Posters: Transformers Propaganda

"Till All Are One"

Transformers Propaganda by Mike Choi

Prints available for purchase from BigCartel. US$25 / $40

Sweets: ThunderCats Cookies

ThunderCats Cookies by Taylor Made Treats

These hand-painted cookies feature the cast of the eighties cartoon Thundercats: Lion-O, Cheetara, Pathero, and Snarf.  No Mum-Ra, sadly.  I loved this cartoon when I was a kid.  It was second only to He-Man in my eyes, but in retrospect, the storyline made zero sense.  Why would anyone need to wage a war for a planet occupied by fewer than ten sentient beings?  It seems like they could each stake out their own continent and call bygones bygones.

In any case, these cookies look both delicious and beautiful.

Illustration: Optimus Prime

"Optimus Prime" by Canada-based John Gallagher

Illustration: Defender of Grayskull

"Defender of Grayskull" by Ryan Barger

"I think no matter how old I get, a big part of me will always live in Eternia. That perfect mix of barbarian fantasy, magic, sci-fi and superheroics that so ignited my imagination as a child still inspires me today. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have ended up as a professional illustrator if not for those Christmas mornings spent unwrapping the likes of Tri-Klops and Beastman.

Circumstances finally conspired to give me the time and energy to tackle my favorite setting, so I decided to take those wonderful characters and rough up their edges a bit. I don’t think I’m alone in wanting to see more fierce, modern versions of He-Man and his foes, so I took the best and most iconic elements of their designs and dirtied them up a bit. This is the He-Man I always imagined, equal parts savage warrior and noble hero, doing battle with villains who are a genuine threat and look the part.

It’s my pleasure to present ‘Defender of Grayskull.’ I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it."

Fan Film: Fall of Grayskull

"Fall of Grayskull - Full Movie (short) - He-Man" by Daniel Benedict

If, like me, you were an eighties kid, then Mattel’s Masters of the Universe franchise was probably a big part of your childhood.  The toy line inspired an animated series of half hour toy commercials we called cartoons, comic books, video games and one spectacularly bad live-action film that I watched on VHS about five hundred times. 

Director Daniel Benedict has adapted the cartoon into an incredibly earnest fan film.  Funded through Kickstarter, Benedict’s “Fall of Grayskull” stars pro wrestler Brian Cage as He-Man, who battles his arch-nemesis Skeletor for control of Grayskull and the fate of a bizarrely under-populated Eternia, which you'd think would have raised some sort of military by now.  The film features all of your favorite characters, including Teela, Tri-Klops, Evil-Lyn, and even Hordak.


Although the production values don't exactly scream Hollywood, “Fall of Grayskull” is clearly a labor of love, and it's sure to stir up a whole lot of nostalgia for eighties kids.

Fresh Take: Icons Unmasked

"Icons Unmasked" by Alex Solis

Illustration: Scooby-Dooby-Mucha

"Scooby-Dooby-Mucha" by Whitney Lanier (DreamerWhit)

Wait!  Where's our Velma art nouveau poster?!!  She's the one who's our nerd spirit animal!

Illustration: Mystery Vacation

"Mystery Vacation" by Eric Pineda

Part of the WB Animation Tribute art show “We’re All a Little Looney” at  Fan*Alley.

Illustration: 80′s Pop Album Covers

"Domo Arigato" by Rocky Davies

80′s Pop Album Parody Covers

Posters: Five Swordsmen

"Five Swordsmen of the Kick-Ass" by UK-based John-Paul Bove

Posters: Masters of the Universe

"Masters of the [Entire] Universe" by Anthony Petrie

Fresh Take: Star Wars 80's Cartoon Series

"Star Wars 80's Cartoon Series" by León, Mexico-based Salvador Anguiano

Star Wars characters drawn as Eighties Cartoons

Fresh Take: Scooby through the Ages

"Scooby Gang through the Ages" by London-based Julia Wytrazek

The original Scooby Doo cartoon series aired from 1969-1971, and it very much embodied the era of its creation.  Since the original series, there have been movies, reboots, remakes, and specials, but the series' aesthetics have always remained trapped in the seventies.  In this series, Julia Wytrazek has re-imagined the main characters in the popular styles of every decade of the Twentieth Century.  I especially like the 1990s reference to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

"In this project I explored the fashions of the 20th century through the characters from the show Scooby Doo. I thought it was interesting how all the characters got slight tweaks and updates to their designs since 1969, and set out to imagine how they’d look in every decade of the 20th century. All the illustrations merge the original personalities of the characters with appropriate fashion trends, and stick with the familiar colour schemes."

Mash-Up: Pop Culture Vehicle Series

"Bounty Wars" by CJ Johnson

Pop Culture Vehicle Series

Prints available for purchase from BigCartel. US$10

In this series, CJ Johnson vandalizes the signature vehicle of all your favorite fandoms to fantastic effect.  My favorite is Velma from Scooby-Doo defacing ECTO-1; that's a cross-over I've been waiting for all my life.

Mash-Up: Game of Scooby

"The Scooby Doo Ending" by Canada-based Eric La Sorda (Timburtongot)

Game of Thrones meets Scooby-Doo

Mash-Up: Dragon Training

"Dragon Training" by James Hance
Graphite / Acrylic / Color Pencil on Watercolor Paper

Prints available for purchase from the artist's website. US$15

A mash-up of Game of Thrones and How to Train your Dragon.

Posters: Grayskull Time!

"Grayskull Time!" by JeffGraffit

Fresh Take: All Grown Up

"All Grown Up" by Lowell, Massachusetts-based Isaiah Stephens

Check out this cool art series by Isaiah Stephens.  He calls it All Grown Up.  It features popular cartoon characters re-imagined as adults.  There's Pokemon, Power Puff Girls, South Park, Dexter's Laboratory, Doug, Kim Possible, The Wild Thornberrys, Recess, and Hey Arnold. It's kind of fun to see what these characters might look like had they aged like the rest of us.

Fresh Take: Badass Cartoons

Badass Cartoon Series by France-based Sylvain Sarrailh

Sarrailh has an entire series of illustrations popular cartoon franchises.

Posters: Movie Poster Parodies

Movie Poster Parodies

Source: I Raff I Ruse