THE POWER OF POINT DREAD!

The first of the pair of stories supplied with an accompanying audio disc, The Power of Point Dread! marks the return of Alfredo Alcala as a MOTU illustrator. But things had changed since the Series One minicomics, and his illustrations, while vivid and entertaining, did not have the same style as those first four minicomics. The Power of Point Dread! was written and drawn very much as an adventure story for young children; a restriction which didn't seem to hinder the Series One and Two tales.

Here we find ourselves on our way towards the dumbed down version of Eternia which usurped the pre-Filmation landscape, but we're not quite there. Prince Adam and Cringer aren't featured. We have a King Randor, but he's still more like the elderly fellow of the Series Two minicomics, not yet the younger Randor of the cartoon. And yet we see Zodac in his neutral role, this time helping He-Man by showing him Point Dread. This action reveals the story to be independent of the canon that Glut and Cohn established so masterfully.

The story and artwork are fun and reasonably entertaining, but the characters aren't represented as anything other than jovial (in the case of the heroes) or comical (in the case of the villains). The story is wrapped up neatly and conveniently without the slightest possibilty of subsequent danger or consequences. And while it may, on the surface at least, still qualify as a pre-Filmation story, it doesn't contribute anything to that era and cannot really be considered part of that legacy.

The style established here would find its way into later MOTU minicomics illustrated by Alcala such as He-Man and the Insect People and The Obelisk; stories which were reasonably entertaining but lacking in depth. It's important to recognise the context within which stories such as The Power of Point Dread! were written. This tale does serve its purpose well, and it's a very likeable and harmless adventure.