The 1980s were home to plenty of animated TV shows used as gross marketing ploys to sell toys to kids. But for those of us who grew up during that era, we hardly cared. We still hurried home every afternoon to watch our favorites — and one of the most famous was He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. 

Indeed, He-Man ruled the airwaves and toy aisles. If you’ve ever found yourself shouting "I have the power!" while brandishing a plastic sword, then you’re no stranger to the legendary Masters of the Universe franchise.

At the heart of this epic saga is He-Man, a superhero who hid his rippling muscles and superhuman strength behind the alter ego of the mild-mannered Prince Adam. Together with his trusty allies, He-Man defended the mystical secrets of Castle Grayskull and the entire universe from his sinister uncle, Skeletor. 

The television series "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" was a colossal hit in the 1980s, skyrocketing sales of Mattel's action figures to new heights. Kids across the country couldn’t get enough of of He-Man and he certainly inspired other toy companies to follow suit. See my blog Reliving 1980s Animated TV.

But the magic didn’t stop at the small screen. The show was accompanied by comic book tie-ins which continue up to this day. And while He-Man’s adventures were initially confined to the TV, toys, and comics, it wasn’t long before motion pictures followed. The first big screen adaptation, Masters of the Universe, hit theaters in 1987, with the aptly-cast Dolph Lundgren squeezing into He-Man's iconic furry cod-piece. While the film might now be considered a cult classic, at the time it was a disaster. No wonder if took nearly forty years to get a reboot, this time with Nicholas Galitzine wielding the Sword of Power. The film releases on June 5. 

He-Man has become more than just a character; he's a cultural icon. Over the years, countless books have been penned about the TV series, toys, comics, and He-Man's monumental impact on pop culture. He-Man's true strength is in the joy and nostalgia he continues to bring to generations of fans — so I’ve put together a curated list that touches on the show, the comics, the toys and the cultural influence. 

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​I grew up loving giant monster movies. I'd tune into them every Saturday afternoon by middle school I was making my own versions using an old 8mm camera. Later, I relived the fun as Elvira's Movie Macabre and Mystery Science Theater 3000 hilariously riffed on them.

I’ve wanted to create a list of the best comics and graphic novels featuring giant monsters (also referred to as kaiju) for a while now, but I thought I’d start with some background on this cultural phenomenon, at least as it relates to pop culture. 

King Kong (1933) is generally considered the foundational giant monster in popular culture. (There are some earlier examples, of course, but Kong started giant monsters down a path to popularity, which continues to this day.) Even as I'm writing this, it occurs to me that just last night I was watching the big monkey punch out Titan X on Monarch: The Legacy of Monsters. Time creeps along, but big monsters persist, I guess.

At the time of its release, Kong was probably viewed as a kind of Beauty and the Beast tale... the savage animal is tamed by his inexplicable love for a tiny blond woman (Fay Wray). More modern sensibilities probably see it differently, with Kong and his imitators — like Mighty Joe Young — symbolizing human exploitation of nature. But after World War II and with the onset of the nuclear age, giant monsters took on new and more sinister significance.

The best known of this new breed of monster was Godzilla, introduced in 1954 by Toho Studios and a direct metaphor for the nuclear age. Japanese giant monsters (also known as kaiju) were no longer oddities of nature captured from remote and exotic lands to be displayed in a sideshow. Now they were heartless killing machines created by human meddling in the natural world. The message was clear — humanity is fucked, and we did it to ourselves. Godzilla may be stamping Tokyo into oblivion, but he wouldn’t be doing any of that if we hadn’t set off nuclear warheads in Bikini Atoll. 

During the same era and across the Pacific Ocean, giant animals terrorized American communities. In most cases, American monsters weren't as fanciful as their Japanese counterparts, but rather existing species mutated to immense size by radioactivity or other human technology gone awry. Massive spiders, Gila monsters, ants, and grasshoppers ran rampant through small towns and big cities alike. They too warned of the horrors of radioactivity and nuclear testing, but bringing it home to small towns and middle class neighborhoods.

Ultimately, maybe even paradoxically, these behemoths were brought down by the might of the modern military, while some humbled scientists waxed philosophical about humanity's persistent habit of “meddling in God’s domain.”

From the 1960s through the 1980s, giant monsters stepped out of the horror realm and became superheroes marketed as family entertainment. Big monsters might still be threatening humanity and destroying cities, but now we could count on friendlier kaiju to chase them off. In 1965, Daiei Film introduced a flying, fire-breathing turtle called Gamera, who was intended to compete directly with Toho’s Godzilla. Billed as “the protector of humanity,” the Gamera films prominently featured child characters who both empathized and could communicate with Gamera. 

By the early 90s, misguided science again burdened us with giant monsters of dark purpose. Jurassic Park led the way by reanimating extinct dinosaurs, which its sequels exaggerated to absurd lengths. Giant monsters became something we both feared and mocked. Parodies and near-parodies like Leviathan, Arachnophobia, Deepstar Six, Tremors, and the ongoing Godzilla and Gamera series mixed horror with humor, and often downplayed moralizing in favor of a more dystopian tone. This trend continues today, giving us some very watchable films like Pacific Rim, Cloverfield, Pitch Black, The Host, Cabin in the Woods, Kong: Skull Island, and Trollhunter.

Though giant monsters found fame in film, they’ve also starred in many books. Below, I’ve selected titles reflecting these trends, and though the vast majority of books are about Godzilla, and I've tried to throw in a few surprises as well. Most, but not all, are comics or graphic novels. 

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