Mattel battle #3

Here is the third of four highly memorable illustrations from the 1981 Masters of the Universe Licensee Book. These illustrations were reproduced on many Masters of the Universe items at the height of its popularity! I love the fury of which Skeletor's head is snapping back after being struck by He-Man; falling into the throne of Castle Grayskull no less!


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Detailed hand...

Aside from being quite possibly the worst episode of the entire She-Ra series "Hordak's Power Play" has some odd little moments scattered throughout the episode. One of the small oddities occurs when we see a close up of Larg's hand. For some unknown reason the artist has decided to render the hand with an incredible level of detail not usually seen in an episode of a Filmation cartoon! Why this was does is unknown...


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Mattel battle #2

Here is the second of four highly memorable illustrations from the 1981 Masters of the Universe Licensee Book. These illustrations were reproduced on many Masters of the Universe items at the height of its popularity! This is an action-packed picture, and not the first time we would see Beast Man raised over the head of He-Man! My guess is that the characters are fighting atop Castle Grayskull's turret...


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A tall Twigget?

"She-Ra and the surprise party" is the Ladybird book that has grown on me over the course of the last few years. Artist Terry Gabbey's style was far removed from regular artist Robin Davies', but it was a refreshing take on the cast of She-Ra. In this interesting illustration we see what appears to be a tall Twigget. The Twiggets were always illustrated as being incredibly small in stature, but this individual is clearly illustrated with the same proportions as a regular Etherian!


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Mattel battle #1

Here is the first of four highly memorable illustrations from the 1981 Masters of the Universe Licensee Book. These illustrations were reproduced on many Masters of the Universe items at the height of its popularity! This illustration was clearly influenced by the first ever Masters of the Universe minicomic "He-Man and the Power Sword" on the cover of which we see He-Man and Man-At-Arms fighting with Skeletor and Beast Man.


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Best model sheet ever?!

Here is the model sheet that I know you have all been waiting for since I first started this Blog. Here is Mantenna, having run out of the shower, shower cap and all, as featured memorably in the season one She-Ra episode "Flowers for Hordak".


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Candor in all his glory!

"Something Old, Something New" from She-Ra's season two features a magician named Candor. Candor is said to have trained with Madame Razz, and is said to be as old as she is! However, during the episode the only time we ever see what Candor looks like is when Shadow Weaver disguises herself as him. And even then, all we really see is his head! Here for the first time is Candor in all his glory...


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"The Unknown Warrior" #3

Here are the final four 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. Snout Spout's origin is incredibly well-structured in this story, and none of the panels feel wasted. It is also interesting to see a story end with no threat or battle...


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Netossa turnaround...

Netossa's inclusion into the cast of She-Ra was a welcome one. Her character only appeared in a few season two episodes, but she did have enough screen time to be characterized as one of the strongest of the females, personality-wise. Her costume was also interesting to behold on screen, as there was a lot going on! It is a shame that season two did not continue to the sixty-five episode mark, because there is not doubt that Netossa would have reappeared.


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A brief review #009 - "The Dragon Invasion"

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 Dragon Invasion"...

Out all the episodes in the series, this one has to be one of the most action-packed; delivering confrontations and surprising conflicts as the story unfolds. We see a large cast of both heroes and villains, and yet all get a decent amount of screen time, with none of them feeling forced into the script. Skeletor's conquering of Castle Grayskull and his battle with He-Man at Snake Mountain provide the benchmark for all such future conflicts in the series. It should be noted that the pacing throughout the episode is near perfection, especially the way in which Skeletor conquers Castle Grayskull. This episode represents everything that is good about the conceptual beginnings of the series. 8/10

Now, may I ask; what is YOUR rating?