Original Widgets!

Here is a fantastic piece of development artwork from the He-Man series featuring the Widgets! As you can see, at this point in production the character of Lara had pretty much been finalized. However, although certain elements of the character are there, Kando is vastly different to how he would finally appear in the series. And it seems that Squinch was a character that the designers found hard to pin down design-wise, given that neither of the two character models presented here would bear any resemblance to his final design!


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

Walking a tightrope.

The season one She-Ra episode "Just Like Me" is by far one of the best of the entire series. With its fantastic premise, exciting action scenes, and direction by Tom Tataranowicz, this episode puts many others to shame! One of the best action scenes of the episode occurs when She-Ra attempts to save Leena from a broken bridge. Here I present a piece of layout artwork showing one of the most dramatic shots of the episode in which we see Leena clinging for life high above She-Ra, who is walking a thin rope in high heels!


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

GIANT Picture Book (Heroic Warriors) illustration #2

Golden Book published a great deal of Masters of the Universe material during the eighties. Two of the most notable and yet rarely seen books are the Giant Picture Books; oversized quality publications printed on thick quality paper featuring artwork by Fred Carrillo. One book focused on the Heroic Warriors, whilst the other focused on the Evil Warriors. Here I present, from the Heroic Warriors book, the first of the two black and white illustrations focusing on He-Man, resized for you to enjoy! Skeletor appears to be retreating in this illustration...


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

Bellatron rolls...

Don Manuel's storyboards for "Disappearing Dragons" are proving to feature some of my favorite storyboard panels of all time! Here he illustrates the moment Bellatron emerges to battle He-Man. The basic design of the giant robot is pretty much the same as in the actual episode, except in these panels he looks a great deal bigger, wider, and generally more imposing!


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

Awesomely evil panel!

I have mentioned Masters of the Universe minicomic artist Bruce Timm numerous times on this Blog. And with good reason. Because his artwork, even within the smallest of panels, is beautiful to behold! In this panel from the minicomic "King of the Snake Men" we see a fantastic illustration featuring a menacing-looking Skeletor and a mad-looking King Hiss! Particular attention must be paid to the other three snake heads in shot, each with their own evil expression.


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

A hairclip?

In this panel from issue two of the UK Princess of Power comic we see She-Ra surprisingly reveal that even the most powerful woman in the universe requires a hairclip! And in true stereotypical storytelling style she subsequently uses it to pick the lock of a cage!


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

GIANT Picture Book (Heroic Warriors) illustration #1

Golden Book published a great deal of Masters of the Universe material during the eighties. Two of the most notable and yet rarely seen books are the Giant Picture Books; oversized quality publications printed on thick quality paper featuring artwork by Fred Carrillo. One book focused on the Heroic Warriors, whilst the other focused on the Evil Warriors. Here I present, from the Heroic Warriors book, the two pages focusing on He-Man. I believe the color illustration also appeared in the Heroic Champions line of Masters of the Universe books published by Golden Book.


(click on the images to see them at full-size)

Anime Flipshot #2

The episode "Four Ways To Sundown" is another of the good-looking episodes of The New Adventures of He-Man. Of course this episode also benfits from having one of the best scripts of the series, as well as one of the most memorable endings! Due to the, at times, comical nature of the story, this episode is able to get away with amazingly over-the-top anime-expressions as seen here on Flipshot. In this scene Flipshot flies through the air uncontrollably!



(click on the images to see them at full-size)

Anime Flipshot #1

The episode "Four Ways To Sundown" is another of the good-looking episodes of The New Adventures of He-Man. Of course this episode also benfits from having one of the best scripts of the series, as well as one of the most memorable endings! Due to the, at times, comical nature of the story, this episode is able to get away with amazingly over-the-top anime-expressions as seen here on Flipshot. In this scene a frightened Flipshot reacts to Hydron and He-Man appearing behind him!



(click on the images to see them at full-size)

He-Man's RARE Viewmaster #21

For your entertainment, over the course of the next month or so, I will present the rarely seen second set of He-Man Viewmaster reels. Most, if not all people, have seen the first set of reels based on the early Masters of the Universe minicomics. The second set of reels are unique in that they are a sequel to the season two He-Man episode "The Shadow of Skeletor"! You will notice that even though this story attempts to tell a new tale, there are numerous elements borrowed from the "The Shadow of Skeletor" and other episodes. See if you can spot all the references!

Text accompanying this image: "Prince Adam, the charm's ready. We can go."


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