For anyone who grew up in the 80s as a child or a young teen, you remember two things being synonymous with that era. Saturday morning cartoons and the multitude of sugary sweet breakfast cereals that we devoured as children as we sat glued to our televisions until our parents kicked us out of the house.
There were so many cartoons back then. Some that if you were to go back and look at the list of all the shows that came out in that decade you might realize you missed some sweet programming. Whether they aged well or not (and were any good, to begin with) is a discussion for another time.
But of the many shows on television back then one of them was the short-lived property Sectaurs. Created by Maureen Trotto, Timothy Clarke, and Larry Mass and Licensed by Seven Towns. Original Story by Maureen Trotto.
According to Wikipedia, there was an animated mini-series that spanned five episodes, and Marvel Comics published an eight-issue limited series. A read-along record storybook was also made.
The animated series aired from September 14 to October 12, 1985, and I’m sure many times over in repeats.
The Marvel comic series is coveted and loved by fans of 80s toys and comics (makes sense given Bill Mantlo was the writer and Mark Texeira was the artist) and the property also had a series of toys. Because remember this was the 80s and toys went with cartoons like peanut butter and jelly.
Despite its small amount of success not much has been done with Sectaurs since then but that’s all about to change. With a Kickstarter for a new line of toys set to launch in 2018, there will also be a new comic written by J. Robert Bryans (N-Guard) along with Maureen Trotto with pencils by JC Fabul and inks, letters, and colors by Mickey Clausen.
Maureen Trotto was also kind enough to grace us with some words concerning the properties return and the writer J. Robert Bryans.
“First of all let me say how happy I am to be working with J Robert Bryans. We have been dreaming about this for quite some time. We are anxious to bring more of the Sectaurs’ story to life. This time around the story is a little darker and we are able to explore some of the fascinating female characters that inhabit the planet Symbion.”
The comic (a 6-issue miniseries) will take place roughly 7 years after the events in the Marvel comic book, and will see the heroes of the Shining Realm and the villains of the Dark Domain-locked in a continuing conflict for the planet of Symbion. We will see all the characters we remember well from the original run while introducing new characters.
As J. Robert Bryans stated concerning the new comic series. “We look forward to expanding the rich landscape and story elements of Sectaurs and bring many new and exciting adventures.”
And thanks to the power of the internet I bring you an exclusive interview with J. Robert on this amazing announcement. Check it out below.
Marco: First off, I want to thank you for this opportunity. I’m a fan of the short animated series myself. Especially the amazing Marvel comic by Bill Mantlo and Mark Texeira. So, to start us off why don’t you tell us how this all came together and about the team working with you on the book.
J. Robert: Firstly, I have to say, the original Mantlo and Texeira comics for Marvel were a thing of beauty. I still to this day remember where I bought issue one, and I still have all the issues.
As for how we have come to this point, it all started about 10 to 12 years ago. I was starting to get a level of notoriety from my nGuard comic series, published by Markosia out of the UK.
I had always been a fan of Sectaurs and always felt it needed to make a comeback. I began the task of hunting down the creators. Wasn’t an easy task back then, but I was very lucky to be able to reach out to Maureen (Trotto) and even luckier, she was willing to talk with me.
Didn’t take long, Maureen and I became quick friends, mainly due to my awesome charm… not… because of a shared love for all things Sectaurs. After a number of conversations, I was humbled and honored to be allowed to play in the realm of Sectaurs and I, with an artist, created a pitch bible for the next generation of Sectaurs. I then wrote a pilot episode/movie for this new iteration.
Lucky for my ego, Maureen loved it and shared it with Tim Clarke, but unfortunately, we could not move ahead at the time. We would have to wait, and wait we did. Now 10+ years later, that waiting has paid off and I have the extreme privilege to be working with Maureen and Tim to help bring Sectaurs back for a new generation, but keeping in mind many of the old fans who have been screaming for this series to return.
Marco: In your announcement, you stated this would be a six-issue miniseries and taking place roughly seven years after the events in the Marvel comic book. Does that mean the rights to that comic are now in the hands of Maureen? Might we see a collection of those stories? And tell us a bit about what the new series will be about.
J. Robert: The rights have been an issue of many conversations between Maureen and myself over the years. Never bad, just conversations. I will say this, the rights are exactly where they should be, and we are all looking toward the future. Sectaurs is coming back and that is all that matters.
As for a collection of the original books, I cannot speak on that topic. That being said, it would be an amazing collection, wouldn’t it?
The new mini-series, Legacy of the Sectaurs, will, as you said, start off roughly seven years after the events in the Marvel series. I will not exactly be speaking about the previous books in the new series, but if you read the original 8 issue Marvel run, then read the new one, you will note that they will fit together seamlessly.
Seven years have passed, the Shining Realm and the Dark Domain have been at constant battle with each other. No winners. As a silence in the conflict has spread across the lands of Symbion, the Symbion Security Council, led by Dargon are worried that this is a calm before the storm. As they should be, Empress Devora and General Spidrax have a nefarious plot that could shake Symbion to the core.
This story will see the rise of a new kind of threat, one that will swarm across the planet, destroying everything in its path. It will also see the coming of a new king, with a Legacy that will bring about an end to this terrible conflict and save Symbion.
Marco: Let’s talk publisher. Who is going to be releasing this beauty? Or is that still being discussed and negotiated as we speak?
J. Robert: We have just begun speaking about publishing and at this point, we have many options. As soon as a publisher is chosen, we will make sure everyone knows.
Marco: Before we wrap this up why don’t you tell our readers a bit about you and what you do and your company Gaelstone Media Group.
J. Robert: I will be happy to, thanks for asking.
Gaelstone Media Group is a company I founded a number of years back to develop and pitch new animated and movie properties. We have had the honor of working with many clients, building a solid skill set that can be used to help a client from the easiest of development work to a finished product.
I have an amazing team working with me, and together, we are determined to bring that 80’s Saturday Morning Cartoon feel back to the animation world, entertaining children of all ages.
We currently have three properties signed and in active development with Global Genesis Group and we have four other properties that we are speaking with them about. We will see how that goes.
Our current slate of projects are as follows;
nGuard
Ricky Rocket and the Rocket Rangers
Santa’s Spies
ResQG.I.R.L.S
TiTAN TiM
GoGo Ronin and
Armorsaurs
Then we have the amazing project we are here speaking about.
We are also a for hire development company and are open to helping anyone with their projects, as long as we have an opening in our schedule.
Visit our website to keep up with all our current properties.
And that’s a wrap! I want to thank J. Robert Bryans again for letting me interview him and for giving Monkeys Fighting Robots this exclusive. We hope you all enjoyed reading it and you can follow J. Robert and stay up to date on the comic and his own properties via the Gaelstone Media Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter. Also, don’t forget to keep an out for that Kickstarter (for the toys) when it launches next year and make sure to pick up the comic when it’s released.
