From the earliest days of Prince Adam turning into the behemoth known as He-man, the Masters of the Universe was a hit. Mattel was a boss-level marketer to kids by releasing action figures, castles, comics, cartoons, magazines, and books. So it’s no surprise that DC partnered with Mattel in the early 80s. The first appearance of the Masters of the Universe in DC Comics Presents 47 is straightforward. They introduce He-Man and Skeletor by having them battle with DC’s greatest superhero, Superman. The Masters of the Universe’s second appearance has some weirdness to it. The second appearance occurs in a 16-page preview the month before Masters of the Universe 1 was shipped. That preview could be found in 11 of the 20 books DC shipped in November 1982. Here is a list of the issues that included the preview.
Action Comics 537
All-Star Squadron 15
Batman 353
Captain Carrot 9
Daring New Adventures of Supergirl 1
DC Comic Presents 51
Detective 520
Fury of Firestorm 6
Justice League of America 208
Legion of Superheroes 293
Superman 377
Warlord 63
Adding to the strangeness, people have begun removing the insert from one of the 11 books mentioned above and selling them. The current value for those inserts is from $20 to $27 raw. If you want it graded CGC will grade it, although it’s not worth the expense based on resell values.
Need more evidence of the strange 2nd appearance of the Masters of the Universe? Look at the value for those 11 books.
Action Comics 537 – $6
All-Star Squadron 15 – $5
Batman 353 – $25
Captain Carrot 9 – $8
Daring New Adventures of Supergirl 1 – $11
DC Comic Presents 51 – $14
Detective 520 – $9
Fury of Firestorm 6 – $3
Justice League of America 208 – $7
Legion of Superheroes 293 – $4
Superman 377 – $3
Warlord 63 – $4
Only 1 comic, Batman 353, is worth more than the insert alone! Strange.
The third appearance in Masters of the Universe 1 is worth about $60 raw. So that means this is an accurate description of the first appearances.
1st appearance – $260
2nd appearance – as little as $3
3rd appearance – $60
6th appearance in Marvel’s Masters of the Universe #1 is worth about $90
Hopefully, by the power of Greyskull, the market will fix this craziness. The comic book market doesn’t always follow the logical path or make sense but this is a glaring example, like the gleam in Skeletor’s evil eyes.
by
Ron Cloer