Recently, my co-partner Adam made an extensive article about why He-Man is NOT Mattel’s attempt to produce a Conan action figure, only to change hair-color in the last minute after seeing the film in May 1982 – the dates don’t match (among many other discrepancies).
On the other hand, one can certainly see that the people who worked on Masters of the Universe were influenced by the barbaric fantasy-artworks of Frank Frazetta (on topics like Conan and more).
There are numerous cases where we have seen… homaging? referencing? swiping? certain elements and images from Conan the Barbarian in official media for He-Man. Now this is not to shame any of the artists working on the brand. In the examples from the UK Annuals, we don’t know all the circumstances or motivations behind the creation of a little book aimed at kids. Maybe there was a rush with the deadlines so the artists (many uncredited/unknown) resorted to taking old comic panels as inspiration.
Below I have gathered some comparisons, in no particular order. There are over 40 examples listed for your enjoyment. Many are directly lifted off of existing Conan material, but I’ve included a couple generic ones as well. I’ve looked at MOTU media from US, Germany, United Kingdom and Italy.
For this comparison, I am mainly focusing on vintage materials, because something like Masters of the Universe Masterverse Vykron figure’s packaging art paying homage to Conan art (Ken Kelly) is done intentionally. The adult audience for this figure is supposed to get the reference.
I have also included repeating offenders, if such occur. As in the case of a pose from Conan the Barbarian #100 getting use out of in both UK Annual 1985 and then Annual 1987. In the case of the 1987 version, however, it is possible that the artist was looking at the 1985 pose.
I most likely have missed some instances; so feel free to comment below if you remember seeing a vintage He-Man comic panel, poster or cover image using Conan as its basis in one way or another. If so I will try to add it to the article.
Special thanks for scan help: Mark “Polygonus” Knobloch, Ben Massa, Adam McCombs. An extra hat tip to Joe Amato and James Eatock for few of the panel finds. Also a big thanks to Warpman Alexandre and James Eatock on couple artist credits’ info.
I mentioned recently that Danielle Gelehrter had sent me a box of her materials related to her research for various Masters of the Universe book projects, in particular her work on her 2017 book, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Newspaper Comic Strips. Today I’d like to share with you three “lost” weeks of those strips that didn’t make it into the book. Many thanks to Danielle for sharing these for the blog!
The Last Survivors
The last story covered in the book was The Last Survivors. It represented a transition from traditional MOTU into the New Adventures series of stories, and featured a lot of panels with familiar MOTU characters and costumes.
Unfortunately several stories in the book were missing comic pages. Any missing strips were represented in the book with a placeholder summary description. I gratefully received several missing comic pages from Danielle that were not included in The Last Survivors in her book. I’ll first post the placeholder text description from the book, and then immediately after I’ll post the corresponding lost comics that weren’t included in the book.
The Last Survivors Story: Chris Weber Art & Original Lettering: Gerald Forton Colors: Connie Shurr Editor: Karen Willson
Missing Section 1
Missing Section 2
A little context here: Flipshot and Hydron came from the future to get He-Man using their Timesphere. Skeletor sneaked on board. With its destruction they were both stuck on Primus.
Missing Section 3
Missing section 4
This Sunday strip described below is still missing:
Missing Section 5
Missing Section 6
Additional Missing Content
Weeks 237 and 238 are unfortunately still missing. If you happen to have those strips (or any other missing strips from other stories in the book) and wouldn’t mind sharing a scan for this site, please comment below!
I have quite a bit more material related to the MOTU newspaper strips, including scripts, outlines, correspondence and other material. It will take me some time to go through and figure out how to present. Looking at it all, it will probably be spread out over a year at least, interspersed among other planned articles for the blog.
Thank you to the following individuals who are current Patreon supporters or Facebook subscribers!
Adam A.
Allison T.
badtaste®
Ben M.
Chupakaibra
Cory from Make Shape Create
Elsmasef – The MotU Channel
Eric H.
Gianluca V.
JackieX
João S.
Jon E.
Kris K.
Lyca
Max I.
Michael M.
Mike G.
MotuOriginsCork
Orion W.
Ove K.
Øyvind M. (Patreon & Facebook)
Philip O.
Robert B.
Scott B.
Steven K.
tupalev
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We recently got scans of four original minicomic scripts from Danielle Gelehrter, and we thought it would be interesting to start by taking a closer look at the script for The Secret Liquid of Life. Artist Larry Houston also shared a couple of his original pencils for the comic, so we’ll be posting those too. The draft script, written by Michael Halperin (the same person who wrote the December 1982 Masters of the Universe Bible) actually has the title as The Secret of Life.
Script cover pageOriginal pencils cover page shared by artist Larry Houston. Note the message to the colorist at the bottom.
Also note that the arm in which He-Man holds the Powersword is a little different in the pencil stage, than what it would end up looking after inking.
Pencils vs colored artwork
Fun trivia: Mr. Houston on “The Secret Liquid of Life” and Filmation artists such as Michael Swanigan on “A Tale of Two Cities” were simultaneously (serendipitously?) aiming to add more diversity with named black characters into the world of Eternia during 1983. Swanigan is credited by Don Manuel (who designed Melaktha) as the first on the Filmation staff to show Garn as a black character [source: Power-Con 2018 Panel video].
The date for this draft is May 24, 1983, but the comic would not be released until sometime in 1984. It was typical for both the comic and toy design teams to be working a year or more ahead of the anticipated release date.
In the first page of the script, we basically get a page and a half worth of the actual comic. In the draft, originally it was supposed to be He-Man, the Sorceress and Zodac observing the scene. So in this continuity at least Zodac was to be the neutral Cosmic Enforcer, rather than the Evil Warrior that Mattel was positioning him as on their packaging starting in 1983. Zodac was removed from the actual comic, however, perhaps due to that change from Mattel. That wouldn’t affect the 1983 Filmation series, which still used Zodac as a neutral character, drawing from his first appearance in the 1982 DC comics.
In the opening scene, Prince Dakon is running from the evil villain Geldor, who had already captured Torgul. If you’re wondering where these characters came from, they were invented by Halperin for the story. At this point in the production of the vintage minicomics, Mattel was giving the team (lead by Lee Nordling) quite a lot of leeway to do want they wanted with these stories, and allowing them to create their own characters to fill out the world of Eternia. Larry Houston has stated on his Facebook page (Feb. 3rd, 2024) that Mattel had no designs for the characters, so he designed Geldor, Dakon, Princess Maran and Torgul for the minicomic.
Note Teela’s off model yellow costume!
In another piece of behind the scenes trivia, see the comparison below between Larry Houston’s original pencils and the final published page. In the pencils version, we see the early version of the Sorceress, often confused with Teela with her snake armor. The final version is updated to follow the Filmation look, albeit with an all-white costume. The arm bracers are retained, however.
Graphic put together by Jukka Issakainen
We will alternate the script pages and the comic pages in order, so you can compare the differences between the the two for each part of the story. We’ll also make note of any interesting changes made to the comic. There are some minor dialogue and narration changes as well, which we won’t call out specifically.
Note: in the script, Torgul is “bloodied.” This detail doesn’t make it into the comic.Original pencils by Larry Houston
Minicomic trivia: A villain being thwarted by shining their reflection back to them would also happen to Grizzlor in his respective minicomic.
Note in the above script page, Halperin actually has He-Man cut off the ogre’s hand, and blood spurts out! Obviously this was a step too far for a comic aimed at young children, and it was changed to He-Man tying the ogre’s hands together, as you can see on the page below:
The xerox pencil page thanks to Joe Amato on facebook. Graphic put together by Jukka Issakainen.
As you can see, the comic more or less follows the original script, with the biggest changes being the removal of Zodac from the story and the taming down of the bloodiness in the script. I hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes look at The Secret Liquid of Life. Danielle has shared three other minicomic scripts with us, so look for more of this kind of content in the future!
Thank you to the following individuals who are current Patreon supporters or Facebook subscribers!
Adam A.
Allison T.
badtaste®
Ben M.
Chupakaibra
Cory from Make Shape Create
Elsmasef – The MotU Channel
Eric H.
Gianluca V.
JackieX
João S.
Jon E.
Kris K.
Lyca
Max I.
Michael M.
Mike G.
MotuOriginsCork
Orion W.
Ove K.
Øyvind M. (Patreon & Facebook)
Philip O.
Robert B.
Scott B.
Steven K.
tupalev
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One of the most interesting of the minicomic variants is the sample version of the first comic, He-Man and the Power Sword, illustrated by Alfredo Alcala. It’s called the sample version that because on the cash rebate offer toward the end of the comic, it’s stamped over with the word “SAMPLE” on both sides, indicating that the comic itself was just an early sample, and therefore the rebate wasn’t valid:
As a side note, I’ve done a lot of research about dates for the release of the Masters of the Universe line. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that He-Man was released starting in May of 1982. I’ll note however that the date on the rebate indicates a purchase window of March 1, 1982 to January 31, 1983. There has long been talk of an early test market release for He-Man, on a limited basis, prior to its wide release in stores across the country. It’s possible that these test market figures (typically identified as the “G0” early release MOTU cards) were released in March of 1982, but I’d want more evidence to be able to say that with any degree of confidence. I actually don’t know what the source is for the test market pre-release claim. It could stem from an interview with someone at Mattel, or it could just be a fan theory. If anyone has any sources, please contact me!
Sample Comic and its Logo
Regarding the sample comic in question, I know from my interview with Alfredo Alcala Jr. that his father received a number of copies of this early sample after its printing. In the interview he also referred to the comic as an artist’s proof. Mattel employees working on the brand also received copies of the sample comic, and it may have even been handed out at New York Toy Fair in February of 1982.
Image courtesy of Alfredo Alcala Jr.A worn example of the sample version of the comic.
A number of years ago, Jukka Issakainen interviewed the creator of the Masters of the Universe logo, Bob Nall. (The interview used to be hosted on He-Man.org.) Jukka asked Bob about the variant logo on the sample version of the comic:
Jukka: I found a pic of the alternative logo of MOTU on the minicomic cover. Can you tell me more about this logo version?
Bob Nall: It mimics the original but is not too good as far as logos go (my opinion). Back in the day, MOTU was taking off and making tons of money so many Mattel entities and others outside of Mattel wanted a piece. These types of anomalies popped up all the time.
Bob Nall: But, I will say this – the logo you are questioning definitely followed the original MOTU logo which I created. It may have been rendered that way for a variety of reasons (who knows) but none of which came through my office for approval. As I said, there were many hands in the pot once the Brand became successful.
Sample version of the comic with unofficial logo. Image via Jukka IssakainenStandard version of the comic with official logo
My opinion is that the official Masters of the Universe logo hadn’t been finalized at the time the artist’s sample was to go to print, so Alfredo must have created a placeholder for the cover until the final logo was ready to go.
Sample Version vs. Standard Version
So what are the differences between the sample version of He-Man and the Power Sword and the version that came packaged with figures? We know the logo was different, but there is a difference in the artwork on the cover as well. On the sample, the sky is a single color of blue, while the final version has a color gradient going from dark to light blue. The clouds behind Castle Grayskull on the final version of the comic have been redone, with more detail, and they cover more of the page. Finally, the title of the story has been moved so that it’s over rather than underneath the logo:
Sample version (left) vs standard version
Lords of Power
As shown at the beginning of the article, the rebate pages were stamped “SAMPLE” on the early version of the comic. But there is one more important difference. On the final page of the story, the Spirit of the Castle delivers a message to the heroes. In the sample version he calls them the “Lords of Power,” while in the standard version he calls them the “Masters of the Universe.” As you may know, “Lords of Power” was one of the early working names for the line. That name was dropped because it was thought that it might have unintentional religious connotations. The sample version of course has the revised name, Masters of the Universe, on the cover. The inclusion of “Lords of Power” on the last page must have been a simple oversight by the editor.
Sample version (left) vs. standard version. Close up of the text of the sample version.
Interestingly, in ads promoting the full collection of the first four minicomics (or adventure books, as they are called), the sample version of He-Man and the Power Sword is pictured:
The Adventure Books – probably a better description for the first four comics, which are really story books with no panels or speech balloons.
I’ll also note that there were a couple of other US variants of He-Man and the Power Sword. There was a later reprint, which had a yellow title, fewer pages, and updated advertisements. There was also a version that lacked the word “FREE” on the burst on the cover. You can check out those and other variants here.
The French Connection
The story doesn’t end there, however. For reasons unclear to me, the French version of He-man and the Power Sword was partially based on the US sample version (the same goes for the French Canadian version). On the cover, the French edition has the official Masters logo (or the official French version of it), but it is colored according to the unofficial logo from the US sample. The sky on the illustration is the solid blue of the sample version. The title appears below the logo, like the sample version. However the clouds are the revised version that appeared in the standard version:
French edition of He-Man and the Power Sword. Also note there is no “Free illustrated book with purchase” burst on the cover.
The final page of the story in the French edition also mirrors the US sample. The Spirit of the Castle addresses the heroes, twice calling them the “Seigneurs de la Force” or Lords of Power (literally “Lords of the Force”):
Final page of the French story“Lords of Power”Back cover, printed in France
Why did the term Lords of Power end up in the French version of the comic? I don’t know. However, this isn’t the first time early lore ended up in French materials. In an early French catalog, Mer-Man is said to be a companion of He-Man, and Stratos is said to be a companion of Beast Man. We know Mattel originally planned to have Mer-Man as a Heroic Warrior and Stratos as an Evil Warrior. You can read more about that here.
Bonus: extras in the French edition of He-Man and the Power Sword:
The French edition is interesting for other reasons as well. It contains a number of coloring pages, based on some of the US wave 2 minicomics:
Best of all, it also had a two-page photo, featuring an early Teela prototype with Barbie-style leg articulation, the Castle Grayskull model used for catalogs, blue beard Stratos, and striped tail Battle Cat:
Left to right: regular version, sample version, and French version
I hope you’ve enjoyed this exploration of some interesting variants of He-Man and the Power Sword. Bonus for Patreon supporters only: Here are some additional coloring pages from the French edition of Vengeance of Skeletor. Also, look for an upcoming video where Mega Jay Retro and I discuss this topic at length!
Update: Brad G. has kindly shared a full scan of the minty He-Man and the Power Sword sample comic he used to own:
Thank you to the following individuals who are current Patreon supporters!
Adam A.
Allison T.
badtaste®
Ben M.
Chupakaibra
Cory from Make Shape Create
Eric H.
Gianluca V.
JackieX
João S.
Jon E.
Lyca
Max I.
Michael M.
Mike G.
MotuOriginsCork
Orion W.
Øyvind M.
Philip O.
Robert B.
tupalev
Want to support the blog? Consider becoming a Patreon supporter. You’ll also gain access to exclusive content and early access to posts on the blog. Thank you!
