Modern days... He-Man?

Adam, my son, what have they done to you?

     You know Todd McFarlane? Yeah, the Spawn, right. I used to be a McFarlane fan myself back in the beginning of the nineties when his Spider-Man comics appeared by here. I have always been a Spidey fan, and McFarlane's innovative art quite attracted me in the beginning. Later on I got tired of his exaggerations, and wasn't that appealed by Spawn... also, although initially attracted, I ended up realizing that the Swarzenegger he had drawn could not be good ol' Spidey... Well, whatever. Nevertheless, as you all might know, his comic grew wildly, he had a lot of success, and created his own company a few years after he had left Marvel to create Image with another four or five artists. The guy ended up producing action figures, first for his Spawn character, and later for any character which seemed somewhat "spooky" enough to be included in his line. Yeah, I know, I've grown older and more cynic, perhaps, but I do not fancy McFarlane's creations for some years now... and neither any of the Image invasion that came along. You might now be asking "What the hell does that have to do with He-Man and the strange picture above?" Well, this He-Man statue, as well as all the new action figures, have been sculpted by these "Four Horsemen" guys who apparently are also responsible for the toys in McFarlane's lines.

    Here's He-Man once more, this time in larger statue version of the action figure. I must state that this article has been fully re-written before it was published. I got quite disappointed when I first saw the pictures and immediately wrote some acid lines on them... Well, I'm still disappointed, but let's face it: It's better than the NA, and it's better than nothing. And well, ok, there are some interesting details on the figures. Even though they are all towards a polygon now (Already thinking on the Playstation game, right?), and the weapons are all larger than what a man could decently wield (look at He-Man's axe!) I must agree that a lot of the new weapons look cool, even though they might be a little too big, heavy and clumsy. But never mind. It reminds me of a joke where this guy said EVERYTHING in him was BIG. He certainly was a McFarlane character.

    Welcome, lord of destruction! Skeletor is quite cool, I must state, quite better than He-Man. Although he is also a polygon, his weapons and stuff look nice. The new sword looks great, although they broke the power sword's bond. And his face looks somewhat funny for a skull. I wouldn't call this Skeletor "improved", but at least I guess I may call him "updated", whatever that means.

    And here's Duncan, or Man-At-Arms, as you prefer. His green suit looks like full armor now, and look at the size of his shoulder protection!!! Man, THIS IS a McFarlane character! His photon cannon or whatever it may be looks cool, but reminds me of my old question which made me remove technology from my MotU story: Why does this guy wants that old-fashioned mace, anyway?

    The villains are winning this time. Now this is a Mer-Man I enjoy! Not too much of a polygon, true to the original, and yet more detailed, and all made with a lot of good taste. The Four Horsemen were inspired doing this one. Now this is what I call not only "updated", but also "improved"! Nar-Gath rules!!! And his trident, although not the most original of ideas, fits in marvelously!!!

    I just had to show the new He-Man's face in more detail... really, who is this guy?!? What has he done to his hair? Is that rasta? Is he a Bob Marley fan? Yes, these are the true secrets of Grayskull: He-Man and the sorceress do enjoy their moments of peace smoking a joint and listening to reggae. (Sorry, couldn't resist the joke! ;) )

    Finally, I shouldn't comments this. This was the detail I less enjoyed. I don't know where did you get this blade, but really, He-Man, go get your older one back. By the wicked looks of it, either you stole it from one of Skeletor's minions, or it was given you by one of McFarlane's henchmen. Either way, it does not fit you, o Champion of Castle Grayskull. (BTW, if you have not guessed, this is a close-up of the new power sword!)

    Now don't get me wrong. I'm as excited as any other He-Man fan with the comeback. I have long yearned for his return, and these were great news! I hope this goes on and grows on and that the new figures arrive as soon as possible - February 2002 they'll be on the stores, that's Mattel's promise. It's just funny that sometimes our hopes backfire: I have always defended changes to the series, but after I've seen this statue, I though: "Really guys, stick to the original one!"

Thanks to He-Man.org for the new action figure pictures!