Happy Birthday He-Man #19 - Relaxed Teela.

Here is a very cool-looking illustration by Robin Davies from the Ladybird book "He-Man and the Lost Dragon". Like many of the Ladybird books Castle Grayskull was seen as a base of operations for the Heroic Warriors, hence why all fours warriors meet there. I like the way Stratos is casually leaning against the window ledge, but full points go to Robin Davies for illustrating quite possibly the most relaxed Teela ever seen! Also note that He-Man has clearly been based on his model sheet in this illustration...


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Happy Birthday He-Man #20 - Zodac the Evil Warrior!

"He-Man and the Asteroid of Doom" features a very rare Ladybird book appearance by Zodac, who as we know in every Masters of the Universe canon behaved slightly differently. In the Ladybird books he remained true to his action figure and was an Evil Warrior. In the illustration below we can see Skeletor ordering him about much like one of his typical henchmen. I do wonder what it would have been like had Zodac appeared in the Filmation cartoon as an Evil Warrior...


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Happy Birthday He-Man #21 - Stanlan captured!

In an effort to create more drama and tension in "House of Shokoti" Part 2, storyboard artist Robert Lamb illustrated a low angle panning shot of Stanlan being pulled inside the pyramid by the tentacles. Fortunately the director agreed with this storyboard pan, and the shot made it through to the final episode with no changes!


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Happy Birthday He-Man #22 - Skeletor's wedding!

Here is an interesting illustration from one of the early Masters of the Universe coloring books. When the concept of He-Man first came out there were many interpretations of the characters, and one theme that occasionally reared its head was Skeletor's desire to marry Teela! Fortunately this would be abandoned by many other canons, but it is interesting to think what it would have been like had they made an episode that featured Skeletor attempting to make Teela his bride! Also notice that in this illustration Battle Cat has no armor for some reason...


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Happy Birthday He-Man #23 - Winged rarity.

Here is an interesting illustration from the Ladybird book "Castle Grayskull Under attack!" As I have explained before in a previous Blog entry the little green men working in Man-At-Arms' laboratory are his servants, the Nerlins. Even though I am still not comfortable with Man-At-Arms having servants this image showcases and extremely cool looking ship! It never appeared in any other Ladybird book, and this would be the only time it was ever shown. Also worth noting in this image is the little robot...


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Happy Birthday He-Man #24 - Follow my lead...

In the Masters of the Universe minicomic "The Menace of Trap Jaw!" we see an event that was always talked about in the earliest canons but rarely ever seen. When He-Man and Skeletor cannot stop the Castle Grayskull-powered Trap Jaw the pair decide to join their two halves of the sword, creating the Power Sword! As I have said before the two halves of the sword was the one thing that I wish had appeared in the Filmation series. In any case these panels show more beautiful illustrations by Mark Texeira...


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24 years ago TOMORROW...

Yes, it's that time of year again...

On the 5th September 1983 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe debuted in the UK before any other country in the world! During the early production of the animated series the title of the show was slightly different. The original title was going to be He-Man AND Masters of the Universe, as you can see below from the cover of the Series Guide. I am thankful that they made the change as it does not flow as well as the finalized title...

Tomorrow is going to be a BIG day for this Blog...


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Play It Again, Willawind?

The episode "Play It Again, Bow" was originally titled "Play It Again, Willawind" early in the development of the She-Ra series. Willawind was a character designed for the series and made an appearance in the Series Bible, but ultimately never made it past this phase. A lot of his character traits were given to Bow just before the series went into full-blown production...


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Blinded by the light...

Here is a perfect example from the Ladybird book "Shadow Weaver's Magic Mirror" of how artist Robin Davies could do so much with a few simple lines! This illustration is not particularly detailed, but his use of color and contrast is beautiful, and another example of why I think he was one of the great He-Man and She-Ra artists.


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Great Profit!

Here are some more excellent panels from the classic minicomic "The Terror of Tri-Klops!" illustrated by Mark Texeira. The composition of these panels is fantastic with two close ups of each warrior as they speak followed by the single panel where the two Evil Warriors make a pact. One thing that sometimes confused me about Mark Texeira's Tri-Klops is that his three eyes did not appear to be spread out correctly on the visor, making it appear that he had four eyes...


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