skeletor: pretty darned Metal

The Autumn Society is having their 80s Pop show soon, and there are some incredible intimidating exciting contributions yet again. personally, i'm not really that crazy about any of the pop media that came out of the 80s, and nostalgia for the wonderful 10 years i enjoyed during the decade (especially the one where i was born) make it only slightly better than the 70s, which produced almost nothing i would go bragging about (maybe Led Zeppelin and my brother Dan, that's about it)

but my parents were always so generous and i was always able to enjoy action figures and let my imagination run wild. the truth is there were some highly imaginative strange characters from pac man to thundercats to transformers to turtle ninjas and on and on, but he-man was my favorite early on. running around creating stories in my head, creating silly dialog and adventures and battles and such was perhaps a huge impact on where i am now as a creative person, not to mention i imagine that masters of the universe may be among the earliest things i ever drew (post smiley-face period, that is). the proof of that is a page from he-man magazine down below, circa 1985, when my brother Ray and i had apparently submitted an ally for the Eternian Universe.

so that's what i pay tribute to here more than anything. only as i write this am i realizing how important he-man may have been to me, or rather, how encouraging and supportive my family has been since day one with me, and how all these little things have lasting effects and contributions. a butterfly wing flap here, a hurricane there.

sketch

inks

beet juice and inks (for real)

here's that little gem from my childhood; 100% authentic. note what a superfan i was at 5, and how unintentionally sweet and humorous these innocent letters are. click to read