Backgrounds, stock, same/as...

For years I said that I would love to have worked in the Filmation storyboard department. However, when you see a page included a storyboard for an episode of He-Man that looks like an incredibly complicated mathematical sum, it makes me think twice about my desire to have worked at Filmation! This page, included in the storyboard for the season two He-Man episode "Fisto's Forest", shows how Robert Lamb meticulously made sure to breakdown the episode visually, and work out how much of the episode could be made from existing stock, and how much new material had to be created!


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Odd Adam.

Here is yet another odd-looking illustration from the 1986 Masters of the Universe annual. Here we once again see Prince Adam sporting his green jacket with yellow trim, alongside the often-seen blonde Teela. However, while Teela looks lovely, Prince Adam looks very strange. His face appears to have been rendered too heavily, resulting in him looking far too mature for his age. It almost looks like he is in his forties!


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Gathering around the jackdaw.

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 redrawn for the book by Glenn Steward. In this piece we see She-Ra, Bow, Glimmer, Flutterina, and Kowl all gathered around a talking jackdaw. This part of the story amuses me in which the heroes have to feed the jackdaw in exchange for information, only to have the little bird start to fall asleep on a full stomach. However, according to the text, Kowl prevents him from falling asleep by shouting in his ear! The way in which the jackdaw is illustrated is incredibly cute, and accurate.


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GIANT Picture Book (Heroic Warriors) illustration #29

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 the transformation sequence, resized for you to enjoy! I always laugh at the composition of this piece with a mighty powerful He-Man in the foreground pointing his Sword of Power in the direction of Cringer; the cowardly cat fleeing for his life!


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Greenwood's comical panel!

This panel from "Duel at Devlan" is from one of the most amusing scenes in the episode, as Spragg vents his frustration at Madame Razz, with both Broom and Kowl looking on. What I love about this panel, illustrated by Warren Greenwood, is that Broom, Kowl, and Madame Razz are illustrated in such a simple manner, resulting in a very comical look to the characters. Broom, by far, is the funniest to look at, drawn with such a baffled expression of simplicity!


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"The Reality Shaper" #2

Issue thirteen of the UK Masters of the Universe comic presented us with an incredibly unique tale! As the story opens up we learn that everything on Eternia has changed for the worse, with the Evil Horde now in complete control of both the Heroic Warriors and the Evil Warriors! Where this story becomes even more unique is how and why everything has changed. Here are the final three pages of this story...


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Glimmer's fit of guilt.

Robert Lamb came up with numerous story ideas during his time working on She-Ra. One of many which unfortunately never saw the light of day was an untitled story that would've seen Glimmer run away in a fit of guilt after a raid on the Evil Horde backfires, only for her to wind up captured by Scorpia. Read for yourself!


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

GIANT Picture Book (Heroic Warriors) illustration #28

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 the transformation sequence. I would have preferred to see Prince Adam holding the Sword of Power aloft, as we have already seen He-Man posed in the same way from the beginning of the book.


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

She-Rarchery.

Here I present a beautiful-looking piece of pencil artwork from the season two She-Ra episode "Return Of The General". This piece is from the memorable scene in which She-Ra removes her tiara to fool the Horde Troopers, revealing for the first time that her hairstyle is exactly the same as Adora's! Of course this scene was also interesting due to the fact that She-Ra transforms the Sword of Protection into a bow and arrow, thereby making Bow's skill with the bow and arrow somewhat redundant!


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Drome!

Here is a finalized concept sketch for the character of Dr. Drome from the season one She-Ra episode "The Wizard". Dr. Drome had the interesting honor of appearing in an episode with two characters that were based on forthcoming Mattel toys in Acrobad and Colonel Blast. For a while I suspected whether or not Dr. Drome was also based on a forthcoming Mattel toy until I saw the script which indicates that the character is very much a Filmation design.


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