Teela falls twice!

Robin Davies illustrated two similar pieces for the Masters of the Universe Ladybird book "A Trap For He-Man". On the first occasion Teela is thrown from her steed when a Liozard appears before her, and on the second occasion Stratos drops Teela in midair when struck by a water spout controlled by Mer-Man. This was not Teela's lucky day...


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

Redrawn transformation?

Yes, believe it or not the memorable animation sequence of Prince Adam unsheathing the Sword of Power was actually redrawn in the second season, but only appeared in certain number of episodes! As you can see below the first image shows Adam holding aloft the sword from the first season, but if you look at the following image you will notice that Adam's face looks odd. If you look closely you will see that his body has been slightly redrawn, too! The fact that the cel was redrawn is more noticeable in the comparison shot of the sword; the latter cel appearing to look extremely hurried. It is also worth mentioning that in season one the sword of power sometimes had the gaps colored in, and sometimes not, leading to speculation that it may have been redrawn previously. Oh the joys of being an overly keen fan of He-Man and She-Ra...




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

Finally the hero!

This illustration from the Ladybird book "He-Man meets the Beast" proved to be quite an iconic image for those that purchased the Ladybird book. It was later redrawn for the Ladybird Masters of the Universe wall frieze. Also, more importantly, this was the first time He-Man appeared in this particular story, quite literally a few pages before its conclusion!


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

Monsters! Magic! Mystery!

Here is an advert that appeared in the UK Princess of Power special. The artwork is, well, unique, putting it kindly. The artist of this piece throughout the years of the UK He-Man and She-Ra comics would draw in a variety of styles, and I have to say I do not believe this to be one of his better illustrations. Though I am not too keen on He-Man, especially his face, I do like the dynamics of this piece, with She-Ra posed to good effect, even if the Sword of Protection is missing the jewel.


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

By the power of...

"Orko's Favorite Uncle" features a nice panning shot of Prince Adam holding aloft the Sword of Power. What makes this panning shot particularly interesting is that unlike every other episode the camera does not truck-in towards the sword as it pans upwards. This treats us to a near-full view of the sword as Adam begins to call upon the power. The reason the scene was shot in this way is due to the fact that the sword is knocked out of our hero's hand seconds later, and the director wanted to capture more of the action.


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

A royal pain!

These three images from the season one He-Man episode "The Royal Cousin" show that being a hero has its downside. As He-Man stops the Sky Sled from crashing into the mountain the troublemaking Prince Jeremy and Ram Man both collide into He-Man in the most painful of ways! Jeremy's crotch strikes He-Man's head, which is probably more painful for Jeremy, while Ram Man's bulky physique strikes He-Man between the legs. A deleted scene would have shown all three in a fair amount of pain after this inccident...


(click on the images to see them at full-size)

Orko saving the day!

In the Masters of the Universe Ladybird book "He-Man meets the Beast" Orko races through some dark caverns with the Sword of Power. In this illustration by Robin Davies we can see how his use of colors can really change the mood of a scene. Yes, Orko being attacked by a large creature sets the mood quite well, but the use of purples, blues and greens creates a great sense of atmosphere within the cavern. Actually this Ladybird book above all others features some of the best mood coloring...


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

Skeletor victorious!

An impressive panel here shows Skeletor victorious over Man-At-Arms from issue sixty-eight of the UK Masters of the Universe comic. The story "Fatal Attraction!" features Man-At-Arms falling in love with Evil-Lyn and her evil magic. This panel is the moment when Skeletor finally has Man-At-Arms in his grasp, and if you look carefully in the background you can see Evil-Lyn in chains. Of course seconds later He-Man would appear and ruin everything...


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

Whiplash dominates!

In this fantastic page from the action-packed Masters of the Universe minicomic "The Clash of Arms" we see Fisto fighting for his life against the seemingly invincible tail-thrashing warrior Whiplash! What I like about Whiplash in this minicomic is his very odd color scheme! Being used to a toy that was predominantly green it was baffling to see the yellow and purple color scheme given to this character!


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

Rearing Battle Cat!

"She-Ra and the Dark Pool" features a rare, yet obvious illustration of He-Man and Battle Cat; obvious in the sense that it should have been done many years before. At the end of the story, having helped out the rebels He-Man and Battle Cat depart, but not before this dramatic goodbye pose. Usually we see rearing Eternian and Etherian horses in this pose, but a rearing green and yellow-striped Eternian tiger? I wonder what the reaction would have been had they done this in the animated series...


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

Teela held captive!

Poor Teela. Here is an interesting illustration from the 1986 Masters of the Universe annual showing Skeletor holding Teela captive. I was never a big fan of these painted illustrations that appeared in the first few UK annuals, but as I got older I began to realize that they were just as good as the images found in the animated series. The only thing that I am not too keen on in this image is Panthor's face; something does not seem right...


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

Did they ever fix it?

Here is an image from the season one He-Man episode "Teela's Quest" that appeared in some of the promotional material for the series. Interestingly this would be the only time we ever see Prince Adam and Cringer working on something technical. Also have a look at the Panini Masters of the Universe sticker album to see this promotional image oddly used in the "Colossor Awakes" story! Man-At-Arms was later shown trying to fix the Sky Sled in the moral for "The Curse of the Spellstone" and again in "A Beastly Sideshow". Did they ever fix this particular Sky Sled?


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

Plan of action.

Here is a pretty cool illustration from the Masters of the Universe Ladybird book "Wings of Doom" with the heroes planning their next course of action. I like the fact that the characters are illustrated with very natural poses, especially Man-At-Arms...


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

Widget descriptions.

In the script to the season one He-Man episode "Evil-Lyn's Plot" writer Paul Dini describes the Widgets in some depth in order to guide the character design artists. Interestingly some of the descriptions are very different to what we saw on screen. Kando, the leader of the Widgets is described as having a "white beard", something that never materialized in his actual design; Lara is described as a "spunky tom-boy", which is an accurate description as to how she turned out; and finally Squinch is referred to as a "Gabby Hayes type" character, which is obviously why John Erwin developed such an odd voice! I should also note that the below picture from the season two episode "The Littlest Giant" is one of my favorite images of the Widgets; so much so that I actually managed to buy this cel a few years ago!

Waking Adam.

These "House of Shokoti" Part 2 storyboard pages illustrated by Robert Lamb show a deleted scene that occurs immediately after Stanlan runs of to investigate the pyramid. The deleted scene shows Cringer head back into the tent and wake Prince Adam, which explains why the two appear when Stanlan is pulled inside the pyramid by Shokoti's magic.


(click on the images to see them at full-size)

The Frozen First One...

Robert Lamb came up with numerous story ideas during his time working on She-Ra. One of many which unfortunately never saw the light of day was an untitled story that would've seen Bow discovering the frozen form of a First One! For those that do not know the First Ones were known in the series as the founders of Etheria. One can only imagine the kind of exciting story that would have developed upon finding the frozen form of a First One. It should be noted that a lot of Robert Lamb's story ideas featured Frosta to some extent as he obviously felt that the character was underused. Read for yourself!


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

Red Skeleton!

Here is a very powerful-looking illustration of Skeletor and Evil-Lyn from the Ladybird book "He-Man meets the Beast". The use of reds in this image is wonderful, and furthers my belief that Robin Davies was one of the best He-Man and She-Ra artist in the eighties.


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

Capturing Spirit!

In this action-packed illustration from the She-Ra Ladybird book "Spirit is Kidnapped" we see that there is not much Spirit can do when confronted by Catra and Clawdeen. The illustrations seen within the book were not featured on the back cover and a new piece of art was often created to promote the book's exterior. But on this occasion this image was deemed so strong that it was also used to attract readers who glanced at the back cover...


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

Swift Wind?!

Occasionally the director would miss something during the production of an episode. However the following mistake is a pretty big one to miss. During the opening scene of the season two She-Ra episode "Above It All" a group have gathered to listen to Bow's storytelling. Oddly we can see Swift Wind in many of the shots even though Adora has not yet transformed into She-Ra! A few minutes later the errors is corrected when Adora finally transforms into She-Ra, transforming Spirit into Swift Wind!


(click on the images to see them at full-size)