Today I reviewed Mattel's new Keldor exclusive, and told you how He-Man's uncle first appeared - or at least was mentioned - in a 1986 mini-comic called "The Search for Keldor." It was written by Steven Grant, who was simply told by the project manager that the fans were interested in seeing Skeletor's origin, but Mattel didn't want to give him one - so the directive was to hint at the fact Keldor and Skeletor were the same person (thus the nigh-identical names), but not state it outright; and if reaction was positive, they'd get to continue the story in a later comic.
"The Search for Keldor" picks up from the previous mini-comic, "The Ultimate Battleground," with the Sorceress able to finally leave Castle Grayskull thanks to the new presence of The Three Towers. Randor explains that he has a brother, handily retconning that into existence: Randor never had a brother and Adam never had an uncle until Panel 1 of Page 2 in this comic, and then suddenly they'd had that relative all along. Randor is looking even more like the Burger King than usual, since the comic was put together before the toy's colors were finalized.
Meanwhile, in Snake Mountain, Skeletor summons "the most evil beings of time and space." Evil must have been on break at just that moment, because what he gets are Ninjor and Scare Glow - hardly the peak of the Evil pyramid. Scare Glow successfully scare Prince Adam into submission, while Ninjor unsuccessfully fires an arrow at Clamp Champ. Sorry, "Klamp" Champ. Notice that if Clamp Champ had punched Ninjor in even a slightly different direction, Adam would have been dead and Skeletor would have won forever. Adam turns into He-Man approximately 10 feet away from the villains and not even behind any cover; maybe he's still shaken from his brush with actual death? Skeletor, watching the battle from afar, delivers the sickest burn when he grabs Faker to take to the battle, saying that there's no time to find "suitable" assistance. Dag, Skelly, you're the one who built him, at least have a little faith in your own creation!
Randor thinks he sees what became of Keldor when Skeletor attacks. Sorceress gives the elderly monarch a power boost so he can stand against his erstwhile sibling, but in the end it's not enough. He-Man saves the day, but Skeletor delayed them long enough that they won't be learning any more about Keldor's fate today. And if you thought He-Man powering up in direct view of the villains was a blow to his secret identity, he ends the night by openly calling Randor "father." Better hope Sorceress has enough juice left over for a Men in Black style mindwipe spell! Also, note that the comic was drawn not by an outside freelancer, but by one of Mattel's in-house staff artists, Bruce W. Timm. And boy, can you spot hints of his future style in that final Sorceress drawing!
So, that's the story of Keldor's introduction: a "secret" even kids in the '80s could see through, but one that took until 2002 to be confirmed.
