He-Man at Image Comics

On June 10th, 2002 Mattel revealed at an licensing show in New York that

Mattel, Inc. today announced...that it has granted MV Creations a non-exclusive multi-year contract to produce brand-related comic books, posters, wall calendars, lithographs and wall scrolls. 

...MV Creations joins a growing list of licensees producing Masters of the Universe products for consumers..."Masters of the Universe is truly a mega brand, and we are pleased to welcome two such reputable licensees (ACI and MV Creations) to the He-Man family," said Jeffrey Orridge, Vice President of Boys/Entertainment Consumer Products at Mattel. 

"Working with Mattel on the Masters of the Universe brand is a dream come true for all of us here at MV Creations, " said Val Staples, President of MV Creations. "This is a valued opportunity to apply our passion and dedication to what is already an extremely popular and successful brand, helping to push it into new heights in the world of comics and art." 

Couple days later there were interviews with Val Staples and most of those interviews online showed pin-up images of He-Man, Skeletor, Beast Man and Man-At-Arms.

One early pin-up image I always liked was this artwork by Emiliano Santalucia of He-Man holding on his hand the IMAGE COMICS logo.

It has a very angular style, which Emiliano was asked to draw with his samples for Mattel. The art-style was based on images done by Mattel's Ruben Martinez.
Before trying out multiple styles to draw Masters of the Universe-characters upon the designs of Four Horsemen, Emiliano had a very strong style with heavy use of blacks in his artworks.
Which is why I also like how breezy this artwork looks in comparison. The colours by Val Staples give it a nice quality and I wouldn't have minded seeing these sorts of images on merchandising back in the day.