Gabara vs Godzilla

Manda

just to start out with something really cool, this is a very nice shot of Manda, the monster from Atragon (1963). but the rest of the post is about Gabara.

the bully monster

he's such a cool looking monster, being one of the more unusual critters in the Toho pantheon of kaiju.  he just doesn't quite belong to any one group of creatures, he really is a nightmare monster.

judo throw!

of course, he's no match for even Minya, as bullies always cave when confronted.  but he then makes the mistake of attacking Godzilla.  and we know how that goes!

how about that Marine Boy

what a schedule of great shows

this blog was ostensibly started to track the progress of the Marine Boy book.

then I got sidetracked by a real job and life and all that fun stuff that goes along with things.  but I have not forgotten, and I do have all the writing nearly done.  I do not know exactly how it will be published, either as a Xenorama imprint or on it's own, but at least I have the body of the work done.

and thank God I got to talk to the late Peter Fernandez about Marine Boy.  he was a great gentleman and had some really cool information for me.  I feel like I owe it to his memory to get the information out now.

to the left here is an example of how the early morning line ups used to look on television.  this sort of programming will never happen again.  I used to get up early just to watch the cool shows that were never aired in Colorado at the time.  not knowing anything about how shows were chosen, I just thought tv in Colorado was really poor at the time.  still do, actually!  we did get a lot of cool monster movies though.

boomerang throw!

I know that Marine Boy did get shown in CO in the late 60s, as I remember seeing the opening when I was about four years old.

so stay tuned, as things are starting to move again with this project!

18 Jade Arhats

seems I'm on a kung fu kick these days. The Eighteen Jade Arhats!

pick a title, darn it!

this is a DVD from Tai Seng, who for years was the place to go (unless you wanted Shaw Brothers, then you were outta luck) to get kung fu movies. now, these older titles are kind of frustrating, as they are poorly transferred and mostly fullscreen versions of these movies.

who said that?

and too damn dark on occasion!  this movie suffers from hard to discern night scenes.  a new transfer would be really nice.

this is a good movie, full of fights and action.  the plot is a little convoluted, revenge, mystery, theft and double crosses- and two men fake their own deaths- but it's not too hard to follow.  Polly Kwan is looking for the man who stole the titular Arhats and then there's some frame ups as well.

our heroes walk away

Golden Arm! pt 2

this is a great title

here's a couple screen caps from the new Tokyo Shock release of this fine movie.  it looks great and while lacking many extras, the DVD is well worth owning.  in fact, even if it was JUST THE MOVIE it would be worth owning, as we used to love fullscreen VHS tapes with nothing else added at all.  people have gotten way too spoiled these days about such things.

the final battle

there is a lot of fighting in this, and it's all very inventive.  we get to see an unusual style of drunken kung fu from Philip Kwok as he battles Meng Lo at the end of the movie. 

The Avengers

not the first Avenger by a longshot

I can't believe I've had this blog for over four years and this is the first time I've mentioned the Avengers, who were the first superhero group I ever read.

more on that issue later, suffice it to say this issue to the left was not it.

the Avengers was almost always my first buy when it came to choosing comics.  I had several issues, but my first real "series" of actually finding one issue after the other was Avengers #101-108, which is still one of my favorite story arcs to this day.

it was very Vision/Scarlet Witch-centric, who at the time captivated my imagination.  it did also introduce me, albeit unknowingly to Harlan Ellison, which was pretty cool.  as well as Hawkeye in his odd costume that lasted all of those ten or eleven issues.

an awesome cover

there were some great comic book stories back then, I gotta say.  I highly recommend reading these stories, and they have been reprinted in the Essential Avengers v. 5, for a really good price.

I hope this is one of many Avengers posts to come.

Monster Attack Team #8

132 pages of awesome

one of the highlights of the con was getting my copy of MAT #8.  I contributed the Kikaida 01 episode guide and appreciation, so there's full disclosure for ya.

but the rest of the magazine (and at 132 pages, more than one person has told editor Mike Keller it's more book than magazine) is just as great as my article.  there's a Kamen Rider overview by August Ragone, a nice article about Kinji Fukasaku and the movies he has directed, which include one of my favorites, the cool Green Slime (1968).  there is a lot more, but you should order the issue yourself and find out.  the color version is great, but the info will be the same whether the pictures are in color or not.

I never read any of the original run of the zine.  always wanted to, and probably could have traded them a few issues of Xenorama for a copy of two, but just never got around to it.  I do owe Mike and Ed a note of thanks, since they have inspired me to put out a new issue of Xenorama after an 8 year hiatus.  now I just have to find someone who can make a great cover like this one.

"Media" Con 2010 day 2

my first thought is how do kids carry around heavy backpacks full of books?  that is an unpleasant experience! perhaps I am not quite as young as I used to be.

anyway, the second day was about the same as the first, though I ventured down to the 2000+ numbers and that's where the mass media crap was- movies, tv shows and video games that had little or nothing to do with any fantastic elements, even by the loosest definition.  I mean, really, Showtime is a sponsor so we get "Nurse Jackie" and "Californication" posters all around (and on the buses, with their "biff", "bam" and "pow" slogan that went out in the late 60s, get with the times people)?

yes, that is a glommer

but there were cool things all around in the less crowded section- that being the comic books.  saying "less crowded" might make it seem like there was no one there, but the place was still full.  perhaps "quieter" part might be a better term.

I looked at toys and movies- still lots of bootlegs out there, by the way- and some books.  working at my pal's place I got two Essentials for $10, which was quite nice.  and since he lives in SD, I can go down to his place and get more later on.  yay!  send me your orders!

overall I really don't miss going to the Con.  in years past the last day was usually quite melancholy for me, as I knew it would be another year until I was back with "my people".  well, some of them are still my people, but I bet 80% aren't these days.

the best part was seeing old friends, and also getting my copy of MAT #8.

DC's 75th Anniversary

the BIG Three

according to all accounts, this year is DC Comics 75th anniversary of publishing comic books.  yes, three years before Superman showed up DC was producing periodical reading material.

so at "Media" Con this year, it's all over the place.  and since there were no superheroes (per se) in 1935, we get a slew of drawings of the Big 3 helping DC celebrate.

and some interesting essays about the impact of comics and such over 3/4 of a century.  the one I found most interesting was the question asked to the readers about their favorite DC moments.

the answers ranged all over the place from things I agreed with to pure WTF moments (I mean, "Identity Crisis"?  really?).  it did get me thinking about what my favorite DC moment was though.

it really wasn't too hard to figure out, and I'll blog about it in the near future.  anyone else got a thought about it?

"Media" Con 2010 day 1

I went to the Con for the first time in 3 years, helping a friend out with his booth.  I also got to see my pal August Ragone's "Gamera The Invincible" Visual Tribute, and it was pretty darn great.  he covered the creation of the monster right up to Zigra in great pictures, many were behind the scenes photos showing the amazing amount of detail in the miniatures in the first two movies.

great stuff.

the rest of the time I helped my friend out and walked about 1/5 of the dealer's room floor.  there is an amazing amount of cool and useless junk out there being hawked. there will be pictures at some point in the near future of useless junk and maybe some other cool things.

it was nice to be where there were a lot less people- the comics part of the Con.

alternate Herculoids intro

this is the one I remember the most as a kid-
however, it's not the original.  I think I saw it in the late 70s when the show aired again.  but before the "Space Stars" episodes were created.

this won't show up on FB, so go here to view!