Ep 202: Stinkor
Stinkor, Master of Stink
Welcome back to Privy.
The first Saturday in May is National Free Comic Book Day. We have discussed a number of topics with that notion in mind in the past, we are going to take another look at a bathroom themed or bathroom adjacent comic book character.
We’ve talked about the Toiletnator from Codename Kids Next Door. I actually heard they were going to reboot that. They need to reboot less things. Rarely is the reboot as good, and even when it is good, it isn’t as good. I think the King of the Hill reboot might be the only exception to this rule.
But in recognition of National Comic Book Day, I thought it would be best for us to dip our toe back into the world of bathroom related and or themed comic book characters and heroes.
A Brief History of Detective Comics
Our character comes from the DC universe, which I had to look up, the DC just stands for Detective Comics. They were named as such because in their early days, that’s just what it was, detective comics, comics about detectives with the earliest of them being a crime fighting millionaire named Batman who fights villains at night in a mask.
DC however started out as National Allied Publications and grew in notoriety as a comic book publisher when they published a work called New Fun. New Fun was a large magazine collection of comic books and comic strips.
Our Bathroom “Villain”
First up, I should note that out of the gate, I have technically told a lie. While DC did dip their thumb in this super hero pie, they are not the only publisher/company who has worked on and with the franchise called “Masters of the Universe”. Masters of the Universe is wholeheartedly an 80s thing and as such I did miss the hype on this in a big way.
From what I’ve gathered, Masters of the Universe is a franchise/comic book series/group of toys created by Mattel and then later picked up by a variety of popular comic book publishers for limited series and various print runs. Masters of the Universe characters include He-Man, She-Ra, or the highly memed Skeletor. These were all action figures in origin back in the early 80s.
When Mattel came up with Masters of the Universe and He-Man, they released the action figures with a small comic book referred to as a micro-comic. It’s an impressive feat. Through these micro-comics and the accompanying action figures, Mattel built a universe, and the Masters of it. They put out toys and gave them backstory, connection, and meaning. He-Man was a roving barbarian on the planet Eternia who was tasked with defending castle Greyskull from the evil Skeletor. Whoever controls castle Greyskull controls or is Master of the Universe.
The good guys are those who fight alongside and help He-Man in his quests. The bad guys either join in, or on their own, try to claim the castle for themselves. This is the premise of Masters of the Universe. One of the villains of the Masters of the Universe Universe was a character by the name of Stinkor.
Stinkor’s superpower, if you wanted to call it that, is pretty on the nose, as are most of the masters of the universe. Stinkor, a skunk looking humanoid thing with a weird mask, is said to have super stink powers. Stinkor’s stink blasts come out of the horns on the top of his head.
Stinkor is called the “Evil Master of Odors”. He is of a race of creatures called Peleezeans. He is also known originally by the name Odiphus.
In his description, he is “reeking of evil.” It’s actually great because the character design has him wearing a gas mask to defend against his own stink. Stinkor released with the micro-comic titled “The Stench of Evil” and in it we are told the Sorceress, who I think is the actual main good guy who has hired He Man to do all the defending, is out enjoying nature with Moss Man.
That won’t do so Skeletor goes and gets his friend Stinkor and has him roll into the forest with his rank beefers. All the animals left and Stinkor actually got a little rise out of that so he decided to fart and poison a nearby village as well. A bunch of the heroes of the he man universe can’t do anything because his stanky grunt cloud is so bad that it paralyzes them.
Moss Man is safe from the stink and is able to trap Skeletor in the pit and then does battle defended against a shield of Oxygen around him because he is moss. Stinkor is knocked into a bed of flowers which is the worst thing he’s ever smelled and he decides to run away.
Stinkor’s Bonus Feature
Stinkor’s story and background are wild, but not as wild as what else came in the packaging.
You have your action figure, you have your comic, but there is something else in the box that you maybe weren’t ready for. Or, you should have been but you didn’t have any context for how to deal with it.
The packaging on the box for Stinkor reads: “Product has real smell… it’s fun!” Normally, I don’t need to be told something is fun. I just find it to be fun as I enjoy it. The other trouble is the character isn't a cinnamon apple pie woman or citrus breeze-inator. It’s rankbeef fart smell everyone until they choke and die Stinkor.
They have made some Stinkor merch since, but they have done little by way of stink technology related to it. That is except the 2018 Summer Convention exclusive Stinkor Funko Pop that is just labeled as “scented”. At least Funko didn’t try to gaslight everyone about it being fun or not.
Reports claim the smell was not butt reek smell. Those who have huffed the Stinkor report that it has a patchouli smell. Patchouli is an Asian herb that is very similar to mint that is known for it’s strong and earthy smell. Or as Mattel in the 80’s and Funko in the 2010’s interpreted it… butt reek. That’s what they made Stinkor smell like.
But, before Stinkor was adapted into a reek filled chunk of plastic, he was a rejected idea.
Stinkor’s Tough Trip to the Top
When He -Man made enough money that they deemed it worth keeping around, they decided to make a new show called She-Ra: Princess of Power. As they pitched the new show they needed some new characters to help round out the cast. He-Man of course. Princess lady all the gang.
A very specific skunk themed man. When Stinkor was presented to the staff and filmation who would make the show, he was pitched as a member of the Evil Horde. Turns out, Stinkor stunk so hard that no one wanted him in their show. What’s dumb is they thought he was funny. When the description was read they laughed because Stinkor was essentially a walking fart joke. At the time they vowed to never put Stinkor in any script.
Barred for life. But the series sequel He-Ro Son of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe has a character by the name of Odar whose super power is spraying very bad stink in order to knock out his enemies and has a similar description. They never made the show.
In time though Stinkor would make it to the animated portrayals of masters of the universe.
In 2002, Stinkor made his cartoon debut in an episode called the “Sweet Smell of Victory”. In it, a white furry creature named Odiphus reveals he is there to steal potions. And EVEN IN THE CARTOON, he wants to use his very good stink powers to join the Evil Warriors, and Skeletor will not let him. One difference in this from Stinkor’s beginnings was in this, he can’t even stand his own smell.
He makes less than 10 appearances between seasons 1 and 2 in 2002-2004 of Masters of the Universe, pops up again in a comic book called Dream Halloween, and is last seen in a web series turned Netflix animation series called Masters of the Universe Revelation.
Stinkor makes a limited appearance, voiced by Jason Mewes, where he tries to steal a magical item and is defeated by two hired mercenaries to get it back. And really that’s his contribution.
While Stinkor has had some trouble with being accepted in real life by those who make Masters of the Universe and in Masters of the Universe by the Masters of the Universe, his plight is a reminder for all of us to own our stink.
