Star Comics cereal:geek article #11

As many of you will know I continue to self-publish cereal:geek magazine; the one-hundred page glossy magazine dedicated to the cartoons of the eighties. I have incredibly talented individuals write articles for the magazine. However, when I required an article covering the Masters of the Universe comic book published by Marvel's Star Comics imprint I knew I had to write this article myself, given that I have such strong views on this series! As I have rarely covered the Star Comics series on this Blog I thought it would be good to showcase the article I wrote for the magazine across a group of posts.

So here I present the eleventh part of the article...

As Adam departs we are treated to two wonderful panels in which we learn the shocking truth. Randor asks Marlena, "Do you think we should have told him?", to which she replies, "No ... I've always said that he'd tell us when he was ready. I knew that when I figured out his "secret" -- all those years ago", finally adding, "A mother knows." In those two panels Caragonne proves that not only does he enjoy referencing the cartoon (which hinted twice during its run that Marlena knew that Adam and He-Man were the same), but that he also actually cares about the comic he is writing, and not for one second is he writing down to the audience that his comic is clearly marketed for.

Just when we think things can't get any more difficult for Adam he finds the Sorceress who gives up her life to power a weapon, given to him by his father. As the Sorceress dies she whispers to the prince, "I will always be with you, my 'son'..." Adam's rage in the last panel on this page is perfectly illustrated by Ron Wilson.

The final few pages of issue twelve have Adam discovering his future self, and that Teela has now taken over the mantle of the Sorceress, though the years since the death of her father have left her cold and distant with little emotion. The issue ends beautifully with Adam heading towards Skeletor's towering obelisk which reads, "Here lies He-Man." In the fury of the storm Adam uses the laser weapon powered by the lifeforce of the Sorceress and rewrites the words of Skeletor's obelisk, "Skeletor lies!! He-Man lives!!!" in an effort to inspire the people of Eternia. The issue's last panel has the small band of heroes preparing themselves to fight Skeletor's evil head on.

To be continued...


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

BUY THE MAGAZINE HERE!

He-Ro artwork.

As I explained a few days ago, I absolutely loved the miniscule pieces of artwork featured on the initial cardbacks of the Masters of the Universe figures. As the line continued these illustrations would match the figures a great deal more in both design and pose. In this fascinating image we see what would have been the cardback illustration of He-Ro based upon the action figure that never made it past the prototype stage! When comparing this style of illustration to the one of the Skeletor cardback from a few days ago you can see the quality and style had changed dramatically by the end of the toyline.


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

Skeletor and the Shadow-Man.

Here is one of my favorite illustrations from the Masters of the Universe Ladybird book "A Trap For He-Man". Skeletor's stance with his Power Blade held high makes him look incredibly formidable, as Teela appears to be resigned to the fact that she is Skeletor's prisoner. The Shadow-Man, who appear in force in this story, is also given an appropriately cool low pose. There is an impressive use of blacks in this illustration, and throughout the book, too!

(click on the image to see it at full-size)

Star Comics cereal:geek article #10

As many of you will know I continue to self-publish cereal:geek magazine; the one-hundred page glossy magazine dedicated to the cartoons of the eighties. I have incredibly talented individuals write articles for the magazine. However, when I required an article covering the Masters of the Universe comic book published by Marvel's Star Comics imprint I knew I had to write this article myself, given that I have such strong views on this series! As I have rarely covered the Star Comics series on this Blog I thought it would be good to showcase the article I wrote for the magazine across a group of posts.

So here I present the tenth part of the article...

The two part "Lifetime" story that runs across issues twelve and thirteen is often heralded as one of the best Masters of the Universe stories ever told. And rightly so!

For the first time in the series we see Adam and King Randor engaging in meaningful conversation, Randor stating that he is pleased with his son taking an interest in affairs of state; the dialogue sounding a lot like something we could have heard in the cartoon. Page three of the issue is very clever as it foreshadows the story; in the three panels that He-Man appears in we do not once see his face; every shot of him is shown from behind.

Later, as Adam tells Man-At-Arms that he is tired of being He-Man, we are treated to some great dialogue, most notably Adam's declaration, "It's not 'I Have The Power!' Now 'The Power Has me!'" Adam's argument as to give up being He-Man is convincing to the point that we never truly question it, and to be honest, I found myself rooting for him to return the Sword of Power to the Sorceress!

Of course Skeletor shows up with a new plan. This time he has a bomb that will trigger itself upon picking up He-Man's brainwaves, and explode, sending the most powerful man in the universe into the future. Unfortunately for Skeletor Adam is in the room and the bomb sensing He-Man's brainwaves begins to count down. We are all horrified when Adam's sword disappears and again Caragonne writes Adam's despair beautifully. Adam journeys to the future and discovers a frightening world now ruled by Skeletor, as He-Man hasn't appeared in over thirty years. The best scene in the comic, and perhaps the series' history, occurs when Adam discovers his mother and father in Skeletor's dungeons.

In an incredible few panels Adam tells his parents that he and He-Man are one and the same. They are shocked as he proceeds to explain why he kept it a secret; "Please forgive me for keeping this secret from you. I love you both ... making you proud of me is all I ever wanted." As Adam leaves the dungeon Randor replies that he has always been proud of his son, "Never more so than I am today."

To be continued...


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

BUY THE MAGAZINE HERE!

Evilseed dies!

Here is a beautiful piece of layout artwork from the episode "Evilseed" by the late great Fred Carrillo. This piece was illustrated to give the storyboard artists and director a sense of how the scene may play out. Tom Sito animated the death of Evilseed sequence, and one has only to look at this illustration to see how the final shot of a dying Evilseed was originally envisioned.


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

Catra versus the Golden Goose!

The rarely-seen four story She-Ra Ladybird compilation book was interesting in that aside from including two new stories, it included two previously published stories in "Catra's Ice Palace" and "She-Ra and the Golden Goose", renamed "The Golden Goose" for this publication. Due to the size of this compilation book being a different format, some the illustrations that accompanied "She-Ra and the Golden Goose" were completely redrawn. Here I present one of the illustrations that was not redrawn for the book by Glenn Steward. In this piece we see Catra, adorned in her Scratchin' Sound outfit, pursuing the Golden Goose, which is evading her effectively in this illustration! Just in case you were wondering, Catra does eventually catch the goose...


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

Star Comics cereal:geek article #9

As many of you will know I continue to self-publish cereal:geek magazine; the one-hundred page glossy magazine dedicated to the cartoons of the eighties. I have incredibly talented individuals write articles for the magazine. However, when I required an article covering the Masters of the Universe comic book published by Marvel's Star Comics imprint I knew I had to write this article myself, given that I have such strong views on this series! As I have rarely covered the Star Comics series on this Blog I thought it would be good to showcase the article I wrote for the magazine across a group of posts.

So here I present the ninth part of the article...

Issue ten continues the good characterization and storytelling established in the previous issue. In another nod to the animated series Caragonne has He-Man transform back into Prince Adam uttering the phrase "Let The Power Return!" This issue, more than his other four, demonstrates that Caragonne understands these characters, what makes them work, and how they should interact with one another; highlighted during the scenes featuring Adam and Teela, especially their final scene. It should be noted that whilst not award-winning storytelling Skeletor's plot in this issue is the best so far; with him tricking the Eternians into giving him a powerful gem. Incidentally issue ten was actually the first issue I managed to find in the United Kingdom. Imagine my sadness when I finally discovered the quality of the first eight!

In issue eleven we are presented with a very interesting story; after a trip through space both He-Man and Hordak end up on a different planet suffering from amnesia. The writing is what shines most of all in this issue. Instead of merely joining up with He-Man, Hordak asserts his independence, believing that he can survive on his own. Throughout the issue we see him struggle to make decisions and question why he is treated so harshly by the beings of this planet; a planet that the Evil Horde once ruled. Hordak's change of personality does not for one second feel forced upon us, and when Shadow Weaver returns his memory we are genuinely saddened for the villain, as he has formed a close bond with He-Man.

The ending of this issue is brief but well executed, with Hordak "accidentally" missing an opportunity to destroy the heroes. It should be noted that this comic has a couple of references to the Flash Gordon series in the form of Prince Bar'in and his homeworld of Aarboria. This was no doubt made possible as Star comics themselves owned the Defenders of the Earth property.

To be continued...


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

BUY THE MAGAZINE HERE!

Smiling Bow.

Here is a beautiful piece of layout featuring Bow from the season one She-Ra episode "The Laughing Dragon". This is of course from the end of the episode shortly after She-Ra kisses Bow and he faints! I love the rendering of the character in this piece; with a fantastic use of the blue pencil to lay down the groundwork for this sketch. Fortunately the detail and expression found in this piece of layout artwork was thankfully executed in the actual episode produced!


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

Angry Lyn!

Andie Tong's artwork on the Rise of the Snake Men miniseries published by MVCreations is fantastic! Alongside beautifully action-packed panels Andie also found time to illustrate some humorous panels throughout the story, including this one of Evil-Lyn. Having been mocked by King Hsss, Evil-Lyn looks at him with pure hatred, but bites her tongue. The way in which Andie has illustrated her lips so that she is almost pouting is hilarious, as are her incredibly arched evil eyebrows! Even when she is mad, she is still beautiful, at least when drawn by Andie!


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

Star Comics cereal:geek article #8

As many of you will know I continue to self-publish cereal:geek magazine; the one-hundred page glossy magazine dedicated to the cartoons of the eighties. I have incredibly talented individuals write articles for the magazine. However, when I required an article covering the Masters of the Universe comic book published by Marvel's Star Comics imprint I knew I had to write this article myself, given that I have such strong views on this series! As I have rarely covered the Star Comics series on this Blog I thought it would be good to showcase the article I wrote for the magazine across a group of posts.

So here I present the eighth part of the article...

With George Caragonne taking over the writing chores with issue nine the entire quality of the comic shifts dramatically. The first thing to notice is that there are no new characters in this story. Okay, I tell a lie, there is a new character, but she's not a toy, and was never intended to be one!

Right off the bat Caragonne shows his knowledge of the Masters of the Universe cartoon (or at the very least willingness to research the source material) by introducing Uncle Montork and Dree Elle from Orko's homeworld of Trolla. The story of Orko's desire for revenge on Hordak for the apparent death of Dree Elle is well written, and while the Hate Stones sudden appearance is never really explained, as a plot device they work well. The story is refreshing, and it is a nice to see the characters genuinely torn by the actions of their friend.

One clever and somewhat amusing element to the story is that the Evil Horde have a new ship/weapon called the War Star which looks like a large pyramid. The ship is powerful, but due to the energy used in transporting the ship from Etheria to Eternia they seem to be constantly waiting for their weapons to charge. I think this is well worked into the story because it shows that not all of the Evil Horde's plans are well thought out.

There is also a reference to Marlena's earth heritage as He-Man quotes Lord Acton's famous "absolute power corrupts absolutely", and an ending that is the first decent non-preachy moralistic ending the comic has featured. It should be noted that this ending is handled a lot better than most episodes of the cartoon as the characters muse the events of the day without lecturing the "audience". George Caragonne finally gives the comic a story that it deserves.

To be continued...


(click on the image to see it at full-size)

BUY THE MAGAZINE HERE!