Before doing this review we should acknowledge the passing of Roger Sweet, Mattel toy designer in the 1970s and 1980s, but most notably the creator of the original Masters Of The Universe toyline. He created the original standard body and the name He-Man among other things. There’s a fight over the lore as the minicomic writers fight with other departments, but Sweet’s contribution is undeniable. He was 91 years old, already suffering enough health issues that a GoFundMe was made for him. Our thoughts with his family and friends.
One of the figures he didn’t create was Trap Jaw, Colin Bailey was responsible for creating the one armed army, the so-called “master of all weapons”. The original toyline gave him three weapons–a gun, a hook, and a claw–but the Filmation series would create even more parts to swap his right arm’s connector with. Of course his signature ability was the steel jaw, inspired by Jaws from the Bond movies and possibly one of Big Jim’s enemies according to the Grayskull wiki. (No, I don’t mean Jaws fought Big Jim. The toyline must have had a similar character. It’s also where Battlecat originally came from.) The Filmation series also wrote him as pretty much a moron who could bite almost anything.
The minicomic, however, has a different design for Trap Jaw. I don’t know if the early design lacked the blue skin and that’s what the creators went with, but Trap Jaw is also something he didn’t really get to be in other media: dangerous even to Skeletor. One of the remaining Series 2 comics, we still have no Prince Adam, the Power Sword is split in half longways with He-Man and Skeletor holding half the key to Castle Grayskull, which just stands in some field, the “Sorceress” is a “Goddess” who is just Teela in the snake armor to convince boys to buy a girl figure twice, and Skeletor doesn’t live in Snake Mountain. So how did Trap Jaw join Skeletor’s evil warriors in this continuity?
“That’ll teach that rock!”
Masters Of The Universe Series 2 #?
Mattel/DC Comics (1983)
“The Menace Of Trap Jaw!”
WRITER: Gary Cohn
PENCILER: Mark Texeria
INKER: Tod Smith
COLORIST: Anthony Tollin
no letterer or editor credit at He-Man.Org, who has the scans again. I guess now with the collected hardback they helped work on now out of print they felt it was okay to put the scans back. Makes it easier than digging through my collection as this is one I managed to get second hand at a convention with a bunch of other ones.
We open on Skeletor doing what Skeletor does every Friday: try to break into Castle Grayskull. The man’s in a rut, I tell you. Interestingly, Point Dread and the Talon Fighter sit on top of the Castle, which for those you who weren’t reading this feature before I put everything in the proper order didn’t make its debut until “The Tale Of Teela”, the one where we learned Teela was…well, just go read it. That story ended with the two stuck on the castle, which Skeletor temporarily retrieved in “The Power Of Point Dread”, which I also reviewed out of order. So was this story out of order?
So Skeletor hatches a new scheme: he’ll make a portal to another dimension in a similar location, make another portal where Grayskull would be, and just walk in. Why doesn’t he try this again? Because that’s apparently how magic works, he can only do it once…for some reason. I mean, it’s an explanation. I guess. He enters the portal and shows up in a dimension so aligned with Eternia that a ghost image of Grayskull is right there, and still resisting his attempt to create a new portal. Suddenly someone yells “stop, villain” and Skeletor just immediately assumes they’re talking to hm because that’s basically how everyone says hello to him by this point. Actually, it’s the title villain for our story, and he’s not the guy you’re used to.
Hey, they remembered the toy has that rope sliding hook thing.
It doesn’t quite match the toy (I’m still going with the early design theory) but it’s definitely Trap Jaw. Not knowing who Skeletor is he knocks him back through the first portal just as Skeletor finally made the second one. So when He-Man and company arrives, it’s Trap Jaw who ended up inside the home of the greatest magical power in the universe. Strangely, Teela and Man-At-Arms are in the Talon Fighter, which we just saw on top of the Castle, and is supposed to be an ancient vehicle Skeletor found during “The Tale Of Teela”. Continuity is screwed up somewhere. So this was apparently another of Man-At-Arms’ inventions? I don’t know. Somebody messed up somewhere.
Our trio catches up to Skeletor just before Trap Jaw emerges from the Castle glowing with magical energy. He declares himself a god and that Eternia will be his first conquest. Considering how weak the gods end up being on this world, Trappy, I wouldn’t be so quick to brag. Trap Jaw easily knocks out Teela and Man-At-Arms with his laser. Even He-Man seems to be no match for the enhanced villain. This does not sit well with Skeletor. Both the Castle’s power and He-Man’s death is rightfully his to old bonehead (aww, he cares), but Trap Jaw can do more than shoot a gun, sending Skeletor’s spell back at him. A competent Trap Jaw? Sorry, I’m not use to it. Curious what the upcoming live-action movie will do with him because this is the first time he’s actually been threatening.
The only hope is for He-Man and Skeletor to work together. It’s rare but interesting to see hero and villain work together against a greater threat, something we wouldn’t see a lot of even after Hordak was introduced. Still, this is the time when the Power Sword was two-halves of a powerful mystic weapon. They combine their two halves, which the toy could do in the original toyline but was dropped in the show for various reasons, and a mystic blast is enough to knock Trap Jaw out. It’s not that surprising. The Power Sword is tied to Castle Grayskull, being the physical key to entry if you combine both parts, so it’s mystic energy sending the power back into the Castle is believable.
Seeing the jawbridge down, Skeletor makes a run for it, but this Castle is alive and doesn’t like Skeletor so immediately shuts his own door. So Skeletor takes Trap Jaw as a new servant. It’s the booby prize, but it’s more victory than Skeletor usually gets, and despite calling him a fool–though let’s be honest, Skeletor calls everybody a fool except himself–this is more competent than the later versions inspired by the Filmation series. It’s kind of a win. If you squint. Plus, he cost Skeletor his one chance at getting in there and embarrassed him. As Teela notes, he isn’t going to be in a good position when he wakes up.
Once again, Series Two and Gary Cohn deliver a really good story for the limited pages and panels of a pack-in minicomic. Skeletor has a plan, the plan accidentally creates a new threat, hero and villain have to team-up, and we have a new toy character for later stories. It’s a good introduction for Trap Jaw, though it’s an interpretation that doesn’t really stick for him. Instead he’s the bumbling idiot with a metal jaw that allows him to chew almost anything despite just his lower jaw being metal along with his robotic right arm and legs.
Next time, my currently setup rotation let’s just check in with Series 2 of He-Man’s sister on Etheria. What spore of girly psycho madness will we witness in the next installment?
BW Media Spotlight 