I genuinely appreciate every single comment, and even though I take forever to respond, they are all sent to my e-mail, so I read each and every one (usually within a day of receiving it). That said, I’m going to try and be better about responding more promptly.
Thanks again! We now return you to your regularly scheduled dorkiness.
I’ve seen two versions of Horde Prime as he appeared in comics in the UK, each with a different color scheme. I made each of them into new characters, Praetors of Hordak and Horde Prime’s homeworld. Their weapons were my idea.
I’ll be honest, the drawing of these was a somewhat hasty process. I was trying to keep it fast and loose, but instead it got sloppy. I think the colors helped pull it together somewhat, and I’m glad I was able to tweak the original color schemes, while sticking pretty close to the source material. Here’s the nerdy bio…
PROFILE: The harsh enforcers PRAETOR ALPHA and PRAETOR OMEGA are, in reality, genetically modified clones of Horde Prime. Horde Prime is over a thousand years old, and the biology of the Praetors matches that of Horde Prime as a young man–therefore, while Alpha and Omega are extremely skilled warriors with some knowledge of combat spells, they have not yet developed Horde Prime’s advanced magic and shapeshifting abilities. Both of them are merciless in the performance of their duties, though an instinctive mutinous streak is gradually surfacing in both of them.
HISTORY: While it is widely known that Alpha and Omega were genetic experiments raised and trained by Horde Prime in secrecy, their secret genetic heritage is unknown to all but Horde Prime and his trusted follower Ifreet.
Disappointed in Hordak’s failure to crush resistance on Etheria, and having placed Zed (the Crown Prince of the Horde) under house arrest for being a rebel sympathizer, Horde Prime is looking at the very real possibility of placing Alpha and Omega in the line of succession. Already, they are entrusted with the stewardship of Horde World, while the newly regenerated Horde Prime leads the Eternian invasion in person.
Hordak does not suspect the true origins of the Praetors, but he is very wary of them. Hordak is aware that his failures on Etheria put him in grave danger of losing favor with his brother, and he senses his brother’s favoritism for Alpha and Omega. Away from the eyes of his all but his most trusted advisors, Hordak has begun to plan the execution of the Praetors of Horde World.
Also posted here on my variants thread on the He-Man.org fan-art forum.
The idea here is that Horde Prime and Hordak‘s race have a symbiotic relationship with Imp‘s race. Ifreet is one of Imp’s kind–but where Imp is still a mischievous adolescent, Ifreet is a fully matured specimen. Further explanation in the overly detailed bio:
PROFILE: Horde Prime is infrequently seen without the zealot IFREET at his side. And one can be certain that if Ifreet is absent, he is carrying out the orders of his master. Unquestioning in his loyalty, Ifreet plays a role for Horde Prime analagous to the role that Imp plays for Hordak–something of a cross between pet, valet, yes-man, messenger, and herald. But where Imp’s diminuitive size gives him the added role of spy, Ifreet’s imposing stature instead allows him to perform the function of bodyguard. He stands at close to nine feet tall, is capable of breathing hellfire, and has the natural shape-shifting abilities of his race (but unlike Imp, his shape-shifting is focused on combat rather than disguise). In addition to his innate abilities, consider that his regular armament includes a stun trident and an elite Horde bowcaster, and you will realize that there are few warriors in the galaxy who could prevent Ifreet from executing his master’s will. However, Ifreet essentially has no identity outside of his servitude to Horde Prime.
HISTORY: Having been Horde Prime’s trusted servant literally since before Hordak was born, Ifreet has a unique and envied position within the Horde, in spite of lacking “official” power within the Horde hierarchy. Even Hordak resents Ifreet, much in the way that Hordak’s underlings resent Imp. Now, in the wake of Horde Prime’s regeneration and rebirth, Horde Prime is himself leading the invasion of Eternia, which means that both he and Ifreet are more visible and present, resulting in further resentment amongst high-ranking Horde officers. All in all, Ifreet refrains from abusing his advantaged station, however, those foolish enough to defy his master earn Ifreet’s eternal enmity.
Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The thread is here.
For a re-design challenge at the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The thread is here, my post is here. The first round voting polls are here and here, and the final vote can be found here–I placed 4th out of the finalists.
The subject this time around is Horde Prime, Hordak‘s brother and leader.
The scene in the center is a revision of my previous drawing of Horde Prime–in fact, the secondary head and the silhouette of Hordak on the platform were both directly lifted from the original piece. The figures on the left and right, however, are all new. The entire basis for my interpretation of Horde Prime is the theory that Horde Prime himself was the basis for the symbol of the Horde. The little guy on the left is based on an accessory that came with the original Hordak action figure. The throne room in the center piece is based on scenes from the cartoon. Finally, the Horde Prime on the right combines elements of Hordak’s costume (cartoon version) and the UK comic book version. In-fiction descriptions follow…
Horde Prime’s Throne Room (center): Centuries before the Horde invasion of Etheria, Horde Prime engaged the heroic champion Light Hope in a battle of apocalyptic proportions. The battle ended in a stalemate, both combatants having received near-fatal wounds. Light Hope sacrificed his wounded physical form to become caretaker of the Crystal Castle and protector of Etheria. His power was greatly increased but his new discorporate form was bound to the castle itself.
Meanwhile, suffering under the effects of Light Hope’s powerful magic attacks, Horde Prime found himself crippled and trapped in his giant form, unable to shapeshift back. He retreated to his flagship, the Velvet Glove, and there, with a combination of advanced Horde science and pirated Infinitan magic, his servants built a sarcophagus-like regeneration chamber. The chamber, combined with Horde Prime’s shapeshifting abilities, allowed him to slowly form a new body, gestating within the colossal rotting husk of his old form. This embryonic body often manifested itself as a secondary head, sprouting from the eye socket of Horde Prime.
Horde Prime’s twisted body renewed itself in a twisted mockery of life and birth over the course of centuries, and in the meantime he plotted revenge against Light Hope and Etheria (it was during this time that Horde Prime’s younger brother and trusted disciple Hordak became the de facto leader of the Horde).
Horde Familiar (left): Through the use of his shapeshifting and magical abilities, Horde Prime can focus his life force to temporarily create a small demonic familiar to act as a spy or messenger. Horde Prime can see through the eyes of these creatures, and act through them. These extensions of Horde Prime were generally reserved for the gravest situations, such as delivering critical information to Hordak without risk of interception. Many rebels have made the fatal mistake of judging Horde Familiars by their relatively small size, failing to realize that a creature with even just a fraction of Horde Prime’s cosmic power is still a formidable foe.
Horde Prime Reborn (right): With the revelation that the two most powerful beings on Eternia (He-Man and Skeletor) had disappeared from the planet, Horde Prime realized that it was the time to strike. Forcing an acceleration of his regeneration, through arcane lore and untested science, Horde Prime is reborn! The cruel leader of the Horde is still regaining his god-like levels of power, but even still he is perhaps the most feared being in the universe. While Hordak holds the Etherian front, Horde Prime leads the invasion of Eternia. Horde Prime seeks nothing less than the utter subjugation of He-Man’s homeworld, after which he will return to Etheria to crush his old enemy Light Hope.
If this were a toy, I would see Horde Prime’s throne room as a playset, with his giant form being molded into the facade of the regeneration chamber, and his giant arm being a spring-loaded capture claw. Of course, the highly sought-after Horde Prime Reborn action figure would be packed in exclusively with the playset.
Today’s post is still under construction! Or, at least what was today’s post is still under construction. So instead, you get this quickie:
Two manifestations of my raging ego in one week. WHAT A TREAT.
This is how the weekend was spent. For those who don’t live in the ‘States, 1040’s, W-2’s, and 1099’s are various super-fun tax forms.
No flashback for this Friday, as promised! Instead, you get the Mugato from the original Star Trek series–the version on the left is based on the creature’s original appearance, and the version on the right is based on the inexplicably innacurate vintage action figure produced by Mego:
I like to think of the clothed version as what the Mugato species would look like after evolving increased intelligence and developing culture and tools. Maybe in another couple of thousand years, the Mugato will evolve a better sense of fashion. Ha!
*Sound of nerd being mauled by highly-evolved Mugato*
I must be brief–I have to use my skillz to pay the billz. Actually it doesn’t take skillz, just basic arithmetic and a paycheck. But I digress. Calibos from Clash of the Titans:
Until then, here’s a robot that needs no introduction, but gets one anyways–Optimus Prime, heroic leader of the Autobots:
Current Mood: Gettin’ there
Listening To: The Long Black Veil
Reading: Just finished Kiki Strike Inside The Shadow City (which was awesome)
Watching: She-Ra season one
Playing: Possum
Eating: Nothing, I’m starved right now!
Drinking: Vitamin Water
If your travels don’t bring you within certain specific nerdy circles, today’s post will be particularly obscure. Basically, in the early 70’s, the large sized GI Joe line gave rise to a toyline in Japan called Henshin Cyborg (in which Henshin means “transformation”). Henshin Cyborg eventually gave rise to Microman, which in turn gave rise to Diaclone, and then Transformers. And in fact, Microman’s 3.75″ scale figures had probable influence on GI Joe converting to that scale in the 80’s, bringing things full circle, but I digress.
Today’s post is Dokuro King (dokuro is Japanese for skeleton, incidentally), a villain from Henshin Cyborg:
I drew this some time ago, shortly after the Skeletor sketch that I used to launch this blog. Back then, my thinking was focused on skull-themed villains rather than He-Man in general, believe it or not. The coloring was something I only got around to recently, and hopefully it is clear that his guts are visible through his transparent purple body, as per the original toy. As is my custom, I have given a bad-ass villain a bat-cape, in the hopes of making him even more bad-ass. hopefully you will find this to be the case. In retrospect, I wish I had deviated from the toy and drawn a skeleton under the King’s transparent skin as well.
There will be more skull-themed villains and Henshin Cyborg to come in the future, I assure you–though it might not be soon.
For More on Henshin Cyborg and Dokuro King:
It’s surprisingly easy to stay up until all hours of the night, looking at people’s crazy Lego creations on the internet.
To help you get started: brothers-brick.com
On the one hand, posting old artwork makes me a lazy and horrible person. On the other hand, I think this piece holds up pretty decently, and since only a handful of people ever saw this anyways, I thought it was worth sharing. Your mileage may vary.
L’il Logan!
My non-l’il version of Wolverine can be seen here, if you care to compare the two.
Given my many nerdy ramblings, perhaps it will not surprise you to hear that throughout my teenage years (and beyond), the pursuit of adventure and treasure, via tabletop RPGs, took up a significant amount of my free time.
This one’s for you, Gary!
Here’s Grotusque, one of the Monsterbots:
Though I never owned the Grotusque toy, I always thought the character looked cool: (sabre-toothed tiger) + (dragon) = WINNER, as far as I’m concerned. Unfortunately, because I don’t own the toy, I have no idea what color it really is–in various photos I found online, the main torso appeared anywhere in the range of magenta, maroon, or burgundy. In the end, I think my colors skewed too close to the magenta end of the spectrum. Oh yeah, there’s also no rhyme or reason to the light sources in this pic.
Close-up photos revealed that Grotusque’s face was molded with a slight texture–in my mind, this implied fur, so I decided to give my interpretation an organic face.
The wing is cut off because that’s where the paper stopped. And on that awkward note, I will end this post.
(Exeunt)
If anyone from DC editorial is reading this, please hire me to write and draw a new Bat-Mite series, co-starring Ace the Bat-Hound. Thank you.
Sincerely,
J.Ho
Post Script: Here is a wallpaper as incentive, conveniently available in both fullscreen and widescreen:
This was drawn around the same time as the Batwoman and Bat-Girl pieces that I posted two weeks ago. If you haven’t guessed which character I’ll be posting on Friday, here’s a hint: he does wear short-pants sometimes, but he is not Robin. See ya Friday!
I caught the second half of the new Knight Rider last night. It was aight, but it’s just not the same without the Cylon-esque HWOOO-HWOOO sound effect and the personality and dry wit of William Daniels as Kitt.
In keeping with the fact that I am an ancient relic, incapable of accepting progress or change, here’s a picture of KITT from the original Knighter Rider TV series:
Vroom!
EDIT (May 2025): Wasn’t expecting Knight Rider to be so current in the mid 2020’s, but between the Transformers collab and KITT showing up in Fortnite, seemed like a good time to refresh this oldie. I whipped up a background homaging the opening credits and made some other little adjustments. HWOOO-HWOOO.
