Melog model madness!

Here is a beautifully illustrated turnaround of the Melog, the creature that appeared in the season one She-Ra episode "Enemy With My Face". I was always a fan of the Melog's design, because I think that Filmation managed to strike the correct balance between an unthinking, destructive creature, and the softness of the female physique. I thought the way in which the creature's hair was illustrated to look like heavy lumps of mud was a stroke of genius! It is a shame that the Melog became human at the end of the episode, because as a recurring villain it would have stolen the show!


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"The Unknown Warrior" #1

Here are the first three pages from "The Unknown Warrior", a story detailing Snout Spout's origin, published in issue twenty-six of the UK Masters of the Universe comic. I like the way in which Snout Spout is presented as a mysterious cloaked figure that manages to prevent numerous disasters from happening. An inspired piece of writing for sure!


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POW! WOK!

Here is a wonderfully action-packed panel from the Masters of the Universe minicomic "Grizzlor: The Legend Comes Alive!" Few people on this planet draw action as well as Bruce Timm, who always has a great understanding of dynamic comic book poses. Grizzlor looks incredibly imposing and powerful, and the way in which the bodies of Man-At-Arms and Buzz-Off are contorting is perfect!


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Skeletor is thrown!

Please do not be confused. Let me explain why you are looking at two different illustrations of the same scene, of the same story, by the same artist! When sales of the Masters of the Universe books were at their peak in 1985 Ladybird decided to release a large one-off Masters of the Universe annual. The annual featured all news stories with illustrations from Robin Davies, the regular Ladybird book artist, amongst others. One of these stories was titled "Dragon from the Lost Valley". In this story an earthquake across Eternia releases a large stegosaurus from the Lost Valley, deep in the heart of the Mystic Mountains. The heroes have to lead the stegosaurus back to its home, as Skeletor attempts to capture the creature.

In 1986 Ladybird decided to release another of their regular and smaller Masters of the Universe books, titled, "He-Man and the Lost Dragon". In this story the Evil Horde destroy a section of the Mystic Mountains releasing a large stegosaurus from the Lost Valley! The heroes have to lead the stegosaurus back to its home as both Hordak and Skeletor attempt to capture the creature!

It is no real surprise that Ladybird decided to reuse the original story, as it was rather unique. What makes this interesting is that Robin Davies was asked to illustrate the book, having already illustrated the original story for the annual! Due to the success of the cartoon Ladybird asked Robin to illustrate the book in a style closer to the Filmation series, so you can see that Skeletor in the second illustration looks a lot closer to the cartoon model that the original illustration!


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Once again, my daughter... #2

As I mentioned two days ago, during the production of She-Ra's second season the budget was quite tight prompting more stock reuse than had been seen on the first season of He-Man! In the previous post I showcased images from "Return Of The General" in which we see Queen Angella and her daughter Glimmer to fly into action! Well, in the very same season they reused the footage in the episode "Portrait of Doom". Oddly, even though the animation and dialogue were exactly the same, they reshot and re-voiced the scene...



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She always is!

I always thought that these few panels from the "Book of Evil" story from issue fifty-one of the UK Masters of the Universe comic were rather amusing. The panels make little to no sense. Man-At-Arms, on his Jetsled, witnesses Teela about to fall off a cliff. Instead of trying to save her he flies to ask He-Man to help! Is it me or does that not make sense in the slightest? Of course He-Man is an imposter, but his line is quite amusing, implying that Teela "always is" in danger! And one final thing worth mentioning is that we see Teela, who is also an imposter, sporting an all-blue costume...


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Once again, my daughter... #1

In the episode "Return Of The General" we see the Evil Horde attack Bright Moon, prompting Queen Angella and her daughter Glimmer to fly into action! Obviously this scene is notable because it is one of the few occasions where we see Glimmer fly, and one of the few times we see the mother and daughter fighting side by side. Sadly, as She-Ra's second season entered production it soon became apparent that the budget would not cover the quality of the twenty-eight episodes, prompting not only more stock reuse, but in some cases entire scene and dialogue reuse. Now, given what I have just said, this would not be the last time we would see Queen Angella and Glimmer flying off into battle...



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A brief review #008 - "The Time Corridor"

As many of you will know, in 2010 I published The unofficial cartoon guide to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. At 300+ pages the book features 700+ pieces of trivia, 460+ deleted scenes, 360+ examples of animation reuse, 380+ quotes, 50+ abandoned episodes, and a LOT more! It is the book that NO fan of the Filmation series can live without! BUY IT NOW!

As an incentive, here is my brief review and rating (as they appear in the book) for "The Time Corridor"...

Feeling very much like an early episode of He-Man, this story is paced quite slowly to begin with. It is only when the heroes find themselves in the past does the episode find its feet. What the episode does best of all is create a sense of unfamiliarity in Eternia's past. Due to the wealth of original backgrounds that are prevalent we are ourselves transported with the heroes to an unfamiliar time and place. Whilst the quality of the animation dips between good and bad, the storytelling and dialogue are great. Larry DiTillio successfully maintains the heroes as the stars of the episode, and their adventure throughout the past is thoroughly enjoyable. 6/10

Now, may I ask; what is YOUR rating?

He-Man hangs on!

Here is an illustration by Robin Davies from "Dragon from the Lost Valley", a story that appeared in the one-off Masters of the Universe Ladybird annual. I have always loved the sheer level of detail put into the illustration of the stegosaurus. Not only does the line art look impressive, but it is colored in such a way that it emphasizes the creature's dense skin and muscular frame. This illustration was sadly not reproduced in the story "He-Man and the Lost Dragon"; another Masters of the Universe book published by Ladybird and illustrated by Robin Davies. What am I talking about? You will find out soon...


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The lonely Gwildor.

Gwildor has never been the most popular character to have appeared in the Masters of the Universe brand, but in this panel from issue seventeen of the UK Masters of the Universe Adventure magazine, it appears that both He-Man and Teela have had enough of him. I do like this panel in which we see Gwildor isolated by a fantastic use of colors! Of course, I am taking this image out of context, and you will see the full story here on this Blog very soon...


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