A crash helmet?

In the She-Ra season one episode "Anchors Aloft" Part 2 we see Adora and Spirit in a Horde prison. Oddly on the wall next to Adora's Sword of Protection we see what appears to be a crash helmet. Not only is it a crash helmet, but it is a crash helmet with a star on the side! I am not sure what purpose this served the Horde army...


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He-Man's multicolored sword!

The colorists of the UK Masters of the Universe comic more than often did a fantastic job of brining the world of Eternia to life, making it a great deal more colorful and vibrant than even the Filmation cartoon! That said, every once in a while they would get slightly carried away as is evident in this panel from issue sixty. He-Man's Sword of Power has no less than four colors comprising its scheme; blue, yellow, orange and even green! I am honestly not sure what happened, but the colorist may have been tripping or something...


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Bio-synth-Convertabation.

Often in the UK Masters of the Universe comic's letters column they would make up things to appease the readers. For example in issue fifty-four a reader asks how Hordak is able to change his arm into a cannon. Now we fans would state something about Horde science being the reason for his abilities, but Scrollos, never to be outdone, explains that the technique Hordak employs to transform his arm into a cannon is called "bio-synth-convertabation". Yeah, right...


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A brief exchange.

Even though I dislike the episode, "Glimmer's Story" from She-Ra's season one features some nice touches of direction throughout the episode. One of the nice little moments occurs after She-Ra rescues Bow from a raging torrent. As they appear on land the pair exchange a glance; and while She-Ra smiles, Bow looks somewhat confused! I love the way She-Ra folds her arms and positions herself on the bank...


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Marlena's blue hair!

For those that saw the debut of The New Adventures of He-Man we were all happy to see the show acknowledge the Filmation series in the first episode "A New Beginning". However, while King Randor merely had a new color scheme for his costume, we were left scratching our heads as to why Queen Marlena now sported blue hair! Her appearance in the series will always enable me enjoy the scene regardless of her choice of hair color. Somewhat annoyingly critics of the show will focus on small moments like Queen Marlena's blue hair to back up their argument...


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Who is right?

I have mentioned before how the letters column in the UK Masters of the Universe comic tended to disassociate itself from the cartoon. In this example from issue fifty-five we see that Scrollos declares that in reference to Roboto's origin, the comic is accurate, stating that the animated series makes changes to the warriors and their stories. I do not think Larry DiTillio writer of "Happy Birthday Roboto" would be too thrilled with that statement. Ironically the cartoon series had already finished production a year before the UK comic released its first issue! Funny that Scrollos chose not to acknowledge that...


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Blue Raider?

Issue sixty of the UK Masters of the Universe comic features profiles on the vehicles that belong to the Heroic Warriors. The text informs us that the Wind Raider was the first ship to be built; something I can actually believe. Interestingly in this panel we can see that the colorist has decided that the normal color scheme for the Wind Raider is somewhat dull, and so brings new life to the ship with a primarily blue color scheme, with small portions of green scattered throughout. Personally I will always like the original color scheme, but it is interesting to see something new...


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Evil-Lyn's hair homage.

The season two Masters of the Universe episode "The Price of Deceit" by Mike Young Productions became an instant fan favorite when it aired. Larry DiTillio wanted to make the episode reflect a great deal of his original Filmation material, and at one point the episode was supposed to feature a cameo by Shokoti. Sadly this did not come to pass, but we do see a nice tip of the hat to the original series once Evil-Lyn's headpiece is removed. Much like her appearance in the Filmation episode "The Witch and The Warrior" Evil-Lyn is shown to have short white hair.


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Odd lights.

The She-Ra season one episode "Anchors Aloft" Part 2 is beautifully directed by Bob Arkwright. There are many wonderful moments of direction throughout this episode, particularly on character animation. However, one oddity occurs when we see a Horde ship depart slowly into the night; it appears to be lit up like the fourth of July! I can understand that the director wants to show the vastness of the ship with all the lights, but the multicolored effect makes it look like a production on Broadway!


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Sad She-Ra.

"Darksmoke and Fire" is not only one of She-Ra's best episodes, but also features a lot of good character work for She-Ra. One of the loveliest moments in the episode occurs when we see She-Ra, believing herself to be stuck in Eternia's past, sitting alone atop a mountain peak with her head heavy in her hands. It was rare that we saw She-Ra with this expression on her face.


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