Bow leads the troops...

Tomorrow the video clips return to the Blog; you have been warned!

In a scene very reminiscent of the She-Ra season one episode "Battle For Bright Moon" this illustration from the Ladybird book "She-Ra and the Dark Pool" features Bow leading a band of rebels to stop Hordak's latest scheme...


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cereal:geek issue THREE - OUT NOW! :)

Okay, so it took a little longer than expected, but issue THREE of cereal:geek has finally arrived! :) - And below you can see what the He-Man-related center pages look like thanks to the talents of writer Jon Talpur, artist Leanne Hannah and colorist Andrew Cramer! :)

UK customers - Visit the cereal:geek website and purchase THE magazine dedicated to animation from the eighties! :)

OVERSEAS customers - Please purchase the magazine from Graham Crackers Comics here: cereal:geek ISSUE THREE


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An unlikely wink!

The Sorceress was a character who was often animated very straightforward in an effort to maintain her calm exterior. Every once in a while though she would express herself, and the results would be very noticeable. Many characters on He-Man winked at the viewer, but when the Sorceress winks in "Pawns of the Game Master" it's hard to ignore!

The Army of Robots?

For some unknown reason the He-Man season one episode "Like Father, Like Daughter" was continuously mistakenly marked up on video covers in the UK as "The Army of Robots". To this day I have no idea as to why it happened. Let the speculation begin!


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Jet Sled power!

Check out this fantastic action-packed illustration from issue sixty of the UK Masters of the Universe comic. I will admit that I did not like the Jet Sled toy at all; I felt it lacked all the intricate coolness of the original vehicles. This panel however would make me think twice as He-Man really demonstrates just how effective the Jet Sled could be in battle!


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Ebony-skinned Huntara!

There are not that many guest characters that made as big an impact in the She-Ra series as the wonderful Huntara. After appearing in the season one episode "Huntara", the rest of the series literally cried out for her to make another appearance. Interestingly her model sheet describes her as a black character, which is obvious when looking at the character design. When I was young I used to believe that her design was based on eighties icon Grace Jones; sure enough Larry DiTillio's script describes her as Grace Jones! The interesting thing we have to question is why they felt the need to alter the character's skin tone?


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He-Man dragged...

In an exciting scene that was sadly removed from the She-Ra season one episode "Horde Prime Takes A Holiday" He-Man was originally to be dragged through a variety of objects including a boulder, a wall, and a tree! There is no doubt that this would have been an amusing scene that showcased the strength of He-Man, and yet it would have been a difficult scene to animate with its many layers, which may explain why the scene was never included...


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The Terror Turtle!

The script for the final episode of She-Ra's season one "The Greatest Magic" reveals that Dr. Zoog's large vehicle that he pilots for a large part of the episode is called the Terror Turtle! It is described as a "war machine with many different arms!" Of course this episode is not one of my favorites as I felt that Larry DiTillio's vision of Trolla strayed too far from the original dimension created by Robby London...


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Insect evolution!

The season two He-Man episode "The Bitter Rose" marks the return of the Insect People, including Garth and Shaman. The odd thing about the reappearance of Shaman is that he has a slightly modified design. He now has pupils, and a beak with which to speak from. Maybe Shaman, like Garth and his people, evolved slightly, too?


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Throwing Rattlor!

Bruce Timm was heavily referencing his hero Jack Kirby when it came to illustrating the Masters of the Universe minicomic "Snake Attack!" Examples are abundant in this panel, not only with the bold composition, but with the famous "Kirby squiggles" that appear on He-Man's belt and gauntlets...


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Three years...

In the script to the She-Ra season two episode "Return Of The General" writer Bob Forward states that three years have passed since Sunder's first appearance in "Unexpected Ally". This helps explain the sudden appearance of his daughter Telzy whom he fathered with Mally. This does make for an interesting discussion point as "Unexpected Ally" was only fourteen episodes prior to this one. Three years?!


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Lazy Skeletor!

Here is a great illustration by Robin Davies from the Masters of the Universe Ladybird book "Wings of Doom". One would assume that while it is quite different than its animated counterpart this is presumably Skeletor's throne room at Snake Mountain! What makes this image so perfect is Skeletor's lazy posture in his chair as his Skelcon servant stands before him...


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Earned the right...

The end of "The Treachery of Modulok!" minicomic has a fantastic illustration of He-Man, with his newly acquired Thunder Punch powers, striking a very heroic pose. It was often hard for the writers of these minicomics to feature a new character and not make it seem like a blatant advertisement. In the case of Thunder Punch He-Man I actually think they did a good job; He-Man having earned the right of his new power.


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The three prominent Hordesmen...

In the classic He-Man episode "Origin of the Sorceress" we see the first three prominent Horde characters to appear on Eternia. In the episode they are never addressed by their individual names, but in the script they are called (from left to right) Ferros, Repta and Rachney...

Scorpio?

As you can see in this image, the original design of Scorpio from the He-Man season one episode "The Heart of A Giant" was very different to what appeared in the final episode. The Scorpio design originally was more humanoid in appearance, whereas the creature in the actual episode looked more like a scorpion. It is hard to see why such a change was made, and it is a shame as this creature looks a lot more threatening...


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Taking aim in 2008! :)

Not a hoax! Not a dream! Not an imaginary story! The He-Man and She-Ra Blog returns! Yes, this is now the third year of this Blog, which is pretty incredible to be honest. I intend to keep doing this until I run out of things to say which, let's face it, on the subject of He-Man and She-Ra is never going to happen!

Now, let's have two updates...

As you all know I am a big fan of the colorfully bold illustrations by Robin Davies during his time spent working for the Ladybird book company. In this piece of artwork from the She-Ra book "Shadow Weaver's Magic Mirror" we see She-Ra, Bow and Swift Wind illustrated quite beautifully as Bow takes aim, intent on destroying Shadow Weaver's evil mirror. What makes this story quite interesting is that fact that Bow eventually uses an arrow that is fashioned by the Sorceress!


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Original Bow!

As I have mentioned before, while work was already underway on the She-Ra series, none of the character designs had actually been finalized. When it came to storyboarding the first She-Ra episode "Into Etheria" artist Don Manuel had no character designs to refer to, and subsequently had to design many of the characters himself. In this panning shot we can see Don Manuel's original design of Bow was quite different than the final version!


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