Mattel - He-man and the masters of the universe : tales of Eternia, I Skeletor : let’s talk with Gregory Mone

By Mulder, Zoom Virtual Event, 21 october 2022

“I’m not evil. I’m misunderstood. Does it make you some kind of villain if you want everyone to do as you say all the time? No, I don’t think so. And it’s not like I’m selfish. At my last birthday party, I actually invited my subjects into the palace throne room. They desperately wanted to sing to me and shower me with gifts, and I graciously allowed them, even if the presents were underwhelming. Was Randor ever so welcoming? Doubt it. Randor is my older brother. Short, stocky, bearded, loves robes” - Skeletor

Fan-favorite villain Skeletor tells his side of the story in this original middle-grade adventure from bestselling author Gregory Mone, based on Mattel’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and the hit Netflix show! The Dark Master of Havoc finally gets to tell his side of the story in this tell-all autobiography. Long before he started haunting He-Man’s nightmares, Skeletor was just an impossibly handsome, brilliant, scheming prince. But when a mysterious new tutor arrives in the palace, he shows the young prince a new path to power—and the throne that should belong to him alone.

Jumping between his royal youth and his adventures as the chief menace to the Masters of the Universe, I, Skeletor recounts the untold story of his clash with a terrifying foe, unveils the source of his rivalry with the Sorceress of Grayskull, reveals what really happened during the search for the legendary Sigil of Hssss, and finally explains how Skeletor manages to beat He-Man every single time.

Q : Hi Gegory what can you tell us about your background and your inspiration to become a writer ?

Gregory Mone : I had a bunch of different jobs and I decided to become a writer many years ago when I had a really boring office job and I decided out much more enjoyed going home at night and writing stories.

Q : After He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Hunt for Moss Man (Tales of Eternia Book 1), Can you tell us how you came up with the idea for this book He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: I, Skeletor ?

Gregory Mone : well, we had done the book He-Man and the Masters of the Universe the hunt for Moss man and it's a classic He-Man Adventure where you know we've got He-Man and crew trying to save the world and Skeletor are trying to get in his way and we had this idea for a third book that would focus more on Teela but we want to do one more book right in the middle there and you know Skeletor is one of the greatest characters in the He-man universe and so/ I see you've got your Skeletor there. I've got my one, more recent one right here and we just thought it would be really fun to tell his story for the first time and not only to tell his story but to tell it from his perspective so you know he's writing the book and sort of telling his own story so as a result you know he's not always telling the truth and he's not always telling things you know Stories the way He-Man would have told them .

Q : You have published several books, what is for you the main keys of success to obtain a great book as this one ?

Gregory Mone : well I think you have to be passionate about the subject right. S,o I've written a lot of different books about a wide range of subjects and you really have that passion for the subject and I think Skeletor is just such a fantastic character. I played with the toys when I was younger. My sister and I watched the original cartoon all the time you know so when I had the opportunity to write this book actually the first person I contacted was my sister and I said hey you'll never guess you know I'm gonna get to write a Skeletor book and she was pretty excited. She said I had to do it you know.

Q : I am passionate since the 80s by the universe of Masters of the universe to the point of continuing to collect the new toys. What does this universe represent for you, which gave birth to several animated series, video games, book and a movie with Dolph Lundgren ?

Gregory Mone : well, I think it's a wonderful you know. It's a wonderful combination of science fiction, fantasy, adventure and then not only that but you have these fantastic characters. I mean in any good story you need that that central conflict of great characters and you know the conflict between these two guys is pretty special right. I mean you know He-Man vs Skeletor is one of the classic battles of recent fiction and you know and so for me it was kind of you know. It was just a wonderful opportunity to be able to tell skeletor's story and you know for this new Netflix series the writers and creators they really built a whole world you know in an entire new version of kind of Eternia that's true to all. All of the things everybody grew up loving about Eternia and He-Man and Skeletor but it's in a modern version and it's a wonderful version and so what was fun about these books was being able to tell new stories set in that world. You know what you're reading in the books is it you're not going to see that in a series these are extra kind of Adventures and they're telling you a lot about what's happening behind the scenes and how these characters got to.

Q : How did you approach the character of Skeletor for this book ?

Gregory Mone : well, I you know I played with the Skeletor toys a little bit obviously. I definitely tried to read as much as I could about Skeletor. Luckily, there have been some great books, some great compilations in terms of all the various versions of Skeletor that have appeared over the years so I did a lot of reading. I had a lot of fun, you know, watching the old He-Man shows and sort of some of skeletor's greatest hits right his one-liners and you know because you really got to master those insults if you don't get the insults right with Skeletor you're not going to be spot on and then I also I just kind of watched the new series as much as I could and talk to the creators and got their thoughts on you know who is this character, what's he all about and then I just had fun because he's a fun character. I mean that's you know it's always great to have a good villain but when the villain is fun in a story you know and kind of funny and he lies a little bit he doesn't always like to tell the truth. He wants to tell his version of things you know that just makes it a absolute blast to write.

Q : Which are your favorite masters of the universe characters ?

Gregory Mone : so when I was younger, it was definitely Man at Arms. I loved man at Arms because I loved his gadgets and how you know found his way out of situations. In the new series, I love the new man at Arms you know his technological creations and his robots but I also think Teela is a pretty great character in the new series. you know in the kids series I think she's very resourceful she's got some amazing skills and then you know Skeletor is still probably my favorite you know. You just wait for him to come on screen and when he comes on screen it's so much fun and I tried to sort of bring that that sense of fun and humor and also you know an adventure in action as well into the book here into I Skeletor.

Q : What can you tell us about your collaboration with Mattel on this book ?

Gregory Mone : Mattel was great. it's a very creative team. They're open to new ideas but it's all within the context of the world that they've built and the characters they've developed. They have some really brilliant people working there both on the creative side on the toy side and I got to meet all of them and talk to all of them and it's neat to see how they kind of they all work as a team right the people who are creating the toys and building the playhouses are talking to the people that are creating the Netflix series and they're working together. So working with them was great fun you know very fun ideas, very cool people, very smart people and a you know a great mix .

Q : You think that Skeletor Is not evil but he is misunderstood. Please can you talk about that ?

Gregory Mone : I don't think that. Skeletor is saying that. No, I think he's probably a bad guy. I think we're pretty clear that he's evil but in his mind he's just you know a good guy who's just trying to get along in the world. He kind of feels like he deserves the throne. He deserves to rule Eternia and so he's trying to convince the reader that they should love him and not this He-Man guy you know forget He-Man. That's his attitude.

Q : What do you remember about the panel organized at San Diego comic Con for the 40 years of Masters of the universe ?

Gregory Mone : it was amazing to be up on stage there with all those fantastic people. There was Dolph Lundgren who was the original He-Man. I went to see that movie in the theater and you know there he was and that was exciting and then we had all these creative people from Mattel which was wonderful including you know one of the toy designers and one of the Chief story people you know. It was fun to see someone like Pixel Dan who's a you know a big toy collector and a fantastic kind of advocate for these things and to hear him talking about his early experiences with Masters of the Universe that was really special and you know all in all it was just a special experience to have all these people thousands of people who really love this story and this world and these characters all in one place kind of celebrating the history of He-Man right and all the different you know all the different forms and versions that the story has taken. We were all here to celebrate all of it and I felt very lucky to be a part of it and I'm not sure what I said. I totally don't remember there are too many people there so I just started talking but it was a fun experience.

Q : What were the main difficulties you encountered while writing this book ?

Gregory Mone : well, just the pressure to be honest. He's a very special character and I really wanted to get this book right. I wanted it to be a book that Masters of the Universe fans loved and they feel like they're you know getting to know Skeletor a little bit more but also enjoying, hearing his voice and then also you know I wanted other people to like it. A lot of kids are watching this Netflix show and they're new to this whole world and this whole story. You know they've seen this guy before because they've seen his face in commercials and advertisements and on the internet but they don't really know the story. So I wanted to kind of serve both those audiences both the Masters fans like you and I right and then also these kids who don't really know the story and just want to read a good book right .

Q : There are a very important number of adults who collect masters of the universe toys, . Do you collect Masters of the universe characters and which one in your collection is your favorite? Maybe Skeletor ?

Gregory Mone : well, I was very excited to get the 40th anniversary you know this Comic Con and this was pretty exciting. So you know these guys were my writing Partners when I was writing the book. I had Skeletor you know. I had a couple versions of Skeletor. I had these versions and they were kind of sitting with me as I wrote the story and then I have a whole bunch of others you know elsewhere but you know I'll be honest though I'm not a very good collector because even though I'm an adult I still like to pull the toys out and you know and put them on the desk and you know play around them a little bit so.

Q : What do you think about the great series Masters of the universe Revelation and He-man the masters of the universe, did you watch them and what did you think?

Gregory Mone : I watched them both. I really enjoyed both of them. They're very different you know I tended to since the story the books I wrote you know this one and then you know the first He-man book and also I should tell you that you know the muscle here that's my muscle I'm sure you can tell you know since both of these books were based in the world of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The kind of CGI version that's the one I tended to you know I loved because. I was thinking more that as I was building my story but the other one was great too you know it was totally fun to see I especially like the man at Arms with his kind of ninja skills and his fighting skills. I thought that was kind of fun.

Q : I had the chance to discover your book and I find it an indispensable book for all Masters of the universe enthusiasts. do you have some words to say to your international audience as the french one ?

Gregory Mone : Bonjour . Well look these are Universal stories. I hope everyone gets a chance to read them. they're not American books. it's a history of Eternia right so I think they're fans of Masters of the Universe all over the world and these books are for those fans they're not for any one nation or any one person. They're really for everybody and I hope everybody gets a chance to enjoy them.

Q : Can we expect more He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Tales of Eternia books in the next future ?

Gregory Mone : so yes there is going to be one more He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Tales of Eternia book. I can't tell you too much about it but we have a fabulous writer working on it and you know the story's done it's a wonderful story. It's really fun and really interesting and it brings in some great characters that we haven't seen yet either in these books or in the series and that's kind of one of the other fun things of these books is that we get to bring in characters like Moss man that you haven't seen in the other in the series and so that's been a lot of fun and I think this third one will be great. I think everyone's really gonna like it.

Gregory Mone is the author of fourteen works of fiction and nonfiction for both children and adults, including Atlantis: The Accidental Invasion, Fish, and the Jack and the Geniuses series with Bill Nye. He is a contributing editor at Popular Science and an award-winning science writer. A graduate of Harvard College, he lives with his family on Martha’s Vineyard.

You can preorder this book on Amazon here

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: I, Skeletor (Tales of Eternia Book 2)
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harry N. Abrams; Media tie-in edition (November 1, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1419766023
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1419766022
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 years and up
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 1 x 8.5 inches

We would like to thanks Gregory Mone for answering to our questions