Journey to Mizar is the second mini comic in the vintage Princess of Power toy line in 1985. It was packaged with Angella and Catra, and depicts Angella in the MinEtheria Continuity for the first time. This mini comic continues to establish itself as a separate and distinct entity in comparison to its better known cartoon counterpart. The story is quick and to the point - it's a mini comic of course! That it's geared towards little girls is also a factor that should be kept in mind. The story starts with Adora and Spirit enjoying the break of spring, apparently returning home from a trot through the country. They notice a troubled winged woman in the air near the Crystal Castle, and they change to She-Ra and Swiftwind to rush to her aid. Angella introduces herself as the Queen of Mizar, and states that her kingdom is under attack by Catra. Through the story, we never learn Catra's motivation for attacking Mizar - was there a power source in Mizar? Were there enemies she wanted to take out? Was she simply trying to expand her territory?
She-Ra, Angella and Swiftwind rush to Mizar to take out its attackers. eventually, they are attacked by Catra's catbirds - who are apparently sapping Swiftwind's strength. She-Ra fends them off, and decides that the weakened Angella and Swiftwind will make it to Mizar faster if she moves forward on foot. She-Ra lands in the Dark Forest, and is soon met by The Seer. This magical being provides cryptic clues that will help She-Ra defeat Catra. If she wants to get to Mizar quickly, she'll need the Map of Light to do so - in order to get the map, She-Ra must face a protective dragoness. Before leaving to face the dragoness, The Seer gives She-Ra a magic net with which to defeat her enemies later - a little bit of foreshadowing, eh? Strange conundrum - Angella and Swiftwind are weak, they'll likely be no match for Catra's forces, so why send them ahead? Was it luck that brought The Seer to She-Ra's aid? What if The Seer didn't present herself?
She-Ra faces the dragoness, whom she refers to as ugly - very uncharacteristic for She-Ra methinks. The Princess of Power offers to trade a beauty spell for the Map of Light, to which the dragoness happily agrees. Catra, ever watchful, sends minions to retrieve the Map of Light, and prevent She-Ra from reaching Mizar. She-Ra thwarts the villains, but upon reaching the path to Mizar, Catra appears in cat form, and snatches the map. Though the villainess has claimed a prize, She-Ra succeeds in stealing away with Swiftwind, and defeating the attackers at Mizar with a spell that turns them into gargoyles, and prevents Catra from attacking Mizar again. We never hear of the Map of Light again in the story.
Comments:
There's some confusing moments in this story. Why is Catra attacking Mizar? Is She-Ra supposed to be Adora or She-Ra from scene to scene - does it matter? What is the fate of the Map of Light? She-Ra's abilities to cast spells seem to wax and wane throughout the story - at one point, she's powerful enough to summon a water storm to swallow up all of her enemies. So why are these minions a threat to her at any other point in the story? Aside from this, Catra's depiction as a power hungry sorceress is delightful. She-Ra's turn as a sorceress is interesting as well - unfortunately, she's very powerful, and there's very little sense of danger or threat. Understandably, this is a story not written to be overly complicated with Campbellian themes.
Observations:
She-Ra, Angella and Swiftwind rush to Mizar to take out its attackers. eventually, they are attacked by Catra's catbirds - who are apparently sapping Swiftwind's strength. She-Ra fends them off, and decides that the weakened Angella and Swiftwind will make it to Mizar faster if she moves forward on foot. She-Ra lands in the Dark Forest, and is soon met by The Seer. This magical being provides cryptic clues that will help She-Ra defeat Catra. If she wants to get to Mizar quickly, she'll need the Map of Light to do so - in order to get the map, She-Ra must face a protective dragoness. Before leaving to face the dragoness, The Seer gives She-Ra a magic net with which to defeat her enemies later - a little bit of foreshadowing, eh? Strange conundrum - Angella and Swiftwind are weak, they'll likely be no match for Catra's forces, so why send them ahead? Was it luck that brought The Seer to She-Ra's aid? What if The Seer didn't present herself?
She-Ra faces the dragoness, whom she refers to as ugly - very uncharacteristic for She-Ra methinks. The Princess of Power offers to trade a beauty spell for the Map of Light, to which the dragoness happily agrees. Catra, ever watchful, sends minions to retrieve the Map of Light, and prevent She-Ra from reaching Mizar. She-Ra thwarts the villains, but upon reaching the path to Mizar, Catra appears in cat form, and snatches the map. Though the villainess has claimed a prize, She-Ra succeeds in stealing away with Swiftwind, and defeating the attackers at Mizar with a spell that turns them into gargoyles, and prevents Catra from attacking Mizar again. We never hear of the Map of Light again in the story.
Comments:
There's some confusing moments in this story. Why is Catra attacking Mizar? Is She-Ra supposed to be Adora or She-Ra from scene to scene - does it matter? What is the fate of the Map of Light? She-Ra's abilities to cast spells seem to wax and wane throughout the story - at one point, she's powerful enough to summon a water storm to swallow up all of her enemies. So why are these minions a threat to her at any other point in the story? Aside from this, Catra's depiction as a power hungry sorceress is delightful. She-Ra's turn as a sorceress is interesting as well - unfortunately, she's very powerful, and there's very little sense of danger or threat. Understandably, this is a story not written to be overly complicated with Campbellian themes.
Observations:
- Catra's minions are sentient catbirds that attack She-Ra throughout the story. In the previous comic, the minions were land-based cat goblins. So Catra's not as lonely as it seems, and has armies of ferocious felines at her command.
- Angella here is the Queen of Mizar, not of Brightmoon. Mizar is located atop a mountain it seems (quite similar to Stratos's Avion in Masters of the Universe) - it's inhabitants are winged just like Angella.
- She-Ra still uses "By the Honor of Grayskull", along with the mask-tiara. The mask-tiara appears and disappears at random throughout the story - making the Adora/She-Ra dynamic confusing. Presumably She-Ra is simply a powered-up Adora - no secret identity is needed.
- The Seer (often called the Seeress or Wizardess by fans) is introduced in the Dark Forest. This is her first of two appearances in the minicomics. She is the minicomics version of Light Hope, and is very similar to The Goddess from Masters of the Universe - who was a nomadic entity who seemed to appear at random to help He-Man.
- Strange for the common perception of She-Ra's character, the Princess of Power refers to the dragoness as "ugly", and comments that her ugliness is what makes her so mean - probably not the best lesson to teach little girls.
- Swiftwind features colors akin to his Filmation cartoon design - his wings are blue, gold and pink, versus the toy's white, gold and pink. This is likely because of the fact that this color scheme was his original intended color scheme before test groups resulted in the heavy pink influence.
- She-Ra uses magic and casts spells throughout the story. She receives the Key to the City of Mizar, and announces that she's cast a magical spell of protection to keep Catra from returning (she had turned some of Catra's catbird minions into stone gargoyles that rested in the mountain side, and is likely the source of the protective field.)