New Youtube -channel "ToonJukka"

Please be sure to check out my new Youtube-channel!

http://www.youtube.com/user/ToonJukka

Subscribe and comment! :)

There will be comic reviews, in-depth looks at aspects from He-Man and She-Ra. As well as other Popculture and movie-stuff in upcoming videos!


My other sites are:
Fan-blog about the new DC Comics He-Man and the Masters of the Universe!
"He-Man and the Masters of the Beyond New 52 Universe"
http://new52motu.blogspot.com


Also check out my blog about the 2002 He-Man cartoon and 200x comic by MVCreations.
"The Essential MYP He-Man"
http://mypheman.blogspot.com

Top 5 Worst MOTU Mini-Comic Covers

I've always liked the idea of packaging Mini-Comics with any action-figure. It can flesh out the character so much more than a short blurb printed at the back of the card.

The mini-comics that came packaged with Masters of the Universe figures back in the 80s were a way to initially tell some context where the character would act and behave. Then as the cartoon came in 1983, the mini-comics luckily were not ditched, but kept going onward; giving us stories that could exist just as much as the adventures we watched on television.

But the focus this time is not about the stories in the mini-comics nor their quality. This time I wanted to focus on the cover-art.

I know that in comics in general the covers are mostly for eye-catching purposes. Especially in comics geared towards boys. So a cover with action-packed scene that doesn't even take place in the story is not unheard of. Though these mini-comics were packed behind the figure itself. So I'm not sure the same applies for these, because with some figures you couldn't even see the full cover.


But that is no excuse for covers to be sub-par.


With 49 mini-comics, there's a variety of cover-art to go around. I'll be picking 5 covers that I feel are lacking in one way or another. 

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Spikor, the heroic defender of Castle Grayskull!

5. Spikor Strikes

I do like the fact that we see Spikor very prominently (unlike say Roboto in his origin-comic). Though it is a shame that his left hand is hidden behind He-Man, because his gimmick Trident-Arm would have been a great thing to feature on the cover.
This cover does something that you would not see until again in "Skeletor's Dragon" and that is having your main hero-character facing away from the reader! That next with Castle Grayskull in the background suggests me, that Spikor is the good guy here, trying to stop He-Man's attack against the Fortress of Mystery and Power!
Overall it is very static looking as the two characters simply stand in the cover. More dynamic poses could have made this better.

He-Man tests his new Anemometer.

4. The Flying Fists of Power!

Usually I don't have a problem when the mini-comic covers depict the major villain in the background. Mostly it is depicted with a giant floating head, or giant-sized overall. But they are meant to symbolise the evil forces. They have not actually grown in size to appear in the cover.
This cover has a simple layout which is good, but there are small things that bother me.
With a title called "The Flying Fists of Power" one might expect something to do with said fists. But no. We do see this latest He-variant's weapon, though it is severly mis-represented here. The actual weapon He-Man wieds, looks like a small anemometer. The shield I guess is a normal shield and not the one that came with Flying Fists He-Man.
But getting back to villains appearing in the background and being giant-sized. The art fools me here, because it really looks like He-Man is flinging his weapon at Skeletor. He almost has an eye-contact to the villain! So are they actually trying to show Skeletor as a giant, standing behind Castle Grayskull and his head above clouds? If not, then where is He-Man looking at, when Beast Man is standing in front of him? (Beast Man for some reason now has pink hide and also pink wrist-bands)

He-Man is not impressed.

3. Mantenna and the Menace of the Evil Horde!

In the cover He-Man is trapped in the Fright Zone's dungeon, with Mantenna on the outside looking at him.
This is simply meh. The two characters standing doesn't evoke much excitement. And He-Man's expression also is no indication that he'd be anything other than slightly annoyed by this new character.

I'm not sure what is going on with He-Man's pose. Because it kinda looks like he needed to bend his knees and squat down so that the MASTERS-logo would fit the cover.
Mantenna is fairly accurate to the toy-version, by this I'm talking about a huge bug-face slapped on top a skinny body. This cover feels to me, like He-Man was already captured by Hordak and the Evil Horde, and Mantenna is just some random character who strolled into the scene. The yellow colour for Fright Zone's prison is an odd choise since the actual playset was greenish-brown.
I also get a chuckle that the lettering for the comic's title seems more impressive than Mantenna!

Atleast the Power Sword is modeled after Filmation...

2. Leech The Master of Power Suction Unleashed!

Art-wise this cover just has many weird points, that stand out to me. Why is He-Man holding a red shield and nothis normal shield? Why does Leech have a n axe when the figure doesn't come with an axe nor does he use one in the story. Why doesn't Leech have his Horde-symbol on his chest? Why doesn't the emblem on his belt look anything like a bat? (more like a canine-head) What's with He-Man's expression? And overall what is with He-Man's wonky anatomy and the perspective that artist has desperately tried to incorporate?

Ugh so many questions. For Leech's axe, I'm also curious as to why the metal-part was coloured green? Especially in the same green-tone as Leech is. Because when I quickly glance at this cover, I don't recognize it as an axe, but rather it looked like part of Leech.

I'm glad for the Filmation-inspired Powersword, but have no clue why waving the sword against Leech leaves pink motion-lines after it. Though the motion-lines depicting movement don't make all that much sense either.




And finally we come to the top of the list of the worst Mini-Comic Cover in my consideration...

I'm just... baffled as to what is going on in this cover.

1. The Cosmic Key

While I recognize the idea behind this to promote the 3 new figures based on the live-action movie. I still feel this cover is severly lacking because there is no regular main hero and/or villain anywhere!

Since the title is "The Cosmic Key", I'm most intrigued about it. But unfortunately it looks way too small in comparison to the movie-version and toy-version, but mostly it gets lost to the Masters of the Universe-logo. Then we have the two villains in the background. Saurod is missing his tail for some reason and because his head is tilted backwards, he is not very recognizable apart from a lightning shooting out of his mouth. Or is he shooting it from his mouth? Maybe the lightning is shooting downward from the sky and hitting Saurod directly in his mouth.

Blade looks like a generic G.I.Joe pirate-dude who is miffed for not reaching the top of the mountain before Gwildor. Maybe Saurod is mad about the same thing? Also are those Blade's swords? The angle on them makes them look like daggers. Background-art just appears to be some sloppy lines drawn to the sky.




So there you have it. My picks from the 49 mini-comic covers. I may do an "top 5 Best" covers, but that's much harder to narrow down because there are so many covers that I simply love.


Good Journey!

Scrolls of Eternia - Teaser

A teaser-video about upcoming Scrolls of Eternia show, where I review Masters of the Universe comic books. From modern comics to the vintage 80s versions. 

Check it out!

Opening - Unofficial Cartoon Guide to He-Man book

I made an opening video about James Eatock's "The Unofficial Cartoon Guide to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" book.
Check the video out!

Harveytoons - The Seapreme Court (1953)

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As a kid, we had this kids' show here in Finland called Harlekiini (Harlequin) that featured lot of different shows aimed for children. One of those was as Casper the Friendly Ghost that basically was the US-equilavent of the Harveytoons Show from 60s.

I liked the showtune-song it had about Casper and his many friends. And one of those friends was Little Audrey. She was the craziest little redhead that I had seen, with fun adventures. 

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Harveytoons

Little Audrey - The Seapreme Court (1953)

Right off the bat, I like the font used on the title-card, and emphasis on Sea-part. The lush colour of red on the backdrop is something interesting as well, since most underwater-scenes are showcased with hues of blue and green. 

The episode begins with Audrey fallen asleep while fishing. In the beginning she had couple of dream-sequence episodes, which I always liked. We don't see anything that she would have caught, but her can looks to be empty from baits.

She gets a pull, but it is revealed to be only an old boot, from which all the little fishes escape. At this point we see that she actually has no bait at the end of her hook, so that might explain her lack of catches.

She gets another bite and gets pulled underwater. As a kid, I could never understand why none of the characters in these situations never seem to let go of the rod. It is hilarious how small of a fish is on the other end pulling Audrey with such speed. Eventually the fish escapes and Audrey finds herself surrounded by fishes.

I like the underwater-effect they use over on all the water-based scenes. Would like to know how it is achieved. The whole scene where our main character is pulled underwater goes so fast that while it feels like we are witnessing actual events, the fact that she can breathe and talk underwater as well as communicate with the fishes, subconciously assures it's all just a dream.

The fish-police cuffs her with a crab-cuffs and her astonished expression is fantastic as she doesn't understand what is going on.

As audience, we also don't know what to expect, and that is part of the charm of the episode. 

From the Octopus-jailer to sardine-jury and quick pun on the word "hearing", there is so much to explore in the fish-world, but we unfortunately don't have time for it. The plot unravels at such a speed that I recommend anyone who has this in their collection to pause every now and then just to take it all in.

We hear testimonials from different witnesses to the crimes that humans do and while these have a slight preachy tone to them, they don't derive from the mood on the piece.

Little Audrey tries to plead her case, but the judge rules against her and sentences her to the Eel-Lectric Chair.

I like how the judge can go through a variety of emotions as he listens to the testimonies and given very expressive poses where he is the active and reactive party in the cause.

You really can feel Audrey's distraught and fear in how her complete pose shows the effort to escape from the grip of the Jailer.

She escapes and while trying to get away, needs to fend off swordfish and oyster-clam and others that prevent her running away. 

In the end, she gets captured and as she is placed on the Eel-Lectric Chair, she wakes up and discovers it has all been a dream.

It is interesting to see that her can is now full with worm-baits. I could never figure out, wheter this was a mistake or intentional on some level.

She catches a fish and I really like the close-up image of Audrey and her sad expression as she and the fish exchange glances. It is one of those moments in these where character expressions are always exaggerated from extremely happy to clearly sad or astonished, this one quick scene show Audrey with an subtle expression.

And you can clearly see she ponders about the fate of the fish and decides to send it back to the water.

She also releases all her baits into the water and snaps the fishing-rod into pieces, throws them away. 

I like how she takes a moment of gratification for her decision. It goes very quickly, like so many other scenes in this episode, but makes the point clear of her doing something good just for the sake of doing good things. I really wish this would have been prolonged even for two or three more seconds, because at the same time on the lower corner the recently released fish almost steals focus.

Audrey receives a badge for Offishial Pardon from the fish and laughs it out as the episode ends. The animation-cycle of her laughing and head making a small motion from one side to the other is very cute and comes off looking natural. Her voice-actress Mae Questel provides a sweet laughter that I always liked (as well as her potrayal of Olive Oyl in the Popeye-shorts). A heart-warming way to finish the episode.

The story has it's moral side, but that isn't potrayed in too heavily which makes Audrey's adventure very enjoyable. I only wish we could have stayed more under water, discovering the imaginative things in there; big and small.      

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Harveytoons - The Complete Collection (2006)

http://www.amazon.com/Harvey-Toons-Artist-Not-Provided/dp/B000GG4XWE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1264538569&sr=8-1

Welcome!

Hello and welcome!

I will be reviewing Nostalgic & Classic Cartoons in this blog. The selection is based on shows I've seen as a kid and since growing up. I may be a grown-up but I still have a soft spot for animated features and shorts.

Hopefully you can enjoy my incoherent text-blurbs on what I think about the topics and please, feel free to comment if you have any stories to share regarding the material.

Good Journey!