Masters of the Universe- Rise of the Snake Men # 2

 By Mark Rodriguez

Despite He-Man and Zodac sealing away the Snake Men, Evil Lyn has betrayed Skeletor to help Kobra Khan and Rattlor bring them back. They go to attack Zodac and steal his staff. The Masters go to warn Skeletor but are attacked by his forces. As they fight, Kobra Khan and Rattlor sneak into Snake Mountain and break the seal to The Void with Zodac's staff, releasing King Hsss and his minions. 

Man-At-Arms tells Skeletor that they had come looking for his help. He explains that somehow The Void will be broken and the Snake Men will return. Skeletor doesn't believe them and Evil Lyn comes in, telling them that breaking the seal for The Void is impossible. Skeletor tells Evil Lyn that she took her time to get there. She says she was busy. Skeletor tells her she should make better use of her time. He then directs his attention back to the Masters, telling them that he will finish them off. 

Just then He-Man runs in, breaking through Skeletor's forces. Skeletor is caught off guard and Evil Lyn asks what he's wearing. Man-At-Arms leads his team to fight back and Stratos takes to the sky. 

Stinkor is on a ledge and threatens Man-At-Arms with his stench. Man-At-Arms blasts the ledge he is on, making him fall. Tri Klops fires an eye beam at Man-At-Arms which he manages to block. Man-At-Arms grabs Tri Klops' arm with a grappling hook and swings him into the area where Stinkor's stench was spreading.

Evil Lyn fires a blast at Teela and she flips out of the way. Beast Man comes in riding a monster and charges towards Teela. Battle Cat rams into the monster, knocking Beast Man off  of it. The beast fights back, slamming him into the side of a mountain as both animals are covered in debris. He-Man is distracted by this and concerned for Battle Cat.

Mekanek avoids an attack from Clawful and then rams his head into the villain's midsection. Stratos flies after Mer Man and Whiplash that are still flying in their aircraft. Whiplash leaps off the vehicle and tackles Stratos down to the ground. Mekanek is worried as he sees Statros and Whiplash land nearby. Just then Stinkor attacks him and Mekanek extends his neck to avoid the stench. However, Stinkor's attack covers the entire area and Mekanek is knocked unconscious.

He-Man tries to dig Battle Cat out of the rubble when Evil Lyn blasts the rocks, turning it into a giant rock monster. The rock monster swats Man-At-Arms back, sending him flying. He-Man grabs the monster's legs and tosses him off his feet. The monster gets back up and tries to stomp on He-Man. He-Man uses his strength to hold back the monster's giant foot.

Whiplash is attacking Stratos while Man-At-Arms rushes over to help him. Tri Klops takes this chance to blast Man-At-Arms from behind with an eye blast. Whiplash grabs Stratos' leg and swings him face-first into the side of a mountain. He-Man shoves the rock monster into the air and then punches it into pieces as it lands. Evil Lyn takes this chance to blast He-Man with her staff. She says the rock monster weakened him. Skeletor says he'd rather make sure he does things properly and blasts He-Man to the ground.

Man-At-Arms sees that his forces are defeated and calls for a retreat. Skeletor hears this and sees that they have won. He says that once they dispose of them they can continue their attack towards the royal palace. Just then a voice calls out saying that they will do no such thing unless he commands it. Skeletor asks who dares to interrupt him. 

King Hsss and his Snake Men have arrived and the King declares himself to be Skeletor's new master. Skeletor sends his men to attack them. As the Evil Warriors and the Snake Men fight each other, Skeletor tells Evil Lyn to attack as well. She tells him that she can't do that. Just then Skeletor is levitated and sent floating towards King Hsss. 

King Hsss announces that this will be the start of a new era. He tells Snake Face to show them what happens to those that defy him. The Snake Man uses his Medusa-like powers to turn Skeletor and his minions to stone, all except Evil Lyn. King Hsss announces that the planet will belong to them once more as he directs his power towards Snake Mountain.

The heroes have gotten away before the battle and stop for a quick break. Stratos' wings and flight gear were damaged so he can't travel much more by air. Man-At-Arms is riding Battle Cat and carrying He-Man, who was still unconscious. He-Man wakes up and says he's been better but Skeletor really packed a punch. He also mentions that Evil Lyn's rock monster injured his leg. Man-At-Arms tells him that they had to retreat but they will call reinforcements. Man-At-Arms says they can't let the Snake Men escape and Zodac suddenly arrives to tell everyone that they already have.

Zodac tells the others that King Hsss is free and Skeletor has been defeated. Teela says this is hard to believe considering they were just there and only saw Skeletor's minions without any signs of the Snake Men. Zodac points to Snake Moutain, now under the control of King Hsss' magic. He-Man asks how King Hsss escaped. 

Zodac says Kobra Khan freed King Hsss from The Void. He-Man said they have sealed it and they would have needed a key. He then asks Zodac what happened to his staff. He explains that he was ambushed by Evil Lyn, Kobra Kahn and Rattlor. Teela can't believe a Cosmic Enforcer had trouble with those three and He-Man agrees. 

Zodac says not to worry about King Hsss and he will take care of it. He-Man realizes that Zodac allowed all this to happen and asks why. Zodac turns his back to leave but He-Man grabs his shoulder and repeats the question. Zodac says he told them to stay out of this and knocks everyone back with the shcokwaves created by him clapping his hands together. Zodac makes his chair appear and flies off.

Man-At-Arms asks if He-Man's ok and he says the sudden attack made his leg worse. Regardless, He-Man goes after Zodac, saying that if the Snake Men are as bad as he thought, facing them alone is pretty much suicide. Man-At-Arms tells him to be careful and remind him that if things get worse they'll need him in one piece.

He-Man flips in the air and lands in front of Zodac telling him things will get worse if he does this alone. Zodac says to step aside as this is his final warning and he does not wish to harm He-Man. He-Man says to tell that to his friends he almost killed. Zodac says that he only meant to stun them. He says they should not get involved in the battle as he has a score to settle. He-Man is surprised that Zodac endangered the planet over a grudge.

Zodac says he doesn't understand, he has waited centuries for a chance at revenge. He won't forgive King Hsss for what he's done to him and his brother. He-Man says this stops now and he can't let his vendetta jeopardize the future of Eternia. Zodac says if He-Man stands in his way, then he must fall. 

Back at Snake Mountain, Kobra Khan bows to King Hsss and pledges his loyalty. Evil Lyn asks Rattlor why he grovels so much. Rattlor says Kobra Khan is only a descendant of the Snake Men and will never achieve the greatness of a true warrior. He says maybe King Hsss will give him mercy due to his recent assistance. Evil Lyn is confused and is suddenly floating in the air and sent towards King Hsss.

King Hsss asks who this woman is and Rattlor explains that Evil Lyn helped get the key needed to help him escape The Void. King Hsss says he is grateful and will reward her with the highest honor. Kobra Khan is shocked and Evil Lyn bows and says she only did what needed to be done. Just then Sssqueeze wraps his arms around her. Evil Lyn asks if he didn't hear what his king just said. Rattlor says Sssqueeze heard him just fine, he is only preparing her to receive her reward, for there is no higher honor than to be consumed by King Hsss. Just then King Hsss' human-like disguise tears off revealing himself to be a mass of snakes. Kobra Khan feels lucky that wasn't him.

Evil Lyn says he can't eat her, she is very powerful and can help him steal the power of the elders. Sssqueeze lets her go and King Hsss tells her to tell him more about the elders. 

He-Man and Zodac's weapons clash as He-Man says this has to stop. Zodac legsweeps him and He-Man holds his leg in pain. Zodac jumps in with his staff and He-Man kicks him back. Both men backflip away from each other and He-Man says they should be working together. 

Zodac swings his staff and He-Man blocks it with his sword. Zodac kicks He-Man in the ribs and he crashes against the side of a mountain. Zodac trips up He-Man's legs with his staff. With He-Man down, Zodac raises his staff and says that he will finish him. Just then he hears a rumbling and he asks himself what he's done. 

He-Man says he's sorry for what happened to his brother but they have to work together. Zodac says that He-Man is a man of honor and regrets that his actions didn't follow suit. He says they could have worked together to stop the Snake Men like they did before but it's now too late. As he says this a seemingly never-ending army of Snake Men start storming out of Snake Mountain.

My Thoughts-

A very action-packed issue. One cool thing about the series is that the bad guys are actually allowed to win every now and then. Even though some of Skeletor's minions like Beast Man or Whiplash might be portrayed as idiots, they're still very dangerous in battle. 

The only question I had was where Zodac got another staff? When he first appeared, He-Man even asked him about his staff, noting that it was missing. Then suddenly he has it again when he starts to fight He-Man. The staff should still be over at Snake Mountain, and He-Man stopped him before he could make it there. So does Zodac have two magic staves with elder magic?

One cool thing the series also had compared to the 80's show was the benefit of hindsight. The original toyline wave for the Snake Men were King Hiss, Tung Lashor and Rattlor. With the He-Man show over and stuck in reruns, Tung Lashor and Rattlor were treated like members of the Horde on the She-Ra show. Snake Face, Sssqueeze and later on the exploding robot Blast-Attak (what is it with MOTU always spelling attack as 'Attak'?) came later in the line, so it was too late to feature them in the 80's cartoons. With benefit of hindsight, now the Snake Men can introduce Sssqueeze and Snake Face alongside Tung Lashor and Rattlor.

Every character in the MOTU has a gimmick and King Hsss' gimmick is that he looks like a somewhat normal guy, but then his skin tears off revealing himself to be a bunch of snakes. His arms are actually snakes underneath. I always wondered how that worked. I guess there's a larger snake that acts as the 'head' and talks but what makes that one dominant over the other snakes? King Hsss is pretty much a hydra with legs. He's so weird when you really think about it.

It's a pretty good issue and I can't wait to see how this wraps up in the next issue. At least at first, since this is the adaptation of episodes that would be the start a new season back in the day.

One interesting ad this classic comic had was about the Crossgen comics line and some of the ladies that star in their own books. Sadly it looks like Crossgen didn't survive the test of time, but they might be some issues worth looking into.