THE POWER OF... POINT DREAD!

The seventh Gary Cohn minicomic completed the Series Two set with an exciting airborne battle between He-Man and Skeletor in the Wind Raider and Talon Fighter. It was fitting to finish the second series in this way, because Battle in the Clouds had concluded Series One in a similar fashion. While The Power of... Point Dread! may not have been quite as good as the tale which preceded it, it was certainly a close second. The storyline had been prepared in The Tale of Teela! where we learned how and why Point Dread was affixed to Castle Grayskull.

Once again Cohn reveals He-Man's fury at Skeletor, but this isn't mindless rage. He-Man has the presence of mind to devise a strategy to defeat his opponent. Skeletor fails to realise what is going on, seeing only the impending victory as he endeavours to blast He-Man from the sky while Tri-Klops's troops dominate the king's men on the ground below in a furious assault on the royal palace. It is only Beast Man who understands He-Man's plan, but his shouted warning is not heard and Skeletor crashes the Talon Fighter.

The artwork is very good in The Power of... Point Dread!, and some scenes stand out for their dynamism and drama. Skeletor is drawn superbly in the last panel of page 5, and Man-At-Arms is excellent in the middle panel of page 6. We see Tri-Klops and Man-At-Arms engaged in a life or death battle and the near-fatal blasting of Zoar by a gleeful Skeletor.

The violence in this story is barely contained. We see soldiers getting killed, plumes of smoke and flames, and the devastating explosion when Skeletor crashes the Talon Fighter into Point Dread. This is a great tale which captures the imagination. Sadly we can also understand why the MOTU world became softer and child-friendlier after this. Cohn's work nonetheless remains highly valued among many MOTU fans for its splendid stories and vivid depictions of heroes and villains doing battle.