Adora has a bad feeling. She goes looking for Light Hope, but meets some new friends along the way. We've reached the final minicomic.
Transcript/Image ID below the cut
[Image Description: 14 comic pages from the She-Ra mini-comic, “Where Hope Has Gone!”.
Cover: She-Ra gestures to a huge beam of light, meant to represent Light Hope. Opposite Light Hope, Netossa and Spinnerella are seated on a small boulder, smiling at him. At the top of the page is the Princess of Power logo, and at the bottom in saturated yellow is the title of the issue, "Where Hope Has Gone!"
Below that it reads, "Illustrations (copyright symbol) Mattel, Inc. 1986. PRINTED IN TAIWAN. All Rights Reserved. (Registered trademark symbol) and (trademark symbol) designate U.S. trademarks of Mattel, Inc." and below that, "Mattel, U.K., Ltd., Meridian West, Leicester LE3 2WT. Mattel SpA, 28040 Oleggio Castello, Italy. Mattel GmbH, 6113 Babenhausen, West Germany."
Oh my god, the Berlin Wall was still up. Oh, that feels weird. Uh well, it looks like they stopped listing the LA address and started including international offices instead. I wonder what changed. Is this a UK edition?
Page 1: A very pale blue caption box reads, "Although the beauty of springtime bloomed all around her, Princess Adora could not take time to enjoy it. She had received word from her Rebel scouts that The Evil Horde was on the march again. But something else bothered Adora. She felt danger lurking—not for the Rebellion—but for someone else. Someone close to her. But she could not figure out who was in danger or what the danger was. "Light Hope will have the answers," Adora told herself."
Flutterina, Adora, and Bow look vaguely concerned, just outside a Rebellion tent in the Whispering Woods. Spirit is watching with a mouthful of hay, and three other figures are going about their business in the background.
End Page 1.
Page 2: A pale blue caption box at the foot of the page reads, "Swiftly, Spirit carried Adora to Skydancer Mountain on top of which, above the clouds, stood Crystal Castle. Here Light Hope has lived for many years. Adora unsheathed her sword and raised it high. In an instant, she and Spirit were transformed as she exclaimed, "For the Honor of Grayskull… I am She-Ra!"
She-Ra raises the Sword of Protection over her head, no Bubble Blower in sight. I guess that was a one-issue gimmick. Swift Wind has his Royal colors, but is missing the fancy regalia. Behind them, Skydancer Mountain stretches into the sky, where the toy-model version of the castle sits. There's a sort of Filmation-creep happening, where they clearly want to emulate the animated Crystal Castle but have to stay accurate to the toys. It's even more prevalent in the Whispering Woods.
End Page 2.
Page 3: "Up! Up, Swift Wind! We must talk to Light Hope!" says She-Ra.
A pale blue caption box reads, "Once inside Crystal Castle, She-Ra found Light Hope was GONE, leaving only a note behind. It said: "For the safety of all, I have left Crystal Castle. She-Ra wondered, "Could he have been the one I have feared for? Could the holder of the Knowledge of Truth be in danger?""
Yes, they missed a quotation mark. If only there were some kind of "dialogue box" to separate quotes. Maybe a bubble-shape of some kind. What a shame that comics may only use caption boxes forever.
She-Ra unfurls a big scroll, looking at it in front of the throne-elevator from the toy. Swift Wind looks like he's glaring but I think it's just the angle his mask was drawn.
End Page 3.
Page 4: "I must find Light Hope!" says She-Ra. A pale blue caption box reads, "As quickly as she could, She-Ra leaped into her Bubble Carriage for the search through the winding trails of Whispering Woods. The trails she hoped would lead her to Light Hope."
Oh my. Okay. So the Bubble Carriage—aka, I shit you not, "Effervescent"—was a canceled vehicle from the third wave. It got pretty far along in the design phase; illustrations, prototypes, it featured in catalogs with the Star Sisters… but Mattel pulled the plug on POP when MOTU sales tanked, halfway through the wave. Initially it was planned to have its own driver, Joya, but it seems she's been omitted from this minicomic.
The Bubble Carriage is a four-wheeled but single-horse situation, although here it's operating under what I can only assume is Bubble Power. It's just as well, since the driver apparently has to stand at the back of the coach like a footman, which is tremendously unsafe in terms of visibility. See how she has to lean around to see where she's going? Nightmare. Just take the flying horse next time, girl.
End Page 4.
Page 5: A pale blue caption box reads, "She-Ra travelled many miles with no sign of Light Hope. Then, from out of nowhere, a stranger appeared on the road. "I am Netossa," said the beautiful woman, "and with my net, I have captured a Horde Trooper who was snooping around Skydancer Mountain!" She-Ra was most alarmed. "Jump in," she beckoned to Netossa, "more Horde troopers may lurk nearby!"
Not how you spell traveled. And if she's gone many miles how could Netossa have caught the guy snooping at the foot of the same mountain you left from? Smh. It gets worse every issue.
She-Ra emerges from the Bubble Carriage in the background, while in the foreground Netossa stands triumphant over a Filmation-design Horde Trooper, who's been caught in her net.
"I'm looking for a friend in trouble and that cape of yours could be a very useful power. Will you help me?" asks She-Ra. It's a close up and they appear to have not yet entered the Bubble Carriage.
"Sure! Let's go!" says Netossa.
End Page 5.
Page 6: "Oh, dear! Look!" says She-Ra. It's a close-up again so it remains anyone's guess as to where we are.
Oh we pan out to see the Bubble Carriage. I guess that answers that. She-Ra is driving and Netossa is in the coach. Six Horde Troopers approach menacingly.
A pale blue caption box reads, ""More Horde Troopers," said Netossa, "and they're coming this way!" "I just KNOW this is the way to go to find my friend, Light Hope," added She-Ra. "What will we do?""
The kerning in the first panel was so bad dude this is a professional production making worse comics than I did as a teenager. Okay yeah the lines are FINE. The coloring is GOOD. But the scripts! The composition! The lettering! Painfully rushed to make impossible deadlines. I hate it here. Mattel respect your artists challenge unmet for 35 years and counting. Despicable.
End Page 6.
Page 7: "Look!" says Netossa, leaning out the window of the Bubble Carriage. A brightly colored whirl approaches from behind.
A pale blue caption box reads, "A mysterious whirlwind whipped right through the Horde Troopers. She-Ra heard a giggling laughter and a pretty voice say, "Hello!""
Four Horde Troopers panic and flail as the brightly colored tornado spins in their midst.
End Page 7.
Page 8: Spinnerella pops out of the whirlwind, striking a gay little 'tada!' pose as She-Ra hops off the Bubble Carriage and Netossa begins to emerge. A pale blue caption box reads, "She-Ra wondered who- or what this colorful whirlwind was. "I am Spinnerella," said the woman as she stopped spinning. "My power has dizzied those nasty Horde Troopers. They were looking for someone called Light Hope. They planned to capture him," she added."
"But they will recover soon!" says Spinnerella. "Then, you'd better join us!" says She-Ra.
End Page 8.
Page 9: A pale blue caption box reads, "With her new friends, She-Ra raced the Bubble Carriage along the twisting road. She-Ra was now certain that the feeling of danger she had was for Light Hope. She told Netossa and Spinnerella the story of Light Hope and how he helped Princess Adora lead the Rebellion. "I am glad I could help your friend," Spinnerella said. "So am I," smiled She-Ra as the Bubble Carriage raced onward in the search for Light Hope."
This is Light Hope's one and only mention as a 'leader' of the Rebellion; generally he's more of a personal advisor to She-Ra.
She-Ra drives the Bubble Carriage through the Whispering Woods, while Netossa and Spinnerella sit inside, leaning into each other and smiling like they aren't fleeing the Horde and looking for She-Ra's supposedly-missing friend. Loo-Kee is hiding in the bushes.
End Page 9.
Page 10: A pale blue caption box reads, "In the middle of Whispering Woods, She-Ra and her friends were stunned to see a hillside open before them. And, a magical voice called, "You have searched and you have found me.""
There was no reason to start that sentence with a preposition. You sick bastards. Corrupting the youths of the 1980s.
She-Ra points at a crack in a cliff face, emanating light. Netossa and Spinnerella climb out of the Bubble Carriage.
End Page 10.
Page 11: A pale blue caption box reads, "As they entered, the hillside closed behind them as magically and mysteriously as it had opened. "The Horde Troopers cannot find us in here," said the voice. "Light Hope," cried She-Ra, "I'm so happy you are safe!"
Netossa, She-Ra, and Spinnerella enter a rough-hewn cave with a full staircase and a crystalized tree. At the top of the stairs, a beam of light swirls with color.
End Page 11.
Page 12: "Why did you leave Crystal Castle?" asks She-Ra.
A pale blue caption box reads, ""You know the reason, She-Ra," Light Hope said. "You have known it all along." She-Ra smiled. "I knew someone was in danger," she admitted, "but, when I learned it was you the Horde was after, I was afraid I'd never find you. "We are friends, She-Ra," Light Hope said, "and because of that an inner truth guided you.""
They missed another quotation mark. She-Ra has her arms thrown up like she's going in for a hug, but that's not really possible, like, physically. Spinnerella and Netossa are smiling in the background.
End Page 12.
Page 13: A pale blue caption box reads, ""Why, you're right, Light Hope," said the Princess of Power. "I followed my heart and it led me right to you.""
She holds her hand out to Light Hope. That's the whole page. This could have been a single panel with one fucking dialogue bubble, I've had enough. How many issues are left. Wait this is the last minicomic? I'm free??
Oh, shit. Now I have to do the actual storybooks. Fuck.
End Page 13.
Page 14: Loo-Kee is hanging off a tree in the Whispering Woods. "Loo-Kee here. Did you see me on Page 9?" he asks. Yeah Loo-Kee. We saw you. "Wasn't this adventure great? Now, for the moral of this tale: True friends can feel things about each other that no one else can see! If you look inside yourself, you'll know how true a friend can be!"
Torn between declaring that 'kinda gay' and chastising Loo-Kee for explicitly telling children they have magical powers IF they have friends. You're gonna give them a complex, Loo-Kee.
