Conan's been steeling from He-Man

Not sure where to post this, but i was perusing some cool Alcala art online, and found a great Conan convention sketch from '83. I'm sure the axe he's wielding will look familiar to all of us here

http://comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece...030&GSub=45845

Haha cool find.

Alfredo Alcala is my favorite artist of the minicomics, pure fantasy style.

It's Wonderbread He-Man...

Awesome find Lee-Man!

I guess Alfredo just liked that axe!

Originally Posted by oICEMANo

It's Wonderbread He-Man...

Too funny!

To be fair... Who stole from who? Really?

I'm with Eamon, I think Alcala just liked the axe design, or he was poking fun at all the controversy back then with Mattel vs. Marvel.

Originally Posted by Baena

To be fair... Who stole from who? Really?

I'm with Eamon, I think Alcala just liked the axe design, or he was poking fun at all the controversy back then with Mattel vs. Marvel.

Well is it stealing if you just take something back? He-man was originally Conan but they thought Conan wasn't child friendly enough so they made He-Man out of Conan instead. right?

Originally Posted by bilboynnc

well is it stealing if you just take something back? He-man was originally conan but they thought conan wasn't child friendly enough so they made he-man out of conan instead. Right?

i guess thats how the story goes...great pic

Originally Posted by Bilboynnc

Well is it stealing if you just take something back? He-man was originally Conan but they thought Conan wasn't child friendly enough so they made He-Man out of Conan instead. right?

nope that's not the story. it's the oft perpetuated myth. He-man was pitched as the he-man trio, a spaceman type, a barbarian and a soldier. he was never conan. sorry.

Krosfyah is right on this one. Well as right as any of us could be with the information we've all been given through Roger Sweet, Mark Taylor and Ted Mayer.

I tend to think that He-Man was a creation of Mark Taylor's, as he was heavily inspired by Prince Valiant comics, Frazetta paintings, I'm sure Conan was some of that inspiration, but I also agree that He-Man was never Conan. A Conan-like character? Sure, but Conan himself? Nope.

So the question I posed in "Who stole from who?" Is just a candid reflection on the whole controversy that surrounded He-Man early on back in the day.

I totally agree with that!

But I've just been thinking, IF Mattel were gonna make Conan figures and then bailed to then create MOTU, we would never know would we?

I need to listen to the Mark Taylor interview again I think. He does denounce the Conan copy idea if I remember?

Originally Posted by Baena

Krosfyah is right on this one. Well as right as any of us could be with the information we've all been given through Roger Sweet, Mark Taylor and Ted Mayer.

I tend to think that He-Man was a creation of Mark Taylor's, as he was heavily inspired by Prince Valiant comics, Frazetta paintings, I'm sure Conan was some of that inspiration, but I also agree that He-Man was never Conan. A Conan-like character? Sure, but Conan himself? Nope.

So the question I posed in "Who stole from who?" Is just a candid reflection on the whole controversy that surrounded He-Man early on back in the day.

yeah, I'm sure that the popularity of frazetta and other fantasy style painting of the late 70s early 80s (as I said in another thread back then almost every van you saw had some fantasy painting airbrushed on the side) influenced the design of the barbarian he-man as well as that one being chosen for the property. but controversy did ensue.

Originally Posted by Eamon

I totally agree with that!

But I've just been thinking, IF Mattel were gonna make Conan figures and then bailed to then create MOTU, we would never know would we?

I need to listen to the Mark Taylor interview again I think. He does denounce the Conan copy idea if I remember?

I'd love to hear that interview, I've always seen it referenced but never heard it. when Iceman posted a link to it it lead to nothing of the sort.

anyway cool to see The axe in a conan pic!

Originally Posted by Eamon

I totally agree with that!

But I've just been thinking, IF Mattel were gonna make Conan figures and then bailed to then create MOTU, we would never know would we?

I need to listen to the Mark Taylor interview again I think. He does denounce the Conan copy idea if I remember?

No, the public would never know, you're right on that.

As to Mark's interview, yeah, he more or less denounces any idea that He-Man was going to be Conan. He-Man was going to be named something else, but Mark held onto his names and he, and others like Ted, and Roger there came up with He-Man. It was always just to be some kind of unique fantasy, swords n' sorcery kind of thing that had been bouncing around in Mark's imagination for a long time before He-Man ever came to be.

The Conan idea is just too easy!

Here a sword & sorcery Eerie Magazine from 1974!
Furry boost and a space helmet!!! Wicked!!

http://www.kenkellyart.com/items/uns...seenenemy.html
And here a Eerie from the 70's again:

http://www.kenkellyart.com/items/the...hewarrior.html

I've also got an issue of Starreach (a 70's magazine) where we have a blonde hero again facing his skull faced enemy who was the depection of death.

Originally Posted by Eamon

I've also got an issue of Starreach (a 70's magazine) where we have a blonde hero again facing his skull faced enemy who was the depection of death.

Oh yeah? Sweet! I'd love to see it.

You're totally right though, that's the kind of stuff that was big back then.
And when you consider all of that, the Conan argument holds little water. Just something to create buzz I'd reckon.

I'll have to dig it out.

I remember Marl Taylor mentioning something along the same lines as this comic strip, whereby Skeletor is the personification of death that the mighty hero, despite his great deeds is constantly running from!

I really like that idea!

Great Alcala work!!
Reminds me of Wonderbread/Savage He-Man...
Alcala was such an inspiration to me growing up.
Still is.

Originally Posted by krosfyah

I'd love to hear that interview, I've always seen it referenced but never heard it. when Iceman posted a link to it it lead to nothing of the sort.

Had you joined the Toynexus boards? I think you had to be a member to see that particular forum where the interview links were. TN has been offline for a long while now though.

There's gonna be a lot of the early concept stuff on the new .org.
Stuff you guys have never seen before!!

Baena has the right of it...

No matter how cool He-Man is, Conan is the OG!

Originally Posted by krosfyah

nope that's not the story. it's the oft perpetuated myth. He-man was pitched as the he-man trio, a spaceman type, a barbarian and a soldier. he was never conan. sorry.

What's the explanation for prototype He-Man toy that looked awful lot like movie Conan?

Originally Posted by Grimbot

What's the explanation for prototype He-Man toy that looked awful lot like movie Conan?

Because Conan-like sword & sorcery stories were the flavour of the day at the time.
He-Man is not the first blonde barbarian hero.

is there a chance that sword and sorcery existed before Conan?

Originally Posted by TechTrek

is there a chance that sword and sorcery existed before Conan?

Edger Rice Burrough's stuff predates Conan by a few years. ERB being the creator of Tarzan and John Carter of Mars.

Originally Posted by Eamon

Edger Rice Burrough's stuff predates Conan by a few years. ERB being the creator of Tarzan and John Carter of Mars.

interesting. I would think that the stuff (drawings/paintings/lore) would have existing far before that, just that a cultural "term" wasn't invented until the conan age stuff.