He-Man appeals to my inner child. Conan appeals to my adult mind. Even as an adult, I don’t wanna see He-Man kill, but I would smile watching Conan do it in any media form.
The Snake Men are straight out of Robert E Howard’s Kull The Conqueror, down to passing off as humans and being an ancient evil that used to rule the world. Skeletor has a lot in common Xaltotun a undead sorcerer from Hour of the Dragon. Teela and man at arms have a lot of Valeria and Prospero in them. So it was more than just visuals that came from the works of Howard.
Skeletor seems to be based on Thulsa Doom, who was a skull faced sorcerer in both Howard's books as well as in the earlier version of the Conan movie script that Mattel had seen.
Also Thulsa Doom is described as a have a face that is like a Skull. He-Man borrows quite a lot from the works of Robert E. Howard and the Berserker (Conan the Conqueror) from Frank Frazetta was a constant motive used in He-Man art and as inspiration.
@@bathyalgames I was going to mention Thulsa but he was a Kull enemy. Now that I think about it the 1982 Conan movie was pretty much a Kull movie, not that there was a world of difference between the two. Looking at the volume of his work I think Robert E Howard may be the most underrated fantasy writer. The world of Hybirea rivals Middle-Earth in scope and history, it just spread over dozens of short stories and novellas instead of being written for longer form.
@@jasonking3182 It is good to see other people appreciate Robert E. Howard, like i do. If Robert would have lived another 30 years and continued to write different stories and novels, then we would put him on the same pedestal as we do with Tolkien. Robert has just begun to write novels (ok they were western novels), but sooner or later he would have returned to Conan and would have written a deeper lore for the Hyborian Age in one coherent novel. On my part i prefer Howard's Hyborian Age and Conan over Middle Earth and the Lord of the Rings, but that is due to Howards more grounded style and story type. Btw. Skeletor seams to me as a mix of Thulsa Doom and Kathulos and Xaltotun. Howard has created this genre that was later named as Sword and Sorcery and so the occurring archetypes in it, like a skull faced and undead sorcerers. And Skeletor is just this archetype that was created by Howard.
Years ago, when the motu "archeological" news of the slides of original Lords of Power was show up, i notice a very similarity of He-man axe in the slide with Vikor's axe, was basically the same weapon. When i posted a picture of comparisson in my old Motu blog, Emiliano Santalucia commented that Vikor was a Mark Taylor's outline for a Mattel's Conan line.
@@dayquanmelon To be more precise the look is due to Marvel's Conan with the bob haircut, but Frank Frazetta's The Berserker (Conan the Conqueror) was the main depiction used for the He-Man IP. Howard was a writer not a painter and so Conan has a lot of interpretation and naturally it was Frazetta that painted the iconic Conan paintings, but the best comic depiction of Conan is by John Buscema.
@@bathyalgames I think 'Conan the Adventurer. has the bob haircut. I have it on my wall. Big John may very well have pushed it further with the comics. We are so lucky to have had him.
@@dayquanmelon You mean because in Frazetta's "Conan the Adventurer" his front hair is cut off. I thought that the name for bob haircut is for only for the chin long hair, like Falk's "Prince Valiant".
He man has another similarity to a popular fantasy character in Elric. Where the Sword of Greyskull is split in two much like Mornblade and Stormbringer are split from the Dragon Blade.
I subscribe to the thought, and you pretty much confirmed it, that Mattel was going to do Conan. And even had a sketch of it. But then in the end that sketch found its way to the He-Man line.
Technically what you have written is wrong. Conan hates the unnatural, not fears it. Conan was never afraid to face off against magicians or magic itself. In Robert E. Howard's writing you have a certain progression towards magic in the great figures. Solomon Kane uses the magical Staff of Solomon, but he is a puritan. Kull of Atlantis faces off against Thulsa Doom. But one of the reasons of downfall of Atlantis is the magic. Conan is a derivative of King Kull of Atlantis, but he is clearly against it. It is often implied that the magic has price and if magicians want to use higher magic then they have to make an exchange. And often it is paid in blood of others. This is also of the hermetical principles of equal exchange, but it is also in christianity encoded in the saying "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth". This is an axiom that defines a certain set of what we would consider as Sword and Sorcery. And "He-Man and the MotU" is clearly a derivative of it, despite many differences. He-Man as in the mini comics that came with the figures was a barbarian with normal strength, but he has recieved from the godess a magical armor that protected him from blaster fire and magic. In the early DC comics Adam has turned into He-Man when he went into a magical cave, but the power itself didn't seem to be magical. In filmation He-Man this is due to his magical sword that the magical / fabulous powers are bestowed upon him. In Young 200X series this power comes from his ancestor King Grayskull. If we consider all of this as canonical then we have two different He-Man. I don't know what you see as canonical, but i like the mini comics and the Young version, since this would be still in the hermetical principle with the cost paid by King Grayskull.
As a kid I would often pretend my He-Man was a Conan figure and so did a lot of kids at the time. But speaking of Vikor the funny thing about him is now with there being multiple Conan figures floating around out there now he is still my favorite Conan figure around
Spectors knowledge about the Conan films, comics and books is quite limited, especially how "Conan", "Kull" and "Sword and Sorcery" has influenced He-Man and MotU. Nevertheless i appreciated Spector's knowledge about He-Man figures, despite that he is not capable of recognising the previously mentioned influences and his shortcomings. Btw. You made good posts here. John Buscema was drawing the early Conan storyboard for the Conan film and he contributed to "King Kull" and "Kull the Conqueror". And Thulsa Doom was nearly always shown as a Skull faced necromancer in the Marvel comics and therefore Skeletor and his magic is also very often depicted as bone necromantic magic.
@@bathyalgames I've only ever seen the first Conan movie. (I think I also saw Red Sonja on TV once a long time ago but don't remember anything about it.) I learned most of what I know about Robert E. Howard's works (and how they inspired Masters of the Universe) from Andre (I think that's his name, but might be misremembering) from Midnight's Edge. The Skeletor / Thulsa Doom similarity pretty much convinced me that MOTU was at least partially based on the movie script that Mattel had access to, combined with the Jack Kirby concepts they had from another project.
What is definitive, I’m not certain if you made that clear, is that He-Man is forever linked to Conan. What was not made clear, is that it is HIGHLY likely based upon circumstantial evidence that He-Man was derived directly from Conan. Of course it’s not explicitly stated anywhere. But that Mark Taylor image and the timeline of events point directly to what every adult and child in the 80’s assumed… that He-Man was Mattel’s “Conan for kids”. Mattel’s solution to the “rated R” problem. He-Man was the “rated G” Conan. Mattel flipped every aspect of the films interpretation of Conan and created He-Man. Instead of a thief, Conan comes from the wealthiest family. Instead of a gladiator, he’s a savior. Instead of a slave, he is royalty. Instead of a womanizer, He-Man is a shy boy in pink and purple. These are common character development tropes that are so clearly pronounced that it is obvious how He-Man was conceived and how Mattel got there. He-Man is forever linked to Conan.
We can not rule our the obvious influence. Don't forget originally in the included comics He-Man was from a Barbarian tribe not a prince. In addition the comics was drawn by Alfredo Alcala who was known for his previous work in Conan comics, plus the Thulsa Doom- Skeletor resemblance.
If the creators of He-Man can say that they weren't ripping off the movie IP, it's impossible to say that they weren't inspired by the 70s Marvel comics. Sort of like how I do believe George Lucas when he denies that he was copying Valerian, but it would be impossible to prove that the concept artists for StarWars weren't inspired by Jean Giraud.
That was a good post, especially the last part. Look at Frazetta's The Berserker and at early He-Man depictions riding on the Battle Cat and think about it.
11:38 When did Conan ever sport a lion pelt? I look at this figure and think Samson or Hercules/Heracles. You can't convince me Remco design artists weren't looking at He-man when they made Conan the Barbarian action figure.
I know you admitted to not having the deepest knowledge of Conan and Robert E. Howard's lore, but you're missing a couple of more glaring similarities than the barbarian design itself -- most notably in the design of Skeletor, which is directly derived from Thulsa Doom's depiction in Oliver Stone's original screenplay Mattel had access to. You wouldn't have read about Thulsa Doom in the Conan works, as he's from Howard's Kull of Atlantis / Kull the Conqueror stories. Stone plucked him from Howard's mythos, right down to the skull-faced design. It was director John Milius who later toned this design down once production began, resulting in a more subtle performance by James Earl Jones. But Mattel was already working on toys based on the Stone script, so we later end up with a few tweaks and rebranding of "Skeletor." Then there's Snake Mountain itself: Who else but Skeletor resides in a mountain lair of snakes / snake motifs? Thulsa Doom. Then there's the Atlantean sword: Ron Cobb's design for Conan's sword was so distinct with its "prongs" along the ricasso of the blade, extending from the guard. He-Man's Sword of Power not-so-coincidentally retains these, albeit to rather 80's merchandising standards of accuracy. Nonetheless, it's a very particular and original design element not seen prior to Cobb's and Jody Samson's Conan sword. I don't think anyone would argue He-Man outright ripped off Conan, but for anyone paying attention, it's obvious what occurred here. Your video would have us believe the very same toy company that was licensed to produce Conan movie toys, with access to Stone's script and Ron Cobb's conceptual art, just so happened to independently produce He-Man and Skeletor by sheer coincidence... because they were separate crews. Really? Like nobody in the company communicated? Like nobody in the company had a hint of influence from the Conan development? Like nobody in the company sought to cover their tracks and conjure alibis after the deal fell through and the lawsuits arose? Not buying it.
To me the 80s He man toyline is mostly influenced by: Frank Frazetta's art and the Flash Gordon movie from 1980. a pinch of Superman/ Star Wars/ and the Big Jim toyline is also in.
Conan I only own the paperback books related to that or movies even had the cartoon on VHS. I bought a bunch of them really cheap as Frank Frazetta did many covers. I did not know about Weird Tales or the best version which is pretty cool. DeathStalker is closest thing to a Real He-Man MOvie will ever get even if people compare to him. I remember they had some Dungeons Dragons Modules or Versions of GAme to play as him. He was like a Dual Class Fighter Thief. I"d like to see thing showing Every He-Man Figure along with Skeletor. I mostly collect variants of him like Faker I got that Origins along with Anti-Eternia He-Man. Yet I currently don't even own the normal one for him in that line. AWA Remco Wrestlers fits MOTU too :).
Ok i love both "He-Man and MotU" and "Conan" and i see myself as a "Sword and Sorcery" fan. And this video shows that Spector knows nothing about "Conan" and "Sword and Sorcery" and how much it has influenced "He-Man and MotU". Short: Without "Conan" especially the Marvel Conan, no "He-Man and MotU".
Why were so many toy lines made of R rated films? I'm looking at Alien, Predator, Robocop, Toxic Avenger, and other 80s movies with so much cursing, violence, and sex. Why was it that we saw so many toys based on those properties? There's probably an obvious answer, I'm curious about your perspective.
The answer is Frank Frazetta godfather of modern art. He-man art stole his licks. Howard Did not make Conan look like that with the studded belt gauntlets and furry boots.
No. John Carter is on Mars and Conan is on earth. Conan is a rip of Kull and Kull is a rip of of Bran Mac Morn and Solomon Kane. And Solomon Kane has nothing to do with John Carter of Mars. Robert E. Howard was good a ripping himself off and when he was ripping someone else off then he asked for permission to do it, like in the case of H.P. Lovecraft. Nevertheless i think that Robert has read John Carter and other fantastic adventure literature and so there is a bit of John Carter in Conan. I would even argue that Dejah Thoris is quite influential upon the female figures in Conan stories. Btw.: Howard's Almuric is a direct rip-off of John Carter of Mars.
You know good and well, He-Man is a straight up rip from Conan! And Conan is a rip from Tarzan!! I could keep going but you can develop your own conclusion.
He-Man appeals to my inner child. Conan appeals to my adult mind. Even as an adult, I don’t wanna see He-Man kill, but I would smile watching Conan do it in any media form.
A very good position, that i share with you.
"He-Man, what is best in life?"
"Crush your enemies, see them driven from the toy aisle, and to hear the lamentation of the investors."
When I saw the Dolph Heman movie for the first time a few years ago, I loved it. I thought it was like Conan and Star Wars having a baby together.
That's really interesting! I didn't realize exactly what the lawsuit against Mattel encompassed. Thanks again, Scott, for the fantastic insight!
Cool video! Thank you! Gotta say, that whole "Buy someting just to bury it" has got to be one of the nastiest things you could do to anyone.
The Snake Men are straight out of Robert E Howard’s Kull The Conqueror, down to passing off as humans and being an ancient evil that used to rule the world. Skeletor has a lot in common Xaltotun a undead sorcerer from Hour of the Dragon. Teela and man at arms have a lot of Valeria and Prospero in them. So it was more than just visuals that came from the works of Howard.
Skeletor seems to be based on Thulsa Doom, who was a skull faced sorcerer in both Howard's books as well as in the earlier version of the Conan movie script that Mattel had seen.
Also Thulsa Doom is described as a have a face that is like a Skull. He-Man borrows quite a lot from the works of Robert E. Howard and the Berserker (Conan the Conqueror) from Frank Frazetta was a constant motive used in He-Man art and as inspiration.
@@bathyalgames I was going to mention Thulsa but he was a Kull enemy. Now that I think about it the 1982 Conan movie was pretty much a Kull movie, not that there was a world of difference between the two. Looking at the volume of his work I think Robert E Howard may be the most underrated fantasy writer. The world of Hybirea rivals Middle-Earth in scope and history, it just spread over dozens of short stories and novellas instead of being written for longer form.
@@jasonking3182 It is good to see other people appreciate Robert E. Howard, like i do. If Robert would have lived another 30 years and continued to write different stories and novels, then we would put him on the same pedestal as we do with Tolkien. Robert has just begun to write novels (ok they were western novels), but sooner or later he would have returned to Conan and would have written a deeper lore for the Hyborian Age in one coherent novel. On my part i prefer Howard's Hyborian Age and Conan over Middle Earth and the Lord of the Rings, but that is due to Howards more grounded style and story type.
Btw. Skeletor seams to me as a mix of Thulsa Doom and Kathulos and Xaltotun. Howard has created this genre that was later named as Sword and Sorcery and so the occurring archetypes in it, like a skull faced and undead sorcerers. And Skeletor is just this archetype that was created by Howard.
Years ago, when the motu "archeological" news of the slides of original Lords of Power was show up, i notice a very similarity of He-man axe in the slide with Vikor's axe, was basically the same weapon. When i posted a picture of comparisson in my old Motu blog, Emiliano Santalucia commented that Vikor was a Mark Taylor's outline for a Mattel's Conan line.
He-Man was inspired by Conan. That's all that's needed to be said.
By Frank Frazetta in imagery my friend not Howard.
@@dayquanmelon Correct.
@@dayquanmelon To be more precise the look is due to Marvel's Conan with the bob haircut, but Frank Frazetta's The Berserker (Conan the Conqueror) was the main depiction used for the He-Man IP.
Howard was a writer not a painter and so Conan has a lot of interpretation and naturally it was Frazetta that painted the iconic Conan paintings, but the best comic depiction of Conan is by John Buscema.
@@bathyalgames I think 'Conan the Adventurer. has the bob haircut. I have it on my wall. Big John may very well have pushed it further with the comics. We are so lucky to have had him.
@@dayquanmelon You mean because in Frazetta's "Conan the Adventurer" his front hair is cut off. I thought that the name for bob haircut is for only for the chin long hair, like Falk's "Prince Valiant".
Glad to hear you've delved into the Conan stories! I'm a big fan
He man has another similarity to a popular fantasy character in Elric. Where the Sword of Greyskull is split in two much like Mornblade and Stormbringer are split from the Dragon Blade.
I subscribe to the thought, and you pretty much confirmed it, that Mattel was going to do Conan. And even had a sketch of it. But then in the end that sketch found its way to the He-Man line.
Vikor's my favorite "Conan" figure! - You guys knocked him out of the park!
Thanks, good stuff. Nothing like learning more about our MOTU
I kind of like that concept for the Tank Head figure
YOUR DISSMISSED,AND THAT'S AN ORDER
Served up in a ditty bag.
An itty-bitty, DITTY bag.
I agree. It looks cool. Catches my eye every time I see that concept picture.
There was a Super Gobot named Destroyer that looks somewhat similar.
He-man has super powers due to magic, and the only thing that scares Conan is magic. That's a pretty big difference
Technically what you have written is wrong. Conan hates the unnatural, not fears it. Conan was never afraid to face off against magicians or magic itself. In Robert E. Howard's writing you have a certain progression towards magic in the great figures. Solomon Kane uses the magical Staff of Solomon, but he is a puritan. Kull of Atlantis faces off against Thulsa Doom. But one of the reasons of downfall of Atlantis is the magic. Conan is a derivative of King Kull of Atlantis, but he is clearly against it. It is often implied that the magic has price and if magicians want to use higher magic then they have to make an exchange. And often it is paid in blood of others. This is also of the hermetical principles of equal exchange, but it is also in christianity encoded in the saying "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth". This is an axiom that defines a certain set of what we would consider as Sword and Sorcery. And "He-Man and the MotU" is clearly a derivative of it, despite many differences.
He-Man as in the mini comics that came with the figures was a barbarian with normal strength, but he has recieved from the godess a magical armor that protected him from blaster fire and magic. In the early DC comics Adam has turned into He-Man when he went into a magical cave, but the power itself didn't seem to be magical. In filmation He-Man this is due to his magical sword that the magical / fabulous powers are bestowed upon him. In Young 200X series this power comes from his ancestor King Grayskull. If we consider all of this as canonical then we have two different He-Man. I don't know what you see as canonical, but i like the mini comics and the Young version, since this would be still in the hermetical principle with the cost paid by King Grayskull.
As a kid I would often pretend my He-Man was a Conan figure and so did a lot of kids at the time. But speaking of Vikor the funny thing about him is now with there being multiple Conan figures floating around out there now he is still my favorite Conan figure around
Fascinating as always.
That Conan book is excellent, I really hope that you enjoy it a lot!!!
You left out the fact that Thulsa Doom was a skull faced wizard in the Conan movie script that Mattel read, as he was described in Howard's books.
Spectors knowledge about the Conan films, comics and books is quite limited, especially how "Conan", "Kull" and "Sword and Sorcery" has influenced He-Man and MotU. Nevertheless i appreciated Spector's knowledge about He-Man figures, despite that he is not capable of recognising the previously mentioned influences and his shortcomings.
Btw. You made good posts here. John Buscema was drawing the early Conan storyboard for the Conan film and he contributed to "King Kull" and "Kull the Conqueror".
And Thulsa Doom was nearly always shown as a Skull faced necromancer in the Marvel comics and therefore Skeletor and his magic is also very often depicted as bone necromantic magic.
@@bathyalgames I've only ever seen the first Conan movie. (I think I also saw Red Sonja on TV once a long time ago but don't remember anything about it.) I learned most of what I know about Robert E. Howard's works (and how they inspired Masters of the Universe) from Andre (I think that's his name, but might be misremembering) from Midnight's Edge. The Skeletor / Thulsa Doom similarity pretty much convinced me that MOTU was at least partially based on the movie script that Mattel had access to, combined with the Jack Kirby concepts they had from another project.
What is definitive, I’m not certain if you made that clear, is that He-Man is forever linked to Conan. What was not made clear, is that it is HIGHLY likely based upon circumstantial evidence that He-Man was derived directly from Conan. Of course it’s not explicitly stated anywhere. But that Mark Taylor image and the timeline of events point directly to what every adult and child in the 80’s assumed… that He-Man was Mattel’s “Conan for kids”. Mattel’s solution to the “rated R” problem. He-Man was the “rated G” Conan. Mattel flipped every aspect of the films interpretation of Conan and created He-Man. Instead of a thief, Conan comes from the wealthiest family. Instead of a gladiator, he’s a savior. Instead of a slave, he is royalty. Instead of a womanizer, He-Man is a shy boy in pink and purple. These are common character development tropes that are so clearly pronounced that it is obvious how He-Man was conceived and how Mattel got there. He-Man is forever linked to Conan.
We can not rule our the obvious influence. Don't forget originally in the included comics He-Man was from a Barbarian tribe not a prince. In addition the comics was drawn by Alfredo Alcala who was known for his previous work in Conan comics, plus the Thulsa Doom- Skeletor resemblance.
If the creators of He-Man can say that they weren't ripping off the movie IP, it's impossible to say that they weren't inspired by the 70s Marvel comics. Sort of like how I do believe George Lucas when he denies that he was copying Valerian, but it would be impossible to prove that the concept artists for StarWars weren't inspired by Jean Giraud.
That was a good post, especially the last part. Look at Frazetta's The Berserker and at early He-Man depictions riding on the Battle Cat and think about it.
Seriously. I'd like to hear more about this mini world and big world.
I had that figure with the lion draped across the body growing up.. never knew it was a conan figure.. haha..
Nice update!
I still think we're due for a proper conan universe line
great stuff, i think i need to read the Conan book
The word is HE-MAN kicked Conan's butt! End of story.
You didnt hear it from me, but word on the street says, this is true.
Let’s see He-Man continue as a household name for 90 years before we declare a winner. MotU is struggling at half that longevity…
@@thedaddyspider Conan will survive He-Man and He-Man will be soon forgotten, because Kevin Smith is working on it.
11:38
When did Conan ever sport a lion pelt? I look at this figure and think Samson or Hercules/Heracles. You can't convince me Remco design artists weren't looking at He-man when they made Conan the Barbarian action figure.
Silly He-Man..... Silly Conan......
EVERYONE knows that THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN IS THE GREATEST OF THEM ALL!!! :D
Jack Kirby design, 'nuff said!
Heman beat superman a total of three times yes he will kick Conan ass to you conan fans who don't know better
I know you admitted to not having the deepest knowledge of Conan and Robert E. Howard's lore, but you're missing a couple of more glaring similarities than the barbarian design itself -- most notably in the design of Skeletor, which is directly derived from Thulsa Doom's depiction in Oliver Stone's original screenplay Mattel had access to. You wouldn't have read about Thulsa Doom in the Conan works, as he's from Howard's Kull of Atlantis / Kull the Conqueror stories. Stone plucked him from Howard's mythos, right down to the skull-faced design. It was director John Milius who later toned this design down once production began, resulting in a more subtle performance by James Earl Jones. But Mattel was already working on toys based on the Stone script, so we later end up with a few tweaks and rebranding of "Skeletor."
Then there's Snake Mountain itself: Who else but Skeletor resides in a mountain lair of snakes / snake motifs? Thulsa Doom.
Then there's the Atlantean sword: Ron Cobb's design for Conan's sword was so distinct with its "prongs" along the ricasso of the blade, extending from the guard. He-Man's Sword of Power not-so-coincidentally retains these, albeit to rather 80's merchandising standards of accuracy. Nonetheless, it's a very particular and original design element not seen prior to Cobb's and Jody Samson's Conan sword.
I don't think anyone would argue He-Man outright ripped off Conan, but for anyone paying attention, it's obvious what occurred here. Your video would have us believe the very same toy company that was licensed to produce Conan movie toys, with access to Stone's script and Ron Cobb's conceptual art, just so happened to independently produce He-Man and Skeletor by sheer coincidence... because they were separate crews. Really? Like nobody in the company communicated? Like nobody in the company had a hint of influence from the Conan development? Like nobody in the company sought to cover their tracks and conjure alibis after the deal fell through and the lawsuits arose? Not buying it.
To me the 80s He man toyline is mostly influenced by: Frank Frazetta's art and the Flash Gordon movie from 1980. a pinch of Superman/ Star Wars/ and the Big Jim toyline is also in.
Conan I only own the paperback books related to that or movies even had the cartoon on VHS. I bought a bunch of them really cheap as Frank Frazetta did many covers. I did not know about Weird Tales or the best version which is pretty cool. DeathStalker is closest thing to a Real He-Man MOvie will ever get even if people compare to him. I remember they had some Dungeons Dragons Modules or Versions of GAme to play as him. He was like a Dual Class Fighter Thief. I"d like to see thing showing Every He-Man Figure along with Skeletor. I mostly collect variants of him like Faker I got that Origins along with Anti-Eternia He-Man. Yet I currently don't even own the normal one for him in that line. AWA Remco Wrestlers fits MOTU too :).
Spector Creative Binge Day Episode 4
There is a bunch of debate over this!
Ok i love both "He-Man and MotU" and "Conan" and i see myself as a "Sword and Sorcery" fan. And this video shows that Spector knows nothing about "Conan" and "Sword and Sorcery" and how much it has influenced "He-Man and MotU". Short: Without "Conan" especially the Marvel Conan, no "He-Man and MotU".
Why were so many toy lines made of R rated films? I'm looking at Alien, Predator, Robocop, Toxic Avenger, and other 80s movies with so much cursing, violence, and sex. Why was it that we saw so many toys based on those properties? There's probably an obvious answer, I'm curious about your perspective.
Most of the MOTU Conan 'inspiration' seems to be from Frank Frazetta's art.
Rudy Obrero and others were then influenced by Frazetta art.
The answer is Frank Frazetta godfather of modern art. He-man art stole his licks. Howard Did not make Conan look like that with the studded belt gauntlets and furry boots.
🤘😄🤘
Marvel did Conan comics I wonder why Hasbro hasn't done it or did they I'm gonna Google it
To me Conan is a rip-off of John Carter of Mars
No. John Carter is on Mars and Conan is on earth.
Conan is a rip of Kull and Kull is a rip of of Bran Mac Morn and Solomon Kane. And Solomon Kane has nothing to do with John Carter of Mars. Robert E. Howard was good a ripping himself off and when he was ripping someone else off then he asked for permission to do it, like in the case of H.P. Lovecraft.
Nevertheless i think that Robert has read John Carter and other fantastic adventure literature and so there is a bit of John Carter in Conan. I would even argue that Dejah Thoris is quite influential upon the female figures in Conan stories.
Btw.: Howard's Almuric is a direct rip-off of John Carter of Mars.
He man can from THUNDARR THE BARARIAN. NOT CONAN
You know good and well, He-Man is a straight up rip from Conan! And Conan is a rip from Tarzan!! I could keep going but you can develop your own conclusion.