He-Man and She-Ra in cereal:geek #2

Here is the second of five posts showcasing just a few of the He-Man and She-Ra articles and illustrations that have appeared across the first five issues of cereal:geek magazine. Find out more at www.cerealgeek.com - Be sure to pick up the incredibly affordable 100 page PDF specials, too!


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He-Man and She-Ra in cereal:geek #1

As many of you know I self-publish a glossy magazine called cereal:geek, which focuses strictly on animated shows from the eighties. Each issue features 100 pages with no ads, containing refreshing and enlightening articles, illustrations, scripts, storyboards, a wealth of unseen production materials, and interviews with those individuals that helped shape this particular decade of animation history. In the first of five posts I showcase just a few of the He-Man and She-Ra articles and illustrations that have appeared across the first five issues. Find out more at www.cerealgeek.com - Be sure to pick up the incredibly affordable 100 page PDF specials, too!


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In the palm of your hand...

Here is a cute little illustration by Robin Davies from the Ladybird book "She-Ra and the Dark Pool", in which we see Kowl standing in the palm of He-Man's hand as he explains a situation. This is one of those images that you could foresee being done numerous times in the series, but was only ever done in this one book.


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"The Crimson Fury" #3

Here are pages nine to eleven of "The Crimson Fury" from issue ten of the UK Princess of Power comic. Interestingly, the guest villain Count Sneer manages to escape. It is possible that they intended for the character to return?


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Throwing Beast Man!

"He-Man and the Insect People" features some beautiful artwork by the great Alfredo Alcala. The first of these two panels featuring He-Man overpowering Beast Man sums up Alfredo's ability to render the human form to perfection. Ever single part of He-Man's physique makes sense, with not a single line drawn out of place. We were incredibly lucky to have an artist of his talent grace Masters of the Universe.


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"The Crimson Fury" #2

Here are pages six to eight of "The Crimson Fury" from issue ten of the UK Princess of Power comic. The Crimson Fury makes his debut appearance; a character I think would have made a nice addition to the cast of the animated series.


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Interviewed by Masters of the Universe Chronicles! :)

Chris Vint interviewed me about my fanatical devotion to all things He-Man and She-Ra related for his Masters of the Universe Chronicles Podcast. Be sure to download it and listen to me talk for one hour and ten minutes! In the interview I talk about growing up as a fan, as well as my numerous experiences working on official He-Man and She-Ra material.

You can download it at The Pop Culture Network, and Masters of the Universe Chronicles, or even subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes.

I also strongly recommend joining the Masters of the Universe Chronicles Facebook group. Chris is looking for more fans to contribute to the Podcast, and I know for a fact that he has some interviews lined up with some of the most important people associated with He-Man and She-Ra!

Orko's comic strip #11

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 eleven. Can Orko magic himself to be six foot tall?


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"The Crimson Fury" #1

"The Crimson Fury" is a memorable story that appeared in issue ten of the UK Princess of Power comic. What this story does better than most is establish a new location away from the Whispering Woods and the Fright Zone. For that alone this tale is most refreshing! Here I present the first five pages of this entertaining story.


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Frosta's rarely seen wand!

"Catra's Ice Palace", the She-Ra Ladybird book illustrated by the greatest artist of the UK Transformers comic, Geoff Senior, features Frosta in many an illustration using the wand that came with her action figure. It is interesting that many canons, including the cartoon, seemed to forget about her wand.


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Orko's comic strip #15

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 fifteen. Orko has some hat confusion...


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Geoff Senior's transformation style!

As a fan of the UK Transformers comic I was a massive fan of Geoff Senior's artwork. However, his artwork did not translate well to the She-Ra Ladybird book "Catra's Ice Palace". This illustration, whilst not spectacular, does feature elements that make Geoff Senior such an amazing artist.


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Madame Razz magics!

Here is a lovely, colorful illustration of Madame Razz from the She-Ra Ladybird book "Shadow Weaver's Magic Mirror". I always feel that while his artwork was not always on-model, Robin Davies had the best grasp of the Princess of Power cast.


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Orko's comic strip #19

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 nineteen. I get the feeling Man-At-Arms would enjoy the target positioned where Orko creates it.


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"Evilseed" Layout #4

Here is the fourth of four beautiful illustrations drawn by the Filmation artists when developing the script for the episode "Evilseed". What I like about this piece is that Castle Grayskull is literally dwarfed by the size of the giant ice ball! You can see that the artists were still establishing the style of the series as Castle Grayskull looks a lot different from the cartoon version.


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Stubble!

In the memorable She-Ra episode "The Mines of Mondor" something happens to a character that we very rarely, if ever, see! In his first appearance at the beginning of the episode Prince Hazar is a typically handsome Etherian male. However, by the end of the episode, having been imprisoned on Mondor, he appears with stubble, looks weather-beaten, older, and not in the best condition. Very rarely were Filmation characters ever made to look like they had been through a torrid time.


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"Evilseed" Layout #3

Here is the third of four beautiful illustrations drawn by the Filmation artists when developing the script for the episode "Evilseed". Of course this is one of the most famous images from the entire He-Man series. We can see that the director, Bob Arkwright stuck to this illustrated suggestion for the scene.


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Kowl design!

Here is an interesting piece of development artwork of Kowl, as featured in the She-Ra Series Bible. You can see what the character designers had in mind originally for Kowl; emphasizing his intellectual persona with glasses. Even though the character design would change, you can see that many of the character elements had already been established.


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"Evilseed" Layout #2

Here is the second of four beautiful illustrations drawn by the Filmation artists when developing the script for the episode "Evilseed". Here we see He-Man racing to aid King Randor, Queen Marlena and Teela from Evilseed's vines! Even though the produced episode looks different, this artwork helped the artists shape the episode.


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Mer-Man in the mud!

As I have professed numerous times in this Blog I was always a fan of Robin Davies' artwork on the Masters of the Universe books published by Ladybird. This illustration from the memorable story "Castle Grayskull Under Attack!" is action-packed and incredibly well-rendered. I tend to focus on the way in which Skeletor is drawn in this image.


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"Evilseed" Layout #1

Here is the first of four beautiful illustrations drawn by the Filmation artists when developing the script for the episode "Evilseed". What is interesting about this piece is that it is actually from a scene that was deleted from the episode. Originally "Evilseed" was supposed to open up with Man-At-Arms, Teela and Queen Marlena in the palace gardens, with Orko appearing moments later.


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