Teen Titans.  If only I could find USENET posts going back all the way to 1980 (the earliest ones I've found are around 1984)!

The story we get here... uh, I guess you could say it's a bit difficult to follow, perhaps hindered more by our current-day familiarity with the Titans.  Robin not knowing any of the newbies puts us in this strange "is it a dream/nightmare/twilight zone?" mindset which is kind of difficult to shake off, ya know?  That's probably why I usually skip this issue anytime I did a New Teen Titans "re-read project".

I never felt like it added all that much... though, if we can squint enough to view it as a sorta-kinda "flash-forward", there are things to dig here.  We get (some of) the skinny on the tension between Cyborg/Silas.  It's made pretty clear here that Wally and Raven have some sort of connection.  Beast Boy now goes by Changeling.  All things that we will know to be true sooner than later.

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Interesting (and Relevant) Ad:

BONUS BOOK - Masters of the Universe (1982)

BONUS BOOK - Masters of the Universe (November, 1982)
"Fate is the Killer"
Writer - Paul Kupperberg
Pencils - Curt Swan
Inks - Dave Hunt
Letters - Ben Oda
Colors - Anthony Tollin
Editor - Dave Manak

Still recovering from Christmas, and so I decided to repurpose something I'd written a long while back... perhaps even seguing into the next iteration of this blog!

I've long wanted to discuss the old "Bonus Books" program that DC Comics ran back in the long ago... I wanna say the first time they tried it (in modern times... in an organized way) they just referred to the stories as "Insert Previews", and these ran from 1980-1983.  Then, post-Crisis we'd get a smattering of "Bonus Books".  I'm guessing many of us are familiar with these... it's always a treat digging through the cheap-o bins and suddenly coming across a book that feels twice as thick as it ought to be, and realizing there's likely an off-the-wall extra inside!  These are the things I'm kinda wanting to talk about for the next little while.

We're going to kick things off with the Masters of the Universe "Insert Preview" that ran in a whole lotta books with a November, 1982 cover-date.

This story ran in the following books:

• Action Comics #537
• All-Star Squadron #15
• Arak Son of Thunder #15
• Batman #353
• Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew #9
• Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1
• Detective Comics #520
• DC Comics Presents #51
• Firestorm #6
• Justice League of America #208
• Legion of Super-Heroes #293
• New Adventures of Superboy #35
• New Teen Titans #25
• Superman #377
• Warlord #63
• Wonder Woman #297

Hope you all enjoy!

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We open with Metron Zodac riding the Cosmic Winds into Eternia.  He is there to save a single life... a life which very well might bring (and keep) peace to Eternia.  Though, he fears that he also might be damning them.  I dunno about you... but, I'd err on the side of caution... maybe sit this one out.

We hop inside Castle (Grayskull... I think?) where the Royal Court of Eternia is having a bit of a party.  The King and Queen wonder where their son, Prince Adam might be.  No sooner do they ask, than he saunters in with a "wench" on each arm.

(A mustache-less) Man-At-Arms ribs him about only having two "wenches", and suggests he's lost his touch at "wenching".  Suddenly, Zodac appears before them, with threats that Eternia's gonna go to pot, lest they produce their Greatest Champion.  Prince Adam hears him out... then runs off (with Cringer) to "change clothes".

He heads off to a cave... and (as He-Man... little disappointed we didn't get a scene of the change) chats up the Goddess.  She tells him that Zodac isn't a threat... he instead needs to focus on, you guessed it, Skeletor.  Duh.  Double duh.

Speaking of Skeletor... he, flanked by Beast-Man, is chatting up Mer-Man.  He asks the fishy fella to track down the other half of the Power Sword.  Rumor has it, it's in the deepest trench of the dark sea.  Fair enough.

We shift scenes to... Metropolis?  Well, that's unexpected.  Superman is delivering a crate of valuable electronics to the mainland from a broken down freighter.  He is suddenly attacked by a mustached octopus!  Maybe he took Man-At-Arms' 'stache!

They struggle for a bit... but Superman is distracted by a trio of glowing balls flying overhead.  He abandons the battle with the beastie to give chase.  He follows them into the drink, and gets caught up in a vortex.  Feels like we missed a few pages, doesn't it?

Back in Eternia, He-Man and Battle Cat meet Zodac.  He-Man asks his cosmic visitor to stand down, as he has no quarrel with him.  He's more interested in taking down Skeletor.  While you'd figure Zodac would be all-in with this plan... he ain't!  This, naturally... leads to a fight.

We rejoin Superman as he emerges from the water... only to find himself no longer on Earth, but in Eternia!  There was a portal underwater, donchaknow.  He recognizes it from the last time he visited (DC Comics Presents #47).  He knows Skeletor is behind everything... which, c'mon... who else it gonna be?

Speaking of Skeletor... he now has both halves of the Power Sword.  Yeah... this definitely feels like it's missing a grip of pages.  After pontificating a bit, he gives Beast-Man... what I can only describe as a "playful swat" on the tush with his Power Sword.  Superman than swoops in and steals'em both!

Rather than just running (flying) away with them, Superman throws 'em... one returns directly to Skeletor, the other somehow finds its way to He-Man's back.  This (somehow) ends the battle between he and Zodac.  We learn that Zodac is only fighting He-Man to keep him from getting to Skeletor, because he'd seen in the stars that such a meeting would result in He-Man's demise.  Undeterred, He-Man heads Skeletor-way.  Upon arrival, he sees that Skull-face has already defeated Superman... and is about to go for the killing blow.

He-Man and Skeletor attack each other at the same time... with He-Man actually impaling the baddie with his half of the Power Blade.  It manages to consume him... and sends him far away.  He-Man survives the blast he was hit with... and he, Superman, and Zodac celebrate their victory.  Yay?

--

Can't lie, folks... didn't much care for this.  Outside of having a handful of the action figures, I didn't really get into He-Man as a kid.  I'm sure I'd have dug this if I saw it back in 1982... keeping in mind, I was still a couple of years away from learning how to read at that point.

Today?  I dunno... it's just all over the place.  Pacing was shoddy-at-best... we get panel after panel of pontification, either by Zodac or Skeletor while important actual occurrences are left out altogether.  We always here that comics are about "showing, not telling"... but, that's certainly not what we get here.

I mean, we waste so much time with monologues... and we don't even get the "By the Power of Grayskull..." scene?  Lame.  Tying Superman into the story?  I guess it's neat to see him side-by-side with He-Man... but, his involvement didn't exactly rock my socks.

Reading this makes me remember that weird time back around the turn of the century, where all of those 80's properties were coming back in style.  I remember sorta "buying in" to that fad, and quickly coming to the conclusion that... outside nostalgia, there just wasn't much there for me.

The folks at Wizard certainly did their part to foment the post-speculation speculation (above)... I even checked through several of their price guides to see if this issue of Justice League of America got a "bump" for having the Masters of the Universe bit.  It didn't... but, that's not much of a surprise... the Wizard gang never seemed to give a rip about DC, unless Kevin Smith was writing something.

Overall...  if you're a fan of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe... you're probably going to want this too.  Won't break the bank in either case.  Many of the issues this story appears in are available digitally... and are listed as having "40 Pages", so there's a good chance this Bonus Book is included!