Thursday, June 16, 2011

Science Fantasy Inspiration: Eternia 2.0

If I ever do get around to actually doing something about my long-pined for, but languishing Masters of the Universe setting ideas for Marvel Supes, I've found a few places to go for creative ebullience. My original thought was to go all Kirby-esque (which still greatly appeals to me) but I can't help but consider these dark and wild aesthetics:

This first one is by the legendary space exploration illustrator Chesley Bonestell. He did the film posters for War of the Worlds and Destination Moon. I like his NASA-era stuff, but I love this one that strays from his usual material. I love the idea of Castle Greyskull as a pyramid.

Following that train of thought, here's a nifty take on the Sorceress, sort of like Marvel's Eternity meets Nefertiti:
I believe that's a t-shirt design, FYI.

Next are a few Skelator concepts, I apologize I'm not sure who the illustrators are:


Or maybe we pump Skely up so he can stand big toe-to-big-toe with He-man...

This cover by Mike Hoffman, for me, defines Evil-Lyn. She should totally be a slinky, remorseless space sorceress. And is that Skelator in the corner? Et tu Brute!

And perhaps Teela became the Serpent Goddess from doing away with the last one:

Doesn't seem quite sci-fi enough, hmm...
That's better.

MoTU needs more ladies and I like the idea of swapping roles. I give you Duncanna, Lady-At-Arms:

Merman on the other hand can only go one direction--slimy:

Actually, I rather like the Monster Squad rendition:

Can't quite picture He-Man yet. I want something more sci-fi. Blonde Conan isn't quite enough. I'm going to have to go with the original space barbarian:

There's plenty more in the Frazetta tribute I did. A few that I think put me in the right frame-of-mind. These guys make for great snakemen and He-Man in a space helmet with a ray gun would be pretty nifty:
Even Carter's origin still works--super strength, leaping, and endurance granted due to the stronger gravity on his home planet. The sword of Greyskull is sort like that crystal chamber in Superman II that took away Kal-el's powers, switching him back and forth from Prince Adam to He-dude.

Just some thoughts....

2 comments:

Trey said...

Great ideas! I actually think there are a lot of cool ways one could go with a re-imagined MOTU. The dilemma for me (when thinking on this topic) has always been how much can I change before I feel like it loses some essential "MOTU-ness." But you may not have that concern. :)

Jay said...

The dilemma for me (when thinking on this topic) has always been how much can I change before I feel like it loses some essential "MOTU-ness."

That is EXACTLY my problem/joy. It's fun to play with the switches and wait and see the result. But if you're aiming to have something in the spirit of the original (be it MotU or whatevs) then you can't go too far.

I feel the same way about Star Wars riffs (both official and fan stuff).

I think the Kirby tangent was likely closer in spirit, than this stuff is.