He-Man's surprise!

Here is an odd sequence of panels from issue sixty-eight of the UK Masters of the Universe comic. While it is interesting to see the unique pairing of Jitsu and Scare Glow, the way in which Scare Glow has been illustrated is incredibly strange. The artist has chosen to given the character a hood much like Skeletor's, rather than the mighty collar that was a part of the action figure's cape. Scare Glow rarely appeared in the UK comic; his biggest appearance being alongside Ninjor in one of the Masters of the Universe Adventure magazines.


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The Sea Hawk returns!

Here is a fantastic panning shot of Sea Hawk from the She-Ra season one episode "Anchors Aloft" Part 2, directed by Bob Arkwright. Like with all memorable moments in the Filmation He-Man and She-Ra series the inclusion of a moon makes a scene all the more dramatic! I am always disappointed that Bob Arkwright only directed one episode of He-Man with "Evilseed" and one episode of She-Ra with "Anchors Aloft" Part 2, because he was by far one of the most talented animation directors at the time...


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Run for it!

Once more I highlight the colors that appeared in the UK Masters of the Universe comic, this time from issue sixty-two. The use of a flat orange color on the villains as they flee the exploding volcano works superbly against the pale yellow sky. Once again the colorist and the artist work well together to create a great sense of depth. Hordak's dialogue seems rather stilted though...


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Angry Drissi!

The New Adventures of He-Man featured a lot of great animation throughout its sixty-five episodes, and when the Japanese artists had a chance to shine with character expressions and direction, they would! Here is one of my favorite shots of Drissi, who for once in the series looks none too pleased. In the episode "The Heat", upon discovering that her younger brother Caz snuck aboard the Starship Eternia, the camera pans across from a departing He-Man and Master Sebrian, and a scowling Drissi slides into shot!


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Hail the champion.

Here is an impressive final panel from issue sixty-nine of the UK Masters of the Universe comic. Having beaten the forces of evil in various competitions the Heroic Warriors are victorious, and of course He-Man is hailed as a champion. Interestingly King Randor is seen here with the costume that his action figure sports. In previous stories by this artist King Randor wears the same costume that appears in the Filmation cartoon. That said, during this artist's run on the UK comic the latest wave of Masters of the Universe figures including King Randor had just been released, and so he was almost definitely asked to adhere to the design of the action figure.


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Atop Gepple's hair!

This visual gag from the episode "The Heat" involving Alcon sitting atop Gepple's awesome hairstyle was only used a few times during The New Adventures of He-Man series. Many people never really liked the scientists. However, even though they are incredibly annoying during their first appearance in "A New Beginning", after a while, as the writers focus on the friendship between Alcon and Gepple, the characters really do shine. It is amusing that during the latter part of the series Krex and Meldoc, the other two scientists, are all but forgotten by the writers...


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Treetop Avion.

Here is an interesting oddity from issue thirty-eight of the UK Masters of the Universe comic. In the origin story for how the Heroic Warriors came to be, we see Stratos in his kingdom of Avion. Unlike previous mountaintop settings for Avion, as seen in the animated series and the Ladybird books, here we see a woodland setting for the Avionians. The level of detail in this illustration is enough to convince me to go with this idea...


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Trap Jaw's disc-fyler.

I always like it when Masters of the Universe canons introduce new ideas, characters, or vehicles that would not necessarily appear in other canons. In issue three of the UK Masters of the Universe comic we see Trap Jaw piloting a blandly-colored, yet cool-looking disc-flyer with two large guns mounted on either side. The text would also seem to imply that this ship is owned by Trap Jaw. Unfortunately the disc-flyer is not seen for long due to an act of strength by He-Man!


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Shadow Weaver's figure.

In the She-Ra season two episode "Bow's Magical Gift" for some unknown reason Shadow Weaver is drawn with a very striking figure! In these two images below you can see that the animators were paying extra attention to certain body parts to make sure that every single curve was accentuated. Too bad Shadow Weaver was evil...


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Charged with treason.

Over the years in a variety of canons, we saw Orko perform a number of magical tricks, some of which involved Prince Adam. However, in issue fifty-seven of the UK Masters of the Universe comic Orko actually makes an incredibly valid point after being prompted by Teela. He declares that if he were to make Prince Adam disappear he may be charged with treason! As amusing as this sounds, in terms of the laws which no doubt govern the Royal Palace, this actually makes a great deal of sense! It would make for an interesting story to see Orko put on trial for making Prince Adam disappear...


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