Panini sticker album art #7

When I was a kid, one of my most prized possessions was the Masters of the Universe sticker album by Panini. I still remember the day my mother purchased the album for me. Aside from the fun of collecting the stickers themselves I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the Filmation-accurate illustrations that could be found on each and every page. I thought it would be a good idea to showcase those illustrations on this very Blog!

In this piece the Robot Knights make an appearance...


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"The Ghost Blossoms" #1

"The Ghost Blossoms" from the rarely-seen preview issue of the UK She-Ra comic tells the rather straightforward tale of She-Ra and Bow having to obtain the Ghost Blossoms in order to save the babies of a village from illness. As one can predict the Evil Horde show up and make life difficult for She-Ra. Here are the first three pages of this story...


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Skeletor strikes He-Man!

Here is an absolutely gorgeous panel illustrated by Bruce Timm as seen in "The Revenge of Skeletor!", a minicomic from The New Adventures of He-Man toyline! Once more Timm shows his Marvel comic book influence, with a wonderfully dynamic action-packed panel that is greatly influenced by the works of Jack Kirby and John Buscema. I love the way in which Skeletor is running into his attack. And pay particular note to the use of blacks on He-Man's figure, creating the notion that Skeletor's blow is a powerful strike!


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

Panini sticker album art #6

When I was a kid, one of my most prized possessions was the Masters of the Universe sticker album by Panini. I still remember the day my mother purchased the album for me. Aside from the fun of collecting the stickers themselves I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the Filmation-accurate illustrations that could be found on each and every page. I thought it would be a good idea to showcase those illustrations on this very Blog!

Here we see one of the most memorable and comical confrontations from the series...


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

Red Spikor!

In one of the more bizarre illustrations from the US Masters of the Universe magazine (and trust me, there were more than a few) we see Skeletor, Two Bad, and a unique-looking Spikor! In this piece we can see that Spikor sports red skin and purple armor, as opposed to his normal purple skin and dark blue armor! Although this is a very jarring change, I must say that I actually quite like it! The illustration itself is very nice with a slightly heavier use of blacks for the character outlines to make them pop from the page.


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

"Alkaya, City in Glass"

As He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was developed into a series, the staff writers at Filmation came up with a wealth of proposed story premises. Numerous episodes were never developed beyond the early stages. Showcased below is one of those abandoned episodes, alongside a title card that I have created to show what might have been. Please note that in some of these synopses Orko is still referred to as Gorpo, Evil-Lyn as Desira, and the Evil Warriors as the Masters of the Universe. The Sorceress does not appear to have been fully developed at this point either; with many references instead to the Spirit of Grayskull. Also, Stratos is a villain; much like he was in the early Mattel material. All of the original spellings (Tee-La, Beastman, etc.) are also retained for authenticity.

The unofficial cartoon guide to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe features many more abandoned episodes!

"Alkaya, City in Glass"
While testing one of Man-At-Arms new sea vessels on the Eternian ocean, our heroes receive a distress note in a bottle. It's from the legendary lost city of Alkaya. Traveling underwater they come upon the undersea city, surrounded by a glass dome. They find it under siege by the Masters of the Universe. In a fierce battle, Skeletor attempts to collapse the dome, drowning Alkaya. It takes all of He-Man's strength to hold up the dome while it is repaired, and to banish the evil Masters from Alkaya.


* Legally I should say that Marc Scott Zicree did NOT write this episode. This is merely an example of how the episode title card might have looked.

Panini sticker album art #5

When I was a kid, one of my most prized possessions was the Masters of the Universe sticker album by Panini. I still remember the day my mother purchased the album for me. Aside from the fun of collecting the stickers themselves I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the Filmation-accurate illustrations that could be found on each and every page. I thought it would be a good idea to showcase those illustrations on this very Blog!

Here we see one of my favorite illustrations in the album featuring He-Man from the transformation sequence...


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

Baby Gryphon.

As I mentioned before, Steve Hickner's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe storyboards could be considered "cute" at times. And this panel, from the season one episode "Return of the Gryphon", highlights that aspect of his art style better than most. In this illustration we see the Baby Gryphon, recently hatched out of its egg, looking incredibly cute! Fortunately, the Baby Gryphon retained its cuteness in the episode produced.


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

Orko leaves...

I believe this is the first time I am featuring content from the US Masters of the Universe magazine. I only managed to get my hands on a complete run of the magazine a couple of years ago! In this illustration we see Orko leaving home; a plot that was used numerous times across the many different Masters of the Universe canons. And on this occasion "home" would appear to be Castle Grayskull! With regards to the illustration I love the way in which Orko is illustrated, the castle itself is well rendered. However, the fact that the castle appears to sit atop a mountain leaves me less than impressed...


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Panini sticker album art #4

When I was a kid, one of my most prized possessions was the Masters of the Universe sticker album by Panini. I still remember the day my mother purchased the album for me. Aside from the fun of collecting the stickers themselves I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the Filmation-accurate illustrations that could be found on each and every page. I thought it would be a good idea to showcase those illustrations on this very Blog!

Here we see the moment Teela looks out of the window and sees Trap Jaw on the attack...


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

Made you blink!

Bruce Timm clearly enjoyed illustrating action-packed panels. And this incredibly dynamic panel featuring Kayo and Optikk from "The Revenge of Skeletor!" minicomic is no exception! Once more Timm's Jack Kirby influences are there for all to see, with Kayo illustrated with a large square fist, as well as the predominant use of blacks across Optikk's armor.


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