Who are the leaders?

After the UK Masters of the Universe comic changed direction and began telling stories focused on He-Man's new adventures in space, a reader asked a question in issue twenty two of the He-Man Adventure magazine that we all wanted to ask. The answer from Scrollos that Man-At-Arms and Hordak were now the respective leaders for the forces of good and evil on Eternia, never really sat well with me. I always thought that once Skeletor left, either Evil-Lyn would take control of the Evil Warriors, or there would be so much in-fighting that the group would disband...


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United in defeat #2

"The Unicorn King" is a visually interesting episode due to its inclusion of strikingly new characters and new locations in the Growling Sea and Unicorn Island. The Evil Horde also get their fair share of new weapons and vehicles, too. Here is the second of two illustrations by Herb Hazelton showing Hordak and Mantenna in the escape pod of the Sea Fright, showcasing their uncomfortable closeness, which would of course be resolved with a trap door...


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United in defeat #1

"The Unicorn King" is a visually interesting episode due to its inclusion of strikingly new characters and new locations in the Growling Sea and Unicorn Island. The Evil Horde also get their fair share of new weapons and vehicles, too. Here is the first of two illustrations by Herb Hazelton showing Hordak and Mantenna in the escape pod of the Sea Fright, showcasing their uncomfortable closeness, which would of course be resolved with a trap door...


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

GIANT Picture Book (Heroic Warriors) illustration #19

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 Castle Grayskull. As much as I like the illustration of Castle Grayskull itself, the surrounding area is less than impressive. The cartoon presented the castle in a truly mystical environment, but here, it appears that the castle has merely being dumped into the middle of a forest. The text references one of the numerous canons in which Castle Grayskull was previously known as the Hall of Wisdom.


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Pillows?!

In this hilarious panel from issue three of the UK Princess of Power comic we see a throwaway joke in which the artist has illustrated pillows near the base of Hordak's throne, allowing the evil being to have some comfort! It is such a random sight gag and never acknowledged in the story that I am surprised the editor did not remove the joke. That said, it is an amusing find!


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Mitro's original design.

Storyboard artist Michael Swanigan was a Filmation fan, and often, in his storyboards, he would pay homage to previous Filmation shows. The season one episode "The Remedy" is famous for featuring Warlock from Blackstar, repainted as a Takdryl, and not so famous for featuring numerous physical stock movements from the Tarzan series repurposed for He-Man. However, in the storyboards for this episode we see that Michael Swanigan wanted another character from a past Filmation show to be reused. Here we see Balkar from Blackstar designed to play the role of Mitro. Sadly, this never came to pass and Mitro was specifically designed anew for the episode.


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A brief review #040 - "House of Shokoti" Part 1

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 "House of Shokoti" Part 1...

Due to this episode merely being a setup for the following episode, it achieves a minimal amount of plot development. While there are many exciting things that occur during the course of the story, it often feels like a series of events heading in one direction, but with no goal in sight. There is no doubt that Masque is one of the all-time great villains, and his presence quite literally carries the episode at times; while the other characters merely go through the motions. As wonderfully eerie as it is, the conclusion of this episode leaves us somewhat confused rather than excited. The first of these two episodes does little to benefit the story; nonetheless it is still very entertaining. 7/10

Now, may I ask; what is YOUR rating?

GIANT Picture Book (Heroic Warriors) illustration #18

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 the Sorceress, resized for you to enjoy! I like the composition of this piece featuring Zoar in the foreground, with Evil-Lyn and Mer-Man plotting below. That said, their villainous meeting may be one of innocence...


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

Watch out Zodac!

I always thought this illustration, as featured in the numerous Masters of the Universe coloring and activity books, was interesting. There were three similar pages accompanying this one, showcasing both the Heroic Warriors and the Evil Warriors. However, this was the only page that appeared to show some interaction. I may be wrong, but it does appear that both Skeletor and Beast Man are preparing to attack Zodac. This is even more interesting as, at the time, I believe Zodac was being featured as an Evil Warrior, as opposed to the character that maintained the cosmic balance. Even on the page of a coloring book, it appears that no one is safe!


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Forward's Scatter Ray.

Filmation's storyboard department was known for its in-house gags. This would more than often manifest itself in the storyboards illustrated by the artists. Bob Forward was one of the many members of staff that enjoyed gently mocking the shows he worked on as well as his own artwork. In this panel from the season one He-Man episode "Double Edged Sword" we see Bob recommend that the layout department not copy his design for the Scatter Ray which he amusingly describes as looking like a Mixmaster. Interestingly, there is a bit of background on this story, as "Double Edged Sword" was the episode in which Bob was asked by those in charge at Filmation to design a gun that did not resemble a gun! This resulted in him illustrating the character of Thad holding a pineapple in one particular illustration!


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