Ugly heroes.

Here is an incredibly disturbing illustration of He-Man, Man-At-Arms, and Teela as seen in the 1986 Masters of the Universe annual. Oddly, this artist would often illustrate beautiful pieces featuring a wonderful use of water colors. However, on this occasion, the faces of all three characters look strange to say the least. They appear to be made of a rubbery substance that has warped dramatically. He-Man's face in particular appears as if it were constructed from the features of four different individuals. And is it me, or does Teela look like a man?


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

Transformation by the river.

I always liked seeing how the many different artists interpreted the transformation sequences of both She-Ra and He-Man for print. In this panel as featured in issue two of the UK Princess of Power comic we see a fairly accurate depiction of the way in which the magic wraps itself around She-Ra. What I think makes this panel unique is that there are other characters stood directly beside her as she transforms. It appears that Madame Razz is overjoyed at the moment the transformation takes place, holding what appears to be an incredibly crudely-drawn Broom!


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

GIANT Picture Book (Heroic Warriors) illustration #9

Golden Book published a great deal of Masters of the Universe material during the eighties. Two of the most notable and yet rarely seen books are the Giant Picture Books; oversized quality publications printed on thick quality paper featuring artwork by Fred Carrillo. One book focused on the Heroic Warriors, whilst the other focused on the Evil Warriors. Here I present, from the Heroic Warriors book, the second of the two black and white illustrations focusing on Teela, resized for you to enjoy! Although I am not convinced by the technique of this flying kick, I do love the fact that Teela is kicking Trap Jaw square in the jaw!


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

A brief review #038 - "Valley of Power"

As many of you will know, in 2010 I published The unofficial cartoon guide to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. At 300+ pages the book features 700+ pieces of trivia, 460+ deleted scenes, 360+ examples of animation reuse, 380+ quotes, 50+ abandoned episodes, and a LOT more! It is the book that NO fan of the Filmation series can live without! BUY IT NOW!

As an incentive, here is my brief review and rating (as they appear in the book) for "Valley of Power"...

This episode is unique in that the entirety of the first act takes place in one single location, and succeeds in keeping us entertained. Once Danavas becomes the villain of the episode the plot becomes fairly straightforward, and yet, somehow, this episode thrives on unique action sequences and thoroughly entertaining character dialogue. Of course Battle Cat is the surprising star of this episode, with He-Man a close second. Both seem have a good rapport with one another in this episode, and almost appear to delight in the fight against evil. This episode does not quite achieve monumental greatness due to the relatively straightforward story. 7/10

Now, may I ask; what is YOUR rating?

He punched Beast Man?!

In this page of storyboards by Bob Kline from the season one He-Man episode "Diamond Ray of Disappearance", we can see that during the battle outside of Castle Grayskull He-Man was originally going to punch Beast Man! Now, for those that know the cartoon and the strict rules it placed upon itself, this scene could never take place. He-Man was never allowed to commit violent acts against the enemy. As such, these scenes have a large cross through them implying that they would not even make it to the layout stage!


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The wrong home?

Here is an illustration from issue fifty-one of the UK Masters of the Universe comic. In this piece we see the Heroic Warriors preparing to head back home, having saved the day once again. You can see on the horizon that "home" is illustrated as the Three Towers. This would appear to be a mistake on the part of the artist. Even though the Three Towers were an important part of the comic by this point, the Heroic Warriors' primary base of operations was still the Royal Palace, as it was at the very beginning of this issue!


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

GIANT Picture Book (Heroic Warriors) illustration #8

Golden Book published a great deal of Masters of the Universe material during the eighties. Two of the most notable and yet rarely seen books are the Giant Picture Books; oversized quality publications printed on thick quality paper featuring artwork by Fred Carrillo. One book focused on the Heroic Warriors, whilst the other focused on the Evil Warriors. Here I present, from the Heroic Warriors book, the first of the two black and white illustrations focusing on Teela, resized for you to enjoy! The way in which Teela's body is positioned as she swings her sword, knocking Mer-Man's sword from his hand, is fantastic.


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

Skeletor versus the Attak Trak!

The many Masters of the Universe coloring and activity books featured a plethora of unique and often questionable illustrations! Here is one such example featuring the Attak Trak attacking Skeletor. I can just about buy into the fact that the vehicle and Skeletor are dueling, but why Skeletor's hood is falling down revealing his skull for comical effect is beyond me! And maybe I have this wrong, but if you look at Skeletor's pose, he almost appears to be laying down. Maybe Skeletor was merely taking a nap when the Attak Trak attacked?


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

Sorceress in the stars.

This image of the Sorceress, created by the joining of many stars, is featured in the incredibly memorable episode "Glastnost Schmaznost" from The New Adventures of He-Man series. In the episode He-Man is looking for a way to return to Primus, currently dominated by the Mutants, but is unable to penetrate the shield that surrounds the planet. He looks towards the stars only to see this image of the Sorceress form. He subsequently joins the stars using the power of his sword to create a large image of the Sword of Power; notifying those on Primus to lower the shield!


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

FILMATION ART: Trollan landscape.

For the last sixteen years I have collected He-Man and She-Ra animation artwork. As a result I have amassed a pretty large collection! Here I present a piece of original background artwork from the He-Man episode "Dawn of Dragoon". While this may look like a simple nondescript background, I immediately recognized it from the scene in which Prince Adam attempts to use his fire ray, which due to the backwards nature of Trolla turns into water. Filmation always had a talent for drawing otherworldly locations, and yet making them vastly different from all the strange oddities located on Eternia. Amazingly, weeks after purchasing this background I found the matching cel of Prince Adam!


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

And here is how the background was used in the episode...