Pacific Rim Official Trailer

(Wipes drool from corner of mouth)

Dear Santa: please let this film not suck. 

Sushi Chefs vs. Giant Monsters

Oof. I hate it when I go for long stretches without updates but unfortunately I’ve been insanely busy over these last few months. Allow me to make amends by bringing your attention to this awesome short film I recently came across called Monster Roll:

You can also check out the movie's home page complete with “behind the scenes” goodies:

Monster Roll

Here Comes... Thorg the Unbelievable!

In a story undoubtedly inspired by the Easter Island statues, todays' installment of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's giant monster comics (Where Creatures Roam issue 3, to be precise) involves an alien and his species' unusual- nay, UNBELIEVABLE- method of conquering worlds.

What I learned from this comic:

-When a wife is disappointed with her husband and his boring career choice, she will accompany him on one of his dull job excursions that she can’t stand.

-Thorg hails from an alien race that hasn’t changed evolutionarily, linguistically, politically or technologically over the course of a million years.

-Extraterrestrials with a lethal inability to swim will target a planet for invasion that is predominantly covered in deep water.

This Looks Promising

I’m cautiously optimistic about this bit of news out of the San Diego comic con, where Legendary Pictures revealed an early poster and teaser trailer for the upcoming American Godzilla film. The details of the trailer are covered over on iO9, but the general reaction from the fans has been pretty positive. Even though the footage is brief, it contains two encouraging elements which fills me with hope that Legendary is on the right track with this project: a demolished city and the silhouette of a creature that is definitely Godzilla-esque.

Granted, you can’t make out too much from that grainy image, but the outline is a heck of a lot closer to the Japanese Godzilla than the 1998 version ever was. In fact, its somewhat stocky proportions remind me of the design that was used for Godzilla's cameo in the Japanese film “Always on Third Street 2”:

Alright, director Gareth Edwards... you’ve got my hopes up for this thing. Do not pull a “Tri-Star” on me. My sensitive geek heart couldn’t take it. 

Links of Note and Possibly the Greatest Magazine Cover Illustration Ever

I think if I had come across this magazine as a kid, my brain would have exploded. 

Got an iPad? Then you can download the indie app game Metrop-A-Stomp for free. As for you Android users- you gotta shell out 99 cents. 

Speaking of games, you can also check out a fancier-looking version of Deathworm called Effing Worms 2 over here.

Shingeki no Kyodai is an interesting post-apocalyptic manga about the remainder of humanity surviving in a world of murderous giants. You can read a translated version of it here.

Vandoom: The Man Who Made a Creature!

Today’s journey into Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s classic giant monster comics brings us to the story of “Vandoom” from the fourth issue of Where Creatures Roam. Much like the story of Frankenstein, the plot involves a somewhat obsessed individual who creates a monster that comes to life. Unlike Frankenstein however, some alien invaders show up because, well... why not?

What I learned from this comic:

1. When a small wax museum on the outskirts of remote European town begins to wane in popularity, it’s due to a lack of new sculptures... not because it’s a wax museum in the middle of friggin’ nowhere.

2. Lightning can bring ANYTHING to life.

3. A monster made of solid wax can become exhausted, even fatally, somehow.

4. Animate wax sculptures > Martians

5. There’s nothing the general public loves more than a wax museum exhibit based on a story that can't be truthfully verified in any way.

Kodoja: Terror Mountain Showdown

What do giant monsters, comics and cool, groovy music all have in common? Well, in the case of the multimedia project Kodoja: Terror Mountain Showdown, quite a lot, actually. The story of the comic concerns a military robot prototype built in the 60’s. Designed to be the ultimate weapon, complete with laser eyes, retractable fists and a highly advanced computer brain capable of learning, the robot proves to be a little too effective during a field simulation when the testing area ends up completely obliterated. Around the same time, a mysterious sea quake takes place in the Pacific ocean as all the marine life flees en masse from the epicenter. Sounds like a recipe for an eventual giant monster/giant robot altercation to me! Below are a couple of preview pages from the book:

The comic is due to be released over the summer, but in the meantime you can purchase the tie-in music album by musician “Big Pimp Jones” (who also served as the book's writer) which can be ordered at this link: Record Breakin' music.

There is also a “preview mix” available for listening by Skeme Richards which you can check out by heading over here:

Hot Peas and Butta (Big Pimp Jones)- Kodoja (Non Album Exclusive mix)

If you’re at all familiar with Japanese monster movie soundtracks from the 60’s and 70’s, then you’ll totally recognize the sound that the music has used as a starting point. I particularly love the stretch between the 10:29 and 13:40 mark, which I keep replaying over and over again- it’s like a giant monster’s personal theme song by way of a funky groove. Awesome!

Further updates to this project can be followed at its official website: Kodoja.com

Piranhaconda trailer? Piranhaconda trailer.

A trailer has finally been released for the Roger Corman’s newest upcoming straight-to-DVD/SyFy/whatever monster flick. To be honest, I had almost forgotten about this thing. Not surprisingly though, considering that there hasn’t been much in the way of news besides a single photograph of the titular creature’s head which was making the rounds on the internet over a year ago. I'm sure it’s only a matter of time before we get a sequel where it fights the Sharktopus. C’mon, Corman- we know you want to.

Giant Monster Rampage: The Game

In the mood for a tabletop game but can’t bear the idea of sitting through another tedious session of Monopoly? Game author Ken Lewis just might have a solution to your problem.

Radioactive Press has just released a new, deluxe edition of Giant Monster Rampage, a strategic “war game” wherein players create and battle giant abominations of science and nature against one other. Much in the vein of an RPG, each player creates a monster character using a set number of points to determine its strength and durability as well as what kinds of special attacks it can perform. From there, the monsters are placed on the playing field (i.e. a coffee table or something similar) which represents a given location and then the battle begins. Each player takes a turn moving and attacking with their monster until one is defeated. 

The game doesn’t really have any pieces other than what you decide to use to represent the monsters and buildings: action figures, a drawing on a card, ground beef sculptures (not recommended)... whatever you have on hand. The game can be purchased at the link below and is available as a printed copy or digital PDF form:

Radioactive Games

Get the Bug Spray...

With summer comes picnics and with picnics come various pests of insectoid persuasion. It could be worse, though; you could have your culinary experience invaded by giant wasps that shoot fire, much like the monstrous antagonists of the upcoming film, Dragon Wasps.

The synopsis:

“When her father mysteriously disappears on an expedition, beautiful entomologist Gina Humphries and her fiery assistant, Rhonda, set out to search the rain forests of Belize. Due to numerous robberies and assaults in the jungle, they are escorted by heavily-armed soldiers. Guerillas, lead by the infamous Jaguar, ambush the convoy and incite a bloody shootout. Just when things can't get worse, a horde of murderous Dragon Wasps, massive flying bugs that shoot flame from their abdomens, swarms the soldiers. Now the military must defeat Jaguar's bandits and survive the fearsome insect onslaught as they venture inside the Dragon Wasps' hive.”

You can check out a trailer for the movie over at Twitchfilm.com by clicking this link (Blogger still seems to be dead set against embedding any videos from that site).

Links of Note and Dapper Ultramen

Being Ultraman isn’t always about fighting monsters. Sometimes it’s just about looking classy.

Some details of the Godzilla: Half-Century War comic mini-series due out in August by artist/writer James Stokoe. (Comics Alliance)

Comic Book Resources has revealed further info and conceptual artwork for the Dinosaurs vs. Aliens project. (Comic Book Resources)

Obliterate puny humans as a Martian tripod in this click-and-point game. (Tripod Attack)

The Escape of... Monsteroso!

Here’s another Stan Lee/Jack Kirby giant monster yarn featured in the fifth issue of Marvel Comics’ Amazing Adventures from 1961. It’s mostly a cautionary tale about the dangers of putting enormous aliens on display in museums and features a twist ending that Stan Lee reused in an episode of the 1970’s Fantastic Four cartoon.

What I learned from this comic:

1. The local government, much less the nations of world, can’t be bothered to investigate when an alien spacecraft crashes in Africa.

2. Putting an extraterrestrial life form on display in a museum won’t draw the attention of the military and/or scientific community.

3. Military bases always keep harpoon-based weaponry handy... just in case.

4. Giant alien parents are the worst parents in the universe.

The Gamera Movie That Never Happened

Fellow blogger and giant monster enthusiast “Enshohma” shared some trivia with me regarding a previously unknown Gamera film concept from the earliest days of that character’s cinematic history. Titled Gamera vs. The Ice Men, the movie was intended to be the second entry in the series but the production company abandoned the idea and made Gamera vs. Barugon instead. It’s weird how this little tidbit of information remained hidden for so long (at least to Western fans, anyway- it might have been more commonplace knowledge in Japan) only being recently revealed on the audio commentary track of the Gamera vs. Barugon DVD from Shout! Factory. At any rate, you can read up on some additional details about this unmade film over at Enshohma’s blog.