The Adventures of He-Man and Porter #1: Skeletor Ate My Homework Review

The Adventures of He-Man and Porter #1: Skeletor Ate My Homework grabs the Sword of Power, jams it into a kid’s backpack, and takes off toward Eternia with the brakes smoking and jokes flying out the windows. Stephan Pastis and Will Henry deliver a fast, funny middle-grade adventure that shows plenty of love for Masters of the Universe without wrapping the franchise in bubble wrap. WEEEPAAA! He-Man gets to flex. Skeletor gets to scheme. Orko gets to prove why nobody should leave him alone near expensive equipment. Everybody wins. Well, except maybe the expensive equipment.

Porter Avery is a young He-Man fanatic who would rather defend Castle Grayskull from the attic than study for a geography test. His father would prefer bedtime, schoolwork, and considerably less climbing on the furniture. Come on, Dad, Eternia could fall before breakfast! Their conflict gives the book an instantly relatable foundation before a mysterious vanishing box from Porter’s late mother’s magic act drops him into the real Eternia, where the heroes and villains he knows as action figures are preparing to throw down.

Pastis makes the smart move by refusing to turn Porter into some wide-eyed passenger while the famous characters handle everything. His knowledge of the Masters, his imagination, and the personal meaning these toys carry become essential parts of the ride. Porter is funny, impulsive, stubborn, and occasionally exhausting in the exact way a real kid can be. Beneath all that energy sits a boy grieving his mother and struggling to reach a father who is carrying the same pain from the opposite side of the room.

The book never lets that emotional weight stall the comedy. Pastis keeps both pedals down, sliding between family tension and full-blown Eternian foolishness without making either side feel fake. Porter wants wonder. His father wants stability. Neither one is the villain, fam. They are two people trying to survive the same loss without a map, and that gives the craziness a heartbeat strong enough to power Castle Grayskull.

The comedy starts firing immediately. King Randor acts like an exhausted executive trapped in the worst strategy meeting in Eternian history. Man-At-Arms has the patience of a Brooklyn driver watching somebody text through a green light. Orko desperately wants everybody to respect him while repeatedly demonstrating why trusting him is a high-risk financial decision. Skeletor remains dangerous enough to drive the conflict, but his ego, temper, and miserable leadership skills make him feel like the supervisor from hell, except this one has a skull face and access to an evil army.

Most of the jokes land clean. Pastis knows how to build a running gag, park it for a few pages, and bring it roaring back when the reader is no longer watching the rearview mirror. A few bits stay on the road longer than necessary, and certain misunderstandings keep circling after the punch line has already found a parking spot. The middle also becomes crowded as the story bounces between Earth, Castle Grayskull, and Snake Mountain while hauling out enough familiar characters to fill three toy aisles. The pacing never completely loses traction, but a little trimming would have made the ride tighter.

Will Henry’s black-and-white artwork brings the nitrous. His cartooning is loose, expressive, and completely comfortable making these legendary warriors look like glorious maniacs. He-Man can shift from mighty champion to confused gym bro with one facial expression. Skeletor somehow communicates rage, insecurity, and wounded pride without eyebrows or actual skin. That takes skills, mi gente.

Henry also keeps the enormous cast recognizable without becoming trapped by decades of character designs. Teela, Man-At-Arms, Evil-Lyn, Beast Man, Trap Jaw, Roboto, Ram Man, Moss Man, and the rest still look like themselves, only filtered through his energetic, elastic style. Crowded scenes remain readable, action beats carry real movement, and the handwritten reactions and sound effects add another layer of personality.

Pastis and Henry are cruising in the illustrated middle-grade lane here, not building a traditional panel-to-panel graphic novel. Prose carries most of the narrative weight, with Henry’s artwork jumping in to punch up reactions, land jokes, and give the action extra juice. Comic readers expecting sequential art on every page should adjust the rearview mirror before taking off because a few spreads come loaded with more text than expected. Short chapters, roomy typography, generous spacing, and frequent illustrations prevent those heavier sections from becoming a traffic jam. Eternia also rolls out in black and white instead of its usual exploding toy-box colors, but Henry does not need the full crayon case to make these pages move, fam. Strong silhouettes, chunky blacks, elastic expressions, and lively linework keep the visual engine humming.

No separate letterer is identified in the supplied credits, but the typography and page design do their job well. Dialogue, emphasized words, chapter openings, handwritten balloons, and explosive sound effects create a clear visual rhythm. Nothing feels cramped or confusing, even when several characters are talking over one another like cousins arguing around the Thanksgiving table.

Porter’s growing connection with Prince Adam gives the story its strongest emotional lane. Both understand what it feels like to disappoint a father who cannot see the whole person standing in front of him. Their conversations allow Pastis to explore strength without pulling the review bus over for a lecture. He-Man may have the muscles, but Porter’s imagination becomes its own legitimate power.

Pastis taps straight into the fuel that has kept Masters of the Universe running for generations: kids taking a pile of plastic and building an entire damn universe around it. Give a child a toy sword and suddenly they are holding the Sword of Power. Drop a cardboard box in the living room and, boom, Castle Grayskull just appeared between the couch and the TV. The carpet becomes Eternia, the family cat gets drafted as Battle Cat whether it likes the gig or not, and imagination handles everything the toy company could not fit inside the package. Pastis understands that magic was never parked outside the mythology, fam. It has been driving the whole vehicle since day one.

Skeletor Ate My Homework has a few dents. The cast gets oversized, some appearances amount to quick cameos, and the middle could use a little more torque. Still, Pastis and Henry understand the assignment and attack it with affection, confidence, and plenty of goofy energy. The book welcomes younger readers without talking down to them, while longtime fans receive enough character comedy and MOTU flavor to keep grinning.

Funny, heartfelt, and fueled by pure kid-powered imagination, this is a strong first run for He-Man and Porter. Just finish your geography homework before jumping into any mysterious magic boxes, fam. Eternia may need saving, but an F is still an F.

CRUSADERS SCORE: 
4/5

Words by Stephan Pastis
Art by Will Henry
Publisher: Mattel Press

On Sale:
September 1, 2026

Check out our interview with the creative duo:

Stephan Pastis & Will Henry | Skeletor Ate My Homework | Comic Crusaders Podcast #752