Double Trouble or Entrapta?

Issue four of the UK She-Ra comic presents us with an incredibly strange situation. Firstly, the story has She-Ra seek out the help of Entrapta, who appears to be an ally of sorts in this story. However, the most perplexing part of this story occurs visually when Entrapta appears. As you can see below Entrapta is illustrated as Double Trouble, but with an alternatively colored costume! Why the decision to play Double Trouble as Entrapta will never be known...


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Trap Jaw's dizzy!

Here is yet another comical storyboard panel by Rich Chidlaw from the season one He-Man episode "The Region of Ice". As funny as the produced episode is, there is a lot more visual comedy found in the storyboards. Of course this was the case with many storyboards as the final look of the episode had to adhere to Filmation's style and stock system. In this panel we see an incredibly dizzy Trap Jaw, with quite possibly one of the most confident-looking Orkos ever illustrated!


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GIANT Picture Book (Heroic Warriors) illustration #13

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 Stratos. If you look at the landscape beneath Stratos you will notice an incredible use of forced perspective. Sadly the text makes no reference to Stratos' race being known as the Avionians.


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No greater honor...

Here is another example of Andie Tong's fantastic artwork on the Rise of the Snake Men miniseries published by MVCreations. In these three panels from issue two we see King Hsss reveal his true form as Evil-Lyn is informed that there is no greater honor than being consumed by him! I absolutely love the energy of the second and third panels after the calmness of King Hsss' stance in the first one...


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Shakes off the snow.

In these three panels by Rich Chidlaw from the season one He-Man episode "The Region of Ice" we see King Randor buried under the snow, comically shake it off, and then look concerned for Queen Marlena. The over-the-top movement in the second panel is incredibly well-rendered as King Randor shakes his head from side to side in an effort to remove the snow. Once again Rich uses a marker to create shadows which sadly would never be acknowledged as production on the episode's animation began. Also, note Man-At-Arms' concerned expression; he looks close to tears!


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Pink-clouded transformation.

This beautifully colored illustration of She-Ra was seen alongside the story "The Lost River", which was featured in the rarely-seen four story She-Ra Ladybird compilation book. What I love about this Glenn Steward illustration is that due to the way it has been colored it looks as if the transformation sequence is taking place in front of the famous Etherian moon background seen in the Filmation cartoon. I have to say that I love the simplicity of the way in which She-Ra is drawn!


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GIANT Picture Book (Heroic Warriors) illustration #12

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 second of the two black and white illustrations focusing on Orko, resized for you to enjoy! This is a fantastic companion piece to the previous illustration with Orko using his magic to bring life to what appeared to be a dead plant. Pay particular attention to the physical expressions of joy on both King Randor and Queen Marlena.


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Zalewski's returns!

Aside from being one of the best episodes of the series, The New Adventures of He-Man episode "Crack in the World" also has a connection to the original Filmation series. Writer Tony Zalewski wrote a few episodes of the Filmation series under the name Antoni Zalewski! For those wondering, he wrote "The Gamesman", "Island of Fear", "Hunt for He Man", and "The Gambler" with Larry DiTillio. Maybe more former Filmation writers should have worked on the series?


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He-Man's messy hair.

There are numerous odd moments throughout the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animated series. One of the earliest occurs in the season one episode "Reign of the Monster". During the opening battle He-Man, on the Sky Sled, is shot of the sky and crashlands. When the heroes locate He-Man and ask of his wellbeing, he simply replies, "Just mussed my hair!" It is amusing to see He-Man's hair looking a lot less groomed than it usually does! Due to the inclusion of Molkrom this episode is one of the most visually disturbing of the series, so this brief moment of comedy is a nice change of pace. The only downside of this scene is that as He-Man runs his hand through his hair we see that he is missing the gauntlet around his wrist...


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The original Fire Person!

Here is a very interesting conceptual illustration from the development of the season one He-Man episode "The Curse of the Spellstone". This illustration is one of the earliest designs of the Fire People, the tribe of warriors that guard the Spellstone. Many ideas were illustrated until Filmation settled on a transparent group of characters that bore no resemblance to this design. Since this design was abandoned, this illustration would make for a pretty interesting character on its own! Fire-Man, anyone?


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