Comic book fan Rob Pearlmann gathered all of Skeletor's teachable moments in a new book.
What would Skeletor do?
One comic book fan suggests seeking the advice of He-Man's antagonist in times of trouble.
“As evil as he is, you have to admire his tenacity and his stick-to-it-ness,” author and pop-culture fanatic Robb Pearlmann told InsideEdition.com. “He knows what he wants, he's clear about it, you know exactly what his motivations are, and I think we can learn to follow your dreams like Skeletor does.”
Pearlmann, the writer behind the new book “What Would Skeletor Do?” said he remembered watching the He-Man cartoon series every afternoon when he got back from school, with a bowl of cereal in his lap.
“It was based on a toy line from the 1980s. And the central premise was Skeletor, who was the master of evil, wanted to take over this gigantic Castle Grayskull and the forces of good, including and especially He-Man, were keeping him from doing that,” he explained. “Skeletor is the master of evil and the chief rival of He-Man.”
But at moments, he said he found himself sympathizing with Skeletor.
“Skeletor is not a good guy by any stretch of the imagination. He wants to take over the castle so he can rule Endor completely and dictatorially, which is not the best thing,” Pearlmann said. “But he obviously suffered some sort of trauma when he was younger that is pushing him toward this.”
At the end of each episode, the characters present the audience with teachable moments that appeared in the episodes, but Pearlmann often found himself asking why Skeletor never got a chance to offer up his own pieces of advice.
When Pearlmann rediscovered his passion for He-Man in his adulthood, he decided to put together his own book of advice, based on all the silly or sharp-witted things Skeletor would say during his various plots to take over the universe.
“He has something to say if you want to actually listen to what it is. And I tried to take that and put it into the book,” he explained “Skeletor can teach us a lot about friends, about family, about relationships, about your first job, and about how to channel your frustrations into shaking your fists to the heavens.”
Pearlmann also admired Skeletor for his honesty, even when his intentions are not exactly noble.
More practically, Pearlman said Skeletor has a great way of handling uncomfortable situations.
“When things get a little too hairy, he just makes a very quick and dramatic exit and you never see him again,” Pearlmann said. “It’s a wonderful way to leave a party too."
Skeletor also has great style, Pearlmann said, dressing in purple and furnishing his home with practical and functional décor
“He decorates his home very sparsely, mostly to intimidate people,” he explained. “So, there’s lots of granite tops and bones everywhere."
But Pearlmann’s biggest piece of advice: “Skeletor can teach us ... what not to do,” he joked.
RELATED STORIES