Fate is the Killer is a special preview of DC Comics' Masters of the Universe miniseries. The preview story was included in sixteen of the DC's November 1982 titles. Superman guest-stars in a follow-up to From Eternia -- With Death!, published in July the same year.
Plot Summary[]
Zodac travels to Eternia to prevent a death he has foreseen, and interrupts a party at the Royal Palace, seeking for Prince Adam, as he is aware of his secret identity as He-Man. While Teela and the Royal Guards face Zodac, Adam leaves with Cringer to the Cavern of Power, where they turn into He-Man and Battle Cat. The Goddess tells He-Man that he must ignore Zodac since Skeletor is back to his old tricks.
Meanwhile, Skeletor orders Mer-Man to lead him to the deepest trench of the Dark Sea to find the half he needs to complete the Power Sword. On Earth, Superman faces a sea monster and then watches three flying energy spheres going underwater. He follows them and ends trapped by a vortex.
Back on Eternia, He-Man is seeking Skeletor when he finds Zodac again. Zodac tells He-Man to accompany him to wander the cosmos, because if he stays, he will die. He-Man refuses, and since Zodac is an obstacle in his way to stop Skeletor, fights him.
The vortex brings Superman to Eternia, where the three spheres are revealed to be Skeletor, Beast-Man and Mer-Man. The bottom of the Dark Sea had a portal to Earth, where the missing half-sword was. Superman takes the two halves from Skeletor's hands, but Skeletor uses his magic to turn their power against Superman, and since Superman is vulnerable to magic, he must throw them away, but Skeletor catches one half. The other half falls at the place of He-Man and Zodac's fight. He-Man then goes back to his mission to stop Skeletor, while Zodac warns him that it's prophezised that if he faces Skeletor, he will die. He-Man finds Skeletor using his half of the sword to slowly kill Superman, but then his attention is turned to He-Man. Skeletor shoots a magic beam to He-Man at the same time that He-Man throws the half he has of the Sword towards Skeletor's chest. He-Man dies as prophezised, but the power of the sword consumes Skeletor, who disappears, and the resulting magic energies revive He-Man. Zodac promises to explain the mystery of the fates to He-Man, while Superman still wonders what he's doing on Eternia.
Characters[]
- Heroic Warriors
- Allies
- Goddess
- Royal Guards
- King (first appearance)
- Queen (first appearance)
- Zoar
- Zodac (first appearance)
- Stratos (appears on cover only)
- Evil Warriors
- Locations
- Vehicles
- Wind Raider (appears on cover only)
- Creatures
Artifacts[]
Notes[]
- Man-At-Arms is riding Battle Cat on the cover, and is carrying the flag that came with the Castle Grayskull playset.
- Mer-Man is flying a Wind Raider on the cover.
- Stratos appears on the cover illustration, but not in the story itself.
- Superman previously visited Eternia in From Eternia -- With Death!
- This is the first story in which Zodac is presented as a rider of the space winds, neither good nor evil, and the first time he is presented on a flying chair similar to the throne from the Caslte Grayskull playset.
- Zodac is already aware of Prince Adam's secret identity as He-Man.
- During a toast, Prince Adam says he hopes that his father "may wear the crown royale for eons to come in health and prosperity", in dicating that Eternians have an extraordinary long lifespan.
- While He-Man calls her the Goddess, she refers to her self as "The Sorceress".
- The Goddess resides in the Cavern of Power instead of Castle Grayskull.
- Skeletor is in posession of one half of the Power Sword, but does not wield his Havoc Staff. He-Man is armed with his shield and axe.
- He-Man mentions that his Power-Vests creates a Force-Field that both protects him and grants him strength.
- Skeletor travels to Earth by a dimensional portal on Eternia's ocean floor and finds the missing half of the Power Sword on Earth, but all of this happens off screen and is only recounted by Skeletor later.
- At the end of the story, Skeletor retreats with his half of the Power Sword, leaving the other half in the posession of the Heroic Warriors.
- An action figure representing Prince Adam as he appeared in Fate is the Killer & To Tempt the Gods! was released in released by Super7 in a Made-to-order 3-pack in 2017 together with figures based on the Minicomics versions of Stratos and Trap Jaw. Another version was avalable in an exclusive 2-pack with a He-Man figure at San Diego Comic Con 2019.
- The characters use various colorful expressions, such as:
- "By the Prophets" (King)
- "By my crown" (King)
- "By the Dark Gods!" (Teela)
- "Skeletor! May the Dark Gods burn his evil soul!" (He-Man)
- "By the water spirits" (Mer-Man)
- "Great Krypton!" (Superman)
- "By the stars!" (He-Man)
- "Thank the stars" (Superman)
- "By the Gods!" (He-Man)
Publication history[]
The preview was included as a bonus in the following issues:
- Action Comics #537
- All-Star Squadron #15
- Arak Son of Thunder #15
- Batman #353
- Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #9
- Detective Comics #520
- DC Comics Presents #51
- Firestorm #6
- Justice League of America #208
- Legion of Super Heroes #293
- New Adventures of Superboy #35
- Superman #377
- The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1
- The New Teen Titans #25
- Warlord #63
- Wonder Woman #297
In 2010, the story was reprinted as a standalone comic book, packaged in the Masters of the Universe Classics Lex Luthor vs. Skeletor 2-Pack.
External Link[]
| Previous Issue | Based on | Next Issue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| From Eternia -- With Death! | Release Date | To Tempt the Gods! |