Orko's comic strip #05

Almost every issue of the UK Masters of the Universe comic featured an Orko comic strip on the inside front cover. As this Blog continues I will try and feature all of them for your amusement. Here I present the "Orko the Magician" comic strip from issue five. Enjoy Orko once again making King Randor's life an entertaining one!


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Earth coordinates.

Annoyingly my Internet service was down for much of yesterday so I was unable to update the Blog!

My good friend and ally in animation art collecting Lee Clevenger directed to me to this very cool thing he noticed whilst watching "A Christmas Special" a while back. During the scene when the heroes are gathered in Man-At-Arms' laboratory searching for Orko we see coordinates for the planet Earth appear on the screen. The numbers that appear actually relate to Filmation's place of business during the time of this production! As an example 18107 (street number) 818 3457414 (telephone number) 4720847 (Telex number)!

Try again...

Here is an interesting page from the script of "The Cosmic Comet". In the moral scene it was originally written that Man-At-Arms delivers the moral from a target range. He fires a shot at a target and misses, only to hit it on his second attempt, proving that, like Zagraz, we should all try again...


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Tracing a model sheet!

I am still trying to make up for the lack of posts in late January and throughout all of February! Yesterday it was two, and today we have three Blog entries...

Throughout his time working on numerous episodes of He-Man and She-Ra storyboard artist Don Manuel had obviously seen his fair share of his illustrations translated poorly to screen. The layout department were somewhat to blame for this as they were the ones responsible for looking at the storyboards and visualising how it should conform to Filmation's animation style. In this very interesting panel from the She-Ra season one episode "Horde Prime Takes A Holiday" we can see that Don Manuel was making sure his vision was realised! If you read the text next to the panel you will see that Don writes, "Think we can do this shot without tracing a model sheet this time?" A not so subtle dig at the artists in the layout department! Thankfully they actually followed his instructions and Skeletor looked impressive on screen...


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Annoyed Adam...

I thought I would post this interesting image from the season two He-Man episode "Time Doesn't Fly". One of the few noteworthy things about this episode is the build up to the transformation sequence where Adam, in the all too familiar stock pose, becomes slightly annoyed with Cringer's antics and frowns. I like the fact that for once they altered his expression before he unsheathes the Sword of Power. Of course, this is the only thing I really want to remember from such a dull episode...


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Toy accurate Trap Jaw!

As a huge fan of Trap Jaw I can honestly say that I prefer the cartoon design more than the toy design. Don't get me wrong, I love the toy, but the simplicity and vibrance of Filmation's version will always be more appealing to me. That said here is a fantastic panel of a highly toy accurate Trap Jaw from issue one of the UK Masters of the Universe comic that always stuck in my mind as a kid...


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Belly of ship...

Two posts in one day! Here is an interesting example of a panning shot as illustrated by storyboard artist Tom Sito. This camera move from the season one episode "The Heart of A Giant" shows Stratos giving He-Man a lift...


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Realizing the insult!

Here is an amusing sequence deleted from season two He-Man episode "The Problem With Power", in which Skeletor insults Trap Jaw as he leaves the throne room. The dialogue for this scene would have been recorded, but omitted by the director.


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Like a master ninja!

I am always a big fan of the scenes that show She-Ra and He-Man displaying some sort of skill with their respective swords. In this scene from "Treasure of the First Ones" storyboard artist Don Manuel illustrates She-Ra cooly catching the Sword of Protection without even batting an eyelid. Best of all Don describes her catching the sword "like a master ninja"!


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Skeletor is He-Man?!

I thought it would be interesting to show you this fun panel from issue fourteen of the UK Masters of the Universe Adventure magazine. When Skeletor puts on a duplicate of He-Man's harness he actually becomes the most powerful man in the universe!

Peekablue, not a fan...

Here is something I almost guarantee you have never seen before; the cartoon model of Peekablue without her fan! Okay, so it is not that amazing...


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Scorpia's design!

If there was one character design that really stood out in the Princess of Power animated series then it had to be Scorpia. This model sheet featuring a complete turnaround of Scorpia's head shows the exceptionally angular features that were the handiwork of character designer Dale Hendrickson. Princess of Power characters all had very interesting eye designs, but Scorpia topped them all!


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The Siren Song #2

Here are pages four to six of "The Siren Song" as seen in the Masters of the Universe special published in 1988 by London Edition Comics. And you thought "A Christmas Special" was the only time that Skeletor smiled...


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A little reminder!

Just in case anyone involved in the process forgot, Don Manuel reminds everyone after page forty-one of "The Taking of Grayskull" storyboard that He-Man still DOES NOT have his sword!


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The Siren Song #1

Here is another story from the Masters of the Universe special published in 1988 by London Edition Comics, which took existing stories from the comics published by SBP in the Netherlands. Here I present the first three pages of "The Siren Song"; a brief tale showing how Skeletor attacks Castle Grayskull with sound! I should warn you, there are a lot of odd looking illustrations of Skeletor in this strip...


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He-Man DOES NOT have his sword!

So, as the storyboard artist to "The Taking of Grayskull" how do you ensure that your vision stays true and that He-Man's sword does not appear in its sheathe in the final animated production? Well, Don Manuel somewhat comically put a large note after page sixteen of the storyboard to remind everyone involved in the process that for a certain part of the episode He-Man DOES NOT have his sword!


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Demon Brew #3

Here are pages twelve to sixteen of "Demon Brew" from issue fifty-five of the UK Masters of the Universe comic. If you have ever wanted to see a giant He-Man literally kick Skeletor's ass then this is the conclusion for you!


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Skeletor's Throne Room...

At the beginning of the season one He-Man episode "The Time Corridor" we see Skeletor and his ever-present henchmen hatching there latest nefarious plot. The most interesting thing about this scene is that Skeletor's Throne Room has completely altered in appearance when compared to previous episodes; the table is now smaller with two stone blocks acting as chairs. If you look carefully you will see that Skeletor's throne is now twice the size of the Lord of Destruction! I have included a comparison shot from "Diamond Ray of Disappearance" so you can compare the two, but you will notice that now Skeletor stands on the part of his throne that he should be sitting upon!


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Demon Brew #2

Here are pages six to eleven of "Demon Brew" from issue fifty-five of the UK Masters of the Universe comic. And yes, for some reason Man-At-Arms does have a completely green face in one panel...


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Robin Davies' illustrated transformation!

Here are two fantastic illustrations of the Adora to She-Ra transformation sequence by Robin Davies, taken from the She-Ra Ladybird book "Spirit is kidnapped." It is great to see how Robin followed the animated pose designed by the layout artists at Filmation, but blessed the drawings with his own beautiful style.


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Demon Brew #1

Here are pages one to five of "Demon Brew" from issue fifty-five of the UK Masters of the Universe comic, a story in which the Heroic Warriors learn what it is like to be the size of their action figures! Check out the crazy transformation from Prince Adam into He-Man in the first part of this story...


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I'm back! :)

Yes, I have returned to the Blog! Though due to my absence I do not believe there will be that many people reading this. My first update will focus on what has kept me absent for so long!

Last week I finally completed cereal:geek, the magazine dedicated to the cartoons that we all grew up with in the eighties. There is a host of talented individuals that worked on it (including some comic industry professionals) and the end product reflects this! 100 glossy pages and not one single advert! Of course He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra Princess of Power feature prominently within, so go and buy your copy now!


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...and tomorrow I'll be bringing you lots of graphical goodies! :)