Welcome to the 18th issue of the Scrolls of Grayskull! Another 6 months,and we'll be celebrating 2 years of Scrolls. :) Speaking of which, mysite (at http://www.he-man.org/ctyner/index.shtml) turns 2 yearsold in December. It's amazing when I think of how much things have changedsince then. :)

You'll see a lot of references to past issues. If you'd like to readprevious issues, take a look at the He-Fans Archives athttp://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/3624/archive.html, now maintained byScott White.

If you'd like to unsubscribe, e-mail ctyner@cs.clemson.edu with'Unsubscribe' in the subject line. I'll make the usual request forlistserv access too.

I'm always looking for new material for the newsletter, so if you could mearticles, comments, He-Man interpretive dances, whatever...they would begreatly appreciated. :) My e-mail address is ctyner@awod.com.

Enjoy the newsletter, and I hope you've all had a very happy Thanksgiving!

-Adam

Last issue, as many of you know, I sponsored a contest for fans to createtheir own characters. I received a total of 47 votes, and here is a listof the winners:

The winner - "Cirrus" by Leanne Shaw, with 17 votes!

2nd place - "Annakonda" by Miles Jasem, with 5 votes
3rd place (tie) - "DreadBeard" by Miles Jasem and "Faker Skeletor" by AlanCaudel, with 4 votes each

Honorable mention - "Sharko Polo" by Beau Balon, with 3 votes

For those of you that receive the file attachment version of thenewsletter, you'll find the incredible "Cirrus" drawing along with thisissue. Otherwise (or if you'd like to see the rest of the entries), pointyour web browser to http://www.he-man.org/ctyner/create97.html

I'm definitely going to make this a yearly contest! Look for the 3rdAnnual Internet Create-A-Character contest coming your way in the Fall of1998.

The petition I've been sponsoring has broken 1,000 names! I'm very excitedthat with the results. I've even gotten mail from Billy Forester, whoplays Flabber on the TV show "BeetleBorgs", supporting the He-Man revival.I'm giving Mattel my e-mail address, my snail mail address, and my homephone number. I hope to get a positive response! :)

If you haven't signed up, take a look athttp://hubcap.clemson.edu/~ctyner/petition/ , which has recently been updated.

Scott White (Cringer) thought it would be fun to include some trivia questions in the newsletter, and I think this'll be a funsection to include in every newsletter... This isn't a contest, so don'te-mail us the answers. ;) The real answers will be included in nextmonth's Scrolls.

  (1) Who is King Randor's father?

  (2) What is Queen Marlena's maiden name?

  (3) Who is Orko's uncle?

  (4) What is the Sorceress' name?

  (5) Who is the Sorceress' daughter?

  (6) Who is the oldest and wisest of dragons?

  (7) Where does the oldest and wisest of dragons live?

  (8) Where did Prince Adam find Cringer when he was a boy?

  (9) Who was the Sorceress of Grayskull before the current Sorceress?

(10) What are He-Man's dwarf friends called?

There have been rumors that a new He-Man series is in the works. None ofthese rumors have been confirmed, but JTQ is putting together a page thathas the latest details. Keep an eye onhttp://sorceress.resnet.tamu.edu/tales/tales.html , which will soon have plenty of information on the possibly upcoming show.

I'll try to have an article with more info next issue.

Joseph Richard Gilmore is an underground rapper in Syracuse, New York, andone of his songs features a sample from Orko. The sample is taken from theepisode where he's trying to fix the Attak Trak, and it's the part peopleremember most about that particular song. For more information, e-mail himat gilmore@Oswego.edu.

I've been including messages for quite a while about how people wouldupdate He-Man for a '90s audience, and here's another one from JasonParadis (704663@ican.net):

"The characters should be changed a bit. Plus there shouldn't be as manycharacters. There were just too many He-Man characters.

"He-Man: Let's start with the main character. I think He-Man should have alittle bit of a darker attitude. Now I'm not saying He-Man should killeveryone he sees, but he shouldn't be such a nice guy. I think evryonelikes characters with attitude. He-Man should still protect the innocentand not be afraid to give people what they deserve. He-Man should also notbe loved by all. I mean there's got to be someone out there who doesn'twant Eternia in the palm of his hand, who hates He-Man. Also, let's keepthis guy He-Man; the secret identity thing has been overdone. He-Man shouldalso sport a darker look.

"Skeletor: Let's make him as evil as it gets, like Darth Vader: a villainwho never loses his cool, an excellent sword fighter and even bettersorcerer who uses his powers for something ideal. I think Skeletor shouldbe more powerful and so bent on ruling Eternia because he already conqueredit. The only thing he craves is power, and don't you dare defy him! Also,his strength should match He-Man's. Skeletor doesn't hate He-Man. In fact,without He-Man, Skeletor would be bored. Skeletor's costume should alsosport a cape.

"Teela: Since Skeletor rules Eternia, Teela should be the leader of the rebels, as well as He-Man's love interest. She should also have a bad @$$attitude although she doesn't believe in death as a punishment. Teela maynot have powers, but she should be very skilled at many things: blindfighting, unarmed combat, the crossbow, pressure points, tumbling..etc.She should basically keep the same look, but look more like a rebel.

"Battle Cat: He talks, so he should have magical background: the mostfeared animal on Eternia. This guy is hungry.

"Sorceress: She will be still around, but as a guide for He-Man mostly seenmentally and not physically. She doesn't fight and protects CastleGrayskull wherever it may be. Nobody should know where Grayskull reallyis, but Skeletor yearns for it's power.

"Keep Eternia a magical place with many mythical creatures, but this isnot a happy place. To some, Castle Grayskull is only a myth and a hope.He-Man's sword was from Grayskull and used to be his father's. Randortrained He-Man in many skills including swordsmanship, but Skeletor killedKing Randor and He-Man demanded vengeance at the age of 15. He-Man grew andnow is Eternia's only hope for peace. It's a war and a race against time,for whoever finds Grayskull has all the power and will rule all Eternia orfree it. Legends speak of the final battle between He-Man & Skeletor ontop of Grayskull. One will plunge in to Limbo and the other will becomethe Master of the Universe.

"What should be taken out: characters like Orko & Ram Man. Let's take outthe goofy characters. There should be some comedy but not like that."

I'd love to hear your comments on how He-Man should be changed for a '90saudience, or if you don't think it should be changed at all. E-mail me atctyner@awod.com with your thoughts.

Also, RunJT@aol.com...I'd love to see some more installments of your"Revamp" fan fiction.

Matthew 'Faker' Martin (mlmartin@coe.edu) is continually posting very informative articles to the He-Man mailing list (seehttp://www.awod.com/gallery/rwav/ctyner/he-mail.html for more info). I took 3 postings of his about Skeletor and all the continuity problems in his history and combined them here. Enjoy!

A while back on this list, I noted Skeletor's four different andcontradictory origin stories, from storybooks, the DC comics, the series(specifically, Secret of the Sword), and one of the last mini-comics. Lastnight, I got to thinking, and I came up with a way that all four of thesetheories could be melded into a single one with minimal loss of continuity. Now, these doesn't mean that all of the stories featuring Skeletor worktogether--just that the backstory works. All dates on this are based on the date of the twins' birth; it justseems to be the easiest dating method to work within. None of these datesare canon, and much of this is my own speculation.

  -13: Keldor, King Randor's older brother, conducts an extremelymysterious and dangerous magical experiment and disappears completely.Keldor is twisted and mutated by the experiment, but gains the magicalpower he always desired. ('The Search for Keldor') Taking on the nameSkeletor, he begins a series of conquest across the dimensions. (DC Comics)

  -13 to -10: Skeletor begins to wander different dimensions, conqueringand enslaving their people and stealing magical lore. After three years ofthis, Skeletor winds up a powerful warlord on Infinita, a world that is adark parallel to Eternia. (DC Comics, 'Skeletor's Revenge' storybook)

  -10: The Evil Horde, led by Commander Hordak, conquers Infinita. Skeletor betrays his adopted homeworld, and becomes an aide to Hordak.('Skeletor's Revenge', Secret of the Sword, He-Man and the Masters of theUniverse magazine story from Summer '86)

  -10 to 0: Skeletor demonstrates his prowess, learning much fromHordak and even teaching his new mentor a few things. Eventually, atSkeletor's prompting, the Horde invades Eternia. (Magazine story, SotS)

   0 to 16: Skeletor betrays Hordak, and later escapes Randor's prisons.Returning to the Horde bastion (which he renames Snake Mountain), he beginsto gather his forces, defeating rival sorcerers like Dagon and pullingtogether warriors from across Eternia and other dimensions. (SotS, DCcomics, mini-comics).

   16: Skeletor begins a renewed series of assaults on Castle Grayskull.

Matthew on inconsistencies:

That was just the backstory material, heavily adapted and improvised. For example, Keldor becoming Skeletor is just something that's hinted atand that I've picked up and run with. Also, the idea of the Hordeconquering Infinita works, but it's also never mentioned. As for thewhole continuity, how do you explain:

  --The fact that, in the '82-'83 material, there were two halves to theSword of Power, but from '84 on, there was only one? This makes adifference becuase it makes for a substantial change in Skeletor'smotivations.

  --The idea posited in SotS that Skeletor reworked the Horde fortressinto Snake Mountain, but the fact, stated in the mini-comics and in thefourth issue of the Star Comic, that it was the headquarters of the SnakeMen in ages past?

  There are a whole lot of little inconsistencies in the storiesthemselves; my backstory attempt just got lucky. And don't even get mestarted on the Goddess/Sorceress thing.

Matthew on Infinita:

   Infinita is mentioned in the book and tape combo 'Skeletor's Revenge' (itmay also be noted in the two other books, 'Castle Grayskull' and 'The Powerof He-Man'). It's the other planet in Eternia's solar system, a brutal andwar-torn realm that is the darkness to Eternia's light. Skeletor and hishenchmen were originally described as Infinitan natives.

Another contest that took place recently was the Site Of The Year contestsponsored by Faker's Domain (http://members.aol.com/FAKOR7/domain.html).

Voting was done by fans on the Guardians of Grayskull mailing list(http://www.he-man.org/ctyner/scrolls.html), and here are theresults:

* She-Ra Site Of The Year - Scott White's page -
http://www.west.ga.net/~eternia/She-ra/she-ra.html

* He-Man Site Of The Year - Adam Tyner's page -
http://www.he-man.org/ctyner/index.shtml

I'm very proud of this award, and I'd like to thank everyone that's been tomy site and contributed material. This award is more yours than mine. :)

Disclaimer: I take no responsibilities for any claims made in here. Inother words, don't blame me if a deal goes bad. :)

* Want To Trade: