Is the master of the universe really a He Man, I thought that He Man was a club.

     Hello Shadow fans and welcome back to the next installment of the Shadow Knows. What pray tell does the Shadow know this day you ask. I know you did, it is your favorite part of the show after all. What I know today Shadow fans is that the stomach flu is not good for you. Sure you don't eat and you can lose some weight, but believe you me when I say those benefits do no outweigh the negatives. I should know I am just getting over this accursed flu. My kids love me so much that they gave it to me as a gift. I tell you I feel so special. So here I am still ill and passing my thoughts onto you my loyal fans. That is dedication to the craft I tell you. So any who onto How I geek on podbean.com with Greg and the gang. This week I believe we are doing a James Garner dedication, but wont swear by it. I was hosting my son's first birthday party and could not be there for our last podcast. If I find out before Sunday (which would be nice so I can, oh  I don't know, prepare) I will post the topic as an update to this post. So now onto the show.

     So today's topic of discussion shall be that master of the universe  (by the power of Greyskull) He Man. He Man got his start as a concept for Mattel made by Roger Sweet. Back in 1976 both Mattel and Mego were offered a chance to produce Star wars toys. Mego basically did not see a profit in it and Mattel did not want to pay the 750,000 dollar licensing fee. Of course as we all know that was a colossal blunder on both their part. I mean that was like Jordan deciding to play baseball kinda mistake... eeesh. Once Mattel realized it's mistake it sought it's own original successful toy line. That is where Sweet comes in. In 1980 he glued a Big Jim figure into an action pose and added clay to buff out the body. He then made a mold of his creation and designed three different unique He Man prototypes. He made one as a barbarian, one as a soldier, and one as a spaceman. Sweet took them before the higher ups billing him as man for any situation... the He Man. The powers that be decided upon the barbarian and the rest is history. Now there is a belief that He Man is just a blatant ripoff of Conan. It is true that Mattel was approached by Universal Pictures to make a toy line for the upcoming Conan the Barbarian movie and a licensing agreement was struck. The powers that be saw more potential in it's He Man line and not wanting issues with Universal they dropped the license and returned all property relevant to the line. Of course once He Man became a huge success Universal cried foul and opened a lawsuit. Fortunately for us Mattel won the suit and all was well once again in Mudville as it were. The He Man story has evolved quite a bit over the years starting with the mini comics that came with the figures and ending with the movie slated for release sometime in 2015. To follow we will discuss these different aspects of the series. So let's hop in the way back machine with Mr. Peabody and Sherm and be on our way.

     In 1981 Mattel first released it's He Man and the Masters of the Universe toy line. Within each toy was a little comic book that told the story of He Man the defender of The Planet Eternia. In these early stories Eternia is recovering from a great war. The secrets of technology has been lost to all but a few and vile villains have risen up to conquer the shattered world. In this version there is no Prince Adam. Both Skeletor and He Man each hold a half of the sword of power. When the two swords are put together they form the true power sword and the key to Castle Greyskull. I still own a number of these books and I always thought that the stories were pretty cool. In 1982 DC comics picked up the license to do a He Man mini series. It was in this series that we get the ideas that forged the cartoon that would come later. Prince Adam is introduced as the chosen one by the Sorceress. King Randor and Queen Marlena as well as their kingdom of Eternia are also introduced. The He Man story arc was first seen in the DC continuity through the pages of DC comics presents number 47 in which Superman crosses dimensions and ends up on Eternia. This series had a limited run and I never got the opportunity to read them. Every one I know who has read them liked them. I for one would love to find these back issues sometime. Marvel comics picked up the license for a short time during its Star Comics run. The Star comic line was designed specifically for younger audiences and let's face it the Star line was not Marvel's finest work as I recall. So it is little to no wonder that Masters of the Universe fizzled under their flag. A couple of years ago Masters of the Universe did a retro throw back toy line much like Transformers and G.I. Joe toys lines from Hasbro. Dark Horse comics was tapped to put the new mini comics in with the figures. I have never seen any of them and can't really report on how good they are. Knowing Dark Horse like I do I am willing to bet they are pretty well done. So if I ever come across any I am willing to give em a read. Finally DC Comics picked back up the license in 2012. It is a heart warming tale in which Skeletor has erased all the memories of the good guys and hidden the sword of power in an attempt to gain control of Castle Greyskull's secrets. I will not go into spoilers here, and in truth I have only read reviews and a spoiler page on it. From what I have gleamed from it all is that I like what I have heard and want to check it out. I say so should you young padawan, it is your destiny. If you don't like I still blame bad parenting on my parents behalf and you can throw tomatoes at them. So from here we will travel to the animated series world.

     In the year 1983 Mattel made a deal with Filmation Studios to release a He Man animated series. The show ran from 83-85 and aired 130 episodes. I loved this show and could not get enough of it when I was a kid. It was one of those shows that tapped a kids imagination and made you use it for good. My good friend Greg of How I Geek fame was not a fan of the animation as I recall and not a big fan of Filmation animation as a whole. He did like the show though. I to was not a huge fan of their animation style, but they were famous for these dramatic kind of poses and movement. They made their characters seem larger then life that is for sure. OK, maybe I liked it more than I thought. He Man had one spin off series titled She Ra Princess of Power. This show was about He Man's twin sister stolen by Skeletor's former commander Hordak when she was a baby. She now leads a rebellion against him and the evil Horde on the planet of Etheria. This show was marketed to target the girl audiences and ran only from 85-86 lasting 93 episodes. He Man appears in several episodes of this series run. I always thought that was cool since He Man was canceled in the same year She Ra appeared. Yeah the show targeted girls, but I wanted to catch some He Man dang nabit. So I really did not care if it targeted girls or not. So any who we do not see a return of He Man again until 1990. This show carried He Man/Adam and Skeletor into the future where they battle each other once again. From the bottom of my heart I must tell you this show sucked flying monkey poo and stank just as bad. I can't decide which is worse, the bad story telling, or the horrible animation. It was meant to be a continuation of the original story arc, but falls so short that is lands on its face. If you are looking for a show to watch that will make you want to gouge your eyes out or bang your head repeatedly into the wall, well look no further then The New Adventures of He Man... ugh! Mercifully the show only ran for one year and 65 episodes... kaput! Finally in 2002 He Man would get a reboot. This show only lasted 2 seasons and had a 39 episode run. In this series Prince Adam is a teenager when the sorceress reveals he is the chosen one. In the original series there was not a lot of difference between how He Man and Prince Adam appeared (much like Clark Kent and Superman) so in this version He Man is made to look way different then Adam. This show was ok IMHO. I mean the animation had clearly improved, but there was just something about the series that I just could not connect with. All I can say is that it was just OK. I think at some point I will watch it again, but then again who knows. Well I  guess that is about all I can say about that so on to the next.

     So now we go from the small screen to the big screen like the changing of the seasons. In 1987 Cannon Films gave us Masters of the Universe starring Dolph Lundgren. The main plot of this movie of course is He Man is trying to free Eternia from the evil of Skeletor. During the battle He Man, Man At Arms, Teela, and a locksmith named Gwildor are accidentally transported to Earth and are aided by the help of friends they make there. The final fight scene between Skeletor and He Man is pretty cool, but there were so many things they could have done to make this movie much better. I mean for one thing there was no Prince Adam or Battle Cat/Cringer. They did not follow the main story plots set from the comics and animated series. I dunno, it was not my most favorite movie in the world, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as The New Adventures of He Man. Go I say unto you and watch it for yourself and see if you like it. Sometime in 2015 a new He Man movie is coming our way starring Channing Tatum (eye candy for the ladies) as Prince Adam/He man. According to what I have read on it Adams twin sister Adora will be in this movie as well. Basically King Randor is overthrown by his trusted adviser Skeletor. I mean really who trusts a guy with a skull for a face, but alas I digress. Adam. Adora, Duncan (Man At Arms for those who do not know), and Teela are exiled to the wastelands. It is during this journey that they encounter Castle Greyskull, the Sorceress, and Adam's destiny. It sounds to me that they may be on the right track with this movie, but one never knows. I have yet to see a trailer for this movie, but I suspect they will be coming out fairly soon. Still I am going with the wait and see approach. I am excited that something new is finally coming out, but always leery of the monstrosity that Hollywood could turn this into, alas we shall see.

     Well Shadow fans that is all the time I have this week. What do you, my loyal viewers think? inquiring minds want to know, well at least this one does. Who is your favorite He Man character? What did you think of the incarnations of the of the show, do you have a favorite? Did you like the New Adventures of He Man? I wont hold it against you if you did. What about the new movie? Are any of you excited to see a new movie hit the big screen and will it of course stand up to fan scrutiny? Can She Ra get into the He Man woman haters club? It does seem rather unheroic for He Man to not like women. Maybe the Little Rascals got it wrong. Well any who Shadow fans I will see you next time from the shadows. I have the Power!