James Robinson Channels the Power of Grayskull

[CBR News]

James Robinson discusses scripting "Masters of the Universe" and his interest in returning to Eternia after the initial 6-issue series while sharing an exclusive first look at the first issue's Skeletor variant cover.


Full article here.

[Amberjack]

I was one of the lucky kids who didn't ever get to see the horrible TV show until well after I stopped collecting the toy line. Instead, I based all my MotU playtime on the fantastic mini-comics packed with the figures. That's where James should get his inspiration -- especially in the earliest mini-comics!

Read some of my mini-comic reviews here: http://soundadvicefortoday.com/categ...man-minis.aspx

[Mr. Holmes]

The 80s or 2002 show?

[NotSuper]

The 80s or 2002 show?

It's not either.

Although I do wish there was a comic tying up all the loose ends from the 2002 show. I really enjoyed that cartoon (and I was fond of the original as well).

[NotSuper]

I also wish DC would've done a sequel to their Space Ghost mini. They SAID they would, but it never happened.

[RandomFalls]

I saw an episode recently where he gets all pissy because the space circus arrived on Eternia and he wanted them to play on Snake Mountain. They don't, so he turns into a school girl and decides to ruin the circus, just like a little kid that didn't get ice cream at the end of the day.

That Skeletor is not in this series.

But that's the Skeletor I want to see

[SteveGus]

Warner Bros. came to me and asked me if I would be interested. ....they wanted to do it as a slightly more -- I don't want to say mature because that implies a Vertigo book -- [with an] adult sensibility while still being true to the source material.
....

Were you familiar with the concept before accepting this project?
I was not familiar with it, but I have made myself familiar with it. Basically, I read up on the franchise without actually looking at the TV show, which allowed me to get what I believe was my own interpretation of the show first and developed a storyline.....
....
Beast Man should be this scary, feral villain, but like you said, he was played for laughs too. They all were. But that was the nature of the series. If you look at the toy line from Four Horsemen, there was an attempt to make the characters look a bit more sophisticated.

I've taken that as part of my inspiration and am now making what I believe to be a story that is a nice sophistication of those old TV shows, which used the villains primarily for comic relief. It's slightly more serious but not without the same sense of wonder, excitement and fun the TV show provided to its fans.

Doesn't sound like it's going to be much in keeping with the original Masters of the Universe. But this does in fact appear to confirm that the dreariness of the DC line generally is the result of corporate editorial direction, though.

[rasx]

Based on the art this book is looking really good.

[dshipp17]

This is great news; I hope She-ra, Princess of Power will come next.

[JessieMidnight]

Nice interview. This should be a fun book. Can't wait to see how Robinson portrays Skeletor, and his evil warriors. That alternate cover is Awesome!

[CagedLeo730]

Doesn't sound like it's going to be much in keeping with the original Masters of the Universe. But this does in fact appear to confirm that the dreariness of the DC line generally is the result of corporate editorial direction, though.

He-Man is it's own different beast. It's a licensed product in conjunction with Mattel. They have control of what's allowed or not and they agree with James Robinson's take. If it's anything like the 2002 He-Man cartoon which was darker, it'll be a hit.

[Mat001]

Exactly. The fact is that in the 1980's, cartoons were under strict scrutiny over subject matter. And the fact that this was one of the first toylines to have an animated series created for the sole purpose of selling toys, is why Filmation made it very child friendly. That's why Robinson didn't watch it because he knew of the show's reputation and didn't want to be put off from it. I imagine the tonality is more akin to the 2002 series and maybe a bit of the later mini-comics.

[Nomads1]

I'm looking foward to this. Always thought He-Man and the Masters of the Universe had a lot of potential, as long as it was treated with a bit more seriousness than in the 80's cartoon. There is a lot of cool mythology to be developed and explored here. I hope they take the oportunity to reprint the mini-series that spun out of the Dc Comics Present appearence of He-Man (that issue included, of course).

Peace

[Mr Prince]

I'm looking forward to this and Robinson's take on the characters, especially since he's making it more serious. I'm a far bigger fan of the mini-comics and MYP's early 2000s series in story tone and intrigue than the original Filmation so that's a great thing in my book.

Inspiration from the Four Horseman designs–even better. Would love to see this take off and eventually have a spin-off She-Ra and the Great Rebellion title too. Some many great fun, heroic, vile, imposing, scary characters to revamp/make contemporary/give an edge to from the Masters, Evil Warriors, Rebellion and Evil Horde.

Hopefully Mattel has learned their lesson from how they held back MYP in the 2000s.

[SteveGus]

I'm looking foward to this. Always thought He-Man and the Masters of the Universe had a lot of potential, as long as it was treated with a bit more seriousness than in the 80's cartoon.

In the 1980s cartoon, Ram-Man taught me that ramming things with my head was just dumb, and that I shouldn't do it. Valuable life lessons like this don't come easy!