Alfredo Alcala mini comic art – character by character

Recently on social media I started sharing some graphics highlighting Alfredo Alcala’s depictions of different characters in vintage mini comics. I thought I would finish that series here on the blog before sharing the rest to social media. I focused on his depictions of first wave toys. For reference, here are all of the mini comics he illustrated (these link to He-Man.Org):

He-Man

Alcala’s earliest depictions are based on one of the early prototypes, which had the yellow boot tops, and on Mark Taylor’s concept art, which had the dagger in the boot (shown in some comic panels but not in this graphic).

Beginning with the second wave and later comics, Alcala updated He-Man to follow the coloring on the action figure (red boots with no yellow accents).

Skeletor

Alcala’s earliest depictions of Skeletor are based on concept art and an early prototype, which had bare, five-toed feet, shin guards, sometimes featuring yellow bats, a yellow bat on the chest (rarely depicted), and no fins on the forearms. The skull face itself is unique to Alcala.

In later depictions by Alcala, Skeletor was based on the cross sell art from the figure packaging (bare, three-toed feet). In some comics Alcala gave Skeletor the face paint pattern from the vintage toy.

Teela

In early comics she had blonde hair, based the original concept art by Mark Taylor. Teela’s hair was changed to red because He-Man was made blonde at one point in his development, and Mark wanted some variety in the hair colors in the first wave.

I added an asterisk for “The Power of Point Dread.” Neither Teela nor the Sorceress/Goddess appear in that story. We just have the cover, which appears to show Teela being blasted by Skeletor. However there is a very similar cover for “The Power of… Point Dread” illustrated by Mark Texeira the same year. The scene is almost the same, and in that case it’s actually the Sorceress/Goddess being blasted. In second wave mini comics, you really need context to tell if it’s Teela or the Sorceress/Goddess being depicted. We have no context on this Alcala cover.

Beast Man

Beast Man had red fur in Alcala’s cross sell art and in “He-Man and the Power Sword,” but he was orange in every appearance after that.

Man-At-Arms

Alcala’s earliest depictions of Man-At-Arms are based on Mark Taylor’s concept art and on the cardback cross sell art, while the last couple of depictions are based on the actual action figure.

Mer-Man

In the top three comics, Alcala is basing Mer-Man’s look on Mark Taylor’s original concept design. In the bottom three comics, Mer-Man is based on the cross sell art and in the case of “Danger At Castle Grayskull,” the vintage Mer-Man action figure.

Stratos

Alcala based Stratos first on Mark Taylor’s concept art, then on the cross sell art, and finally on the actual 1982 action figure.

The Sorceress

The Sorceress appears only in Alfredo Alcala’s “He-Man and the Power Sword.” She is based on concept art by Mark Taylor.

Zodac

Zodac appears only in Alcala’s “Danger At Castle Grayskull.” He is based on the cross sell art look for the character.

Castle Grayskull

In each of these comics Alcala based the look of the castle on Mark Taylor’s original prototype design.

Battle Cat

Alcala’s depiction of Battle Cat is based on the prototype and concept art designs, with featured a striped tail and orange around the edges of Battle Cat’s mouth.

Battle Ram/Sky Sled

Alcala’s Battle Ram and Sky sled artwork is based on the wooden prototype design.

Wind Raider

Alcala’s Wind Raider artwork is based either on the cross sell art or on one of the early prototype models for the vehicle.