Written by There has been quite a commotion stirring among the MOTU Community over the past few weeks, as they received the most recent Masters of the Universe: Origins minicomic titled “The Sting of Sting-Or“.
Packaged with the Mattel Creations Exclusive Masters of the Universe: Origins Sting-Or figure…
…these comics are meant to replicate the awesome nostalgia first felt with the 1980’s iconic “Masters of the Universe” Vintage toyline that included minicomics with every figure.
While there are some fans that place a lesser importance on the minicomic versus the figure, others cannot wait for these tiny additions to the lore.
But what was intended to provide fans a thrilling backstory behind Sting-Or had instead left a great deal of their readership confused.
If it wasn’t the Sorceress suggesting the cure for a poisoned Man-At-Arms was not an antidote (medicine to counteract poision) but rather an anecdote (a short, often funny story)…
…the Sorceress inexplicably attacking her own daughter Teela while shouting “Begone Infestation!” certainly was perplexing. (We assume a different character should have been drawn in Teela’s place or perhaps something should have been drawn between them? Or something is infecting Teela’s staff, or perhaps Sorceress is manipulating the staff? We just don’t know.)
We also suspect the Evil Warrior Stinkor was incorrectly drawn in the place of “Stingarr” (Sting-Or’s loyal but ambitious second-in-command.)
But it could have been a typo, considering Sting-Or was oddly referred to as ‘Scorpto” in an alternate panel.
All in all, the string of confusion and/or errors left loyal minicomic fans clearly frustrated with the results.
True, it might not be a big deal to some, but when it comes to MOTU lore, it is a big deal to others. And their criticism comes from a place of love.
A misspelling here or there can happen, but we hope that Mattel applies the same level of editorial care to these minicomics moving forward, that is proportionally equal to the care a great portion of the fanbase feels towards them.
We’ll see you next time.
This is fascinating. I would be interested in learning the inner workings of this mini. Who is the artist, the writer, and if AI was involved in any of the process.
Not everything incoherent is necessarily AI. It looks like simply a disconnect between writing and drawing, and a complete lack of editor / proofreading. Just rushed out.
It might be, that these inserts don’t really have a proper budget, because they don’t count as part of the toy.
Such considerations are at play e.g. with care instructions. At least in parts of Europe, there is no way of billing for the expense of designing them, b/c it’s not advertising. Hence, they often look bare bones and not very appealing.
Chatgpt, please create a motu mini comic that reads like the writer and artist is totally baked 🤣
This mini comic is so bad that it’s hilarious. Zero attention to QC. Somebody involved in its creation needs to answer fan questions about it, but I’m sure they’ll avoid it out of embarrassment.
I havent bothered to read even one word of all these new mini comics since orgins started. I cant get pass and the terrible art to read anything.
@banthafett So I just finished reading it here.
https://he-mania.com/community/action-figures/origins-mini-comics-and-discussion/paged/15/
The art is not awful in this one. That isn’t the problem. The problem is getting over the disconnect between the writing and the art which can be the size of the Grand Canyon.
The first topic in headline about Sorceress and Teela is not a mistake per say as I see it. Sorceress gives Teela energy, and in the next panel we see Teela is using it to dispell the bad guys.Is the word balloon by Sorceress confusing? Sure, as it could be placed “later" in the action beats.