So, check this out! Super awesome listener and San Diego resident-extraordinaire, Chris Mowry picked this shirt up for me at the World’s biggest Comic Book Convention, San Diego Comic-Con. This is a promotional shirt being given out by Legendary Pictures!  According to Chris, some kind of effect happens with the atomic ray too.

Here’s the back of the shirt in case you’d like to see them using the actual Japanese name, too! Thanks so much, Chris – you rock!

Anime Oasis' Mascot, Chiara. For some reason, I don't think she's really that big.

This is it folks, the big week for me as I prepare for my panels and presentations at this weekend’s Anime Oasis convention in Boise, Idaho. I hope to return with some great stories and a gallery of photos from my first ever anime con!

If you check out the schedule, you will see that I am presenting a total of three panels and one movie. I’m hoping that I can pique some interest with my kaiju-related discussions. For anyone who is able to attend, here’s the breakdown of where I’ll be and what I’ll be hosting:

Thursday 3pm
Giant Monsters vs Giant Robots: The Influence Of Daikaiju in Anime

Friday 11am
Godzilla & His Rubber-Suited Foes: A Brief History of Japan’s Biggest Star

Saturday 8pm
The Kaijucast presents Godzilla vs Biollante (1989) with a live podcast recording to follow.

Sunday 11am
Podcasting 101: DIY Online Radio

So there you have it! If you can make it to the show, I’m sure Godzilla could use the support. I’ll have some prints and stickers on hand – might even be doing some give aways for the prints… who knows? I’m sure it will be a blast. Hope to see some of you listeners there!

In 2004, I had the posters made for the 50 Years Of Godzilla Film Festival. They were well done, but they were printed with an offset printer, so they looked exactly like my file. Those kinds of printers can make any color and once the artwork is in the spool, all you really have to do is sit back and watch the output. Call me a romantic, or crazy for that matter, but there’s something very personal about screen printing. First, it’s a lot of work to get your colors down to just the one or two or three (or however many) that are necessary for however many screen you are working with. The next step is that the colors must be separated so that individual screens can be created – quite a pain in the butt. Once the screens are made, the printers line up the registration marks on each screen, making sure that each piece of the artwork is aligned properly. The inks get applied one color at a time, with adequate dry time between the processes. It’s messy, sweaty work and I couldn’t have more respect for the artform.

So earlier this year, I was with talking Jason Shaw, a friend of mine who works with a local screen printer, RichGraphix. I told him about wanting to maybe do some two color screen-printed flyers for the show and Jason knew a lot more about the process than I did. It was sort of a pipe dream of mine to create a flyer based off of one of the old King Kong vs. Godzilla posters. But I let that sit on the back burner of my brain for a little while…..until I signed up for the Portland Halloween Bazaar.

I signed up to promote the podcast which might seem sort of silly… I mean, just get the word out locally? It would seem that the minimal amount of fans here in the Portland area that I could promote the show in other ways, especially since the Bazaar is basically a marketplace and I don’t have anything to sell. No way am I selling any of the collection, right? (in case you didn’t know, the answer is “Right, Kyle!”). Then I started thinking about making those flyers….but who sells flyers, right? I decided to come up with some cool artwork for a flyer anyway. But the artwork was so compelling that I just kept working on it until I had something that looked kind of like the artwork from the Billiken kits and the older work of Shepard Fairey. I decided to call some screen printers, including my friend Jason and get some quotes for a two color print. I thought about doing a run of 100 or 200, but I didn’t want to sit on them. I wanted it to be a one time thing. I wanted to produce something that I could be proud of. So instead of 100, I decided to do a run of 50. But the number 50 doesn’t really suit the King of the Monsters…. what closer (and better) number than 54. So I called Jason again and decided to do a limited run of 54 prints. I also wanted them to be affordable, so I decided to charge $5 for each one.

Jason took the artwork and in a couple of weeks told me that the prints were ready. We hung out last night and watched the H-Man, which I sort of enjoyed, there were no giant monsters and the story wasn’t that great, but still good to see after all of these years. But the real treat was getting to see all of the prints. They look great! I actually signed and numbered them all tonight. Personally, I hope they go over well and hope that I sell them all at the Halloween Bazaar. That way I can gauge interest from the blog and maybe do another run in a different color!

Well, whatever ends up happening with these, I’m glad I made the decision to go with screenprinting them. Stay tuned after the 3rd and I’ll let you all know how many are left.

If you do live in Portland, the Halloween Bazaar will be open to the public between 11am and 7pm this Saturday (Oct 3rd, 2009). Aside from there being a TON of vendors, there will be lots of music, a shadow puppet theater, the Coffin Cruisers Hearse Club will be on display with a Death Proof Nova Replica, too! Plus, I’ll have my son with me and there will be an all-new DIY Craft Area where kids can dive into paper crafts,  adorn papier mache calaveras and skull masks. Gawd, I love Halloween!

Dang's graphic novel based on his own creation, Greyduck.

So while cruising around G-Fest this year, I came across an artist named DANG who not only had some cool work on his table, but his own Graphic Novel that he had made. As a comic enthusiast, I was curious and because his artwork reminded me of the “old school” tattoo style, I approached the table. If you recall, I had a brief interview with Dang in episode seven, and after the interview I gave a totally phoned in review of the comic (sorry about that). But I’m here to rectify that with a solid review of GREYDUCK: VOLUME OF ROARS.

Greyduck is a monstrous amalgamation of junk – a giraffe head atop a long biomechanical neck with a chained anchor attached to its mouth. Greyduck has spider leg-like appendages coming out of what looks like a trashbag body. Indeed, Greyduck looks like it could be made up of nothing but bits and pieces from a landfill. The story gives no origin of the beast, but rest-assured, Greyduck is the hero-kaiju of this tale. The graphic novel follows a few different character groups as their travels interact with each other and the different monsters in the story. That’s right, there are four monsters in this tale. Aside from Greyduck, readers will witness a flying Megaguirus-type bug monster, “Cadbury” a beast that hatches from an egg to terrorize the city and the deadly “Aunt-eater.”

Let me start with the good stuff. First and foremost, I am wildly supportive of self-publication. If you spend a few minutes looking at the comic book landscape of today, it is vastly different from the industry of yesteryear. With the public knowledge-base and resources available right now, anyone with the drive and focus can learn to do just about anything they want. So I give a massive “thumbs up” to Dang for having the commitment to take his vision and turn it into a reality.

Gamera...Dang-style

On a technical level, Dang’s vocabulary and prose in this comic are very well written… think less on traditional storytelling and more poetic. The language is entertaining and appropriate for the subjects as they move from point a to point b and so on.  Often, I found myself impressed with the narrative alone. For the most part, that is where you’ll find these nuggets as the characters’ dialogue runs the gamut for their different “voices.”  Sometimes it can come across as a bit one-linerish, but still very cool.

The artwork itself is extremely detailed. Clearly, Dang has talent and as he stated in the interview, he has some old school tattoo thrown in with a picasso-esque vibe. This makes the pages very interesting to look at, but I believe one of the biggest drawbacks to this is that it was produced in black and white with no color at all. Normally, this would not bother me, but with Dang’s surreal compositions and scenes, it can make the page a little too chaotic. Personally, I really do like Dang’s style. His postcards and folding sketch shrines were really cool and recognizable. I know that is partly due to already knowing the characters, but I primarily feel that adding color helps distinguish the subjects from their surroundings. I’m not sure if Dang ever plans on making newer versions, or modifying the existing story, but I truly feel that coloring the pages would greatly help move the story along. As I read the book, it took me much longer to discern what was happening on a page by page basis. The last thing I’ll note about this is that I felt like I never really got a handle on what the other monsters looked like.

Dang had a 3D picture of Greyduck at G-Fest.

So what are my final thoughts on this graphic novel? Greyduck: Volume Of Roars is impressive. What Dang has done is not much different from what I do with my show, taking the initiative to create something and publish it for the masses – and that in itself is commendable. Clearly, the amount of work and creativity that has been put into this graphic novel is evident – this wasn’t just thrown together. Additionally, Dang has included some “special features” to this book. Greyduck portraits from other artists start and end the book, along with some behind-the-scenes stuff from Dang himself, which is a welcome addition and something that (as an artist) I always appreciate in anything I purchase. Yes, I think some of the chaos of the artwork could be better presented with the addition of color, but I do understand that cost is an issue with these things. I would love to see a color version online someday. In conclusion, if you have the $12.21 to blow on an inspirational self-published piece of work, click the link below to buy your own copy. Not only will you be adding something unique to your collection, you’ll help support the practice of self-publication and make everything just a bit more accessible than before.

Dang’s Deviantart page

Where can you get Greyduck: Volume Of Roars? Click here to go to IndyPlanet.com and get your own copy!

My Kaijucast stickers await their inevitable distribution to the fans attending the 2009 G-fest!

To put it mildly, G-Fest was a blast!

I brought a roll of 500 stickers and I easily gave away more than half of them. Every time I walked by one of the tables where I put them, they were all gone (which is a good thing). I also had the audio recorder with me and got some fantastic stuff, including an interview with one of the biggest stars of daikaiju eiga, veteran actor Kenji Sahara. There were even more people that I (for one reason or another) was unable to capture any audio with, but I’m going to track down those folks for the coming months.

As I’ve said before, it has been ten years since I attended G-Fest and I feel very fortunate that I was able to go this year (thank goodness for the mileage I accrued from all of those work trips last year). As I start sorting through the audio, feel free to check out the photos that I took. I’ve uploaded them to my photobucket account.

Also, I set up a Facebook page, so if you use that site, please become a fan (I need at least a hundred of you before I can just tell people, “go to facebook dot com slash kaijucast”). I’ve added a link to the sidebar and here’s another right here:
Kaijucast

Lastly, I’d like to thank those that were kind enough to speak with me for the next show. Look for an update towards the end of the month!

I haven’t been to a G-Fest since 1999 and I have to say that aside from the prospect of interviewing a bunch of people and promoting the podcast, I’m really looking forward to hanging out with a bunch of Godzilla fans again! You see, while I have friends that are mildly interested in giant rubber monsters, I’m pretty much the only guy that I know that is totally nuts for this genre. A majority of my friends dress up in Stormtrooper armor, so it’s not like I am isolated from the geek community. So if you are heading to G-Fest this year and see a dude walking around in a Kaijucast T-Shirt, that’ll be me – so make sure you say hello. I’m just a little amped at the moment because I just booked my flight and the hotel.

Anyway, I’m going to start prepping the new show which might be a little weird since I won’t actually be interviewing anyone this month. I have the second half of my interview with Jeff that I’m going to chop down a little and split up with some nice music.

Since I won’t have it done in time to “report” this, however I wanted to point out that Scifi Japan has a story on the front page right now about a Los Angeles Japanese Film Festival taking place between April 10th and 26th in three theaters. 22 feature films in total will be shown, including a number of both North American and Los Angeles Premieres.

The lineup includes Mamoru Oshii’s anime hit THE SKY CRAWLERS, the LA premiere of ALWAYS: SUNSET ON THIRD STREET- 2 (featuring a cameo by Godzilla), Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s horror film RETRIBUTION, the LA premiere of EVANGELION: 1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE, the Japanese American internment camp documentary TOYO’S CAMERA, the US premiere of the big budget disaster movie 252: SIGNAL OF LIFE, the comedy drama FUNUKE SHOW SOME LOVE, YOU LOSERS!, the LA premiere of the Zatoichi update ICHI, the LA premiere of Katushiro Otomo’s live action fantasy MUSHISHI, and a tribute to actor Ken Ogata.

If you’re in LA, check it out!

That’s all for now, but say tuned for the next show. Hopefully, I’ll get it done and uploaded this weekend!

Speaking of shows, the special guest for my next episode will be a good friend of mine who just happens to host an online radio show called Horror Holocaust. I’ve been on the show a few times and have always had a blast. Horror Holocaust is on the air every Friday from 2 – 4pm (Pacific Time) at PRARADIO.com. Jeff and I will similarly be talking Godzilla movies, but Jeff’s perspective strays closer to the die-hard fan. I think you’ll enjoy his perspective along with some other treats I’ll have for you. So keep checking the blog here or your favorite feed-reader for an update in a couple of weeks; March’s episode will rock!!

I’m prepping for my next show. If you’re looking forward to it, you can expect to hear some new music, a new intro, and I’ll be featuring a Q&A Session with another non-fan/potential convert to get that special perspective. I was hoping to record it this weekend, but Martin’s not going to be in town until Sunday and I still need his help for the makeshift studio setup. It might have to wait until next week some time.

I did, however, pick up a brand new hard drive for my A/V setup at home. This means that I have two USB drives, the new one is dedicated to video and the one I had before is now going to be 100% dedicated to my music! If you have anything you’d like to donate to the show, let me know – I’m trying to track down everything that’s out there.

This Friday, I am going to attempt to record the first show with my friend Martin. I didn’t have enough cash to pick up the drive that I wanted, but I will soon. Until then, I’ll just have to make do with what I have and how its organized. The show will feature some music, some banter and hopefully some news. This show will not be a live show as it’s my first attempt. Regardless it should be pretty fun. I’ll try and take some photos of the frankenstein set up that I am sure we will have. It’s going to be a mess! When the show is done, I will post it here.

I will say that the interface seems designed for a large monitor, but the skin used for it os pretty lo-grade. Of course, that’s not a deal-breaker in my case so I’m excited to see if this works out (since it is already).

Also, I’m going to be purchasing a small, but large hard drive so that I can hold all of my music on one drive.

-Kyle

Blog Shoutouts:

WASSAP, BOBBY!