I stumbled across a very cool Tumblr account by artist Scott Campbell which profiles rival characters from various films by way of awesome, cartoony portraits. With Mr.Campbell’s permission, I’ve uploaded a bunch of entries that pertain to the theme of this blog, but I recommend visiting the site for all the non-giant monster stuff too. Check it out here: Great Showdowns
It’s officially autumn: leaves are changing color, horror movies abound on television in anticipation of Halloween and a new issue of Space Magazine Uchusen has hit Japanese bookshelves. The art spotlight this time around has focused on Toho’s 1958 prehistoric flying squirrel-dinosaur film Varan The Unbelievable.
The summer issue of Space Magazine Uchusen has arrived and the art feature this time around is Invasion of Astro-Monster, a.k.a Monster Zero, a.k.a. Godzilla vs Monster Zero, a.k.a. Invasion of the Astro-Monsters. Enjoy!
What comes to mind when you think of spring? It would seem that the editors of Space Magazine Uchusen turn to thoughts of the film Godzilla Raids Again (a.k.a. Gigantis the Fire Monster), as evidenced by the theme of the April issue’s art feature.
Godzilla’s Revenge (a.k.a. All Monsters Attack) is the theme of Space Magazine Uchusen’s art feature from the January issue. I would have posted this earlier (almost three weeks ago, to be precise) but the two-page spread ended up being a nightmare to stitch together without showing some sort of blatant seam. Thanks, Photoshop- you’ve done it again!
Here’s a trio of Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster (a.k.a. Godzilla vs. Hedorah)-themed paintings from the fall issue of Space Magazine Uchusen. Enjoy!
Check out these really cool and creepy sketches by artist John Kenn, which he does entirely on yellow post-it notes. The drawings have a nice Edward Gorey vibe to them as well as a bit of a Lovecraftian undercurrent. I really like how Kenn’s giant monsters feel very “folklorish”; they seem like dark, ancient things that have awakened from a long slumber and are encountering humans for the first time. Very awesome stuff! Check out the blog here.
Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster is the theme of the summer issue's art spread of Space Magazine Uchusen. I particularly like the artist’s interpretation of the giant condor that attacks Godzilla (before he promptly obliterates it) even though its screen time in the film is pretty minimal.
Yeah, I’m still around. Unfortunately, just as I was on the verge of finishing a new movie review, my computer’s hard drive decided to kick the bucket. I’m still in the process of picking up the pieces but in the meantime, I figured that I needed to put up a little filler post... so here are some awesome Godzilla doodles by artist Derek Thompson that I came across recently. You can view the full-sized version plus another page of sketches (along with tons of supah-cool artwork) over at his blog, “DerekMonster.”
Space Ameoba (a.k.a. Yog, Monster From Space) is the theme of the art feature from the spring issue of Space Magazine Uchusen, featuring a rather demonic-looking Gezora and the climactic volcano skirmish between Ganime (the crab thing) and Kamoebas (the turtle thing).
Some new giant monster-themed artwork for your eyeballs: the first new issue of Space Magazine Uchusen for 2010 features a trio of paintings based around the film Son of Godzilla.
The fall 2009 issue of Space Magazine Uchusen pays tribute to Toho’s 1968 daikaiju-fest, Destroy All Monsters. Curiously, the artist has portrayed the monsters that, in the original film, had only appeared via stock footage (Baragon, Varan) or in a bit role (Manda) as active participants in the climactic fight with King Ghidorah. Neat!
For your viewing discretion, the latest Toho monster art pieces from the summer 2009 edition of Space Magazine Uchusen.
The spring 2009 issue of Space Magazine Uchusen has served up some monster art pieces depicting a stand-off between Biollante and Godzilla, a contemplative Brown Gargantua and a giant octopus-fightin’ Green Gargantua. Enjoy!
Here’s the next round of Space Magazine Uchusen artwork- thankfully, the publication has started to print their two page spreads with a separation, making the procedure of merging the two pieces into a single picture relatively simple. I couldn’t be happier!
Here's the next bit of Toho monster artwork from Japan's Space Magazine Uchusen, which had been released back in October. Unfortunately, I had to spend some time in Photoshop once again to hide the seams and tears that resulted from pulling the pages free of the magazine's binding. To the editors of Uchusen: Please, no more two-page spreads. I'm begging you.
If you happen to live around the Miami Beach area in Florida, you will have an opportunity to partake in a giant monster-themed art show which will be held at the Art Center of South Florida on December 3rd.
The gallery will feature various interpretations of the Japanese daikiaju genre by both Eastern and Western artists. Admission is apparently free. For those of us who can't make the show due to geographical inconvenience (in my case, it's about 1200 miles too far), you can check out its MySpace Page for a collection of the artworks that will be displayed (as well as info about the gallery itself):
