A year later, in 1992 (34 years ago yesterday)...

     [This is a follow-up to the previous post, and also posted on my Facebook page, but more up-to-date here.]

    So 34 years ago yesterday (January 5, 1992), I once again went with Mom to NYC Creation Con (for the last time, sadly; I moved out of NY late that year). I got:

 

-Markalite #2 (pictured here), which focused mainly on the Ultra Series (which I learned so much more about from this issue!), including the then-new Ultraman: Towards the Future (which premiered on WNYW Fox Channel 5 the morning before)! We also got everyone’s reviews of Godzilla Vs. Biollante (covered extensively in the previous issue), and as expected, they were mixed. August Ragone, Bob Johnson and others thought it was fine, despite its issues, but the late Guy Mariner Tucker offered the most *brutal* review of them all! Super Man-chine Metalder (Toei; 1987) was covered, as was Kamen Rider Black RX (Toei; 1988). And also Fred Patten’s in-depth article about Ironman #28/Gigantor! Another great issue! But it would be my last issue. (Issue #3 is extremely rare, and because of the difficulty with the shady distributor Jeffrey Tibbets, Issue #4 was never released.) It’s a shame, because this really is one of the absolute best magazines on the subject of Japanese sci-fi/fantasy, focusing on all of it, and treats it with so much reverence and respect. It was the perfect complement to the myriad anime fanzines put out by geeks and hipsters who often diminished tokusatsu. It was a godsend.

 

-The original Japanese version of King Kong Vs. Godzilla (Toho; 1962), which I saw for the first time (including the beautiful “TohoScope” logo), and loved more than the US version! Breathtaking Ifukube score, great character performances & development, and yes, Kong wins in the end, contrary to all the misinformation we were plagued with in the decades before. :)

 

-From the same video dealer; Devil Hunter Yoko (before it made it to the US!)

 

(I even got to see a bit of Daimajin for the first time, after first reading about him in The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film a few years back. And also the climax of Episode #4 of Zone Fighter, which I was *really* taken aback with, after seeing a few pics of him and Godzilla, thinking he was another Ultraman!)

 

-And from Paul Haberman (who I just met that time at his table, and since became friends with), Episodes 33, 39, and 41 (final) of the Toei Spider-Man! I was aware of it from the “Superhero Rollcall” in Markalite #1, but had no idea that it featured the *actual* Spider-Man! Riding a giant robot! While far from the best adaptation of the character (I would’ve *loved* producer Toru Hirayama’s original idea, far more), it’s nonetheless a great novelty. :)

 

    Oh, I miss NYC Creation Con. Before DragonCon, it was the biggest (and first) convention I’ve ever attended! Even the recent local GalaxyCon here in Richmond reminds me so much of Creation Con.

35 years ago today (January 6, 1991), my life changed forever...

    [I originally posted this on my Facebook page, but it's a little more up-to-date.]

    So it was 35 years ago today, when my life changed forever. 35 years ago today, I officially became a "tokusatsu fan."

 

    (Well, I already was to begin with, but I'll get into it more...)

 

    I was 15 going on 16. I was still in junior high at the time, about to graduate in a few months, and high school was 9 months away (around which time The Ren & Stimpy Show, one of my favorite cartoons of all time, would premiere on Nickelodeon).

 

    On Sunday, after New Year's Day 1991 (which would make it January 6), Mom and I went downtown to Manhattan to go to NYC Creation-Con. It was always exciting to spend a day at Creation-Con. This was my fourth time at the convention. (The first, my first-ever con, was on Thanksgiving Saturday 1989, the second was in early June 1990, and the third, I think, was in July or August of that year.)

    We spent the whole afternoon going to the Dealer's Hall, and I made 3 purchases. First, I stopped off at a dealer's table where I bought both Ultraman (Tsuburaya; 1966) Vol. 1, with the first 5 episodes dubbed in English, and Voyage Into Space (AIP-TV; 1970), the compilation film of Giant Robo (Toei; 1967), AKA: Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot. I even got to watch the first five minutes of an episode of Ambassador Magma (P-Productions; 1966), AKA: The Space Giants! It was absolutely wild! As I mentioned in the past, I'd seen Voyage Into Space before, on ABC Channel 7's The 4:30 Movie back in about 1978, but I always wanted to see Ultraman, and with this, I finally did, for the very first time! (My third purchase made that experience all the more special, but I'll get back to that in a bit...)

    Near the end of our day at the con, I watched something else on another dealer's table: It was an awesome superhero similar to Inframan! A shiny, black insectoid superhero riding on a motorcycle. It was the first Toei Manga Festival theatrical episode (Hurry to the Island of Demons!) of Kamen Rider Black (Toei; 1987)! I watched Kamen Rider in action for the first time! (I saw toys of this guy at Forbidden Planet in 1988.) I would soon find out that this guy is the other famous superhero in Japan besides Ultraman, and is basically the Japanese equivalent of Spider-Man! (Though I would soon become aware of the actual localized Spidey, which I saw exactly a year later.)

    My third purchase was this very magazine, which I read about a few months earlier in Filmfax Magazine. This is the first issue of Markalite Magazine, from Summer 1990. Markalite (named after the Markalite FAHP/Flying Atomic Heat Projectors from Toho's 1957 sci-fi epic, The Mysterians) was devoted to Japanese sci-fi, both live-action and anime, and the first one I ever read of its kind. Ever since reading it on the train trip back home with Mom, it opened a whole new world for me, and I finally found the name of the medium of Japanese live-action special effects I loved so much: Tokusatsu (short for "tokubetsu/tokushuu satsuei," or "special photography" in Japanese).

    It had a "Superhero Rollcall," which had me on the lookout for almost every Japanese superhero TV show up to 1990 (just a few of them I'd already seen, and this magazine had more info on them!). From the Rollcall, I was gobsmacked to learn that Ultraman and its follow-up series Ultraseven (Tsuburaya; 1967), who I saw pictures and toys of, were created by Eiji Tsuburaya! EIJI FUCKING TSUBURAYA!!! Godzilla and Ultraman (and even Ultraseven) are BROTHERS!!! It had an in-depth look at its main feature, Godzilla Vs. Biollante (Toho; 1989), which I saw months earlier. It had an article on Japanese giant robot anime and their effects in America, where I learned about Go Nagai's Mazinger Z, Getter Robo and others. It had an article on the aforementioned Kamen Rider Black, and an interview with its star, Tetsuo Kurata. There was an article about Spectreman (P-Productions; 1971), which I learned about for the first time! Tributes to deceased veterans like actors Akihiko Hirata, Jun Tazaki, and screenwriter Takeshi Kimura (AKA: Kaoru Mabuchi)! And many others! Reviews, commentary, etc. And I learned about the experts in fandom, who were behind this magazine: August Ragone, Bob Johnson, Ed Godziszewski, and even the late Guy Mariner Tucker. This magazine was PACKED!!!

I was one crazy obsessed guy, looking around for this stuff. Long before we had the Internet, file-sharing platforms, and even YouTube and streaming! Even when that unfortunate phenomenon called Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Americanized from Zyuranger, which I saw almost a year earlier) premiered in 1993 and caused a meteoric market for tokusatsu (which kind of hampered things for me, because I loved this stuff being so obscure so only I could find it; Godzilla was much more in vogue at the time)! And thanks to this magazine (of which I bought Issue # 2 a year later at NYC Creation-Con), I've become a tokusatsu master in my own right, even though, true to my childhood dream, I was already more inspired to want to *create* my own version of this stuff! And you're already seeing that with my life's work in progress, Rekira the Super-Monster, which I started work on (originally as a Godzilla fan-fiction) just a few months later. But that's another story.

 

    If you stumble upon this magazine with limited knowledge of tokusatsu and even anime, I guarantee, your life will change forever as mine did. But don't say I didn't warn you that it was an addiction! Seeking out all the stuff I read in Markalite (and being informed about stuff I've already seen) was one hell of a journey. ;)

 

Introducing Dengeking!

 Not quite Ultraman, but it'll do for today!

Finally completed in Blender (the texture map done in Flash), here's the cyborg superhero Dengeking, from Rekira the Super-Monster! This is the giant form for Herald 6: Dengekid (Raitaro Hayama). Obviously my own tribute to Japanese superheroes, including Ultraseven, Spectreman, Silver Mask, Hyuman, Zone Fighter, and others. The color scheme is an obvious homage to Jet Jaguar (where my interest in Japanese robots and superheroes came from). I'm especially proud of how the head turned out!

Happy Valentine's Day 2024!

 For (after) Valentine's Day, I did this drawing of Mysti-Girl and Dengekid (Heralds 4 and 6, respectively), two members of the Dynamic Heralds, from my original kaiju project, Rekira the Super-Monster! Done on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Happy Chinese New Year 2024!

 So yesterday was the Lunar New Year! The Year of the Dragon. :)

So I thought I'd do another New Year's drawing featuring my original kaiju, Rekira, and I started on it yesterday. But because we got Chinese food for dinner (it was delicious!), and I got to spend a bit of time with my family (even watching some of the animated movie Wish Dragon, which was cute!), I was a bit delayed, but it was still worth it. It took several hours, but it's a gorgeous bit of art!

Here, the Dynamic Heralds, the superhero team from Rekira the Super-Monster, perform with a dragon dance pole puppet based on Rekira himself! A concept I thought up in the last few days.

Drawn on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Last CG work of 2023!

 I'll be taking a break from CG work for the rest of the year, so it's fitting that I would post this superb CG recreation of my "Final Art of 2022" drawing! Once it was finished, I got a bit emotional seeing the result (and the original drawing was emotional enough as it was). A Christmas present for all. Done on Blender on the 15th, and assembled in FireAlpaca today.

And here's the original:

The Dynamic Heralds in CGI!

 At last, after two years, I finally got all of the Dynamic Heralds translated into 3DCG!

The Dynamic Heralds is the superhero team featured in my original kaiju project, Rekira the Super-Monster; they are the (super)human protagonists of the story, investigating the strange phenomenon of giant monsters suddenly appearing in New York. Transformed into "die-cast" superhumans by the super-computer HERA (Hydro-Electric Re-Atomizer), The Dynamic Heralds are secretly based/reside in Olympus Tower on the small artificial island Olympus Island, located in the Hudson River in New York. As the Olympus Elite Staff, our heroes are excellent technological engineers for the privately-run Olympus Industries, Ltd. As the Dynamic Heralds, a mysterious team of vigilante superheroes, they fight crime and corruption, and keep peace in the New York area.

One to two years in the making, after several tries, all were modeled in Blender, with the textures in FireAlpaca. The bases for the Dynamic Heralds designs are based on these designs from 2021. There have been little changes in translation of design! The Olympus Elite Staff suits are based on these designs from 2022.

Helmet Type:

Mask Type:

Unmasked:

Civvies:

Olympus Elite Staff:

Dengekid into Dengeking

 The main (super)human protagonist of Rekira the Super-Monster, Herald 6/Dengekid, demonstrating his power to transform into his giant form, Dengeking!

Started on September 15th, finished today (October 26), done on tablet in FireAlpaca.

First Art of 2023!

 Happy New Year, everyone! Here's my first artwork of 2023!

I had wanted to do this for New Year's Day yesterday, but was busy with family at the time, but better to be just one night late than never (or any later)!

Here's the stars of Rekira the Super-Monster, the eponymous monster Rekira (right) shaking hands with the superhero Dengekid (a member of the superhero team, the Dynamic Heralds)! This year is the upcoming 50th Anniversary of my personal favorite Godzilla movie, and one of my favorite movies of all time, Godzilla Vs. Megalon (Toho; 1973), so this New Year's Day drawing is my tribute to that film with my characters.

Done on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Last Art of 2022!

 My last art for the year!

Here's the Elite Staff of Olympus Tower in NY (secretly the superhero team Dynamic Heralds), the main (super) human characters of my original kaiju project, Rekira the Super-Monster, saying goodbye to 2022 in this group photo, looking forward to next year! The background is very Super Sentai-ish (which is partly the intention), but is actually based on the huge, colorful performance set from Season 2 of The Monkees. Done on tablet in FireAlpaca.

See you on New Year's!

Remodeled Mysti-Girl and Dengekid!

 I have finished remodeling the Blender CG figures of Mysti-Girl and Dengekid, the superhero forms of Verena Freston and Raitaro Hayama, respectively! They look much better!

The helmets/goggles/masks/accessories are unchanged, but the bodysuits were completely redone, and look much smoother and more to my liking.

Mysti-Girl and Dengekid in CGI!

 Two more characters from Rekira the Super-Monster have been completed! Made with Blender, these character profiles were assmbled on FireAlpaca (the logos were done in Flash).

 Last time, you've seen Raitaro Hayama and Verena Freston. Now, here are their Dynamic Heralds superhero forms!

Here's Verena as Herald 3/Mysti-Girl:

 And Raitaro as Herald 6/Dengekid:

Dengekid - Style Experiment

 Here's a sketch I did on February 8 of Dengekid, drawn in a style reminiscent of Bruce Timm! (There's also a vague Tatsuo Yoshida and Jiro Kuwata style to him as well.) Drawn on tablet in FireAlpaca.

 

Dynamic Heralds 2021 Design Lineup

 While my original kaiju project, Rekira the Super-Monster, is in production, I've finalized the designs for the featured superhero team, the Dynamic Heralds, which I intend to use for the project! I've decided to go with a sort of Incredibles influence, with a bit of 1960s Jack "The King" Kirby, Japanese superheroes (most particularly Super Sentai), and also Olympic speed skating suits/helmets (which look very superhero-ish)!

 It's also a convenient day to post these, as today is also the 55th Anniversary of the official premiere of Ultraman (Tsuburaya; 1966) on Japanese TV (discounting the B&W pre-premiere special from a week earlier, Ultraman's Birthday)! With Rekira, I hope to continue that tokusatsu-style tradition.

Each character design was done from June 9 to July 17, on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Here's the team in Full Helmet Mode:

Mask Mode:

And with masks off:

Superman and Spirou's 80th Anniversary!

You've already seen the one I did for their 75th Anniversary, but as that one was completely done on tablet, I was determined to do better. This time, I did a pencil sketch as the base for this drawing, "inked" and colored on tablet in FireAlpaca. This looks much better. :)

Ultra Seven's 50th Anniversary!

50 years ago tomorrow, Ultra Seven (Tsuburaya; 1967), the third Ultra Series (and the most popular among fans) first aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and its affiliates!  As I discussed through the years, I have always considered Ultra Seven himself to be the Japanese equivalent to Superman, and one of the best superheroes of all time.

As you've noticed, the 1940s animated Superman by the Fleischer Brothers (the ultimate adaptation, IMHO) is the inspiration for this fanart.  :)

Done on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Dynamic Heralds 2017!

Wow!

I've been gone a whole year, due to moving to a new address (among other things).  But this time, it's permanent!  While those who follow me on Facebook have seen the continuing development of my projects, I've gotten back to the computer, after some frustrating technical difficulties.

So let's start with the Dynamic Heralds, the superhero team in my main project, Rekira the Super-Monster!  With work on the comic approaching, I've finally found a design that's more to my liking.  And the current colors, as you can see, are red, blue, yellow, orange, and green.  But I've also played with three different color types, as seen below.  These were all done on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Type A: The "Stealth" Versions

This is the color scheme I've worked with most recently.  Note the current colors are red, blue, yellow, orange, and green.

Type B: The "Tech" Versions

I just started experimenting with this color scheme, though I've contemplated it for a while now.  What if they had a "high-tech" look, like an iPod or other cool gadgets?  I also love Herald 1 (Captain Vertex)'s Roger Ramjet look, too!


Type C: The "Traditional" Super Sentai-Style Version.

No doubt this color type is very appealing!  In a way, it definitely recalls even Toho's own answers to Super Sentai, namely Saucer War Bankid (Toho; 1976) and Megaloman (Toho; 1979).  While I think that that Types A and B are more subtle, I love the 1970s look this hearkens back to (which I was partly going for)!

The two faces of the Japanese Batman!

Currently recovering quite nicely from angioplasty over a couple of weeks ago, and with Dragon*Con just around the corner, I'm back to the drawing board.

I came up with yet another update to my Japanese-style Batman, and it's more satisfying this time around!  Inspired by Moonlight Mask (Gekkou Kamen), naturally, I referenced both the 1958 tokusatsu version and the 1972 anime version.  Done tonight on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Dynamic Heralds - 2015 Edition Designs

Yes, Rekira the Super-Monster is underway!  The storyboards for Episode #1 are already done, and designs are being finalized before I hit the board.

One such update you'll be seeing is the current designs for the Dynamic Heralds, my own Super Sentai-style superhero team.  You’ll notice the body molds are the same here; this is deliberate, just to illustrate the basic design for each member.

There's a slight change in color, but the designs are more streamlined (each bodysuit is black), and very satisfying!  My inspiration is mostly from bobsled suits.  Note that each member wears a different "mask" (goggles) on their caps.  These were done on FireAlpaca, based upon recent sketches I posted on Facebook a few weeks ago.  Dates depicted in the signatures.

Here's the group shot (with mostly Japanese text):

Herald 1 - Captain Vertex (Red)
Raymond Wertz

Herald 2 - Mysti-Girl (Blue)
Verena Freston

Herald 3 - Steel Hammer (Yellow)
Isaiah Vanterpool

Herald 4 - Therma-Gal (Pink)
Theresa Lin

Herald 5 - Aquati-Kid (Turquoise)
Brian Copcutt

More to come!

Batman Vs. the Joker

Did another illustration of my Moonlight Mask/Gekko Kamen-inspired Batman!  Notice a slight change in Batman's design, more to my liking!  I also did my own version of Batman's most popular nemesis, the Joker (inspired after one of Moonlight Mask's own popular adversaries, the jester-like Satan no Tsume/Claw of Satan)!  Did this one this morning on tablet in FireAlpaca.