I am Adam!

Until I saw "The Problem With Power" I was under the impression that this was the only way in which He-Man would transform back into Prince Adam. The UK Masters of the Universe comic used the "I am Adam!" transformation dialogue many times over; this panel in particular coming from the story which details the origin of He-Man in issue thirty-eight. I really like the illustration and strength of Prince Adam's pose, but in all honesty, even as a kid, I never believed that it sounded quite right...


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Tic-tac-toe?

In an odd scene from The New Adventures of He-Man episode "Sword & Staff" we see Skeletor engage in a game of Tic-tac-toe in order to gain access to the powerful crystal that he desires to possess. While it is an amusing gag, it seems somewhat misplaced in an ancient underground stronghold...



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The green Mantisaur explained!

In a previous post, many years ago, I mused as to why the Mantisaur was green in the She-Ra episode "A Talent for Trouble".

The truth is that the early Mattel conceptual illustrations of the Mantisaur portrayed the creature with an all-green color scheme. Also, in the Mattel illustration it was simply called Manta. The Filmation model sheet of the creature refers to it as Manta, thereby showing how Filmation developed the character for animation.

Hordak and the Sword of Power!

I always thought this was an awesome illustration of Hordak from issue seventy-one of the UK Masters of the Universe comic. How often did we see Hordak hold the Sword of Power? The answer to that is rarely. Aside from this angle making Hordak look all powerful, I love that this panel was actually a reveal; in that the previous panel showed a villager grabbing He-Man's sword.


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Beast Man's reaction.

Here is an odd panel from The Secret Files of Scrollos from issue twenty-two of the UK Masters of the Universe comic. In a visual profile for Beast Man we see him ordering some creatures to attack the heroes, showcasing his ability to control the animals of Eternia. In another panel we see him apparently acting as second in command. However, as you can see in the illustration below, it appears that Beast Man is cowering before the approaching odd combination of Webstor and Leech!


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Mer-Man dies?!

During the Mike Young Masters of the Universe episode "Rise Of The Snake Men" Part 1 we see the Evil Warriors completely overpowered by the Snake Men. In one of the most shocking scenes Mer-Man is turned to stone by Snake Face and subsequently falls to the floor where he breaks into many pieces. It is apparent that at this moment in the series Mer-Man actually dies! I am always impressed by this scene because never did I think that this series would attempt something quite so daring. Fortunately for Mer-Man, Skeletor resurrects him in the following episode...


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Sword against stone.

Issue four of the UK Masters of the Universe comic features one of the often-forgotten ideas for Prince Adam's transformation into He-Man. In some of the earliest canons it was stated that Prince Adam would have to strike the Sword of Power against stone in order to transform into He-Man. In this panel we can see that the text above the illustration states that his sword was struck against stone; one of the few times the UK comic acknowledged this.


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Arthur Nadel writes?

One could tell that the She-Ra series had come to an almost sudden end when the title card of the final episode of the series, "Swifty's Baby", revealed that Arthur Nadel had aided J. Larry Carroll in writing this script. Over the years Arthur worked with the writers and writing department to develop the scripts and demand changes as he was Filmation's Vice President for Creative Affairs, but to see his name on the title card of an episode was a surprise.


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Frit returns?

One of the strangest cameos by far in the She-Ra series is the appearance of Frit in the season two episode "Portrait of Doom". Frit was a fairly important character when he appeared in the season one episode "Play It Again, Bow", as he was revealed to be Madame Razz's former love interest. However, the only thing we see him do in this episode is cheer when the rebels are freed. Interestingly, in the script, he is noted as preparing a statue of She-Ra for a festival; something which is not evident in the actual episode.


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The Monstroid spins!

The Monstroid was handled in a variety of ways during the original Masters of the Universe line. In the Star Comics the machine was confusingly portrayed as a sentient being, while the She-Ra cartoon gave the Monstroid moniker to a group of transforming robots. Fortunately the UK comic seemed to get the Monstroid right and portrayed it as a very tough machine utilized by the Horde. This action-packed panel from issue seventy-one sums up the power of the Monstroid!


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