Fate is the Killer



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
 * Cringer/Battle Cat
 * Prince Adam/He-Man
 * Man-At-Arms
 * Teela


 * Allies
 * Goddess
 * Royal Guards
 * King (first appearance)
 * Queen (first appearance)
 * Zoar
 * Zodac (first appearance)
 * Stratos (appears on cover only)


 * Evil Warriors
 * Beast-Man
 * Mer-Man (first appearance)
 * Skeletor


 * Locations
 * Eternia
 * Castle Grayskull
 * Royal Palace of Eternia
 * Cavern of Power


 * Earth
 * Metropolis


 * Vehicles
 * Wind Raider (appears on cover only)


 * Creatures
 * Sea Serpent

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

 * Comic Vine
 * He-Man.org
 * Vaults of Grayskull