Gamera is Friend to All Us Children

There are a few absolutes in my life. Things that my being is so 100% set to believing that I am unshakable in that belief. If you ask me who my favorite giant robot is, without a doubt the answer will be King of the Braves, Gao Gai Gar. No surprise to any reader here, my favorite superhero will always be the Flash. Ask me my favorite giant monster and the only answer acceptable would be Gamera, Guardian of the Universe. There is a special place in my heart for that crazy flying turtle.

There are three different eras of Gamera films the Showa, Heisei, and Millennium. Showa are the original films; created so Daiei could compete against Toho’s Godzilla franchise. In those early films he was a pre-historic turtle whose fire abilities come from his food. The Heisei films were created in the mid to late 90s. They have Gamera being created in Atlantis to be a Guardian of the Universe. The Heisei movies are fantastic and I can not recommend them enough. The Millennium era changes things again, this time we have a baby Gamera hatching from an egg.

Regardless of which version you’re watching, you get a giant turtle that breathes fire and flies. The flying is the best part, because it isn’t just up, up, and away. No, he pulls his back legs into his shell and jets come out of them. Sometimes he pulls everything into his shell and does a fire spin. Gamera also has extremely powerful healing powers, but he has to enter a coma-like state for them to kick in. So usually a monster beats up on him, he enters his healing state, and then comes back to kick the monster’s butt. Sure it might be a bit formulaic, but it is still a lot of fun.

I won’t lie. Even though I had seen tons of Godzilla movies, the first Gamera movie I had ever seen was because of Mystery Science Theater 3000. After that I quickly searched for everything Gamera related that I could. I have both the Showa and Heisei movies on DVD. Now I’ll be able to own the MST3K episodes. On August 2nd Shout Factory is releasing MST3K Vs. Gamera: Mystery Science Theater 3000, Vol. XXI. The set will run just about 50 bucks.

What is in this glorious tin? You get the five Showa era movies that Joel and the bots watched. For the record that is; 302-Gamera, 304-Gamera vs. Barugon, 308-Gamera vs. Gaos, 312-Gamera vs. Guiron, and 316-Gamera vs. Zigra. That in and of itself should be enough to make anyone happy, but wait there is more! You also get these special features: So Happy Together: A Look Back at MST3K and Gamera, Gamera Vs. The Chiodo Brothers, Gamera Obscura: A Brief History by August Ragone (author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters), Original Japanese Trailers, and 5 limited edition mini-posters by artist Steve Vance. Yeah. To put it mildly that is an amazing deal. August can’t get here quick enough.

Electronic News Gathering

For those that don't know, I work in News. This is pretty much the truth.


Reading this week: "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martian (It is a dense book and I am busy...leave me alone)

NHL Playoffs Round 3

Here we are, Round 3. The Lightning and the Bruins have their first game tonight while the Sharks and the Canucks have their first game on Sunday. Before the playoffs had even started I had guessed that it would be Vancouver and Philly in the finals, so no matter what happens in this round we know I’m at least half wrong. This will also be the last 2011 beard update for me. With the Red Wings out there was no reason not to pull out the beard trimmer last night. Brandon is still going strong, so I’ll let him handle that update when this round is over.

Ken 5/13/11

I am sad the Red Wings lost but I don’t feel too bad. I was depressed when the series looked like a sweep, but then with each game Detroit just started winning again. Seven games in a row where one goal pretty much determined who would be the winner. It was exciting. In the end the Sharks finally closed out the series and my favorite team is heading home. There is a lot of uncertainty regarding a number of the Wing’s players and retirement, but I figure we have a few months before we hear anything concrete.  Lidstrom says we'll know by July 1st if he is coming back.  Draper and Osgood want to come back next year.

Brandon 5/13/11

The other big story this round was the sweeps. Both Boston and the Lighting swept their opponents. I think it was just karma for Boston; since last year they won the first three games and then lost the series to the Flyers. Tampa was completely unexpected though. There were times where it didn’t even look like Tampa was going to make it out of the first round. Washington is going to be taking a very serious look at their roster this summer.

How will the two sweepers do against each other? How about Shark versus whale? I know the Canucks aren’t the Whalers, but the images of their two logos look like an episode of Animal Faceoff which is kind of fun. So are you watching the games? Any predictions? Let us know what you think.

Flash Friday: Monkey Trials

Happy Flash Friday everyone! If you’re looking for a hockey update today, give me one day to deal with my broken heart please. Seriously playoff thoughts and beards will be updated tomorrow. Today I have something pretty awesome to share. In fact I didn’t even know it existed till a friend showed me a box of old magazines that he had just been given. Between the multiple copies of the Robocop 2 adaption were a few real gems.

The one I was most excited for and the one we’ll be talking about is the second issue of Superman & Batman magazine. Published in 1993 it contains not only a 6 page Flash comic but also a 2 page bio. We’re going to be covering all of it today.

The comic is titled Monkey Trials and is written by Brian Augustyn. Pencils are done by Mike Parobeck; who was known for working on the Batman Adventures comic and dying very young due to health issues. Rick Burchett was on inks, Tom McCraw did colors, and Tim Harkins was the letterer. The interesting thing about the style on this comic is that does look very animated, but it isn’t the angular DC Animated style. So the Flash look is entirely different then the one we’ll see four years later in the Superman Cartoon.

The story begins with in Keystone City where a woman is desperately trying to get into a pet shop. The owner is referred to as Mr. Greeble and looks to be an homage to Mr. Peebles from Magilla Gorilla; considering this is a Grodd story I thought that was pretty awesome. Once the door to the store opens though, all the animals run out and they talk! In fact all the animals in Keystone have suddenly learned to talk. Even though it may look like it from the panel above, this is not a Flash crossover with Dark Horse’s Beasts of Burden.

Who could be behind such a strange plot? Well I already gave that one away, it’s totally Grodd. He has built a device that can evolve other animals and is now having his army of monkeys build a transmitter so he can add more animal servants and eventually inprision all humans. I’m guessing that’s how this is working because to have monkey minions build the dish, he’d have to already use the device on them. On a side note I think Grodd’s sidekick here should be in all of his appearances.

Flash finds where Grodd is hiding out and runs up the building the take him out. First he is attacked by hawks, but he manages to more or less dodge them. Then we get to the highpoint of the whole issue, Gorilla Guerrillas. Yes, I know they are monkeys but if Grodd can call them that I’m going to do the same. Remember, this is all happening as Flash runs up a building. Flash eventually dives into one of the skyscraper’s windows to stop from falling.

The bad guys are all wondering where Flash disappeared to, when he shows up in the elevator. I have to admit I found the whole scene funny. Flash reverses the evolution ray at super speed. The two panels above really show off Parobeck’s style. And just as Grodd said, all the animals are reverted back to animal intelligence, event Grodd!

The comic ends with Grodd being carted off to the zoo. Now, he’s ended up in zoos before so that isn’t really a big deal. I’m disappointed he didn’t end up in Mr. Greeble’s pet store though. That is it though, six pages of Flash action. It was a fun read and I’m glad to have happened upon the magazine. But we aren’t finished just yet!

If you click on the pages above you’ll see the images and full size. The bio is pretty in depth. That Abra Kadabra costume is just crazy looking. It is interesting to see Trickster is really they only Rogue showing up here. The magazine is an odd balance between kid stuff and more advanced reader stuff. There is a comic based on the Batman cartoon and then there is an article on the Lois and Clark television show. The last issue of the magazine was Justice League themed; I may have to track that down some day.

Hangover Thursday: Trumer Pils

It’s Hangover Thursday, how is your head? Flashpoint and other errands kept me from hitting the bar last night, but I’m sure I’ll make up for it later this week. Hell, I’ll probably need a beer just to keep my nerves in check during game 7 tonight. We’ve talked about beer commercials and advertising before, well this week I found another bit of advertising that has worked on me. I’d never heard of Trumer Pils before, but now I want to try one.

Just look at that magnificent Rube Goldberg machine! Sure I realize that they are using their logo all over the place, but I love the inclusion of all the kegs, bottles, and other beer related things. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a themed Goldberg machine before. Trumer’s website shows it is available in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Illinois. So it looks like I’ll have to wait until I’m on vacation before I track this one down.

If you missed the comments in last week’s Hangover Thursday, I’m going to be at the Ale House in Altamonte Springs on May 29 celebrating one year of That F’ing Monkey. This isn’t going to be a huge party, just a relaxed afternoon with food and a few drinks. If you are local and can make it, that’s awesome. If you are geographically unavailable then I’m sure we’ll have other opportunities to drink with the F’ing Monkey crew.

Tales from the Brain Jar, #14

Tales from the Brain Jar has returned, with a brand new bottled brain to thrill and delight! Well, it is new to the website anyway. Today’s sketch comes from the 2007 Megacon and is by Amanda Conner. You’re all probably pretty familiar with Amanda’s amazing work, but I think I got something pretty different out of my sketch.

Here in all his glory is Dr. Mid-Nite studying a brain in a jar. I know many of you are shaking your head at me. Where is the Pro? Power Girl? Terra? Supergirl? Amanda is known for drawing stunning women and here I bought a picture of a guy in sunglasses. In my defense I really like Dr. Mid-Nite and I really like what Amanda did in the sketch. The Megacon this was done at wasn’t long after the JSA Classified arc Power Trip, which began with the good doctor running some tests on Power Girl. After reading that I knew I wanted a Dr. Mid-Nite running tests on a brain jar; all the humor in this one was totally Amanda’s idea.

So I realize I’ve probably lost some of you. The current Dr Mid-Nite (Pieter Cross) is the third character to use the name and is actually a medical doctor. Due to an accident he can only see in pitch darkness using forms of infrared and ultrasonic vision. He outfitted his goggles with all sorts of scanners and carries blackout bombs; which he can see through but blind everyone else. This is not an ultra-powerful character, but it is a really cool one. One of my favorite things about him is that he’s become one of the go-to guys in the DC Universe when superheroes need medical help or advice. Oh yeah, and he trains owls.

Most of his appearances have been in group settings; or like I mentioned above, as the doctor in the background. Two of the JSA Classified arcs have been about him. One was vampire related and the other about superhero organ snatching. Pieter’s debut story though was a three issue mini-series by Matt Wagner and John K. Snyder III. The entire story has been collected into trade and it is a fantastic read. It felt more like a Vertigo title; the story has the Cross running a street clinic and trying to take down a new, dangerous drug. It was very cool and had a very different feel from the normal superhero fare.

Thor Recap, Bring on Beta Ray Bill!

With Thor making 65 million over the weekend I’m guessing some of you went and saw it. I just saw it Monday night; I’m pretty allergic to opening weekend crowds so we waited a bit. I really enjoyed the movie. I’m a sucker for cosmic Vikings smashing things though, so your mileage may vary. Most of the comic book references were pretty nicely handled; the bits about Donald Blake had me literally laughing out loud. The after the credits scene is such obscure nerddom that it was almost funny to watch the audience’s confusion.

I’m not bringing Thor up to do a review though. I’m bringing it up because I’m excited. If the god of thunder keeps bringing in money the Marvel machine will have to do a sequel. If they do another one, they’ll have to introduce Beta Ray Bill won’t they? Iron Man 2 brought in War Machine, so it only makes sense. I hope so, because I have a confession. I like Marvel’s version of Thor; but I freaking love Beta Ray Bill.

A little history for those not versed in Thor comics; Beta Ray Bill showed up in 1983. The horse-faced alien didn’t start that way. He was part of an alien race called the Korbinites, who go on searching for a new home when their galaxy explodes. To become their champion Bill undergoes a series of experiments to make his super strong and tough. The rest of his race look human, he bame that thing to protect his people. Thor encounters his space ship and in true comic book fashion the to fight it out before realzing they are both good guys.

This is back when Thor reverted back to Donald Blake if he lost contact with Mjolnir for 60 seconds. You can guess what happens next. Thor gets switched back to Blake during the fight. Bill picks up Blake’s walking staff and is transformed into a Thor-like costume. This is the first time in the comics that anyone else was worthy of picking up the hammer. It has happened a bunch of times since then, but at the time it was pretty epic.

Odin teleports Bill and Thor to Asgard where they battle it out to see who is worthy of Mjolnir. The two are so evenly matched that they knock each other out. Only Beta Ray Bill wakes up first and saves Thor from a lava flow. Bill is determined the winner but eventually concedes Mjolnir to Thor. Odin is so impressed that he gives Bill a hammer of his own, Stormbreaker. When tapped on the ground it even lets Bill return to his original Korbinite appearance. Bill agrees to join the Asgardian forces when he learns the fire demon Surtur was responsible for his race’s near destruction.

Beta Ray Bill’s first appearance and a ton more awesomeness has recently been collected in the Walt Simonson Thor Ominbus. This monster is 1192 pages and covers Thor 337-355, 357-369, 371-382; Balder the Brave #1-4. Yeah, that is a lot of Thor. Well worth the 125 dollar price tag, you can find it through online retailers for about 80 bucks. To me these are the definitive Thor stories and if you’ve never checked them out before don’t let that price tag deter you.

All this talk of Beta Ray Bill may make me play Marvel Ultimate Alliance again. My team of War Machine, Scarlet Spider, US Agent, and Beta Ray Bill was epic.