Comic: "The Menace Of Trap Jaw"
Published by: Other
Written by: Steven Grant
Artist: Mark Texeira

Reviewer: -RoG-
Posted: 1/21/2008

Plot: Skeletor travels to another dimension in an attempt to gain control over Castle Grayskull and accidentally brings Trap Jaw back to Eternia with him. Naturally, this accident results in his plans being foiled... as usual.

Review: While I've never been a true comic book geek, it hasn't stopped me from being able to appreciate some of the good ones and laugh at the bad ones over the years. When think back on it, I'd have to say my first exposure to comics was with the original Masters of the Universe toyline which included a mini-comic with every figure. Granted, most of those comics were far more basic than your average graphic novel or ongoing series, but they provided some great storylines for us kids to act out with our favorite hero and villain action figures. Out of all the characters in He-Man's crazy universe, there is nobody who I liked more than Trap Jaw. Maybe it's because he had blue skin, maybe it's because he had an iron jaw, maybe it's because he had interchangeable arm weapons... whatever the case, I simply thought he was the coolest character from day one. "The Menace Of Trap Jaw" is the mini-comic that came with Trap Jaw's action figure and it was our introduction to him.

Interestingly enough, our very first glimpse of Trap Jaw inside the comic features him not only with yellow/green skin instead of blue, but he's also actually making use of that peculiar loop that was on top of his helmet. What's it for? Why, to slide down ropes and escape to freedom, of course! The beauty of toys when you're a kid is that you can suspend all logic and reason because... well... you don't have much to begin with at that age. Allow me to explain the difference between the mind of a child and an adult:

Adult: "He's using his helmet to slide down a rope? What the hell is wrong with his hands that he can't use them!? Wouldn't that hurt his neck having all his body weight suspended by his helmet strap? Where does he keep the rope and how does he find the time to thread it through the loop before those guards catch him? THIS MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL!!!"

Child: "Of course he's using his helmet to slide on a rope! Why wouldn't he!?"

Fortunately for Mattel (and for the imagination of kids), they weren't designing the He-Man toys and comics for adults.

Anyway, so the story is that Skeletor accidentally brings Trap Jaw from another dimension back to Eternia, but good ol' TJ ends up smack dab in the middle o' Castle Grayskull. Soon he emerges from the castle, having harnessed its power and blasts Man-At-Arms, Teela and He-Man. Naturally, this doesn't kill them because, you know... blasts from an arm cannon would only stun somebody in real life, right? Right.

Trap Jaw then turns on Skeletor as well, setting one of his own spells against him. It's at this point that He-Man and Skeletor reluctantly decide to combine their two halves of the power sword to zap the seemingly invincible Trap Jaw. Sure enough, this desperate effort works out and Trap Jaw is knocked unconscious with Grayskull's powers drained from his body. Skeletor then picks up Trap Jaw and declares that the day wasn't a total loss because he now has a new servant.

And that's really all there is to this simple mini-comic other than a few advertisements for the ol' MOTU toys. It's really a shame more toys these days don't come with mini-comics. They may not be true literary works of genius, but it's the little extras like this which can make a toyline all the more memorable in the long run.

Overall rating:
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)