Heroic Warriors, Mondo, MOTU Classics, MOTU History

From Mark Taylor to Mondo: A History of the Goddess

Posted on October 15, 2025October 23, 2025 by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs & Jukka Issakainen

With the arrival of the new Mondo Goddess figure, we thought it would be a good time to take a look at the history of the character. We’ll cover her original concept design, her appearances in comics and toys over the years, and provide a look at the new 1/6 scale Mondo figure at the end of the article.

The name Goddess or Green Goddess, historically, did not apply to the character under discussion in this article, at least not originally. She appeared in exactly one comic and in one piece of concept art in the 1980s, and in both instances she was called the Sorceress. Nevertheless, since the name/title Sorceress has come to refer to the falcon-themed guardian of Castle Grayskull who appeared in the Filmation He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon, we’ve used the name “Goddess” in the title to avoid confusion.

Mark Taylor’s Sorceress

The Sorceress/Green Goddess was created by Mark Taylor for the original Masters of the Universe line. In her original design, she was not green-skinned, but actually wearing a green body suit, similar to Man-At-Arms. Her allegiance isn’t specifically stated, but she does have a slightly evil or at least crafty look to her.

A black and white version of the above artwork with green Pantone stickers is dated June 8, 1981, shown below. Mark notes that she was to use the same basic body as “Female Warrior” (Teela). Note that Teela’s gold decoration on her white tunic was supposed to be a separate overlay rather than something sculpted to her torso. So this figure would have gotten the snake headdress but not the gold fleur-de-lis-esque costume elements.

Years ago, I asked Mark Taylor what his original intent was for the character:

Adam: Teela and the Sorceress/Goddess (the one with the snake armor) were originally separate characters. Whose decision was it to combine them into a single action figure? How did you feel about that? Did you intend the sorceress character to be a hero or a villain?

Mark: She was actually supposed to be a changeling but the comic book guys had a hard time with that. Also, the head of girls toys wanted to rip her off for Princess of Power (because now the line was very hot!). She was intended to be like a spy and play both sides with some magic but the “professionals” felt that was too complex (I guess they don’t get Game of Thrones either).

As Mark has explained in public appearances, he didn’t want to give up on the idea that Sorceress was a “bad person”. Her personality is perhaps mirrored in her stern, cold facial expression in Mark’s concept art. Mark has also said that, though initially “bad”, he had the idea that Sorceress could at times team up with either Skeletor or He-Man.

He-Man and the Power Sword

In the original Masters of the Universe mini comics, the green-skinned Sorceress appears only in the aforementioned He-Man and the Power Sword. Contrary to Mark’s conceptualization, she is unambiguously heroic, providing help for He-Man and defending the Power Sword and Castle Grayskull from Skeletor. Note that in this story her face is green, indicating that she’s not wearing a green body suit, as originally designed by Mark.

*Alfredo Alcala’s illustration of Mark Taylor’s Sorceress*

I’ve talked before about how Mattel elected to produce only one female figure for the 1982 Masters of the Universe debut, and so combined Teela and Goddess into one figure. In some early stories, when you are seeing what looks like Teela wearing her snake armor, it’s actually the Goddess (or often called the Sorceress). But in other early stories it’s just Teela with snake armor on. It could be quite confusing, and so the Sorceress character was redesigned by Filmation with a totally different look to make things clearer. You can read more about that in the two articles below. In this article we are focusing only on the green-skinned version of the character.

So, back to the Sorceress in her appearance in He-Man and the Power Sword. She appears in four pages in the story. She is the first person that He-Man meets when he leaves his home in the jungle, whereupon he saves her from a purple beast that had attacked her.

Interestingly in her first appearance in the story she is holding a staff topped with what looks like an animal skull with horns. Later in the story we see Skeletor holding this same staff, which is not quite the same design as his Havoc Staff. She is not holding this staff in her concept art, but instead holds a snake staff.

The staff in Alcala’s illustration above is somewhat reminiscent of the Skeletor’s prototype staff. However the version in the comic looks more like a cow’s skull than a ram’s skull.

On the page below, we see He-Man fighting the beast, aided by some “mystical bolts of force” from the Sorceress. In this panel we can see that she actually has the same tiara that Teela was supposed to have, poking out from the top of her snake helmet. Perhaps this was taken from another (lost) piece of concept art, because she has no exposed hair in the existing Mark Taylor B-sheet.

After He-Man defeats the monster, the Sorceress rewards him with some treasures she has been guarding. She explains that they were made centuries before the Great Wars by Eternian scientists. The treasures include his harness (which, depending on the model, give him augmented strength or a force field), an axe, a shield, the Battle Ram, and the Battle Chariot (an unproduced vehicle designed by Ted Mayer). We can also see a sword (not the Power Sword), some boots, and a spear.

The Goddess does not show up again in the story until near the end, where she disarms Skeletor by taking the Power Sword from him and splitting them into separate halves again. She disappears and is never seen again in any vintage stories, at least not with this coloring.

Just a note for those not familiar with this comic or this topic- Teela was definitely a separate character from the green-skinned Sorceress, and they both appear in He-Man and the Power Sword. In the story, Teela was a warrior character with apparently no magical abilities who was captured by Beast Man and Skeletor. In the end she escapes and helps He-Man and Man-At-Arms to fight off the Evil Warriors.

MOTU Classics The Goddess

The ethos of the Classics line was, for some reason, to retcon concept characters into completely new characters to “justify” their inclusion in the toyline. Or, sometimes two characters would be combined into one. How that would “justify” them is unclear. I suspect this was really done to maintain one consistent and harmonized story in the bios that went on the back of the packaging. The Goddess was released as a figure for the first time in 2009 in the MOTU Classics toyline. Originally she was supposed to have opaque skin, like the Sorceress character in the first mini comic, but Mattel design opted to make her translucent, which lead to problems with the figure cracking at the pelvis.

The color scheme was based on one particular panel in He-Man and the Power Sword where she had white bracers. The white was probably an oversight by the artist – in all the others her bracers were brown, and they are also brown in Mark Taylor’s concept art. She came with a spear that was really intended for Teela, allowing The Goddess to use Teela’s snake staff. She reused Teela’s tunic, which was the only major point of departure from Mark Taylor’s design (recall that she wasn’t supposed to have the gold leaf pattern on her costume). This was no doubt done to save money.

*MOTU Classics Goddess Prototype, sculpted by the Four Horsemen*

*MOTU Classics Goddess figure – note the change to a see-through body. She is holding Teela’s staff.*

In her bio, she was given the real name of Sharella, a character from the Powers of Grayskull line. Originally there was no connection between these characters, and neither one was produced in the vintage line. This retcon was met with a mixed reception at the time.

The Goddess
Heroic Trainer of He-Man
Real Name: Sharella

After the death of King Grayskull, the Power of the Universe was transferred from the Sword of He to the Council of Elders who hid it deep within his castle. Knowing the full sword was the key to channeling the power, they split it in two to prevent it from falling into the hands of evil. For five centuries they waited for a worthy heir to be born. During this time their spirit guide, the creature known as “The Goddess” of Eternia, trained secret heroic guardians to keep the two halves of the sword separated. Many of these brave warriors took the name “He-Man” in honor of the sword they protected – giving birth to many different legends of the protector of Eternia.

*Note: The Goddess’ real name Sharella did not appear in the original printing. It was added after the fact in a sticker. Image via Toy Habits.*

Classics had given the (green) Goddess a “real name” Sharella, and later they retconned the fan-theory about a nameless archer girl, who appeared in the background art for vintage Megator, as Sharella. Classics had a habit of taking elements created by fans, and inserting them officially in the bios (for example in the 2002 cartoon King Grayskull had a lion, which never had a name in the series bible or scripts, other than “Grayskull’s Lion”. Fans coined the term “Battle Lion”, and Classics used that).

Masters of the Universe Classics minicomic #8 gave us couple flashback panels, where we see Sharella (as archer girl in ancient times) get injured from an arrow by Quick Flix. Then given a blood transfusion from Moss Man. Implying that because of this, she’ll later turn into the green-skinned Goddess.

Masters of the Universe Classics minicomic #8 – art by Jordi Tarragona.

Masters of the Universe Classics minicomic #2 – art by Wellington Alves.

Modern DC Comics (2012-2016) – The Goddess Conundrum

When interpreting the world of Eternia for modern comic stories, Rob David took the approach that there was a life force that created the Universe. It was worshiped by different races, each calling it by different names and viewing it through their own lenses, if you will.

So in the stories by Mattel/DC Comics, the Star Seed is “the First Light” and has been called the Life-Force, the Goddess, Zoar, Serpos, Horokoth. The characters refer to the being as The Goddess in the story.

Some fans who may not have followed the comic series regularly may have remembered from the 1980s stories that there was a character called the Goddess or the Sorceress, and were naturally confused when the heroes in this comic were searching a way to resurrect the Sorceress, and needed to go to the Goddess [an entity, not a person] for help.

In He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #12, in a battle with King Hiss and the Snake Men, Teela is knocked into the Star Seed. There she learns that her mother was the Sorceress, and that the job of the Sorceress was to be the oracle of the Goddess. Each Sorceress takes a different form, and Teela is transformed into the Sorceress of Serpos. Like the original Sorceress/Goddess created by Mark Taylor, she has green skin and snake armor (although she shows much more skin in this comic). In this continuity, she is not the Goddess, but a servant of the Goddess.

Teela continued as the Sorceress of Serpos for most of the DC Comics He-Man the Eternity War series, which ran from 2015-2016.

*Snake Teela concept art by Gabriel De La Torre. Source: He-Man the Eternity War blog*

In issue 14 of the series, when Teela in her Sorceress of Serpos form is on the brink of death, Man-At-Arms trades his life for hers. In the process she is restored to her human form.

Masters of the Universe Revelation & Revolution

The Masters of the Universe Revelation and Revolution animated series have utilized many aspects from the franchise’s long past, taking elements from existing media and putting them into new contexts. In the show, the concept of Preternia (Eternia’s distant past) becomes Eternia’s version of heaven. Or the underground world of Subternia (originating in 2002) with its caves and own inhabitants becomes a version of hell instead.

Revolution takes many cues from the He-Man the Eternity War comic series (thanks to executive producer Rob David). But it was never an animated adaptation of that story, as some fans thought when Revolution trailers arrived. In “Ascension,” Teela is transformed by the Staff of Ka into the green-skinned Sorceress of Ka, based on the Sorceress of Serpos from the 2014-2016 comics, but with several visual updates. Throughout the series we see Teela transformed by the ancient powers of the three primal gods of Eternia in the Revolution series: Zoar, Ka, and Ha’Vok. Eventually, with He-Man’s help, Teela is able to fuse all three powers into one, changing her appearance for a fourth time.

Masterverse Revolution Sorceress Teela

The Sorceress of Ka was released as a figure in 2024 the Masterverse line as Sorceress Teela. For whatever reason she was produced in very low numbers, and so is difficult to get on the secondary market. The packaging artwork was done by Simon Eckert.

Below a Wallpaper version 😉 -Jukka

MOTU Origins Eternian Goddess

Masters of the Universe Origins brings once again a totally new continuity with its figures and storytelling. They use old official elements mixed with unused concept materials and insert them in the new story they are telling (for instance, Veena is no longer the wife of a King Grayskull). So the Origins stories are not a continuation of the vintage material, but, like the Classics bios before them, they represent a new canon on their own.

Origins has the Goddess appear in the pack-in mini-comic for the 2019 He-Man & Prince Adam 2-pack. The artwork is by Axel Giménez with colors by Val Staples.

She was released as a figure in the MOTU Origins line in 2021 as the Eternian Goddess. Her color scheme was changed a bit from the source material – she was give silver bracers and boot tops and blue bicep rings. Her accessories were also closer to red than to brown, especially in the production figure (the image below is a prototype pic that Mattel released).

The Goddess appeared in the modern MOTU Origins mini comic, Rock and a Hard Place. In the story, Prince Adam is overcome by Stinkor’s stench, and calls out to the Goddess for aid. The images below come from Vaults of Grayskull, and you can read the full comic on their site.

She also appeared in the MOTU Origins mini comic, Lost Legend. In this story she has the “real name” of Sharella, a detail taken from the MOTU Classics bio mentioned earlier in this article. Sharella transforms herself into the Goddess. Strangely, “Oo-Larr” (the MOTU Classics name for the “jungle” He-Man) is retconned as being the same person as “Wun-Dar.” This page comes from Vaults of Grayskull, and the full scan is available at their site.

Other Versions of the Goddess

The Goddess was released as a statue by Iron Studios, as a ReAction figure by Super7, and as a mini figure included with the Mega Construx Castle Grayskull set.

Mondo’s The Goddess: a short review

Mondo’s Goddess figure went up for pre-order March 2025 and was shipped out October 2025. The back of the package makes clear that this isn’t the original Sorceress from He-Man and the Power Sword, but rather the transformed Teela that appeared in the Masters of the Universe Revolution series. I should note that although her costume is similar to the Revolution Sorceress of Ka, this figure is really its own thing and is a blend of different influences, including the 2015 DC comics, the vintage Mark Taylor design, and even a bit of 200x Teela.

Still, on my shelves she’ll represent the original Sorceress character created by Mark Taylor. That was my approach in the Classics era too, with characters like “Oo-Larr” that were retconned into new characters. I just thought of “Oo-Larr” as He-Man from the mini comics, and I will think of Mondo’s The Goddess as the original Sorceress character envisioned by Mark Taylor. Call me a curmudgeon if you must!

The figure is at 1/6 scale, and is intricately detailed, sculpted and painted. I inspected my example for paint problems and other irregularities, but thankfully I didn’t find any. Her left ankle is slightly loose, but it doesn’t seem to inhibit her ability to stand. Otherwise all of her joints are good, neither too tight nor too loose.

The Goddess comes with three different heads. two of which have a placid expression. The neutral face is available with either a helmet or a snake tiara and long hair. The smiling face is available with the long hair and tiara. Any of the three can be used with the snake headdress. Mondo made the interesting choice of giving her gold eyes with dark red sclera, which enhance the snake theme, but also make her look slightly evil. I’m okay with that – the original concept seemed slightly sinister too!

There is also a removable skirt, although I found it challenging to get it looking right. I wasn’t that interested in it as an accessory, so I put it on for the photo, but otherwise it’s going to live in my parts bin.

The Goddess also comes with a spear, a sword and a shield. To me these are really Teela accessories. I see Goddess more as a spell caster than a warrior, but they are an option if you want them. For me, her snake staff (or Staff of Ka, as it’s come to be called) is her primary weapon.

Speaking of magic, she also comes with a mystical snake magic effect, which can be attached to either hand. She comes with a total of ten hands, so you have plenty of options there.

Adam: Overall she’s a beautiful figure, one of the best Mondo has ever done. There is something compelling about the character itself. Her roots lie at the very beginning of the Masters of the Universe mythos, and I feel she has an important role to play in it. But for a long time she was forgotten, and arguably brought back to life through the advocacy of artist Nate Baertsch back in the MOTU Classics era.

Jukka: I agree, that the (Green) Sorceress aka Goddess has gained popularity in the fandom, due to her striking color scheme in that single minicomic appearance. Big thanks to Nate “Baena” Baertsch for creating fan arts about her, which have spread online and added to her intrigue.

Images from New Eternia blog interview with Nate Baertsch

Adam: While I don’t totally sign onto the idea that she’s some kind of Teela variant, I’m happy that the figure is at least getting represented, even if the original character behind the figure is sometimes forgotten. What I’d really like to see though is a faithful figure based 100% on Mark Taylor’s original artwork – we haven’t gotten that yet. But I do have to say that the Mondo version of the Goddess is my favorite version to date.

*From left to right: Customized MOTU Origins Goddess, Mondo Goddess, and MOTU Classics Goddess.*

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MOTU History

Masters of the Universe Power Promo

Posted on December 24, 2024December 27, 2024 by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs

I hope everyone has been having a wonderful holiday season. I am excited to share a document I’ve been chasing for a little while. Years ago I’d seen a couple of low res images from it. This year it came up for auction, but I didn’t end up winning. Then Andy Youssi was kind enough to send me some scans of his copy, which is greatly appreciated. For those who don’t know, Andy Youssi is the person who first shared with us the “Lords of Power” slides with all the early prototype images, created when Mattel was calling the line Lords of Power. Andy had this material because his father John Youssi was a freelance artist for Mattel who did promotional artwork for MOTU.

The “Power Promo” was given out to retailers and venders as a way to promote the soon-to-be launched Masters of the Universe line. It was not intended for consumers, which is why you rarely see it pop up. The document outlined Mattel’s plans for promoting the new Masters of the Universe line, along with some great pictures of the figures. Each page has text added by Andy as way of making sure the source of the images is retained in the future. I’ll go over each page and add some commentary.

Cover Page

The above cover image shows Castle Grayskull, He-Man and Skeletor. He-Man and Skeletor lack the quirks of the first release figures. Texture-wise Skeletor especially looks like a hard copy prototype rather than a factory example. As we’ll see later, Castle Grayskull is probably an early factory sample. This image also appeared in the 1984 Aurimat (Mexico) MOTU Catalog.

Page 1

Page 2 mainly focuses on marketing and market research Mattel had conducted on the line before release. Mark Taylor talked frequently about the early child testing for the line, and how kids were so excited about the early product they would often try to steal it from the testing room!

Page 2

Page two talks about some of the planned promotions, including TV ads, national print ads, the free minicomics included with figures, something called a “Power Sword National Sweepstakes,” shelf strip marketing, and cash rebates. The earliest commercials must have been filmed at this point, since there appears to be a screen grab from one of them. However, I’m not familiar with the Power Sword sweepstakes. That will show up again later in this article.

Page 3

Page three talks about some of the other promos, including the upcoming DC comics full-size five issue miniseries. They don’t have actual covers for them, so they must not have been available yet. Also discussed are Ben Cooper Halloween costumes and the MOTU Pop-Up Game. Also included in a folder on the page was the early sample version of He-Man and the Power Sword, which I recently discussed in a separate article.

Since both pages work together as a centerfold, I’ve included them together below:

Page 4

I’ve previously covered the history of early MOTU photography, as way of tracking toys from their early prototypes to final prototypes/hard copies, to early factory samples and eventually to common production examples. The photos on Page 4 appear to have been taken sometime after the photos in Mattel’s 1982 dealer catalog, because the development of the toys is further along on almost all of them:

Castle Grayskull: looks like an early factory sample. It has the finalized lock mechanism and the light colored jaw bridge, but the fine paint of early Mattel models.

He-Man: this looks pretty close to a factory He-Man, but it lacks the production quirks of early examples. Maybe it was an early factory sample that was sent to Mattel before the partially unpainted boot tops became a common error on early figures sold at retail.

Battle Cat: this looks like a factory striped tail Battle Cat, as opposed to a hand-painted prototype.

Skeletor: this version looks hand-painted to me – possibly a hard copy made at Mattel.

Teela: this is at least the third generation Teela prototype, the first that was actually articulated. Note the Barbie/She-Ra style hip articulation, green snake eyes on armor, and large shield. There was at least one other prototype made after this before Teela actually went into production.

Battle Ram: this looks pretty much like a factory version.

Man-At-Arms: this is an early version that has the cuff at the wrist. The armor looks like it might be painted, so possibly this is a hard copy made at Mattel.

Beast Man: this looks like it might be a sample from the factory, except he has an early whip that actually fits in his hand (thanks to John for the heads up).

Mer-Man: possibly a hard copy made at Mattel? It looks to have a matte, painted finish.

Stratos: this has the glossy finish of a factory toy. But, it has a gray beard and blue goggles. Perhaps the Blue Beard variant/error came in once they went into full production.

Zodac: He looks like he has a matte body, but his armor has been updated from his appearance in the 1982 dealer catalog to the finalized version. He still has the prototype paint pattern on his helmet (thanks to John for the tip).

Wind Raider: this has been updated since its appearance in the 1982 dealer catalog, with enlarged engines and more detailed looking wings.

One more interesting thing below: we see what looks a few early packaging samples. Note that He-Man and Skeletor are missing their minicomics, and Battle Cat is missing the black insert in his packaging. Note also that Battle Cat is the early striped tail variant.

Recently some similar figures showed up at auction. The Man-At-Arms below lacks a minicomic in his packaging as well, although he does have a warranty slip. The card has a Mattel Archives sticker on it, and was something Mattel held onto for a while and eventually offered to its employees for sale.

Page 5

Page 5 is interesting because it includes a marketing schedule. Now, I’ve done quite a lot of research on the release dates for the MOTU toys. Multiple lines of evidence point to May 1982 as the mass retail introduction for Masters of the Universe. However, Mattel’s rebate program for the year included a March 1, 1982 date as the earliest window for the rebate. It’s possible that the so-called test market program was going on in March. It’s long been rumored that Mattel did a limited release of the figures ahead of time to one geographic area as a way of testing out the figures at retail. The March date for “promotions” on the calendar above may also point to that as the true date of introduction of the line. But, I’ll also point that this page says that Mattel reserved the right to change their marketing schedules, so this wasn’t written in stone.

Other interesting dates are May, August, September, November and December 1982 for comic issues, presumably referring to DC comics. The actual printed dates on those comics was somewhat later than the dates printed here, but Jukka Issakainen has pointed out that actual release dates for DC Comics was usually ahead of the printed date.

For network TV we’re given dates of June, July, and then September through December 1982. For merchandising we’re given a date of May 1982 through the rest of the year, which may give us a date for the MOTU Pop-Up Game. I believe the Ben Cooper masks actually came a bit later.

John also included the following scans of the proposed Power Sword Sweepstakes promotion and Shelf Talker. Again, I’m not familiar with that particular promotion or if it event went into effect, so if someone has any information on it to share I’d be grateful!

Below is the actual final art Andy’s father John Youssi did for the shelf talker promo:

Because it’s so wide and short, I’m chopping it up into two pieces to make the art easier to appreciate:

And finally, here is a pencils version for a promotional Man-E-Faces standup display, by John Youssi:

Thanks again to Andy for sharing this amazing material with me. He has truly been a treasure trove of historical information over the years!

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Golden Books, Interviews, MOTU History

Interview with Jack C. Harris – Golden Book Writer

Posted on October 25, 2023September 14, 2024 by Jukka Issakainen

Interview by Jukka Issakainen

Thank you very much for agreeing to this interview! Tell us about yourself!

Born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, I was a life-long comic book fan and, originally, I studied art at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia with the goal of being a comic book artist. However, that path changed when, upon graduation, I was hired by DC Comics in New York to be one of their Assistant Editors. That shifted my focus on to editing and writing. As a full Editor at DC, I edited such titles as Green Lantern, World’s Finest Comics, Legion of Super-Heroes, Black Lightning, Firestorm and many others. As a writer, I wrote stories for Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, Robin and others. I created the Ray and wrote the graphic novel, Batman: Castle of the Bat.

How did you end up working for Western Publishing (Golden Books) and their projects?

After leaving DC and working for a trade magazine for the licensing industry, I freelanced for DC, Marvel, Archie Comics, Darkhorse and just about every independent comic book company there was.

While working for the licensing industry magazine, we covered publishing. I received a press release regarding Golden Books’ (Western Publishing) plans to issue a series of Masters of the Universe storybooks. The editor was a gentleman I knew from the comics industry. In my capacity as a freelance writer, I contacted him and soon had MOTU assignments.

With Masters of the Universe stories, what did Mattel provide you with in order to form new tales for our heroes?

When crafting these stories, the editor would forward everything I needed for the backgrounds of the characters. These would be in the form of press releases from Mattel, which included a photo of the toy or a picture of a prototype. Sometimes, I would get the toy itself.

How long would writing a story take?

I was free to plot any kind of story I wanted as long as it didn’t go against the main, established storylines and characterizations of the characters. I could usually plot a story in a day and talk it over with the Editor. This was during the days before the Internet, so our communication was over the phone.

Once a plot was approved, it took me about a week to type up a script, writing about two manuscript pages for each printed page. Typically, a 24-page storybook followed a 48-page, typewritten manuscript. These were delivered through the mail or, if I was going to be in the city, I would drop the manuscript off in person.

With character selection, did your Editor (or Mattel) require specific characters with each respective story?

In the very first MOTU story I did, Mattel did request the inclusion of Fisto, who was a new character at the time. They sent me a Fisto toy (but I don’t recall whatever happened to it).

You wrote a hardcover story “New Champions of Eternia”, which has a unique origin story for the Skeletor henchmen Evil-Lyn, Beast Man, and Tri-Klops; as passengers onboard the spaceship that Queen Marlena piloted. What do you remember about this story and reference Mattel provided?

All of the origin stories and back stories of the MOTU characters came, in detail, from Mattel. I might have embellished them in a narrative, but the basics were always there from Mattel, whether in text or in the drawings or prototypes. There may have been incidences where I made something up, but it was too long ago to recall specifics.

Which story was your first and which one is your favorite and/or least favorite?

Mattel requested Fisto’s appearance in the first MOTU book I wrote, The Secret of the Dragon’s Egg. This is also my favorite of the ones I wrote, mostly because of the stunning Norem cover. Some time ago, I tried to track down the original art of this cover, hoping to obtain it for myself.

*Super7 Art Print, in association with the Power And Honor Foundation*

My least favorite was New Champions of Eternia because the interior art completely misses the mark, from misinterpreting my original manuscript to not maintaining the established “look” of the characters.

What were the challenges?

Compared to writing for the comics, the storybooks were a little easier since they usually focused on one major incident, rather than a complicated series of events. The scripts would include descriptions of all the illustrations for the artist and all the dialogue for the typesetter. References for the characters were attached, usually copies made from the material provided by the Editor which he had obtained from Mattel.

I don’t have copies of any of these old scripts.

Goat Man from Golden Books (Masters of the Universe)

In the story “The Secret of the Dragon’s Egg”, there is a new character called Goat Man. He did not have a toy in the 80s and your book was his only appearance. What can you tell us about him and his creation?

In the instance of “Goat Man,” I had originally included an unnamed monster minion for Beast Man, but the editor added the name to him. He wasn’t based on any toy.

What was the name of your editor while you worked on the MOTU stories?

Mike Tiefenbacher was my editor at Golden; there were a few Assistants I also worked with such as Charlie Kochman, who later became an editor at DC.

There were many talented artists working on the stories. How did they get paired with writers?

The editor assigned the artists, so I never had any input as to who was going to draw my stories. I was lucky, in that I usually got some extremely talented individuals to illustrate my tales. Some of them I had teamed up with previously in comic books, such as Luis Eduardo Barreto and Fred Carillo. What really impressed me were the painted covers, especially the ones by Earl Norem, who also illustrated covers for such magazines as Reader’s Digest and Field and Stream.

Were there any stories left on the “cutting room floor”? Or pitches that were vetoed?

I never pitched a MOTU story. These were always assigned to me. I would get a call from the editor and he would give me a list of characters to use and I would go from there. The only “pitch” I would give was to the plot of the adventure. I never originated the discussion of stories.

Golden Books also did stories with “She-Ra, Princess of Power” who was He-Man’s twin sister. Were you offered to do any stories for She-Ra?

I never did any She-Ra stories.

Who is your favorite MOTU character?

He-Man himself was always my favorite MOTU character, because he had all the classic “super hero” traits, from super-strength down to the Clark Kent-ish meek alter ego.

You have worked as an Editor and a Writer. What pros and cons do you feel come in those positions? Which one do you prefer?

The best part of being a comic book editor was all the great creative people you were able to meet and work with! The downside were the never-ending deadline pressures!

Oh, and being a writer was more fun than being an editor.

Were there any artists you would have liked to have worked with? Did the writers have any say in the matter?

I was paired with many other artists on other books, such as Al Bigley, Mike De Carlo, Dan Adkins, Carmine Infantino, Gene Biggs, and so many others.

Your MOTU stories appear in both softcover versions and hardcover. Did you know the format in which the story would be published, and what the approach was like?

The format for these books was 8″ x 8″ in both soft and hardback editions. I never knew if the soft covers would also be published in hard-cover editions, and it really didn’t matter as the scripts were typed up in the same matter for either.

What other projects did you work on during your time at Golden Books?

Once I had the MOTU books under my belt, other projects followed, on an extremely wide field of characters and subjects, both fiction and non-fiction: Other licensed characters such as Batman, Conan, the Dino-Riders, Garfield, the Ring Raiders, Zelda, the Galaxy Rangers, the Super Mario Brothers. I did a biography of Dwight Eisenhower and non-fiction books on jet planes, firefighters, and boats. It was a long and varied list.

Did you ever watch the animated series by Filmation?

Since I was writing so many licensed characters, I spent many a Saturday morning watching cartoons with my three daughters. This was “research”!

What projects are you currently working on?

Currently, I am mostly retired, but still touch upon the occasion freelance assignment. In October, I have a book coming out from TwoMorrows Publishing entitled Working With Ditko, which chronicles my many comic book collaborations with legendary comic book creator Steve Ditko.

Thank you very much Mr. Harris!

You’re welcome!

History, MOTU History, ToyFare

ToyFare #71: CHANGE OR DIE! (July 2003)

Posted on August 31, 2023September 13, 2024 by Jukka Issakainen

by Jukka Issakainen

Issue #71 of ToyFare revealed many fascinating aspects about the reboot 2002 incarnation of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe in an article by Keith Allison. From Zodac’s skin color change to Skeletor’s belt design, Teela’s cobra armor, and more!

The page spread illustration is by Ed Benes with colors by Hi-Fi Color. Curiously the artist chose to illustrate Beast Man seemingly without his fur pelt and blue necklace. The creature that Beast Man rides also seems to be a new creature invented by Benes. Stratos exhibits some color choices making it appear as if he has red gloves and a back canister.

Mr. Benes would years later illustrate some covers for DC Comics on “Masters of the Universe” and “DC Universe VS Masters of the Universe” in 2013.

While the article was published in a July 2003 issue, it’s hard to determine when the artwork may have been commissioned. He-Man is sporting for example his signature templar cross on the armor, which was present in the early figure releases by Mattel in 2002 before they updated for the H-symbol (that fans dubbed at the time as the “asterisk” symbol). He-Man’s hair is also modeled after his 80s classic style.

One thing to note is that the figure marked as “Old He-Man” in the article looks to be the 2000 Commemorative version of He-Man (the face sculpt had a squished appearance). ToyFare would reuse the same photo, only mirror-flipped in issue number 134 too.

The article reveals that for the 2002 reboot, Mattel had plans at first to make Stratos black. But opted to change Zodac (now Zodak) instead. The Mattel concept art can be seen in this video “7 Things You Didn’t Know About Zodak”.

Battle Ram