Special Christmas Issue

Orko the Magician
Orko makes a mistake when trying out the food for the Christmas feast in the Royal kitchen.

Feature Story 1: "Joy Bringer"
Hordak uses his powers to make the icy weather on Eternia unbearably bad. The Sorceress finds out that Hordak is behind the bad weather conditions and tells He-Man, who goes out with several warriors to find Hordak. When they do, he reveals that he has created a fear in the hearts of all Eternians, and winter will never disappear from Eternia until they can believe in something good. Hordak teleports away before He-Man can do anything. But He-Man and Man-At-Arms think of a plan, and go round Eternia in the night, delivering presents to children. When the children awake, they find the presents and believe they have come from some spirit of Christmas. Now that they believe in something good again, the snow stops and the winter ends.

Master Mail
This issue's letters page features an interesting question about whether Prince Adam and He-Man have the same fingerprints. The reply suggests they do, saying "in a future story it may well prove the downfall of the mightiest man in the universe!" Unfortunately, no story like this was ever done.

Feature Story 2: "Child's Play"
In a small village in a Horde-controlled area of Eternia, a Hordak-worshipping teenager called Tom-Sern is bullying a disabled boy called Par-ker. When Hordak comes to the village, the frightened villagers pretend to be loyal to him, but Tom-Sern tells Hordak they are really followers of Randor. Hordak is impressed by Tom-Sern's loyalty to him, and takes him off to the Fright Zone. The villagers summon He-Man, and tell him to rescue Tom-Sern from the Fright Zone. He-Man sets off in the Bashasaurus, but Par-ker, who wants to prove that despite being handicapped he can still be a hero, sneaks on board the vehicle. At the Fright Zone, Hordak is attempting to transfer Tom-Sern's mind into the body of a Horde Trooper- but just then, He-Man enters and offers himself to Hordak if he will release the boy. Hordak releases Tom-Sern and instead starts working on transferring He-Man's mind into the trooper, and as he watches, Tom-Sern realises how brave He-Man is and how he was wrong to worship Hordak. Just then, Par-ker arrives, and although he is aware that it could kill him, he steps into the electric beam which is transferring He-Man's mind into the trooper. The machine short circuits, and He-Man is freed. Par-ker is badly hurt, but has proven himself a hero, and is taken back to the village, where he recovers several days later and is hailed a hero for risking his life to save He-Man. Tom-Sern declares his friendship, promising never to bully Par-ker again now that he has shown himself to be a hero.

Feature Story 3: "Secret Files of Scrollos part 2"
Provides more information on the heroic warriors, this time profiling Man-At-Arms, Stratos, Cringer/Battle Cat, Zodac and Castle Grayskull. What, where's Ram Man?

(Overall pretty good, though the first story is a bit cheesy. Naturally you'd expect "Child's Play" to be goofy as well, but the young characters in it are actually portrayed realistically, not cliched, and the story is pretty moving.)