New MOTU Character Scare Mare to Make Comic Book Debut (Exclusive)
Tim Seeley and Rob David preview the Mattel and Mondo figure's new mini-comic.
The Masters of the Universe franchise has been entertaining fans of all ages for decades now, thanks in part to its cast of visually-distinct and epic characters. As was announced last month, a new character will soon be joining that roster, with Mondo and Mattel debuting Scare Mare, the steed of beloved villain Scare Glow. Designed by Mondo's Hector Arce and Bob Fulkerson and designed by Arce and Masters of the Universe historian Florian Bertmer, Scare Mare will be part of a deluxe figure release from Mondo, with more details set to be revealed during Mondo's Toy Talk livestream. Scare Mare is also getting a new Funko Pop!, to coincide with joining the roster of the upcoming Funko Fusion video game. To coincide with the Mondo figure's release, Scare Mare is even getting his own mini-comic from Dark Horse Entertainment, which is penned by Masters of the Universe veteran Tim Seeley.
In anticipation of the launch of the Scare Glow and Scare Mare deluxe figure and mini-comic, ComicBook spoke with Seeley and Mattel's Rob David about the process of expanding the Masters of the Universe lore, crafting Scare Mare's origin story, and more.
ComicBook: Tim, I know you are a huge fan of the Masters of the Universe franchise, and you have contributed to so many different types of stories within it. How does it feel to be able to introduce an entirely new character?
Tim Seeley: Well, this one is extra cool, because it's tied to a character I'm already familiar with, and it has a big deluxe action figure. So it's like multi-levels of cool. But for me, just as a fan and a nerd, the figure of Scare Glow was — it was a hard one to get when I was a kid. When you got it, you were the only kid on the block who had it. And then for years after, he was this legendary toy. I'd be like, "Remember the glow-in-the-dark skeleton guy with the giant scythe?" and people would like, "What are you talking about?" And now he's coming back with his deluxe Mondo figure, and you get his big scary horse with wings.
Dark Horse was like, "Hey, we have this thing. What you want to do?" I was like, "I've already got it figured out. I didn't even need a pitch. I know exactly what this is." And so anytime I do a mini-comic Masters of the Universe thing, it ties back to the fact that the reason I read comics is because of Masters of the Universe mini-comic.
The previous announcement of the figure revealed a little bit of the backstory of Scare Glow. How much of that did you contribute, and how much of that was brought to you by Mattel and Mondo?
Seeley: They gave us a design — and we know his real name. It was something that they mentioned — and then they just kind of said, "Give us some ideas for how this happens." So I just gave them a bunch of different sort of scenarios, little short pitches, of how our guy could have turned into that glowing skeleton with a giant scythe. And they picked one, and we went with it. This one, it's tied to some history, but it's short and sweet. And I think that's kind of a way to do this kind of character. Plus, it doesn't tie him directly to other versions, so he doesn't have to be sort of the Underworld God of the Revelations cartoon. This gives him something kind of new, rooted in a bunch of different ideas.
What was it like to collaborate with Mattel and Mondo?
Seeley: It was really easy. Every time I worked with Mattel, I can tell you this, Rob is right here. It's always easy. It's always just like, "Hey, here's an idea." And everybody goes, "Well, that's cool." And then they go, "Go nuts." And then we make something, and then it's done. That's what's happened every time I've ever made anything with Mattel, which is probably the only company I've ever worked with that works.
Rob David: I love working with Tim. Anytime we have a MOTU — we call it MOTU, as I know the fans know what that is — story to tell in comics or whatnot, I always go to Tim because I love working with him and he knows the materials so well. So when Mondo wanted to do this figure with the toy team, they asked if there were any people that we thought would be perfect for it. So they come to me. I work in television. I'm not on Mattel, I don't work on the toy team, but I'm such a huge MOTU fan and I'm such a huge comic fan that I can't help myself but be involved anytime there are comic books. So when they came to me and asked me who would be perfect for it, I'm like, "Tim Seeley." He pitched a whole bunch of different stories, and he knows the lore backwards and forwards, and he knows how to make it tie things together in knew and fresh ways. I think he had three different ideas, and this was the one that just rose from the top. I love the bitter irony of the ending to the tale, which I don't think I'll give away, but I thought it was just a great idea. That's the beauty of a property like Masters of the Universe. It's forty years old, but there's still such a demand for new characters. It's still fresh. It's always surprising you, and people like Tim are so great at bringing that to life.
Were there any challenges in introducing the origin story of a protagonist who can't talk and can't offer his own point of view on the history? Was that limiting in any way?
Seeley: Oh no, our pitch was he's Evil Mr. Ed. That was the whole pitch. And no, he doesn't talk, but I guess I thought what would be kind of cool about it is to play that he is an animal. And then obviously the bad guy in this scenario is Scare Glow, and then playing up the idea that most of the time when you're a sort of a skeletal phantom horse that you made. So we kind of tie that into the story a little bit, and I think it ties into the way that Scare Glow, he a cursed character essentially, but he likes to turn around and use that curse for his advantage. So we play that with his relationship with his mount as well.
What would you say surprised you the most about taking on the challenge of introducing a new character into this decades-old franchise?
Seeley: Because there's not that much of existing Scare Glow stuff, but what there is is all stuff that can go in a million different directions. Even just his first appearance in the mini-comics, Skeletor summons him and he's "the ghost of Skeletor", and that's kind of all you get in the first appearance of that character. But then that's sort of, well, how did he become a ghost? Is he the ghost literally of Skeletor?
David: That was the big mystery with fans, when Scare Glow was referred to as "the ghost of Skeletor." People said, "is he actually a ghost who's under the employee of Skeletor, or is Skeletor dead and now that's his ghost?' It's just funny, it could be both or neither. It could be all things. That's the beauty of the multiverse of MOTU.
Seeley: And also just allowing all those kids to have a million different versions of this story for themselves. Anytime we do something in Masters of the Universe, you want to leave enough stuff that someone can play with it. It doesn't matter if you're five or you're 47, people can add in part of their imagination to it.
David: It's kind of like jazz. MOTU has been jazz over the years. It's like this one kind of thread, but then different musicians come in. And like Tim, I include kids at home, playing with the figures or adult fans playing with their figures as part of the musicians who are joining the jam. It's just everyone's giving a riff. There's no one single solid canon to MOTU. It really is a multiverse of stories and everyone gets to contribute. But it also has to be grounded. It's got to be surprising, but it has to come out organically from what came before. That's what I think is so great about this figure from Mondo. And then, Tim's story for it, it's so organic that Scare Glow would have a steed. It's so, so very MOTU. And the type of steed he has is just what the deepest corners your subconscious would want his ride to be. It's sick. And the story I think really kind of does justice. I really love their relationship.
We know Scare Mare isn't just confined to the comics or confined to the figure, he's already going to appear elsewhere. Rob, I was wondering if you could speak to that.
David: Oh yeah, especially if it connects. I would want to use them in everything we're doing, more comics, more animated shows, anything, movies, you name it. When you've got something that rich, you should go with it. And that's how it starts to feel nostalgic, but never retro. It's always fresh, because if you can't surprise the audience with new characters, then it might as well be a game over. Just go re-watch the old show, and it's a museum piece. But when you have something that is vital, it just opens up more avenues for storytelling.
Tim, is it safe to assume we can probably expect Scare Mare to show up in any future comics you might do?
Seeley: I put all the toys in things. I try to treat like all characters are someone's favorite, and somebody's going to come into this and this is going to be their first Master of the Universe figure. They're going to buy this Mondo thing because they're Mondo collector, or someone's going to see it and it's awesome and super heavy-metal-looking, and they're going to get it. And so I treat this as I treat Mantenna and Evil-Lyn and the Twistoid. Any sort of figures that come out are someone's favorite. You have to treat them with curiosity and interest and respect every time. And yeah, I try to put all the toys in the comics every time I can.
***
Tune in to Mondo's Toy Talk livestream on Thursday, July 18th at 8/7c for more details about Scare Mare.
