Part I or One?

In the past I've already noted how the quotation-marks were altered mid-way through season 1 of Mike Young Productions' He-Man series.

Those updated quotation-marks ended up in the Europe-releases and eventually on DVD.

But another change in the episode-titles was the way the studio handled two or three parter episodes.

"The Beginning" had in its initial US broadcast-run for Cartoon Network the episode-title with written numerials - Part One, Part Two, Part Three. While in the European version it was changed to I, II and III to the roman numerical system.

Though by end of season 1, with the "Council of Evil" episodes the studio had made the change for Roman numerical system, so the first three episodes of 2002 He-Man cartoon are unique.

What did the H stand for?

With the updated logo on He-Man's harness, it was also used for his ancestor in the 2002-cartoon continuity; King Grayskull.

In a flashback of Preternia we see Guards outside the Castle. They also wear the "H" on their belts. But what did the H stand for?

And yes, I reckon the symbol might not stand for any letter but have an entire meaning onto its own. But I'm still curious what meaning did it have.

Variant Cover Fun #2

As I've mentioned in the past, variant covers can be lot of fun. Seeing new takes on familiar characters from different artists.

This time I thought I'd talk about the great He-Man.org exclusive online variant-cover for Issue 7 - Volume 3 of the Masters of the Universe comic by MVCreations.

The cover features King Randor and Queen Marlena in their "battle-outfits". We were first introduced to these armor-variants in season 1 episode "Of Machines and Men".

The cover-art is done by Eamon O'Donoghue with colouring by Jeremy Roberts. As a great homage, Eamon drew Randor with the sword he received from Lord Dactys in season 1 episode "Underworld".

Marlena also is holding the sword from 1987 live-action movie "Masters of the Universe" where He-Man (potrayed by Dolph Lundgren) had this particular sword.

Ice Armor He-Man by Emiliano Santalucia

Yesterday my duties were obtained by some Faker-Jukka who made this claim:
"The Ice-Armor figure was also a personal favourite and it's a shame the variant-armor didn't come up again in the cartoon. Or in the comic. It would have been interesting to see Emiliano Santalucia's version of He-Man with this particular armor."


But while it's true that the Ice-Armor He-Man did not appear in the comic, there is in fact a renderition of Ice-Armor He-man by comicbook-artist Emiliano Santalucia, that was done as a private commission; where he fights against Trap-Jaw

It was also one of the earliest images I coloured for my own amusement as well for colouring-practice. Using the small web-version, which you can see below.

Rarely seen Ice-Armor He-Man

I loved seeing He-Man gear up in the Ice-Armor during season 1 episode "Trust". Sure they didn't really explain how and where he got it, but the entire outfit was fantastic and suited this adventure in the snowy landscape.

The Ice-Armor figure was also a personal favourite and it's a shame the variant-armor didn't come up again in the cartoon. Or in the comic. It would have been interesting to see Emiliano Santalucia's version of He-Man with this particular armor.

Because "Ice-Armor He-Man" only had one cartoon-appearance, I didn't expect there to be any art made about him.
Luckily I was proven wrong when I discovered that in a German "Mega Hiro" magazine's splash-page advertizing toys; we see a rare illustration of Ice-Armor He-Man battle-ready with his weapon in hand.

Below is also the page-spread for the toy-ads where you can see Ice-Armor He-Man battling Skeletor.

Prince Adam's Scepter

Whenever there is a cartoon made to tie in with a toyline, it's interesting to see how the animation handles toy-related accessories. Weapons, playsets, etc.

Prince Adam had two accessories. A Powersword that was smaller than the regular Powersword He-Man had (closed version to fool people) and his scepter.

prototype preview of Prince Adam by the Four Horsemen

We saw his sword many times in the cartoon because of its great importance.
But what about the Scepter?

Final toy-version of Prince Adam's scepter

Adam's scepter appeared briefly in season 1 episode "The Beginning - part II" when Man-At-Arms grabs it from the ground and throws it to Adam as they fly on their skysleds to join in the battle at Evergreen Forest.

At the Evergreen Forest Adam immediatly faces off against Whiplash, using his scepter to trip him down.

Unfortunately that would be the last time we saw Prince Adam's scepter in the cartoon. As the toy-version had a missile-firing function; it would have been interesting to see used onscreen.

Jukka at Grayskull-Con 2012

Yes I will be going to Grayskull-Con in Germany this year!

Should be lot of fun! Check out the video!



For more information, check out http://grayskull-con.blog.de

Beast Man's club

Here's an image from UK issue #18 of the Masters of the Universe comic published by Toontastic.

It features Beast Man with a fierce-looking club. This artwork is interesting because it comes from Mattel, yet the toy-figure didn't have a club and I don't remember seeing one in the cartoon.

The club itself looks like it could do some serious damage and it would have been an awesome addition in the cartoon for Beast Man.

Variant Cover Fun #1

Variant covers are always fun. Personally I like that it gives new artists to interpret familiar characters in a new way and may add the chances of new readers to buy an issue based on an variant-cover from an known artist.


With Masters of the Universe comic book by MVCreations there were a great deal of variant-covers with issues.
The example today comes from Issue 3 - Volume 3 (Dealer incentive) of the comic's run. Illustrated by Sam Liu and colours by Jeremy Roberts.


I find it interesting how Man-At-Arms doesn't seem to have any pupils. Making him look almost evil. And the way details are handled are interesting. He-Man for instance has very plain wrist-bands with no detailing in them, but on the other hand Teela has an interesting wrist-guard that covers her hand a big and includes a red jewel.


Personally I like the use of Sorceress, Man-At-Arms, Teela and He-Man on the cover. They were basically the main characters in Filmation cartoon (but not to same extent in Mike Young Productions-version), so I wonder what guidelines the artist had when making this piece...

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.

2002 Comic-related merchandising

When MVCreations got the gig to do the comicbook Masters of the Universe, licensed under Mattel, they also had rights to do related merchandising like posters, stand-ups and wall-scrolls.

Here's one image drawn by Emiliano Santalucia for a Wall-scroll with He-Man standing in front of Castle Grayskull. I love this artwork for He-Man's battle stance and the overall mood in the piece.

The background also seems to have on lower left-corner the stone-marker that is found in the MYP Background-art of Castle Grayskull. Or maybe it's just my personal belief it is the same thing.

From what I know, there is also a wall-scroll of Skeletor standing in front of Snake Mountain, but I don't know if the wall-scrolls were ever actually sold through MVCreations' website. Possibly some were sold on ebay later on.

If anyone has the image of Skeletor wall-scroll, I'd appreciate any help. 

Comic Cover homage #1

Couple days ago I showed the He-Man.org exclusive variant comic cover for Volume 3 - Issue 1 of the Masters of the Universe comicbook.

If you thought that it seemed familiar in some way, you'd be correct.

The artist Nathan "Baena" Baertsch paid an homage to vintage comic-covers.

Mainly the booklet that came with said toy: "The Power of Point Dread!"/"Danger at Castle Grayskull!"

It is really great to see these elements in the updated cover. Skeletor looking menacing as ever high above He-Man, shooting a magical-blast from his Sword. He-Man ready with his shield and Powersword on the ground.
Personally I would have also liked seeing Castle Grayskull in the background on the updated cover-art, but the mountain-backdrop helps gear the eyes at the characters themselves.

There was also a mini-comic cover that is similar to the booklet ("The Power of... Point Dread!") but when comparing the covers, my bet goes to Nathan paying homage to the booklet-version. 
Below is the mini-comic version for good measure. :)

Pony-tailed Ancient

More MVCreations goodness this week!
In Volume 1 - Issue 2 of the Masters of the Universe comic, the Sorceress tells He-Man, Man-At-Arms and Orko about the Shard of Darkness and how it was part of the Shakarran Crystal.

In the panel we see six Ancients containing "a powerful evil" inside the Crystal. On the far-right is a pony-tailed Ancient who actually is a nod to Eric "Cornboy" Mayse of the Four Horsemen, toy-sculptors for Masters of the Universe-line back in 2002. 

This interestingly marks the second time Cornboy has made an cameo-appearance in the comics done by MVCreations.

Fantastic render of Serpintaur

When MVCreations studio was handling the Masters of the Universe comicbook in 2002-2004, they featured some great variant covers and gave some talented fans a chance to help out with the comic.

One of those fans (also a professional freelance artist) was Nathan "Baena" Baertsch, who did coloring on couple comic-covers as well as illustrated some himself.
The one I'd like to feature today is from Volume 3 Issue 1 He-Man.Org exclusive variant cover. Featuring Skeletor on a Serpintaur against He-Man.

The details especially on Serpintaur are really awesome and I wish Nathan could have illustrated more "monster-art" for the comics. I would gladly buy a print of this whole image.

There is a great deal going on with the Serpintaur's face alone. The wicked smile accross its face, lot of details with the small horns and an expression that is purely malevolent. Also I just like to think that this creature was harnessed by Skeletor himself, without the aid of Beast Man, whom we saw controlling these creatures in Mike Young Productions' season 1 episode "Dragon's Brood".

Missing Havoc Staff

In the season 1 episode "Trust" we have a chance to witness bad guy having to work with a good guy as Stratos and Trap-Jaw are trying to locate Eternium-mineral in the Ice Mountains. It is also the only episode we see He-Man wearing his Ice Armor.

At the end of the episode there is an animation error with Skeletor's Havoc Staff with amusing results.

The Staff is computer-generated in the scene and in US broadcast-version at Cartoon Network, the Staff is completely missing as Skeletor lifts it up and shoots at the Kulataks. Thus allowing us to see "through" Skeletor.

When the episode was released on DVD, the animation was corrected to include the cgi-animation of the Havoc Staff. This would be one good occasion when it came to cgi-weapons... -But that is another post for another day.

Exclusive Interview - Voice Actor GABE KHOUTH

Gabe Khouth is a canadian voice-actor who did the voices for Orko and Mekaneck in the 2002-2004 He-Man series by Mike Young Productions. I was very lucky to get a hold of him via Twitter and Mr. Khouth answered some of my questions.

#1: Can you tell me about yourself and about the projects you've worked on in the past?

In 1989 at the age of 16, I got into High school theater & signed with a Vancouver based Agency. I co-starred in a Canadian Film "Terminal City Ricochet" with Punk legend aka: Dead Kennedy's Jello Biafra & Peter Breck.


#2: How did you end up working at MYP for the He-Man cartoon?

I auditioned early '01 & did not hear back for months until the show was greenlit. Began recording in Nov '01 and I just remember wanting the part of Orko that the 4-month wait was excruciating.


#3: You voiced Orko and Mekaneck. Which character was more fun to voice?

Orko is like jazz, lots of fun & improve. However, I don't usually play a big strong guy like Mekaneck so I really cherished that role!

#4: What was your favourite Orko and Mekaneck episode?

Orko's origins episode "Lessons" was great & Mekaneck really only had one good episode "Mekaneck's Lament". I was disappointed that the writers didn't really want to honor Mekaneck's character that much. I guess they wanted [to introduce] New Heroes & Villians!


#5: If you could choose, what character besides Orko and Mekaneck you would have wanted to play the voice?

I would have loved to play He-Man of course, especially in the New version as Adam was more of a teenager & then transformation voice.


#6: Michael Donovan is credited as the voice-director. How was it working with him?

He-Man was my first series cartoon regular so I learned a lot from Mr.Donovan & cast. Scott McNeil taught me the most.


#7: What have been your latest projects and where can people find more information about you?

I am Herman the crab on ABC KIDS "Shelldon" cartoon. I am involved in a couple of cartoon series just gearing up & Dead Rising 2 video-game.

Thank you very much for this interview!

Thx for your creative questions & interest. Cheers!

Revealing titles...

I've mentioned in the past how title-translations fascinate me.

From what I've found out, Germany and Italy had episode-titles translated onscreen and I've been lucky to get some fantastic screengrabs of the German-titles from Alec77 and Polygonus.

This example comes from season 1 episode "Sky War".

"Sky War"-episode in itself was a great follow-up to "Courage of Adam" in depicting the tension between Buzz-Off and the Andreenids against Stratos and the Avionians. During the episode Skeletor manages to get a hold of Ambrosia that the Andreenids have in their catacombs and after eating a piece of it, gets a new armor (modelled after Battle Sound Skeletor figure).

The german title is "Ambrosia für Skeletor" which translates into "Ambrosia for Skeletor".

It is an interesting translation, one that sets up the idea that Skeletor will get a hold of Ambrosia sooner or later. Also it shifts the focus to the B-plot about Skeletor going after Ambrosia, while the main plot of the episode was the tensions between Stratos' and Buzz-Off's people.

Skeletor's cape...

Skeletor confronting Randor at Evergreen Forest in "The Beginning"...

Skeletor fighting He-Man on the Drawbridge of Grayskull for the first time in "Lessons"...

Skeletor overpowering heroes with his dastardly plan in "The Council of Evil"...

When I think about those pivotal moments, I see Skeletor wearing his cape. The cape was a great addition to certain episodes for Skeletor to wear. Adding a bit of mystery, regal and overall awesomeness as far as I look at it.

The cape rocks - and I'm glad it wasn't overused in the Mike Young Productions cartoon.

DVD Menu Screens - Finnish

The He-Man series by Mike Young Productions got its DVD-debut in 2004 for the European market. Germany, Netherlands and Finland got varying amounts of episode-releases to DVD.

Finland got the entire first season released on DVD with 4:3 ratio and one thing I found interesting was the menu-screen for the DVDs.

This screencapture is from DVD Volume 1 that contained the first three episodes of season 1. There are no extras and only finnish-dub is available. But the background-image used in this menu-screen was very familiar-looking...

It actually is a cropped version of a Wallpaper-image from He-Man.org, done by Emiliano Santalucia. I don't know for sure if the webmaster over there or Emiliano were contacted about using the artwork. I certainly hope so.

On the DVD there is no credit given to He-Man.org website, but what I also found fascinating was that whoever decided to use this artwork on the DVD used it propably because the cross is the familiar symbol for He-Man.

However in the cartoon by Mike Young Productions, He-Man doesn't wear a cross-symbol on his harness so the reference is lost to any new fans. Instead the cross can be found on Prince Adam's belt-buckle.

Stratos' miscolored face and beard

When the new He-Man series began in 2002 by Mike Young Productions, they aired a pilot-movie "The Beginning" that later was split into the first three episodes.
Around the third act of the movie, He-Man has saved the Defenders of Eternia and in a bit of an akward piece of writing, gives them a new title "Masters of the Universe". In the panning shot we see all the warriors and end up with Stratos on the far right.

But as the pilot movie aired as three separate episodes, I noticed something with episode 2.

At the end of "The Beginning - part II", we get a series of shots from the upcoming episode as we hear the narration "Next time, on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe!".
There is the same shot of heroic warriors when He-Man turns to face them, but for some reason Stratos' face and beard are miscolored.

Don't really know why or how this happened, but again one interesting difference between the movie-version and episode-releases.