Category: Artwork

200x, Artwork, Comics

2002 Masters of the Universe Comic Cover Gallery – MVCreations

Posted on by Jukka Issakainen

Written by Jukka Issakainen

I really like Masters of the Universe comics. Heck its no secret I’d love to one day write and/or draw art for an official publication in the future. And since its now been 20 years that the reboot comic series ended, I wanted to take a moment to appreciate the cover artworks on that series.

The 2002 comics for Masters of the Universe were produced by MVCreations. While the animated series by Mike Young Productions was aimed at a younger demographic, the comics had the opportunity to appeal to the older fans who grew up with He-Man in the 80s.

From 2002 to 2004, the Masters of the Universe comic series was published through Image Comics (15 issues), CrossGen Entertainment (8 issues) and MVCreations (6 issues).

Since the beginning, there were many variant covers for the comic issues. But some fans reported how they couldn’t keep up with them, so the president at MVCreations, Val Staples listened to the feedback and decided to not feature them during the Volume 2 ongoing comics and the mini-series “Icons of Evil”. Accordingly it “cut the sales by almost half, and made the comic extremely hard to produce later on.” [1] They added them back when Volume 3 started, as limited releases and special exclusives, which “helped a little.” There were also ideas for other special gimmick covers they wanted to do, but never got the chance – such as a lenticular cover depicting Adam transforming into He-Man, or a felt texture cover with Moss Man.

The cover artwork especially was really terrific, with a multitude of talent from regular to variants, so I’d like to highlight them in this article. Full disclosure, it was also a way for me to dig through old hard-drives (from 2004) and folders on my computer, so that I can share the logoless cover versions, many of which can’t be found online in 2024 anymore. They are displayed next to the final covers. When researching other sites, I found some to have omitted variant covers or credited wrong artists. So I’ve tried my best to include as many of the unique cover artworks in this gallery (meaning a special museum edition won’t be here, since it used art on its cover from the existing 5-page preview comic), and the artist & colorist credit.

Below you can find links to different sections:

⚬ Vol. 01 covers
⚬ Vol. 02 covers
⚬ Vol. 03 covers
⚬ Rise of the Snake Men
⚬ Icons of Evil
⚬ Specials
⚬ Trades
⚬ Unpublished/Unused covers

Hope you enjoy the images and if you found some errors or missing unique art by MVCreations, please let me know! Some of the scans are my own, and I’d like to give a special shout out to grahamcrackers, milehighcomics, comicvine, mycomicshop, cilman and RED.

VOLUME 1

Issue 1 – Cover A (wraparound)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 1 – Cover B (wraparound)

Art by: J. Scott Campbell
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 1 – Cover C (wraparound)

Art by: Earl Norem

Issue 1 – Graham Crackers exclusive cover (wraparound)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Nathan “Baena” Baertsch

Issue 1 – Reprint (front)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 2 – Cover A (front)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 2 – Cover A (back)

Art by: Kevin Sharpe
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 2 – Cover B (wraparound)

Art by: Francis Manapul
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 3 – Cover A (front)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 3 – Cover A (back)

Art by: Matt Tyree
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 3 – Cover B (wraparound)

Art by: Brett Booth
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 4 – Cover A (front)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 4 – Cover A (back)

Art by: Tone Rodriguez
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 4 – Cover B (wraparound)

Art by: Keron Grant
Color by: Val Staples

VOLUME 2

Issue 1 – Cover A
Regular (wraparound)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 1 – Cover B (wraparound)

Art by: Drew Struzan

Issue 1 – Cover C
Graham Crackers exclusive (wraparound)

Art by: Cully Hamner
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 2 – Cover A (front)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 2 – Cover A (back)

Art by: Nathan “Baena” Baertsch

Issue 2 – Cover B (wraparound)

Art by: JJ Kirby
Color by: Joel Benjamin

Issue 3 – Cover A (front)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 3 – Cover A (back)

Art by: Jonboy Meyers
Color by: Tony Washington

Issue 3 – Cover B (wraparound)

Art by: Tommy Lee Edwards

Issue 4 – Cover A (front)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 4 – Cover A (back)

Art by: Leanne Shaw Hannah
Color by: Tony Washington

Issue 4 – Cover B (wraparound)

Art by: Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell

Issue 5 – Cover A (front)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 5 – Cover A (back)

Art by: Matt Roberts
Color by: Tony Washington

Issue 6 Cover (front)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 6 Cover (back)

Art by: Jonboy Meyers
Color by: Val Staples

VOLUME 3

Issue 1 – Regular Cover

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Jeremy Roberts

Issue 1 – Incentive Cover (wraparound)

Art by: Frank Quitely
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 1 – He-Man.org Exclusive Cover

Art by: Nathan “Baena” Baertsch

Issue 1 – Convention Gatefold Cover

This cover depicts all of the 5 covers that were planned for Masters of the Universe Encyclopedia. [Click HERE to download a high-resolution scan by Jukka Issakainen]

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia and Enza Fontana
Color by: Nathan “Baena” Baertsch

Issue 2 – Regular Cover

Art by: Enza Fontana
Color by: Jeremy Roberts

Issue 2 – Incentive Cover

Art by: Brett Booth
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 3 – Regular Cover

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Jeremy Roberts

Issue 3 – Incentive Cover

Art by: Sam Liu
Color by: Jeremy Roberts

Issue 4 – Regular Cover

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Jeremy Roberts

Issue 5 – Regular Cover

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Jeremy Roberts

Issue 5 – He-Man.org Exclusive Cover

Art by: Tim Seeley
Color by Jeremy Roberts

Issue 6 – Regular Cover

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Jeremy Roberts

Issue 6 – He-Man.org Exclusive Cover

Art by: Andy Smith
Color by: Jason Keith

Issue 7 – Regular Cover

Art by: Leanne Shaw Hannah
Color by: Jeremy Roberts

Issue 7 – He-Man.org Exclusive Cover

Art by: Eamon O’Donoghue
Color by: Jeremy Roberts

Issue 8 – Regular Cover

Art by: Mike O’Hare
Color by: Jeremy Roberts

Issue 8 – Graham Crackers Exclusive cover

Art by: Randy Green
Color by: Val Staples

Issue 8 – He-Man.org Exclusive Cover

Art by: Nathan “Baena” Baertsch

ICONS OF EVIL

Beast Man – Cover

Art by: Tony Moore
Color by: Val Staples

Mer-Man – Cover

Art by: EJ Su
Color by: Val Staples

Trap Jaw – Cover

Art by: Mike Pedro
Color by: Nathan “Baena” Baertsch

Tri-Klops – Cover

Art by: Corey Walker
Color by: Val Staples

RISE OF THE SNAKE MEN

Issue 1 – Regular Cover

Art by: Jonboy Meyers
Color by: Tony Washington

Issue 1 – He-Man.org Exclusive Cover

Art by: Nathan “Baena” Baertsch

Issue 2 – Regular Cover

Art by: Andie Tong
Color by: Jeremy Roberts

Issue 3 – Regular Cover

Art by: Andie Tong
Color by: Jeremy Roberts

SPECIALS

Promo comic – cover (front)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Promo comic – cover (back)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Special Preview comic – cover (front)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Special Preview comic – cover (back)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Dream Halloween 2002 – cover

Art by: Enza Fontana
Color by: Val Staples

Dream Halloween 2003 – cover

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Masters of the Universe Encyclopedia Season one – cover

[*See Volume 3 Gatefold cover variant #1 that depicts all 5 covers intended for the Encyclopedia mini-series]

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia and Enza Fontana
Color by: Nathan “Baena” Baertsch

Target 2-pack He-Man & Skeletor insert comic – cover

Art by: Neal Adams

TDK Gameboy Advance insert comic – cover

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Episode 40 Adaptation Comic – cover

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Trade Collections

Volume 1 – TPB Cover (hardcover version)

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Volume 2 – TPB Cover

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia and Enza Fontana
Color by: Jeremy Roberts

Icons of Evil – TPB Cover

Art by: Emiliano Santalucia
Color by: Val Staples

Unused/Unpublished covers

Planned 2-pack Smash Blade He-Man & Spin Blade Skeletor insert comic cover. Art by: Emiliano Santalucia. Color by: Val Staples
Possible cover for issue 4 Volume 3, published in the end of issue 3. Art by Enza Fontana. Color by: Jeremy Roberts.
Possible cover for issue 6 Volume 3, published in the end of issue 5. Art by Emiliano Santalucia. Color by: Jeremy Roberts?
Commissioned cover by Alex Ross. Due to time constraints, it was not completed. (Later repurposed for the BCI Filmation DVD Art Cards).

[1] Staples, V. [JVS3]. (December 3th, 2007). He-Man.org Discussion Boards.

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Artwork, Cardbacks

Top Toys cardbacks & cross sell art

Posted on by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs

Special thanks to Martin Alejandro Salinas for sending me the Top Toys cardback scans used in this article and providing some background information as well.

Typically the cross sell art used on the backs of Top Toys cards was the same as what appeared on US cards. One exception to that is Jitsu, where a photograph (mirror reversed) of the toy was used rather than artwork:

Another interesting difference is Two Bad. Although the artwork is the same as was used on US cards, Two Bad was grouped with the Evil Horde:

Below we have Zodac’s card, which is similar to the US reissue card, but the layout of cross sell art characters is changed, and it also includes larger toys like Castle Grayskull and Battle Cat:

Here is a selection of additional cardbacks from various Top Toys figures. One note is that the Trap Jaw cross sell art is the “jawless” version that appeared in later US cardbacks as well as on the backs of many of the US minicomics.

Another interesting note: Hordak’s cardback includes a blurred-out section for the Evil Horde faction on the back, with a message saying the the Evil Horde would arrive soon. Martin notes that Grizzlor, whose silhouette is visible in the blurred image, was never produced in Argentina.

Finally, Martin says that at the tail end of the line in Argentina, Toy Toys began using generic cards for figures. On the backs of those cards they used artwork from the cover of first issue of the Star Comics Masters of the Universe series. The name of the figure would be announced on the front with a sticker, since it wasn’t printed on the actual card.

Image via He-Man.org

Because there were no instructions for the toy printed on the back of the card, they would include a black and white printout of the instructions inserted in the bubble with the figure:

Thanks again to Martin for the wonderful scans and background information. This website would not be half as comprehensive as it is without contributions from fans like Martin!

Update: Martin has sent me some additional Top Toys cardback images:

Faker

King Hiss

Kamo Khan

Rattlor with instruction sheet

Michael Breithmeier also shared this alternative Hordak cardback, which features a giant Hordak cross sell image superimposed over the blurred out section:

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Artwork, Reviews

T. Mark Taylor – Sketches 2

Posted on by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs

Many thanks to my buddy Doug Feague for kindly sharing pictures of his copy for this article.

At the 2019 Power-Con, Mark and Rebecca Taylor made available to fans a collection of art prints called T. Mark Taylor – Sketches 2. It’s a sequel to the first set of sketches released at Power-Con last year. A few pieces from this set appear in the 2016 Mark Taylor – The Original B-Sheets Collection, which I reviewed in depth. I’ll take a look at each piece of artwork and provide a little commentary, although several of these pieces are new to me and I don’t know the backstory behind them.

Dungeon Sticker

To start out with, the cover (shown above) is the famous Castle Grayskull dungeon sticker, which was illustrated by Rebecca Salari Taylor.

The dungeon has all sorts of meaning for Mark Taylor, who envisioned it as having held Skeletor at one point, turning him into the monster who he eventually became. More on that in a future article.

Sorceress

The Sorceress was included in the 2016 Mark Taylor Portfolio, and is one of my all time favorite pieces of art. This character’s design was eventually merged with Teela’s. The Sorceress would later show up in the 1983 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon with a completely redesigned costume. But she does make an appearance in this form (albeit with a green face) in the minicomic, He-Man and the Power Sword. You can read more about this character here.

Face Shifter

Face Shifter is one of many face-changing character concepts that Mark Taylor came up with, eventually leading to Man-E-Faces. This particular version may have inspired the armor used on Terror Claws Skeletor, and possibly even the costume for the New Adventures character Flipshot.

Viking Raid

Viking Raid depicts and early Castle Grayskull concept. This one also appeared in Mark’s 2016 portfolio collection and in Dark Horse’s The Art of He-Man.

Kang Gi

As I understand it, this character was apparently pulled from Mark Taylor’s sketch book from years before his work at Mattel, and the intent was to use him as one of Skeletor’s henchmen, but may have also been considered for the Conan line that never came to be.

Kang Gi’s face bears a strong resemblance to Webstor, and may have been used by Roger Sweet as a springboard in the creation of that character. However this should not be considered an early version of Webstor – it’s a separate character.

Ram Man

This is a rather exciting bit of concept art for Ram Man that I personally had never seen before. His look is fairly well developed, although he features the red/brown/orange color scheme that seemed to stick with the character right up until the toy was released in stores, where the colors were changed to red and green. The overall look is quite similar to Ram Man as he appears in the minicomic, He-Man Meets Ram Man.

The Merciless

Known to many fans as “Demo-Man” (a name attached to him in the MOTU Classics era), The Merciless is a differently colored version of a piece of Mark Taylor concept art that has been floating around for the fan community for some time. This version features a darker color palette and a blue beard. This may have been a concept for the unproduced Conan line, but I don’t know that for sure. In any case, contrary to popular belief, it was not an early Skeletor concept. Update: read more about the history of this character here.

The Enforcer

The Enforcer is a character that I’ve not seen previously. To me he fits in very well in the world of MOTU, and I would leave to see a figure made from this wonderfully weird and quirky design.

Mokus

Another character that is completely new to me, Mokus looks like some kind of giant, frightening but also whimsical plant monster. I’d love to learn the backstory behind this character.

Stalker

Stalker is a great plant monster concept. The face reminds me just a little of Swamp Thing, and the plant-based costume and weapon are right on target.

Blaster

Blaster is a classic-looking science fiction concept character. His helmet almost looks like the prow of a space ship. He seems to be shooting beams of some kind out of his writstband as well. This is another concept I hadn’t seen previously.

Back Page

Finally, the back page features a lovely message from Mark, adorned with another piece of art from the Castle Grayskull playset, again illustrated by Rebecca.

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Artwork

Masters of the Universe Cross Sell Art: Alcala Variants

Posted on by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs

The artwork for this set comes primarily from my own scans and photos, as well as from Axel Giménez. This is a comparison between the cross sell artwork by Alfredo Alcala that was featured on the backs of the first four minicomics, and the standardized cross sell artwork by William George on the backs of the packaging. The Alcala artwork is based on some of the earliest prototype designs, but also is informed by Alcala’s own indelible artistic style.

Masters of the Universe Cross Sell Art:

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