tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24072019589628930802024-02-19T02:09:18.014-05:00Flawed DiamondsThe personal blog of John Goodrich, including, but not limited to kaiju film and comics involving swamp creatures. John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.comBlogger384125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-2295072445934800492018-11-26T14:02:00.002-05:002018-11-26T14:02:53.792-05:00You know who else likes Swamp Monsters? Peter RawlikThe inimitable <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Peter-Rawlik/e/B00A2O752K/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1542593590&sr=8-1">Peter Rawlik</a> is an author and colleague who's prolific and worth reading every time. He has contributed to <i>World War Cthulhu: A Collection of Lovecraftian War Stories</i>, <i>Kaiju Rising</i>, <i>Dorian Gray Darker Shades</i> and several dozen other anthologies. If there's been an anthology I wanted to get into, but didn't, you'll likely find Peter's name in the published table of contents. He's also a swamp creature enthusiast, and took the time to answer a couple of questions. Thanks, Peter!<br><br>
<b><font color="008000">What’s your favorite swamp monster in comics?</font color></b><br><br>
It has to be <a href="https://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Man-Thing">Man-Thing</a> (Though The Lizard might come in a close second)<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/Rawlik1.jpg" width="250" align="right">
<b><font color="008000">Why?</font color></b><br><br>
Man-Thing represents something unusual in the world of monsters (or did at the time). Like the Blob, Man-Thing was mindless, its motives were unfathomable. It couldn’t be reasoned with or talked to or negotiated with. It was more a force of nature than a man or even an animal.<br><br>
<b><font color="008000">How old were you when you picked up your first swamp monster comic?</font color></b><br><br>
I would have been about 12 when I bought <i>Micronauts</i> #7, though I may have picked up a few issues of <i>Creepy</i>, <i>Eerie</i> or similar magazines. I do remember picking up a mag with an adaption of Brennan’s Slime or <a href="https://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/12/coming-full-circle-roy-thomas-adapts.html">Sturgeon’s It</a>.<br><br>
<b><font color="008000">Tell me about the person you were at that point.</font color></b><br><br>
I was an average child. Growing up outside of Philadelphia. I spent my summers on boats in Ocean City Maryland, fishing, crabbing and clamming. Even by this point I was collecting Lovecraftian fiction and I had a large collection of paperbacks.<br><br>
<b><font color="008000">What other comics were you reading then?</font color></b><br><br>
<i>X-Men</i> and <i>Guardians of the Galaxy</i>, occasionally other Marvel comics. I recall picking up so issues of <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Swamp%20Thing"><i>Swamp Thing</i></a> featuring the Un-Men.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/Rawlik2.jpg" width="350" align="left"><br>
<b><font color="008000">What resonated with you in that first issue? What drew you to that comic?</font color></b><br>
I was regularly reading <i>Micronauts</i> back then and the Man-Thing was the villain of the month. But afterwards I began seeking out back issues and his appearances. Man-Thing was an enigma, not a hero, not an anti-hero, but still somehow a force for good in the world. It suggested that things might be more complicated than with other super-heroes. In many ways the stories weren’t really about Man-Thing but rather other people who would eventually have to deal with the monster one way or another.<br><br>
<b><font color="008000">Is there a specific writer whose muck monster work stands above all others?</font color></b><br><br
<a href="https://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Len%20Wein">Len Wein</a> did an outstanding job.<br><br>
<b><font color="008000">Why?</font color></b><br><br>
Wein seemed to understand that the swamp and the things in it were not just dangerous and frightening, but also beautiful as well, and that living on the edge of the swamp was like living on the edge of another world, a fantastic world that was’t like the land or the sea, but was a little of both.<br><br>
<b><font color="008000">Did reading this swamp monster lead you to other swamp monsters?</font color></b><br><br>
Man-Thing led to Swamp Thing and Kolchak’s Pere Malfait. I’ve become obsessed with the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the things that haunted the swamp in The Call of Cthulhu. Frog monsters are ubiquitous in lots of the things I read, as are slugs, snails and the like. All of these seem straight out of the swamp.<br><br>
<b><font color="008000">Best artist?</font color></b><br><br>
Bernie Wrightson<br><br>
<b><font color="008000">Why?</font color></b><br><br>
Wrightson’s lines were always clean and clear, but the images he drew were anything but. His monsters, all his monsters were complex, detailed creations that thrilled the eye. He was also a master of backgrounds knowing just how much to put in, and how much to leave out.<br><br>
<b><font color="008000">Have you considered writing comics?</font color></b><br><br>
I have, I’ve outlined a few things set in the Marvel and DC Universes.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/Rawlik3.jpg" width="500" align="left"><br>
<b><font color="008000">Would you be interested in writing a comic-book swamp monster?</font color></b><br><br>
I would, and oddly enough I kind of want to write Solomon Grundy, but get him back to his swamp monster roots.<br><br>
<b><font color="008000">Anything else that really needs saying?</font color></b><br><br>
For the last 27 years I’ve worked in the Everglades, studying and trying to understand what was portrayed in those comics I read so many years ago. Its very different than what was presented back then, and I’ve come to realize that many writers and artists just don’t understand the Everglades. Its more beautiful and more frightening than they even know. Someday I hope to change that.<br><br>
Image of the Everglades courtesy of the National Park FoundationJohn Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-12796154830468103742018-10-24T20:18:00.000-04:002018-10-24T20:20:25.081-04:00Pasko And Yeates: Better Than You RememberMartin Pasko and Tom Yeates were the team that resurrected the Swamp Thing. According to the Len Wein interview in <a href=”http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/09/next-project-history-of-swamp-monsters.html”><i>Swamp Creatures</i></a>, he suggested bringing the book back after Wes Craven had purchased the movie rights. Why not have a comic to give readers something to latch onto after the film whet their appetites?<br><br>
Swamp Thing hadn’t completely disappeared from the DC universe, but he was scarce enough to be legendary. As mentioned in the <a href=””>previous Swamp Thing entry</a>, he guest starred in <i>Challengers of the Unknown</i>, written by Gerry Conway, the writer of the first <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Man-Thing">Man-Thing</a> story. This was followed by an appearance in <i>The Brave and the Bold</i> 122 (October 1975) when he again teamed up with Batman to defeat a super plant that threatened to take over Gotham. Alan Moore would use a similar plot, only with Swamp Thing as Batman’s antagonist instigating the plant growth. In <i>DC Comics Presents</i> #8, (April,1979) the Swamp Thing assisted Superman in defeating some sixty Solomon Grundies in a more superhero than horror story Steve Englehardt. Compared to Man-Thing, or any second-tier superhero, four years without an appearance is virtual character death.<br><br>
I have, perhaps arbitrarily decided to mark the beginning of Swamp Thing volume 2 with <i>The Brave and the Bold</i> issue 176, from July 1981. It’s written by Martin Pasko, who would, one year later, take on the recrudescence of the Swamp Thing in May 1982. Before this story, Swamp Thing hadn’t been seen for two years. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/pasko01.jpg" width="250" align="left" alt="Batman and the Swamp Thing, cooperating again">
Pasko’s “The Delta Connection” is a straightforward Batman story from the early eighties; more Darknight Detective than Batgod, involving no other superpowered individuals. A man is murdered, and the search for the culprit takes Batman into the swamps of Louisiana. The Swamp Thing is coincidentally present, and a random shotgun blast allows the two to meet. Again. More likely to attract a Batman fan than a Swamp Thing fan, the story includes a one-page recapitulation of the Swamp Thing’s origin, and Pasko references their two previous encounters. In keeping with the Gothic atmosphere, and the resurgence of the weird in the eighties, Swamp Thing is given a vital but mysterious clue by a ghost. Later, the Swamp Thing concocts a rational explanation for this, but there’s definitely room to believe either way. Which is the strength of Pasko’s writing. The two solve the mystery and the criminals are brought to justice. It’s an atmospheric mystery, everything wrapped up. Pasko’s writing sets an excellent mood for the piece, and legendary Batman artist Jim Aparo artist does an excellent job with the swampy setting so distant from Gotham’s concrete jungles.<br><br>
I don’t know if Pasko was handed the Swamp Thing assignment because of this story, but it’s more than a coincidence that he was chosen to write the new <i>Swamp Thing</i> book.<br><br>
The paradigm shifted slightly when Swamp Thing got its own series again. Pasko’s ideas were now very divorced from the mainstream DC Universe. No superheroes, not even Batman appear during his tenure. Only the Phantom Stranger, a mystical hero, appears, and those two stories are fill-ins written by Dan Mishkin. But there was a good reason for not including superheroes. Pasko set out to not write a kids’ book. His tenure on <i>Swamp Thing</i> deals with some very heavy psychological issues and current events, in the more or less direct way that Steve Gerber did in <i>Man-Thing</i>. This for-mature-readers approach was one of the stepping stones that eventually led DC to ditch the Comics Code Authority. Pasko deals with demons, child murder, Nazis, fanaticism, Vietnam, the aftereffects of electroconvulsive therapy, shady governmental-corporate partnerships, and the coming of the antichrist. It’s a heavy for a comic, especially one from the early eighties.<br><br>
Len Wein was chosen as the editor. It must have been a strange sensation, editing another writer’s take on a character he had created. Even stranger to see Pakso update the character from Wein’s classic Gothic stories to neo-noir.<br><br>
<Img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/pasko02.jpg" width="200" align="right" alt="Swamp Thing and Karen, the act of kindness that nearly brought on the apocalypse.">
In the first issue, Swamp Thing rescues a mute girl in an act of kindness. Although young, she later proves to be anything but innocent. Her character arc is a beautiful inversion of the usual rescue of a child. What harm could come from saving a young girl, Karen Clancy from a father who is about to shoot her because he thinks she is some sort of witch spawn? It’s a familiar story, two outcasts bonding with each other. Pakso slowly transforms that initial rescue into a fantastic inversion of the story the readers expected. The issue also introduces “Harry Kay” an agent for the Sunderland Corporation. Kay turns out to have a lot of layers. Nobody is wholly good in Pasko’s <i>Swamp Thing</i>. And nobody is completely devoid of sympathetic qualities, either.<br><br>
In the very next issue the Swamp Thing and Karen are separated. They will never manage to truly get together again until the last two issues of the story arc, allowing for a diversity of stories as each character can be the protagonist on their own. When these other characters are the focus of a story, the Swamp Thing often plays the role the <a href=”http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Heap”>Heap</a> did in the Hillman comics: arriving at the end to resolve the story. Pasko is too savvy to have the Swamp Thing administer justice, because there is no justice in these stories. The status quo is too flawed for anyone to desire a return to it.<br><br>
<Img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/pasko03.jpg" width="450" align="left" alt="Helmut Kripptmann, terribly flawed ,man with a lot to make up for.">
Other characters, often initially antagonistic to Swamp Thing or at odds with the rest of the cast, filter in. Liz Tremayne appears, a tough, no-nonsense reporter fighting for recognition as well as justice in the stories she reports. Helmut “Harry Kay” Kripptmann, a Jewish doctor and former Nazi collaborator, is morally ambiguous. Dr. Barclay starts as a naive “psychic” healer who doesn’t know he is the conduit transferring wounds from people onto captive clones. They are not heroes, but rather people with checkered pasts, attempting do to what is right by what they know. The frisson between the well-rounded characters makes the stories complex and interesting, and slowly layer after layer of the onion peels away until each character is exposed in all their complexity.
<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/pasko04.jpg" width="550" align="right" alt="General Sunderland and Dwight Wicker, DDI. A public-private dirty deeds partnership.">
In the background looms Sunderland Corporation. Sunderland would be a standard evil corporation, similar to OCP, Weyland-Utani, Umbrella Corporation, or Abstergo, but these stories were written before any of these other companies were invented. Sunderland is always a shadowy presence with its filthy fingers in a large number of very dirty pies. In the Reagan/Thatcher area, Pasko also made sure that he reader knew that Sunderland had government ties, allowing it access to information and material it might not otherwise. The revelation that many large companies had government contacts was a shock to us in the eighties. It is understood to be a matter of course now.<br><br>
<Img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/pasko05.jpg" width="250" align="right" alt="Man, you killed your own kid. What a dick.">
Issue three introduces us to Rosewood, Illinois. The town has been taken over by vampires, and only a desperate family is left to resist them. But those who fight evil are not necessarily good people. Larry Childress blows up a local dam to flood the town, dissolving the vampires under running water. But he does so taking his son with him, where he could have left the boy out of harm’s way. His nihilism is not praised.<br><br>
<Img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/pasko06.jpg" width="225" align="left" alt="Awkward!">
Issue four, “In the White Room” presents us with another complex situation. “Uncle Barney” a local kids TV show host, has been caught murdering children. His show’s catchy song “Give the benefit of the doubt/When you trust it all works out” is implied to have contributed to the murders, since kids trust Uncle Barney. That said, Barney made a pact with demons, which brought out his murderous desires. The demon escapes Barney and finds other hosts, Liz Tremayne is caught in the middle of the supernatural struggle. And though the demon is defeated, by the end of the issue, Uncle Barney has been replaced with “Aunt Polly” who has the same catchy tune about trust. Pineboro hasn’t learned anything.<br><br>
Issue Five “The Screams of Hungry Flesh” brings us Dennis Barclay, a doctor who is part of Sunderland. He’s a naive psychic healer working with Kripptmann. He discovers that he’s just transferring wounds onto semiconscious clones. Once the truth is revealed, he flees Sunderland and his clinic, adding another character to the Swamp Thing and Liz Tremayne party.<br><br>
The next story, a two parter “Sins on the Water” and “I Have Seen the Splintered Timbers of a Hundred Shattered Hulls” is the most bizarre and comic-book story yet, starting with an alien invasion on a Sunderland corporate cruise, and ending up with isolated psychically-enhanced Vietnam vets who can alter reality. At its heart, “Here’s Looking at You, Kid” has a back and forth discussion about the treatment of those veterans. Pasko is canny enough not to let the story take sides. In the background, Casey is seen to be more dangerous, and Kripptmann is unable to apprehend her.<br><br>
With issue nine, "Prelude to Holocaust", the series now shifts full-time to the Karen Clancy story. I suppose there’s a little bit of Stephen King’s <i>Carrie</i> in the little psychic girl, but Karen isn’t an innocent cursed with psychic abilities she can’t control. The little girl the Swamp Thing saved is the herald of the Antichrist. She’s an evil person, growing and developing her psychic powers, using them get what she wants. And to make sure we know she’s evil, Pasko shows her looting a Nazi collector’s stash for a particular item. Kripptmann is shown to have a larger agenda, using what resources he can glean from Sunderland to pursue Karen. And he is ruthless, even murdering Sunderland employees to get what he needs. He is not a good person, even though he stands opposed to both Sunderland and Clancy.<br><br>
<Img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/pasko07.jpg" width="450" align="right" alt="The holocaust, in a nutshell. In a comic.">
The coming of the Antichrist is very similar to the Nazi Holocaust. In fact, the Holocaust was a prelude to what Karen and the Antichrist are going to bring about. Neither Pasko or artist Tom Yeates sugar coat this. When Karen pulls the memories of an extermination camp out of Kripptmann’s head, we see Nazis pulling the gold fillings out of dead prisoners, Nazi doctors about to inject gasoline in a hapless prisoner’s veins. They are absolutely not fucking around with this story line. This is the motivation behind Kripptmann, and these two pages of terrible memories hammer home the reason he seeks personal redemption for his previous actions. It’s a fascinating drive for the character. <br><br>
The Swamp Thing is ultimately the agent that foils Hell's plan. Not the religious, not the powerful, but the swamp man who was once intervened to save a young girl, using power siphoned from Clancy. Even Kripptmann finds some measure of redemption by killing the man who would be the Antichrist. After the build-up, it’s a little unsatisfying, but the journey was well worth pursuing.<br><br>
<Img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/pasko08.jpg" width="300" align="left" alt="Taking over the computers of the 80's. That's, what, 2 terrabytes?">
After this are two fill-in issues from Dan Mishkin, crossing over with the Phantom Stranger. It’s an mediocre, comic-booky technothriller, in which Nat Broder turns himself into pure silicon. Initially he goes on a rampage, turning many things, including Swamp Thing, into crystalline versions of themselves. Swamp Thing, fortunately, is still soaked with the bio-restorative formula, so he able to re-convert back to his mucky self. Broder turns out to also have power over computers, and in a few moments, takes over the world's computers. Eventually he is stopped by the combined forces of the Swamp Thing and the Stranger.<br><br>
Issue sixteen “Stopover In a Place of Secret Truths” introduces a few changes to the book. Abby Arcane from the original series returns. The story is a bit of a <i>Twilight Zone</i> style stand-alone, about a community that wears masks to hide hideous deformities. It also adds Kripptmann to the Swamp Thing’s traveling cast.<br><br>
<Img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/pasko09.jpg" width="350" align="left" alt="Brilliant Tom Yeates art">
But more importantly, this is the first issue with John Totleben and Steve Bissette as artists. Now Tom Yeates is an amazing artist, and I should have talked about his work before. His work is very clean, nuanced, and full of unexpected little details. Yeates drew grotesque and the weird of the <i>Swamp Thing</i> series extraordinarily well. His art is strong, and developed amazingly as the series progressed. The climax of the Karen Clancy storyline would have been much weaker in the hands of a less-talented artist.<br><br>
<Img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/pasko10.jpg" width="250" align="right" alt="Beautiful and expressive Bissette/Totleiben art.">
This new team of Totleben and Bissette gave a frenetic, intricately detailed line art to the Swamp Thing that I fell in love with the instant I saw it. I love Bernie Wrightson’s art, but the Bissette/Totleben <i>Swamp Thing</i> art remains my favorite. The new team broke the art molds. No longer was the action confined to tidy boxes. Panels could be crystal-like shards that slashed diagonally across the page, sound effects could be reinforced with art, rather than being cartoonishly splashed across the page. In some ways, this is the punk element that appealed to me. While Yeates’ art is excellent the new team had a wild, uncontained, and unpredictable style. It didn’t march in staid array across the page but drew the eye in unexpected directions. This confrontational art style served Pasko's scripts very well, creating the atmosphere in which the words had more impact.<br><br>
<Img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/pasko11.png" width="400" align="left" alt="Taking over the computes of the 80's. That's, what, 2 terrabytes?">
There is also a level of grotesquerie to Bissette and Totleben’s work that outstrips anything else I have seen in comics. Their monsters are carefully and patently impossible, with teeth that could never fit into their mouths. And they’re glorious. Art like this makes comics more effective than pure text, only a visual/text hybrid like comics could produce something that startling. Thankfully, we will get to see more of their art in Moore’s run.<br><br>
With Abbey reestablished, issue seventeen brings Matthew Cable back. And he’s a mess. A drunk, suffering from the aftereffects of electroconvulsive therapy, his life has been burned to the ground. But somehoe he has managed to gain some sort of psychic power. Which is kind of interesting, since Abby had started to developing powers in the original series. This is also the re-introduction of Anton Arcane. His is powerful and creepy, and this return cemented his place as Swamp Thing’s best recurring villain.<br><br>
<Img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/pasko12.jpg" width="350" align="right" alt="Anton Arcane... looking pretty icky">
Issue eighteen “The Man Who Would Not Die” is a few new pages bookending the original resurrection of Anton Arcane, from back in the original <i>Swamp Thing</i> #9, and recolored. This is the first time I’ve seen the “Auntie Bellum” change to the script, and this has remained in every subsequent release.<br><br>
Issue nineteen “...And the Meek Shall Inherit...” is Pasko’s last, and it’s magnificent. Arcane and his un-men have taken on insect traits, making them even more grotesque than before. They capture Swamp Thing, Kripptmann, and Abby. Arcane still covets the Swamp Thing’s nearly-indestructable body. Kripptmann, a very gray and occasionally reprehensible character, redeems himself by destroying Arcane’s plans. At the cost of his life. His struggle, half-transformed into some sort of wasp or spider, is very small, but agonizingly illustrated by Totleben and Bissette. Pasko’s words are just right, giving the struggle a pathos seldom elicited in comics. With his sacrifice, Arcane is undone, and everyone separates. The stage is now set for Alan Moore’s tenure.<br><br>
<Img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/pasko13.jpg" width="600" align="left" alt="Kripptmann making final amends">
Pasko’s work on <i>Swamp Thing</i> has gone unrecognized for more than thirty years, and that’s a shame. It’s certainly overshadowed by Moore’s years on the book, but these are excellent, creepy comics that pull the reader into a shadowy realm of modern horror. He literally draws the Swamp Thing out of the Gothic and comic-book trappings that defined the character in the initial series and presents us with fully modern horror. Going back over these comics is a pleasure, because Pasko’s writing is subtle and complex, different from what was being written then, and different from what’s being written now. It’s absolutely worth re-visiting for modern readers or horror, for its mood, its complex characters, and refusal to tie the end of the story up in a bow. Personally, I love the way the stories do not let the reader off the hook, but force us to look at issues and ideas from which the stories germinated. This is comics at their best. Telling stories that do not condescend to the reader.<br><br>
Next up, Roy Thomas once again pays homage to his favorite character. Somewhere I never would have expected it. Thanks for your patience, and I’ll write more soon. John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-36921163210148236632018-09-29T14:28:00.002-04:002018-09-29T14:28:15.443-04:00Galgameth: Pulgasari Minus the Murderous Dictator-ProducerA footnote to the weird production that was North Korea's 1985 <i><a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Pulgasari">Pulgasari</a></i> is that the director, Shin Sang-ok, eventually escaped his captors and remade that kaiju film in 1996 as <b>The Adventures of Galgameth</b>. Until recently, I haven't been able to find a decent version of it, and then one popped up on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiJqaBTNO5M&t=4748s">Youtube</a>. How could I resist?<br><br>
<b>The Adventures of Galgameth</b> is what producers believe kids want in a film. It's mostly harmless pap, with virtually all the terrible things happening off-screen. It was also done on the cheap, for television. But so what? I've watched and discussed a lot of cheap kaiju films. The above connection to <i>Pulgasari</i> is enough to get me to write about the film, but the other impressive part of it is the cast. Among others, the film features Richard Horvitz,the voice of Invader Zim, Felix Silla, who played Cousin Itt in the <i>Addams Family</i> TV series, the body of Twikki in <i>Buck Rodgers</i> and many other sci-fil roles. Under the larger Galgameth suit is Doug Jones, memorable as the Gentlemen from <i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i>, Abe Sapien in the <i>Hellboy</i> films, and the Amphibian Man in <i>Shape of Water</i>.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/galgy1.jpg" width="370" alt="I'm so evil I brought my black cat to a joust!" align="left"><br>
And it's kind of a good thing that cast is neat, because there really isn't much kaiju goodness to dig into with <i>Galgameth</i>. The plot is predictable. A hapless prince in medieval Donnigold Castle is learning to be a man. His enemy is El El, the king's best knight, who we know is evil because he dresses in black. The Good King shows his son a box with the true protector of the realm, a small idol. A few minutes later, on his deathbed, the dying king (poisoned by El El) begs the little statue to protect his son. El El, as regent, then begins his predictable reign of tyranny, raising taxes, conscripting everyone to be in the Royal Army, and burning books. And Galgameth, the guardian again is activated by tears. So it clearly is a loose adaption of <i>Pulgasari</i> <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/galgy2.jpg" width="370" alt="Fun-sized baby Galgameth" align="right"><br>
Seventeen minutes in, however, the film demonstrates its inability to hold am emotional note. Or at least shows it's willing to sacrifice its emotional tenor for amusing kids' stuff. The Prince, having not eaten for days, mourning his father, wakes up to discover Galgameth has been animated. The film immediately lauches into a cutesy sequence of wonder as the two interact. I mean, people were being tortured just a couple of minutes ago, but we don't want to remember that. Galgameth has big teeth and huge blue eyes. He can jump! He eats metal! He's not just a guardian of the kingdom, he'll also destroy the prince's sadness.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/galgy3.jpg" width="370" alt="Doug Jones as Galgameth" align="left"><br><br>
Galgameth and the prince join up with the local rebels. They feed the beast iron, and it grows. You can tell it's becoming a more serious monster because a horn begins to grow out of its head. It changes from Felix Silla in a suit to Doug Jones. As with <i>Pulgasari</i>, they trap it and try to burn it, only this time in a church rather than a cage. I am very pleased at this point that not all the news is delivered by weeping woman.<br><br>
Much as I don't like the childish face of the initial, small Galgameth, I have to admit the expression is good. It grins seamlessly and charmingly. And it gets better as Galgameth turns into the more threatening, kaiju version of itself. The eyes blink, its brows and nose change and express mood.<br><br>
During the initial assault on the castle, the defenders use some of the tactics seen in the first two <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-gods-of-valley-are-not-gods-of.html">Daimajin</a> films. They dump carts of rocks, fire flaming catapults. But they also snare Galgameth, drag it to a pit, and then bury it. It didn't work in <i><a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-royal-rumble-king-kong-vs-godzilla.html">King Kong vs Godzilla</a></i>and it doesn't work here, either. The assault on the castle resumes, and here we have some of both the best and the worst of Galgameth's miniature work.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/galgy4.jpg" width="370" alt="What every bad CG kaiju looks like" align="left">
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/galgy5.jpg" width="370" alt="Suits and miniatures. Looks good" align="right"><br>
Galgameth's weakness is not actually tears, but salt water, which causes it to burn like it's made of magnesium. Evil El El drags the prince out in a boat, times him to the mast, and then sets fire to the boat. And it feels again like <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/10/repetition-is-soul-of-wit-return-of.html"><i>Return of Daimajin</a></i>, with the prince playing the part of Lady Sayuri, El El standing in for Lord Mikoshiba.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/galgy6.jpg" width="370" alt="And that's the end of the most interesting character in Galgameth" align="left"><br>
It would be a little complex for Galgameth to follow Pulgasari's ending, with the monster that was initiall;y so cute becoming becoming so large that it has to be destroyed. And admittedly, Galgameth doesn't have the burden of being a metaphor for capitalism. Galgameth, dying in the sea-water, is struck by lightning and conducts it to El El's ship, burning it. But Galgameth can't solve the human plotline, and the prince has to take care of business, killing El El, getting the pretty girl, and getting crowned.<br><br>
It's not a horrible film. By the numbers certainly, but it doesn't loathe its audience the way the Atlantic Rim series does. If I had to scale it, I'd put closer to perfunctory film-making, more like <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Gargantua"><i>Gargantua</i></a> than <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Michael%20Deak"><i>Kraa</i> or <i>Zarkour</i></a>. But the clumsy way in which some of the Kaiju action is handled does show that Shin Sang-ok, or possibly Kim Jong-il himself, did the right thing by hiring the Godzilla crew to do the miniatures work for <i>Pulgasari</i>. Galgameth's is pretty weak by comparison, even eleven years later. <i>Galgameth</i> has some good moments of Kaiju action, but it also has some really bad ones.
John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-66774691288008915492018-08-25T15:24:00.001-04:002018-08-26T03:09:48.627-04:00Rampage: American KaijuWhen I first saw the trailer for the Dwayne Johnson/Brad Oeyton <b>Rampage</b>, I wasn't sure it was going to be a Kaiju film. As I've <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/04/its-not-all-glory-being-king-1976-king.html">said before</a>, giant gorilla films don't automatically fall under the kaiju umbrella, and they often have problematic subtexts. Giant gorillas are just big animals. But when I saw this picture...<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage01.jpg" width="790" alt="Lizzie, the only serious kaiju in 2018's Rampage"><br><br>
... I realized I'd been wrong. And I reluctantly contacted my good friend and we went to the IMAX show of <b>Rampage</b>. And I had an amazing time.<br><br>
<b>Rampage</b> is truly an American kaiju film. It's really an action film that happens to include giant monsters. And that's not a criticism. <i><a href=-"http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/01/how-not-to-care-for-children-host.html">The Host</a></i> is a crime film that happens to involve a huge mutated fish. And it’s a magnificent film. <b>Rampage</b> has all the elements of a typical action film: a hypermasculine action protagonist who manages to shrug off a bullet, the destruction of a lot of property. Come to think of it, I’m surprised that this hasn’t been done before. The action protagonist and sensibility is what differentiatsd this film from, say, <a href="https://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/02/an-opportunity-wasted-cloverfield.html"><i>Cloverfield</i></a>, in which the protagonists are simply there to watch what’s happening. Protagonist Davis Okoye is there to solve plot problems, rather than watch the plot unfold. He also has a convenient background that allows him to perform a a lot of actions what would baffle the average person. He’s a primatologist who was Special Forces, so he knows how to fly a helicopter, when it becomes useful. Quite the Action Hero guy. <br><br>
The other indicator of action film ethos is the large amount of gunfire. When the military shows up, they bring in s a lot of guns, including an A-10 Warthog. And unlike the standard kaiju film where the missiles and bullets just bounce off, the bullets that hit George, for example, make holes. By the end, despite his mutant healing factor, George is looking pretty rough.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage05.jpg" width="790" alt="George gets hurt."><br><br>
Anyway, about the monsters. They are all exposed to a goofy MacGuffin, canisters with a genetic editing delivery system. It's been fascinating to watch genetic manipulation become the new way monsters are created. In the thirties, it was gland transplants, in the fifties and sixties, it became radiation, after that, pollution, and now genetic tampering. Anyway. George the gorilla, Ralph the wolf and Lizzie, who's either an alligator or a crocodile (I'm going to say croc for the rest of the post) are exposed and go on a… rampage. In Chicago.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage03.jpg" width="790" alt="There's no party like a Chicago party."><br><br>
Our buy-in kaiju is George the gorilla. He’s Okoye’s best friend, the most human-like, and the least mutated by the MacGuffin. But like only the most recent Kong, <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2017/10/nature-is-terrifying-kong-skull-island.html"><i>Skull Island</i></a>, this gorilla eats people. And he maintains sympathy, even though <i>Kong: Skull Island</i> cuts away from the giant gorilla actually eating the soldier, Rampage treats us to a long, beautiful shot of the woman in the red dress goes down George's gullet. In the original screenplay, George was to die at the end of the film, probably as penance for eating humans. More on this later.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage04.jpg" width="790" alt="George has a snack."><br><br>
George is an albino, which was done because it's difficult to see bloody holes in dark brown or black fur. This differentiates him from <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/King%20Kong">Kong</a>, but also lets the damage show. And that's the real thing about <b>Rampage</b>. Although the bullets and explosives aren't the plot solution, (I'm looking at you <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/09/attention-to-detail-does-matter.html">1998 <i>Godzilla</i></a>) they do hurt the monsters. George, as the protagonist, gets shot, impaled, mauled, and really banged up. Unlike Japanese films, where the only thing that can really affect a giant monster is another giant monster, there’s a lot of things that can hurt George. It doesn’t actually slow him down, any more than being shot slows Davis down.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage02.jpg" width="790" alt="George feels oddly tired."><br><br>
Ralph is the intermediate monster. He gets a fair amount of screen time early on, when a mercenary group is sent out to deal with this second giant monster. Ralph is at base a wolf, but in addition to mass, gains porcupine quills and membranes between his legs allowing him to glide like <a href=”http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/04/unbelievable-daijaiku-varan.html”><i>Varan the Unbelievable</a></i>. Ralph also seems to instinctively know how these work, and controls himself well while in the air. But he’s ultimately the kaiju we spend the least time with. Although mammalian, he’s not humanoid, and doesn't present with a complex emotional life. Like George, we watch him eat people, but they're all bad people, mercenaries in the employ of <strike>Scumlabs</strike>Energyne.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage07.jpg" width="790" alt="Ralph doing his Varan impression."><br><br>
He also serves to show how monstrous Lizzie is, since she makes short, bloody work of him.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage06.jpg" width="790" alt="Ralph realizes he's made a mistake."><br><br>
Lizzie, the mutated crocodile, is the real star, the real kaiju. Ralph the wolf is kind of near, but it doesn't have menace Lizzie does. Once she arrives, everything else is secondary. She has to be taken down. She is the most mutated of the trio, and nearly invulnerable. Where the gorilla and the wolf have soft, fleshy bodies, Lizzie is armored like a tank. She's developed gills, but these are not as vulnerable as is hoped, possibly as a nod to the 2014 <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/09/leave-them-wanting-more-godzilla-2014.html"><i>Godzilla</i></a>, where gunfire is ineffectively directed at Godzilla's gills. But they look pretty cool when frilled.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage08.jpg" width="790" alt="Lizzie, the serious kaiju of Rampage (2018)."><br><br>
Lizzie is what makes the film a kaiju film. She’s an engine of destruction, and a strange beast. George has a personal connection to Davis, and Ralph sort of only takes out bad people. Lizzie is there to wreck shit. And she does. Whoever thought of giving a giant croc a gecko’s ability to scale walls was a either a madman or a genius, because Lizzie looks frightening and amazing as she is climbing the <strike>Sears</strike> Willis Tower. <b>Rampage</b> uses the 2014 <i>Godzilla</i>'s idea of echolocation, originally used by the MUTOs and applies it here. How you get creatures attracted to a signal, and for that matter how you mutate animals to receive radio waves from a distance of a thousand miles. But hey, it got all the monsters into Chicago. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage09.jpg" width="790" alt="Lizzie climbs a building."><br><br>
In a trope that goes all the way back to the 1925 <a href="https://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-year-of-monsters-godzillas-grandpaw.html"><i>The Lost World</i></a>, we see George, Lizzie, and Ralph trashing the most distinctive building in Chicago, the Willis Tower. Because of course the big evil companies lie Energyne need a tall tower to be evil in. Still, Chicago is a nice break from Tokyo, San Francisco, and New York.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage10.jpg" width="790" alt="Goodbye Chicago skyline."><br><br>
Of course the military is called out to deal with the creatures. And they are treated with respect (another lesson learned from 1998 <i>Godzilla</i>). In fact just about everyone who's got a name is a competent character. There's friction between the non-military government agent. But the military is not obsessed with destroying the animals, and responds to setbacks with calm, rather than going to pieces. And that was greatly appreciated. Despite this, the screenwriters didn't do as much research as I would have liked. Like <a href="https://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2017/08/bigger-nastier-more-amazing-shin.html"><i>Shin Godzilla</i></a>, the B-2 Spirit bomber is deployed. But the <i>Shin Godzilla</i> team did their homework better. The MOAB deployed in <b>Rampage</b> is too large to fit into the Spirit's bomb bay. It's designed to be deployed out the back of a cargo plane. Interestingly, the B-2 survives <b>Rampage</b> where the new Godzilla cuts them out of the sky.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage11.jpg" width="790" alt="Well get got one, might as well use it."><br><br>
The end battle is brutal. While we don't get any shots of lines of people who have been hurt, the landscape is a dusty gray and filled with rubble. George and Davis really get knocked around, action hero style. It’s not <i>quite</i> too much, but a lot of the action had me wincing in sympathy. Also like <i>Shin Godzilla</i>, the Spirit Bomber provides us with a ticking clock. If Davis and George can't deal with the other two kaiju, the military is going to drop a bomb. Unlike <i>Shin Godzilla</i>, this time the bomb is non-nuclear. The fightthere fore is like watching a middleweight go a couple of rounds with a heavyweight in a fixed fight. George and Okoye lose and lose and lose until they win. And it should be said that similar to <i>Kong: Skull Island</i> this film loves<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage12.jpg" width="790" alt="Incoming George!"><br><br>
the jumping<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage13.jpg" width="790" alt="Incoming George!"><br><br>
gorilla.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage14.jpg" width="790" alt="Incoming George!"><br><br>
Jumping George solves the plot by putting a steel beam through the giant croc’s eye.<br><br>
Apparently, the original script called for George to die, but Johnson himself campaigned for the giant gorilla to live. Which givesd the film a more upbeat ending, which it really needs, but at the same time doesn’t solve the plot’s giant monster problem. How much does George eat now? Will he get over his taste for human flesh? How the hell are they authorities going to dispose of two gigantic rotting corpses? Questions like these are part of why I like <a href="https://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-special-ingredient-is-love-pacific.html"><i>Pacific Rim</i></a> so much. It looks at these questions, including kaiju excrement and body disposal, way beyond the usual kaiju film plot.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Rampage15.jpg" width="790" alt="Incoming George!"><br><br>
Ultimately the film is engaging, although the violence is uncomfortably brutal. I suppose I'm used to the genteel 'weapons bounce off' feel of Japanese Kaiju films. Maybe it's more honest, but whatever. It's a movie in which people survive blatantly impossible things. But the human story is pretty good, the actors giving good performances in the human plot that interacts with the monster plot. It'sd not groundbreaking drama, but it's not supposed to be. It's an action film, like any of the <i>Fast and the Furious</i> or <i>Transformers</i> films, which happens to involve kaiju. the two go together surprisingly well.
John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-41022834873333672162018-07-07T16:03:00.001-04:002018-07-07T16:03:47.196-04:00Atlantic Rim: Resurrection: Shit SandwichIf I really had nerve, I would leave the review at just the title. If you’re about to be executed, or dying of a painful disease, and need a movie to make that last hour an a half a reason to embrace oblivion, <i>Atlantic Rim: Resurrection</i> is that film. It’s so lazily, stupidly conceived, executed, and then marketed that I would go so far as to call it a blight on moviemaking. You may remember that I loathed <i><a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-bitter-end-atlantic-rim.html">Atlantic Rim</a></i>. Everything about the sequel is worse. <b>Everything</b>. <br><br>
In the introductory voice over, we’re told that the monsters threatened all life on Earth. Two monsters failing to attack a Florida city and then going on to New York isn't even close. Likely this is a pull from the similarly histrionic 1999 <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-apple-doesnt-fall-far-from-tree.html"><i>Yonggary</i></a>, histrionics that are completely not supported by the film. There’s a lot of this in the film, claims in the dialog that are utterly unsupported by the rest of the script.<br><br>
This image is a reminder of the monsters from the first film:<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/AR06.jpg" width="775" alt="Remember these guys? The director doesn't either."><br><br>
Much of the beginning of the film is a montage of stock military footage, a common way for a cheap production to stretch its run time. Hey, director Jared Cohn, if you’re pulling from Coleman Francis’ playbook, you may want to stop. Cohn’s direction is just about on the level of the Charles Band films, <a herf="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-careful-review-of-kraa.html"><i>Kraa</i></a> and <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/09/celebrating-for-mediocrity-zarkorr.html"><i>Zarkor</i></a>, only without the competently-directed sequences from SPFX director Michael Deak. I really would have preferred suitimation to the lazy and uninteresting CG we get. Because bad as <i>Atlantic Rim</i> was, they must have cut the budget or found people even less competent. Possibly both.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/ARR03.jpg" width="775" alt="The old stretch out the film with stock military footage dodge."><br><br>
I like dumb films. <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-special-ingredient-is-love-pacific.html"><i>Pacific Rim</i></a> and <i>Rampage</i> weren’t the most sophisticated scripts out there, but they drew me along because they had some interesting ideas and executed them with enthusiasm. But <i>Atlantic Rim: Resurrection</i> isn’t dumb. It <i>aspires</i> to be dumb, but it doesn’t have enough juice. If I were to call it anything, I’d say it was holoanencephalic. The entire film is a holding action until the end mercifully arrives. <br><br>
The film starts with footage from the first film in order to pad out the run time, and to refresh our memory of the goofy monster. But when the monsters show, they’re completely different. Not just a different skin, or a different color, but literally six-legged as opposed to four-legged. No explanation is given, and in fact the film goes so far as to completely ignore the differences between the monsters. The kaiju don’t even look like what’s on the promotional materials. It’s like Cohn is daring us to like the film, making it as difficult as possible.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/ARR04.jpg" width="775" alt="Didn't you look different at the beginning of the movie?"><br><br>
As befits such a basement-level production, the script is also garbage. Six minutes in, the monsters have appeared on a populated beach, but in some random-ass bar, nobody knows that the monsters have returned. Because there’s a lack of cameras, phones, and social media or something. Or because the script is utterly incompetent. Further, nothing seems to have a fixed location. It’s all X miles from the Atlantic Coast. Which isn’t some sort of two thousand mile stretch of America.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/ARR05.jpg" width="775" alt="Didn't you look different at the beginning of the movie?"><br><br>
When the armed forces have to retreat from the sprawling city, they regroup at sandstone mountains of Florida. Which makes a certain amount of sense, because the promotional blurb says “Los Angeles is under attack by monsters. The mechs attempting to fight them off are better armed than their precursors, but so are the creatures.” Los Angeles is on the Atlantic, right? I mean, it clearly is the suburbs of Los Angeles, but could someone have actually paid attention enough to not list it as Los Angeles in the promotional material? Ha ha, no. Because everything about this production is cheap, incompetent, and performed without thought.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/ARR06.jpg" width="775" alt="The sandy mountains of Florida Or LA. Who actually cares, right?"><br><br>
But hey if you wanted a kaiju movie about scientists complaining about competing computer formats, this is totally your film. Because that’s fascinating I mean, sure someone says “One wrong line of code, this whole place is going to blow.” Apparently, they’re writing their computer programs in C4+ or some other idiotic bullshit.<br><br>
A lot of cues are taken from <i>Pacific Rim</i>. There’s the scientist who might sympathize too much with the kaiju. I don’t suspect Geoff Meed took his cues from the original <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/06/giant-monsater-fix-godzilla.html"><i>Godzilla</i></a>, the dialog is much closer to <i>Pacific Rim</i>. There’s a new neural link that’s used to control the robots. Which doesn’t work as well as the previous interface. Which is stupid. The new control scheme involves long joysticks, which the robot-jocks occasionally jerk around, making them look like they’re playing rock-em sock-em robots. What else did Meed watch? Probably <a href-"http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/02/an-opportunity-wasted-cloverfield.html"><i>Cloverfield</i></a>. After the first monster is killed, its body swells and then explodes with smaller versions of the monster. Sort of a reverse Legion from <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/08/a-pattern-emerges-during-heisei.html"><i>Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion</i></a>. Only stupid. When the two monsters combine into a single monster, it gains an acid spit, similar to <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-year-of-monsters-scarionettes-giant.html"><i>Reptilicus</i></a>. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/ARR07.jpg" width="775" alt="Big big ones and the little ones and God I don't care *drinks tequila*"><br><br>
The film also has a certain amount in common with the 1998 <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/09/attention-to-detail-does-matter.html"><i>Godzilla</i></a>. The film’s plot solution is not actually a firepower, but a complete bullshit science thing. Half-way through the film, but the plot throws all sorts of mechanical glitches in the way so the technological McGuffin doesn’t get deployed until the film’s run time is running down. I don’t know if that’s a deliberate homage, or if two less-than-stellar scriptwriters had the same idea. I suppose it doesn’t matter, since the bungled results are the same.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/ARR08.jpg" width="775" alt="I AM THE SAVIOR OF MANKIND!"><br><br>
The incompetent script and direction aren’t just lazy and uninspired, though. They actively embrace the worst stereotypes in film-making. Does the black jaeger pilot buy it first? You betcha. Does the black guy who replaces him suicide ram the monster and die? You betcha. And just in case you had some hope because the initial jaeger pilots are two women in addition to the black guy, during the second jaeger fight, the experienced women pilots are locked into a room, and the white scientist, who also knows how to pilot the jaeger, gets to deliver the killer goo that he scienced up to destroy the monsters. White action science guy saves the day while everyone else is sidelined. How original<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/ARR09.jpg" width="775" alt="Big big ones and the little ones and God I don't care *drinks tequila*"><br><br>
The film raises some real questions about the nature of film making. Is it really dialog if it’s just there to waste time? It's certainly not exposition. There are times that the characters are standing next to each other, telling the audience what they might see if Asylum had a budget. There’s also a surprising amount of travel by car while we get two-second glimpses of the robot/kaiju fight. I mean, technically, this is a movie. It’s a series of still pictures run together to create the illusion of motion, there are people that recite lines they have memorized. But it’s all so incompetently done that it’s not actually entertaining. It’s a masterclass in what happens if you don’t pay attention, don’t care, or possibly have utter contempt for your audience. <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-kaiju-road-trip-monsters.html"><i>Monsters</i></a> demonstrated that you don’t need a huge budget in order to make a decent monster film. However, some good ideas, appropriate dialog, and competent direction all help make a film worth watching. Even less than <i>Atlantic Rim</i>, <i>Atlantic Rim: Resurrection</i> is a desolate void of interest. <br><br>
John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-60723661095411053762018-05-28T21:08:00.001-04:002018-05-28T21:08:30.253-04:00I Aten't DeadMy goodness, it's been six months since I blogged. I didn't intend to stop, but the current work in progress is very consuming. As well as my Patreon. Once a week is a pretty serious schedule. In addition, the blog is not getting nearly as many hits as it used to, once I took down a post that was likely being used in some sort of spam scheme. My initial post about <i>Kong: Skull Island</i> received 444 hits since 3/11/17. The full DVD review, posted 10/15/17, has thus far received 90. And that's a little discouraging.<br><br>
For those of you waiting for more essays about Swamp Creatures in the comics, I plan on more. The next essay for the Pasko-Yates <i>Swamp Thing</i> is about half way done. For those of you waiting for my discussions of <i>Pacific Rim: Uprising</i>, <i>Rampage</i> or, God help you, <i>Altantic Rim: Resurrection</i>, those are also coming. But it's more difficult to justify writing something that doesn't pay and doesn't get much exposure.<br><br>
Something else that has come up is the publication of my collection of short stories. Here is is, <i><a href="https://crossroadpress.com/product/dark-draughts/">Dark Draughts</a></i>, available in e-book and paperback from the fine folks at Crossroad Press. Yes, that's a Stephen Bissette drawing. Dream one achieved: to have a book published. Dream two achieved: Have a cover by Stephen Bissette. I mean, the man was part of the comic that changed me in profound ways. So there's that.<br><br>
<a href="https://crossroadpress.com/product/dark-draughts/"><img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/draughts.jpg" width="400"></a><br><br>
So there is more to come, and I will be posting to this blog more regularly.John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-35881486457808403432017-11-24T16:58:00.001-05:002017-11-24T16:58:05.885-05:00Man-Thing's Many-Handed Revival Steve Gerber’s run on <i>Man-Thing</i> ended in 1975, and Marvel let the book lay fallow. When I say lay fallow, I mean that the Man-Thing was a guest star in eighteen books, from the Micronauts to <i>Marvel Team-up</i> with Spider-man, the Fantastic Four, the Master of Kung-Fu, and Gerber’s own Howard the Duck.<br><br>
In 1979, Marvel decided that the Man-thing deserved to have its own book again. And so Man-Thing returned, resurrected by Michael Fleischer and later, Chris Claremont. This return lasted for eleven issues.<br><br>
<img src="http://qusoor.com/images/muck/Man0201.jpg" width="400" align="right">
Neither Claremont not Fleischer were inexperienced writers. Claremont was in the process of writing his monumental <i>X-Men</i> run, one of the longest and most successful writing stints in comics history. Claremont started with a notable Man-Thing appearance in <i>Marvel Team-Up</i> #68, (April, 1978) introducing Man-Thing to Spider-Man, a pairing not as long-term fruitful as Man-Thing’s association with the Hulk, but a close second. This involves a very familiar prison, similar to the one Len Wein put the Swamp Thing in during the “Leviathan Conspiracy” (<a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-classic-len-wein-and-bernine.html"><i>Swamp Thing</i></a> # 13, Nov-Dec 1974). The captured swamp monster story hook is something that would be re-used when Swamp Thing was brought to Metropolis to meet Superman in <i>DC Comics Presents</i> # 8 “The Sixty Deaths Of Solomon Grundy” (April, 1979). Are our authors reading each others’ books? I think so. Claremont brings back Jennifer Kale and Dakimh the wizard from Gerber’s stint on the book. It’s a pretty standard superhero story. Dakimh and Jennifer are held hostage by costumes creep named D‘spayre. He can project burning fear on command, but Spider-man’s mental toughness allows him to eventually overcome it. It s a bit of a shock to read after the Gerber’s primarily narration-heavy stories. There’s a lot of supervillain monologing and Spider-man talking to himself to shake himself out of his fear. Man-Thing distracts D’spayre, and Spider-man is able to surprise him, and that’s about all of the story.<br><br>
More than a year later, Michael Fleischer wrote the first three comics in the new Man-Thing series, in 1979. Man-Thing’s tag line, “Whoever knows fear burns at the touch of the Man-Thing” is now on the cover.<br><br>
<img src="http://qusoor.com/images/muck/Man0202.jpg" width="450" align="left">
CIA Deputy Director Smathers needs someone to reproduce Ted Sallis’s formula, to he abducts biochemist Dr. Cheimer and gives him a proposal. The CIA needs the supersoldier formula, before the Russians develop their own (always with the Russians, the CIA). Cheimar agrees, and the Man-Thing is trapped. Now, it should be said that at the beginning of the Marvel Team-up with Spider-man, Man-Thing was captured by carnival folk. Now, the government is going to build a hugely expensive trap. Cheimar is working on neural regeneration, and hopes that his work can make the Man-Thing sentient again. Of course, it’s not really the CIA, and SHIELD gets involved. They stage a raid, and Cheimar is killed in the ensuing action.<br><br>
<img src="http://qusoor.com/images/muck/Man0203.jpg" width="200" align="right">
Next, the Man-Thing is teleported to the Himalayas, and is immediately beset by Himalayan wolves. And later a Himalayan brown bear. Each of these manages as well as do the gators back in Florida. Although out of its element, the Man-Thing manages to acquire some new companions, Russell and his wife Elaine, American mountain climbers in search of the Yeti. The Himalayas, are of course depicted as a series of snow-covered peaks. Where the wolves and the bear get their food, who knows. Muck monster versus bear bears some resemblance to Swamp Thing. There is a slight callback to <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-classic-len-wein-and-bernine.html"><i>Swamp Thing</i></a> #8 (“The Lurker in Tunnel 13” Jan-Feb 1974) in which the Swamp Thing kills a bear in a cave during a snowstorm. The companions are then abducted by actual Yeti, who have accepted Hiram Swenson, an anthropologist, as their leader. After various shenanigans, the Man-Thing escapes the icy mountains by hanging onto the ski of a plane with one arm, and Elaine in the other.<br><br>
Fleischer did not have the flair for the weird, or the personal, that Steve Gerber did. Man-Thing is not a book that is well-served by its supporting cast, but rather by the sort of stories that can be told about the wordless main character. Gerber’s endless reinvention of the genre of the book, and willingness to break the boundaries between superhero, fantasy, political satire, superheroes, and science fiction. Fleischer seems to be making this an adventure book, with exotic locations, daring escapes, helicopters, and explosions.<br><br>
With issue four, the writer changed to Chris Claremont. Claremont, who was still writing <i>X-Men</i> at he time. He kicks off with a cross-over with Doctor Strange. Man-Thing and Elaine fall off the helicopter. Man-thing reappears in his swamp, mind-controlled by Baron Mordo. This all leads up to a large sorcerous working by Mordo. He has also kidnapped Jennifer Kale, although Dakimh is nowhere in evidence. Man-Thing and Dr. Strange work together to gum up the works, and succeed. Strange, in gratitude, attempts to turn Man-Thing back into Salis, but cannot. After all, if the Man-Thing became human again, where would the comic go? Better to tease the creature’s return to Ted Salis than to actually do it. <br><br>
<img src="http://qusoor.com/images/muck/Man0204.jpg" width="300" align="left">
“Who Knows Fear,” issue #5 is a non-supernatural story, with Barbie, a young woman, being betrayed by a McGuire, a real bastard. He’s good-looking, setting up a simple dichotomy between the handsome man who is ugly on the inside, and the Man-Thing, ugly on the outside, but gentle and kind. The next story follows a similar plot, with a morally-bankrupt fraternity doing illegal things in order to capture the Man-Thing. Sheriff Daltry is caught in the middle of it. The plan is to make him the fear-generator that will attract the Man-Thing so the boys can spray him with defoliant. In the end, the good are rewarded, and the selfish frat boys who instigated the plan are dead. There’s more substance to the story: Claremont is a deeper writer than Flescher. He is developing a stronger supporting case, and the dichotomy between the attractive jerks and the good-but-ugly Man-Thing. Barb and Sheriff Daltry now for the new nucleus for the Man-Thing’s side characters. Barbie goes from being a fleeing victim to someone who is willing and able to fight back, which is a nice change.<br><br>
The next two issues concern Captain Fate and his flying pirate ship. Claremont had clearly been reading Gerber’s work and wanted to expand on it. Fate is once again preying on jets, boarding them as if they were prize ships in the Caribbean. Fate imprisons Daltry and the Man-Thing together, which gives Daltry an opportunity to realize that the muck monster is not actively hostile, but can be approached by someone calm. It’s an important moment in their relationship. But Fate transfers the curse of immortality to Sheriff Daltry.<br><br>
<img src="http://qusoor.com/images/muck/Man0205.jpg" width="450" align="right">
Issue nine was written by Dickie McKenzie. It’s an interesting variation on Wein’s “Sins of the Fathers” (<i>Giant-Sized Man-Thing</i> #5, as well as Gerber’s “Deathwatch” (<i>Man-Thing</i> #9). A couple run away to have their baby in the swamp, not having checked the water. They die, poisoned by a bad well, leaving the baby alive. Man-Thing receives the baby, and begins carrying it around the swamp. The baby’s gun-toting grandparents show up and attempt to take the baby, but whoever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing’s touch. Only one man is left, and the Man-Thing gives the babe to him. It's one of the very small, very personal stories and Gothic that Man-Thing can pull well, with the correct writer.<br><br>
There’s an additional story by JM DeMattis, who would later write <i>Swamp Thing</i>, Volume 3. The story develops as the experience of a high school student who was seduced by a cult, and then brutally deprogrammed. Having had several drug experiences, Larry doesn’t realize the Man-Thing isn’t a hallucination. Man-Thing shows up and the deprogrammers burn at his touch, and Tommy is reunited with his cult family. It’s a very ambiguous ending; the deprogrammers were brutes, but did they truly represent Tommy’s family’s wishes? The ending is melancholy, with the Man-Thing once again alone in the desert. I get the feeling this was cut down from a longer story: a lot happens in just five pages.<br><br>
Claremont’s next issue “Swampfire” borrows a little bit from an early <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-heap-volume-2-darker-stories.html">Heap</a> story. John Kowalsi is a wandering veteran, who turns out to be the incarnation of Death. The cancellation of the book may have been immanent, and Claremont was clearing up the many loose ends. Barbie is transformed (one entire issue) into a death-dealing superhero.<br><br>
<img src="http://qusoor.com/images/muck/Man0206.jpg" width="200" align="right">
Issue eleven was Claremont’s last, and he again imitates Gerber’s sign-off, as well as tying up as many of his series threads as possible. Claremont himself is a character, and he walks into Dr. Strange’s sanctum sanctorum, and gets drawn into the book itself. There’s a lot of fighting and revisiting of old characters, including Thog the Nether-Spawn. Ultimately, it feels like the issue is Gerber’s run put through a blender. I nthe end, Death and Dr. Strange reverse everything that has been done in the issue, and Daikh the Enchanter breaks the fourth wall and says farewell to the reader. It’s a a very unsatisfying end to the series, partially because, despite putting his own spin on the story, Claremont is retreading Gerber’s much more original idea.<br><br>
I suspect that Claremont could have gotten the hang of <i>Man-Thing</i> if he’d had more time on the book. But I expect that he was brought in when Michael Fleischer’s reboot of the book failed to take off. More themes could have been developed, Claremont could have broken free from Gerber’s characters and struck out on his own. But the character just wasn’t enough of a draw for readers to wait until the writer got the feel of the book.<br><br>
It’s not a brilliant run, and clearly, Claremont and Fleischer lacked the feel for the Gothic combined with the very personal nature of Gerber’s work, which is what made it so popular. Man-Thing is not a superhero and cannot be treated as such. Weird adventures work better, and as McKenzie demonstrated with his fill-in story, non-supernatural stories work as well. But the Man-Thing is and remains a passive character, and cannot drive stories. Nor should it be used as a plot solver, in which it shows up at the end of a story and administers justice until the guilty parties have been beaten senseless. It’s a delicate balancing act, one that no one, aside from Gerber, has truly mastered in the long run. I want to so dome analysis of what was going on, but the run is so short, the stories so scattered that there's very little for me to sink my teeth into. I can say that Claremont likely read old <i>Heap</i> comics, and definitely Gerber's work, but seemed to have difficulty latching onto his own way of making Man-Thing stories.<br><br>
And it’s a pity. Well-written Man-Thing stories are a pleasure to read. The character’s strange powers and swamp appearance tickle a very specific niche. I think it’s possible that, if given more time to develop themes and ideas, Claremont could have been a good writer of the series, made his mark on the on-going character. Unfortunately, Gerber started the character off on an extremely high note, and no one has yet returned with a clear, strong vision on how to make the character relevant or unique, the way Martin Pasko and Alan Moore did with the Swamp Thing.<br><br>
Next time, we’re looking at the often-overshadowed Pasko <i>Swamp Thing</i>. It’s better than most people remember. John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-75647725375606640322017-10-15T16:44:00.001-04:002017-11-04T09:47:22.494-04:00Nature is Terrifying: Kong: Skull Island<b>Kong: Skull Island</b> is the second installment in Legendary entertainment's Monsterverse franchise. If the films continue to be profitable. With a gross of $566 million, edging out 2014's <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/09/leave-them-wanting-more-godzilla-2014.html"><i>Godzilla</i></a>, and definitely trumping <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-special-ingredient-is-love-pacific.html"><i>Pacific Rim</i></a>, it seems likely that the franchise will continue. But it's interesting that both the Hollywood Godzilla and Pacific Rim franchises are all from the same production company: Legendary (recently purchased by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanda_Group">Wanda Group</a>). <i>Kong: Skull Island</i> had a lot to carry, both as an introduction of Kong into the new monster universe, to distinguish itself from previous Kong remakes, and to whet the audience's appetite for the next Godzilla film. <br><br>
This is not, thank the heavens, yet <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/04/its-not-all-glory-being-king-1976-king.html">another</a> <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/01/overindulgence-and-ape-king-kong-2005.html">reboot</a>. This is en entirely new story. Kong never leaves Skull Island, doesn't rampage in New York, doesn't get killed. Which is what the franchise needed: a new human story. This is something that <a href=”http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/01/how-not-to-care-for-children-host.html”><i>The Host</i></a> demonstrated. A new human plotline, drawing from other genres. This is the culmination of Shin'ichi Sekizawa's idea that the human stories and the kaiju stories should interact. Before him, the humans simply reacted to the presence of the monster. Sekizawa tried, and succeeded, to the best of the technology available to the films he wrote, to have the stories touch and impact each other. Early examples of this include the extensive use of spy tropes and ideas in films such as <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/03/james-bond-cornelius-ape-and-giant.html"><i>Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla</i></a> and <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/06/terrorism-espionage-godzilla-godzilla.html"><i>Godzilla vs Biollante</i></a>. With CG allowing the human characters to seem to touch the giant monsters, new stories and new interaction can be achieved. This even goes as far as the big battle in the end. Weaver lands a flare on the side of Ramarak’s (the big skullcrawler) head, distracting it. When Kong is chained and helpless, the humans fire their very large gun to keep Ramarak from killing him.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI01.jpg" width="774" alt="Kong, God-King of Skull Island"><br><br>
<i>Kong: Skull Island</I> pulls the majority of its human story from the Vietnam era and Vietnam films, specifically <i>Apocalypse Now</I>. This is, very specifically a war story. The emotional beats, the slow and difficult to predict elimination of the cast. The film rewards those who can think outside of their circumstances. Marlow and Japanese pilot Gunpei fight each other, only to stop when Kong arrives. In the tense confrontation between Colonel Packard and the civilians (Conrad, Weaver, and Marlow), soldier Slivko realizes Marlow is right, and switches sides. This saves him. Packard, Ahab-like in his thirst for vengeance infected by war, refuses to retreat, and is casually killed by Kong.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI02.jpg" width="774" alt="Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts borrows from a film I can't quite name..."><br><br>
The film is also a meditation of the effects of war on the individual. Gunpei and Marlow become good friends once they are isolated from the world. On Skull Island, the war of their societies no longer dictates their actions. The film's attitude towards war is best exemplified by the death of Cole. Tired of running from skullcrawlers, Cole decides to sacrifice himself to take down Ramarak, walking towards it with armed grenades. Instead of eating him, it smashes him with its tail, killing him when he impacts a cliff, when his grenades go off. His sacrifice, which he had hoped would save his comrades, is useless. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI03.jpg" width="774" alt="I'm going to sacrifice myse---oh crap"><br><br>
Kong is, literally a reflection of what people bring with them. He is seen as a god and protector by the people who live near him, the Iwi. Colonel Packard sees him as a threat that must be destroyed, even after Kong’s relative benevolence is explained. But Kong destroyed Packard’s helicopters, and he has to pay for that. The film moves us from being hostile to Kong to being sympathetic to him, and Packard goes from being sympathetic to the enemy. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts hammers that point home with a repeated image: a figure standing against a bright light in the darkness, fists clenched. At the beginning of the film, the figure is Kong. Toward the end, it’s Packard.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI04.jpg" width="774" alt="Packard reflects Kong's stance two pictures up"><br><br>
This also means that <i>Kong: Skull Island</i> has a very different approach to the military than other kaiju films. Very often, the powerful military commanders are front and center of a kaiju film, as they watch their plans unravel as the kaiju proves difficult to kill. But where Ishiro Honda played the military purely for show, and the 1998 <i>Godzilla</i> played them for expendable chumps, this film shows us the humanity of the soldiers. Chapman is writing letters to his son, and the other soldiers razz him for it. These are very human characters, and their lives are on the line when the kaiju attacks. Or is attacked. Kaiju film characters have previously been military men, for example Ford Brody in 2014 <i>Godzilla</I>, but he didn't spend much screen time with his unit. The relationships, in their complexity, are showcased here. Mills, Cole, Sivko, and Reles support each other, mock each other, and express doubts about Colonel Packard's orders, even as they carry them out. <i>Edit</i>: I had forgotten that this is literally the approach of <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/06/post-traumetic-stress-kaiju-monsters.html"><i>Monsters: Dark Continent</i></a>. However, I will say that the character development is significantly better in <i>Kong: Skull Island</i>. The unit in <i>Monsters: Dark Continent</i> are also significantly more on edge. But the cast in <i>Kong: Skull Island</i> us much more interesting.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI05.jpg" width="774"><br><br>
Kong initially attacks the expedition because the military is doing what they are told: deploying Monarch's seismic explosives, which were intended to bring whatever kaiju lived there to the surface. The helicopters are armed, so the mission is definitely to eliminate it. This is why Kong gets stirred up, and why lives are lost. The military is caught in the middle, obeying orders and taking the consequences and losses for those actions. So there's a fair amount of nuance in the film's approach to the military, which, again, stands in very stark contrast to the way they were treated in the <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/09/attention-to-detail-does-matter.html">1998 <i>Godzilla</i></a><br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI06.jpg" width="774" alt="how to piss off Kong"><br><br>
Some of the baggage <i>Kong: Skull Island</i> rejects is the racist subtext of the previous <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/King%20Kong">Kong</a> films, and this sets the film on a much more even keel. Kong is not captivated by a blonde. He is not captured and taken to New York, to be killed by the forces of the establishment. The Skull Island natives, the Iwi, aren't the degenerate troglodytes of the Jackson film, or the stereotypical Africans oddly inhabiting a South Pacific island as in the 1976 and 1933 versions. They are mysterious and complex. They appear peaceful, but have spears to defend themselves. The large wooden wall they have constructed has outward-facing stakes, and those stakes are bloodied. Hank Marlow, who has been living among them for more than twenty years, sort of understands them. But he neither an accepted part of their society, nor running it.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI07.jpg" width="774" alt="The Iwi"><br><br>
Further, for the first time, a Kong film gives me what I have always wanted: a beautiful Skull Island. Filmed in part in Vietnam's Ha Long Bay, the landscape is beautiful and feels fantastic and at the same time real. It also has a more developed ecosystem. Previous films have portrayed the island as relentlessly hostile, and nothing is introduced that isn't trying to kill the humans of Kong. This Skull Island isn't. There are huge yak-like creatures, deer, birds. Of course, there are hostile critters; the flying knives, the giant bugs, the skull-crawlers, and Kong himself.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI08.jpg" width="774" alt="Visit lovely Skull Island"><br><br>
Monarch is very different from the branded helicopter-riding group we see in the 2014 <i>Godzilla</I>. They are literally down to two men, begging for funds from a senator who has put them off four times already. Bill Randa is the sole survivor of the <i>USS Lawson</i> which, we see in a picture, was clawed by a gigantic creature. But we don't know which kaiju it was. Perhaps the next film in the series will tell us: Rodan, Godzilla, or King Ghidorah. It seems unlikely to have been Mothra.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI09.jpg" width="774" alt="Photo of the USS Lawson"><br><br>
I love the design of the skullcrawlers, certainly more than I liked the MUTOs. Clearly taken from the two-legged lizard from the original <i>King Kong</I>, they move very smoothly, and their biology looks interesting. It occurs to me they look like a less-mutated version of <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Gwoemul">gwoemul</a>, which also had that two legs forward ambulation. Whoever decided on their weird-ass tongues should be particularly commended. They are like land-traveling kaiju-scale crocodiles, lizard-like, threatening, and credibly swift. Although the fights with the small ones are easy wins for Kong, they also serve to get the audience familiar with their abilities. This way, we can anticipate the moves in the big fight at the end. Interestingly, none of the kaiju present with supernatural abilities, such as atomic breath or <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2017/08/bigger-nastier-more-amazing-shin.html">lasers from its back</a>. Flying, fire-breathing turtle <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Gamera">Gamera</a> would feel very out of place on Skull Island.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI10.jpg" width="774" alt="Skullcrawler. Bad news all around"><br><br>
Kong's design is also well thought-out. He looks like a modern, clearer vision of the 1933 Kong. With short legs, long arms, and upright posture, he looks a bit more like a missing link than a gorilla. As a result, he is unpredictable. We know gorillas. But how certain are we about Kong? Even our previous movie experience, which the film Jordan is well aware of, does not tell us everything we need to know about this Kong. He's god of the island, according to Marlow. And the films gives us ample opportunity to see why.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI11.jpg" width="774" alt="Skullcrawler. Bad news all around"><br><br>
Kong demonstrates <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/02/an-opportunity-wasted-cloverfield.html">Cloverfield</a>-level sneaking, which is to say being quiet by not being in frame, only once, when a gigantic oxen is trapped under a broken helicopter. Kong, to our surprise, lifts the helicopter, freeing the trapped creature. So there is room for compassion in him. Also, he's shown to be smart, and a significant portion of the Kong-Ramarak fight at the end is him learning. He uses tools: a tree stripped of branches, a rock, and the propeller from a wrecked ship. Among other things, this is better movie-making than having scientists tell us how smart Kong is, as in the American version of <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-royal-rumble-king-kong-vs-godzilla.html"><i>King Kong vs Godzilla</i></a>. Kong is also described in a similar fashion to Godzilla in the 2014 film and <i>Shin Godzilla</i>: Not just a king, but a god.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI12.jpg" width="774" alt="Open-eyed roar"><br><br>
The cherry on top of all this kaiju goodness is the end post-credits scene, in which Conrad and Weaver are inducted into Monarch. Drawing on the Godzilla opening credits, we are shown cave paintings of three opponents from the next Godzilla film:<br><br>
Rodan<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI13.jpg" width="774" alt="Open-eyed roar"><br><br>
Mothra<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI14.jpg" width="774" alt="Open-eyed roar"><br><br>
King Ghodirah<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/KSI15.jpg" width="774" alt="Open-eyed roar"><br><br>
Which means <i>Godzilla: King of Monsters</i> will have at least three kings in it: Godzilla, King of the Monsters, King Ghidorah, and the Monarch organization. And possibly a fourth if there is a cameo by Kong. I'm looking forward to 2019. John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-27189307829495161242017-09-03T15:43:00.003-04:002017-09-03T15:43:58.517-04:00The Kaiju of Abusive Relationships: ColossalI'll admit that I came to <b>Colossal</b> with a jaded eye. I've read through the <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/custom/Documents/ESQ/Colossal.pdf">court documents</a> regarding Toho's lawsuit against Voltage Pictures, and it seems very clear that writer-director Nacho Vigalondo intended to use Godzilla in a way that was not lawful. Although the lawsuit <a href="http://deadline.com/2015/10/godzilla-toho-colossal-settlement-anne-hathaway-voltage-pictures-1201599094/">was settled</a>, the necessity of it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Further, Vigalondo &ldqo;It’s going to be the cheapest Godzilla movie ever, I promise.” He ended up spending some $15 million dollars, according to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_(film)">wikipedia</a>. That, it turns out, is the equal of the budget of <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2017/08/bigger-nastier-more-amazing-shin.html"><i>Shin Godzilla</i></a>, the most expensive Japanese Godzilla film ever made, although much less than the two American Godzilla films. So Vigalondo, who seems ignorant of the law as well as the genre he's aping, seems a poor choice of writer/director for the project.<br><br>
On viewing, the film had its charms, but there is a lot to unpack about why I ultimately didn't like it. The plot isn't the problem. Gloria lives in the city, is in a rut, can't get a job. She moves back to upstate New York to her empty parents' home. There she runs into an old school friend Oscar, and discovers that if she is in a certain park at a certain time, a kaiju will mimic her actions in Seoul. Oscar turns creepy and stalkery, and discovers that he he is in the same park, he creates a giant robot in Seoul. He uses this as leverage, threatening to destroy as much of Seoul as possible. She retaliates by going to Seoul, reversing the connection, and using her kaiju avatar to grab his tiny self, throws him across Seoul.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/colossal01.jpg" width="774"><br><br>
It's certainly an unconventional kaiju film, although not as lacking in kaiju as, say <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/02/no-future-demeking.html"><i>Demeking</i></a>. That said, the trailer makes the film look like a charming romantic comedy, which it definitely is not. Oscar takes a very dark turn with Oscar, and the film really is at its best when viewing Oscar's abusive, controlling relationship with Gloria. He's genuinely creepy, self-serving and clearly deranged. He gaslights her, emotionally blackmails her, and shows remorse just long enough to make Gloria think he's truly contrite. All classic abuser behaviors. We get small glimpses into his life when Gloria visits him in his house that is a hoarder's dream palace. With the exception of that one scene, Oscar, even when drinking, always has his hair perfectly arranged. He's creepy, and with a small nudge to the genre of the film, this could have been any one of several stalker-based horror films.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/colossal02.jpg" width="774"><br><br>
Gloria, in a recovery from self-destructive behavior staple, goes to where she has caused the most damage: Seoul. Metaphorically, having confronted the badness, she gains power over it. In this case, she reverses the direction and manifests her kaiju form in wherever, New Hampshire. And while it's good for the metaphor, it doesn't work as well if you haven't twigged on to it. Gloria then somehow picks up Oscar (she can't see or hear him, but she seems to have spaced the location out so that she knows where the playground is). She can't hear him beg for mercy or go on his self-destructive rant, but she gives him a Hail Mary toss, and he's gone.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/colossal03.jpg" width="774"><br><br>
Ultimately, despite the well-written creepiness of the antagonist, the film is about Gloria walking away from self-destructive behavior (magnified by the kaiju) and discovering her inner power (also magnified by the kaiju). Unfortunately, the film really doesn't address the fact that she has caused millions in damage and killed people. She gets her happy ending, walking anonymously through the Seoul she wrecked and then apologized to. There might be a little <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/09/leave-them-wanting-more-godzilla-2014.html">2014 <i>Godzilla</i></a> in that. Godzilla is called the 'savior of the city' despite having done a lot of damage itself. Once she apologizes, the film gives her a pass. She doesn't even bear the burden of Oscar's death. He sails off into the sunset, but we don't see him land, and the only reference to it is a TV crawl about the possible death of the robot.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/colossal04.jpg" width="775"><br><br>
This is something the film shared with <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/02/an-opportunity-wasted-cloverfield.html"><i>Cloverfield</i></a>. While the characters are better drawn in <i>Colossal</i>, but there's not much that happens outside the frame. Further, at no time are the police ever called. Even when Oscar is driving off drunk and Gloria needs to stop him. The film is an insulated microcosm, and only when Gloria goes to Seoul do we break out of the very small feel of the film.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/colossal05.jpg" width="775"><br><br>
The kaiju design is quite interesting. Her monster seems sort of woody, as if it were derived from trees. His is a giant robot. The forms are revealed to come from the toys they are carrying when the strange lightning strikes them and apparently links the location with Seoul. Unfortunately, the majority of the screen time the Gloria kaiju has is screen within screen. We only see it directly a few times. But it's very slender, as opposed to the thickness that has characterized kaiju form when they were men in suits. The feet are unique, especially, with downward-facing toes that might have suckers or expandable toes to make the footstep more steady. That's quite unique. The vast majority of the kaiju footage involves people watching television, which is very modern. However, it leads to a difficulty in the clarity of the images. Only at the end do we get clear looks at her kaiju, but we never get a non-dark, non-rainy look at the robot. And that's likely due to a combination of budgetary savings and the empowerment metaphor. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/colossal06.jpg" width="775"><br><br>
And although I criticized Vigalondo for his ignorance earlier, he does have enough background in the genre to give us the footprint trope. But so many things fell by the wayside, possibly because of budgetary concerns. Military helicopters attack the kaiju once, but the military otherwise never gets involved. No tanks, no artillery, no fighters or bombers. Apparently the military of South Korea is content to let their major city get stomped on.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/colossal07.jpg" width="775"><br><br>
The appearance and disappearance of the kaiju and giant robot through a zig-zaggy lightning bears a resemblance to the Breach from <i>Pacific Rim</i>, which led me to briefly wonder if Oscar and Gloria are drift compatible.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/colossal09.jpg" width="775"><br><br>
But even as we learn the origin of the kaiju and robot forms, we don't know why it happened. There's a metaphoric leap but no reason that the magic happened. Twenty-five years ago, Gloria was bringing her diorama of South Korea to school, when it was blown into a vacant lot. Young Oscar climbs a fence for her, finds it, and stomps on it, like a traditional kaiju does. So there's a link, but we still don't know why these particular people, why this particular time. The script needed another draft, another piece of exposition to at least hint as to why this happened.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/colossal08.jpg" width="775"><br><br>
This is not helped by the fact that the 'first incident' clearly shows Gloria's kaiju walking, but she doesn't walk in that incident. After she is struck by the magic lightning, the only crouches, stands, and then falls over. No walking. And the film has several of these logic-defying moments which pull me out of the film. Gloria can't really afford food, so how is it she has her passport and can afford not just a flight to Seoul, but the taxi ride to the airport? Why does the house have no furniture and at the same time the electricity is on? These all feed into the metaphorical statement of the film, but it should work as a story as well as a metaphor. Some of the writing is excellent, and the idea is close to brilliant, but it's not supported by a consistent commitment to detail. There's also a dissonance between the dark scripting and the lack of focus on the destruction and death that the kaiju and robot cause. What destruction does happen is only framed in regards to how it affects the distant protagonists, not the people of Seoul. <i>Cloverfield</i> at least created a sense of the world around them. Instead, Gloria and Oscar have their little drama in suburban America, well-insulated from the consequences of their giant avatars' actions. <br><br>
John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-23444082072003896492017-08-27T13:05:00.001-04:002017-10-15T17:14:18.720-04:00Bigger, Nastier, More Amazing: Shin Godzilla<b>Shin Godzilla</b> famously can mean 'True Godzilla' 'Pure Godzilla' or 'God Godzilla'. Personally, I find the Godzilla concept to be robust and flexible enough that Godzilla can be cast in a wide range of roles and still be satisfying entertainment. Godzilla has been a metaphor for nuclear destruction, protector of mankind, destroyer of hated industrialists, the living embodiment of Japan's war dead, a metaphor for natural disaster, and a walking method of world destruction. This new version, which draws heavily on imagery from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, as well as the subsequent Fukushima nuclear disaster, presents the viewer with a lot of interesting things to think about. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin01.jpg" width="775" alt="Shin Godzilla, lookin all kinds of unhappy"><br><br>
Structurally, it is closest to <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/06/giant-monsater-fix-godzilla.html">the 1954 <i>Godzilla</i></a> or <a href="">The Return of Godzilla</a>. But those two films do not have Godzilla fighting a monster. In <b>Shin Godzilla</b> Godzilla is pitted against the lumbering, inhuman monstrosity that is the Japanese government's bureaucracy. And in fact, this is exactly the sort of subtle humor that runs through the film. Despite being a grim depiction of a nation in crisis, there are tiny touches of humor that keep it from being an overwhelmingly dark experience.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin02.jpg" width="775" alt="Shin Godzilla's primary opponent: bureaucracy"><br><br>
The film is firmly rooted in Godzilla's history, very specifically, the 1954 film. Godzilla attacks twice. First it comes ashore and destroys the Shinagawa district, and then returns to the sea. It attacks again, is met with much stiffer resistance, and only after being attacked does it return fire with its atomic breath. At the same time, directors Hideako Anno and Shinji Higuchi (who directed the special effects for the <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Sh%C3%BBsuke%20Kaneko">Shûsuke Kaneko's Gamera films</a>) maintain a very delicate balancing act between the past and the present. There is a lot of homage in the film. It starts with a boat, as did so many Godzilla films, but this time, it's the abandoned boat of a biology professor. And there are little details as to what happened that the film doesn't address: the shoes neatly placed next to each other indicate Professor Goro Maki killed himself. Why or even if he has, is part of the plot that needs unraveling. Many of Ikira Ifukube's cues are used, as well as many of the sound effects, including Godzilla's unique Showa-era roar. There's even a shot of Godzilla destroying the theater it destroyed in the 1954 film. But it's not entirely about the past. The film is relentlessly modern, involving social media, a government that trips over itself addressing a disaster, endless committee meetings, and science that involves genes, complex biological processes, and chemical topology. <br><br>
Our protagonist is Rando Yaguchi, a modern career politician who suffers a bit from being always right. As a junior member of the Cabinet, he is not listened to, but as someone young, he pays attention to social media. While the rest of the Cabinet discusses what has damaged the Aqua-Line, he proposes it is a giant creature, because of a video he saw on social media. When given the freedom to solve the problem as he wishes, he sets up a flat organization of “lone wolves, nerds, troublemakers, outcasts, academic heretics and general pains-in-the-bureaucracy” which does not stand on seniority. This team of mostly young mavericks gets results. Rando is fortunate enough not to take a ride on a doomed helicopter. He isn't insufferably all-knowing, and Hiroki Hasegawa is a good enough actor to make Rando interesting and magnetic. But he represents the wish for a newer, younger Japanese government that doesn't constantly have meetings, where talent is the means to ascent rather than bench time and party loyalty.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin03.jpg" width="775" alt="Rando Yaguchi, the man with the Script with him"><br><br>
He serves as a counterpoint to the government, which under the old guard, is always wrong. As Godzilla moves into the city, they wonder which governmental department's jurisdiction is comes under. The directors love smash cuts that underline the difference between governmental decree and reality. Literally just as the Prime Minister says that the creature won't be able to move about on land, we see the nascent Godzilla come ashore. As a self-evacuation plan is formulated, and every effort will me made to control traffic. As in <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/09/leave-them-wanting-more-godzilla-2014.html">2014's <i>Godzilla</i></a>, there is another smash cut to utter deadlock on the roads. <br><br>
The presence of the US is gradually felt more and more, like an oppressive hand bearing down. At first, the US is discussed in terms of backup to military action. Then we learn that they are claiming all the samples Godzilla has left behind. Then, following a telephone conversation with President Ross, the Prime Minister comments “A lot of unilateral requests. Typically Americans.rdquo; This is a more modern update of the political scenes in <i>Return of Godzilla</i>, in which the nuclear powers Russia and America both argue with the Japanese PM about nuking Godzilla. In 2016, we have a similar conflict, with the Russians and Chinese on one side, and the Americans on the other. Unfortunately, the UN agrees that if Japan cannot handle Godzilla, someone gets to drop a nuke on it. Fortunately, Japan has a lot more international swing that was presented in <i>Return</i>. In <b>Shin Godzilla</b>, Kayoko Patterson comes into the picture. Being both American and Japanese, she is more sympathetic to the Japanese government than the average American, and has the connections to release American information to the Rando. But Godzilla is not directly the fault of America, rather the creation of Goro Maki, who was employed by the American DOE, but acted on his own. America is not a fully trustworthy ally, but a large presence that cannot be ignored. However, it can be bargained with. Which is very different from the absolutist political climate in 984. <b>Shin Godzilla</b> feels more nuanced, more realistic, like there is a larger and more complex world outside what we are shown on screen. <br><br>
In Legendary Godzilla, a Japanese professor working for Monarch (primarily an American organization) brings the name Godzilla from Japan, but doesn't refer to the name's origin. Goro Maki is apparently from Odho Island, the island Godzilla first landed on in the 1954 film, unreferenced in the franchise then. He adapted the name from Odho Island's obscure mythology. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin10.jpg" width="775" alt="Odho Island. That rings a bell"><br><br>
Godzilla itself, as with the Skullcrawlers in <i>Kong: Skull Island</i>, takes a certain amount of inspiration from <a href="https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/tyranitar">Pokémon</a>. Which I suppose is fair, since the main concept of Pokémon is to have Godzilla style monster vs monster fights. Shin Godzilla is self-“evolving,” like a Pokémon. However, the changes are properly referred to as mutation, rather than evolution. This sort of changing creature is well-established in earlier films in the series. <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Mothra">Mothra</a>, which has larval and adult forms, <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/02/avant-garde-or-just-crap-godzilla-vs.html">Hedorah</a> and <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Destoroyah">Destoroyah</a> all changed forms. It is an important implication that all three of these creatures end up with wings. One of Rando’s scientists hypothesizes that Godzilla could, if given enough time to mutate, develop flight. But Godzilla has always previously kept to a single form. And I like the fact that its initial forms, the lungfish, and its initial upright mutation, all look awkward. It doesn't look like it has fully adapted to the land until its last form, the familiar upright stance with the toothy, dinosaur-like head.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin05.jpg" width="775" alt="Big, awkward Godzilla"><br><br>
The directors do an excellent job of making their CG critter feel enormous. Mostly, Godzilla is seen in parts, often too large to be contained in the frame. When it is seen as a whole, it’s from far away. This is also the most tortured Godzilla yet put on screen. Godzilla radiates a red hot glow from its interior, as if it were a walking volcano or hot lava field. The skin of the walking form is knobbed, recalling the keloid-like skin of the 1954 original, and also the appearance the pillow lava. Its arms are smaller than ever, and don’t move. The teeth are huge and jagged. Overall, it’s a terrifying new look for the King of Monsters.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin06.jpg" width="775" alt="Big, bad Godzilla"><br><br>
Of particular note is its tail. It's enormously long. It’s also the first glimpse we see of Godzilla. But more than any other part of Godzilla, the tail changes. When Godzilla first comes ashore, it has a flat tail oddly like <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Ghidorah">King Ghidorah's</a>. It even seems like it's the right color. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin07.jpg" width="775" alt="Godzilla's Ghidorah-like tail"><br><br>
Later, when Godzilla achieves its upright configuration, the tail looks very different. It’s been speculated that this is some sort of whale skull, but given everything, this seems to be the beginning of a second head. We later find out that even when Godzilla’s back lasers fail, it can use its tail to direct destructive energy to devastating effect.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin08.jpg" width="775" alt="Tail #2"><br><br>
The final shot of the film is of the tail, which is now developing into smaller, independent, human-like Godzillas. They appear to be human-sized, mostly of human form, but with the maple-leaf spines to diffuse the nuclear fission in them. And they are darn creepy. Was Godzilla stopped in time? Could some of these horrible things have escaped in the confusion?<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin09.jpg" width="775" alt="That terrifying last shot"><br><br>
Godzilla kills. It's a walking, evolving disaster, and anyone in its way is destroyed. This is made quite clear early in the film when Godzilla topples a building, with a couple still packing for their evacuation are in a building when it falls. I don't expect they survived. There’s nothing soft-pedaled about the destructiveness of incarnation. <br><br>
The other real strength of the re-design is that Godzilla has surprises up its sleeve. Or down its throat. As previously stated, Godzilla’s initial rampage in lungfish and then first erect form are not met with effective military action. But then the Americans drop bombs on Godzilla. And, like he always does, Godzilla responds by unleashing unimaginable fury.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin11.jpg" width="775" alt="Hurting Godzilla, that's a good idea, right?"><br><br>
Godzilla films have always had the destruction of cities as their centerpiece. The destruction in <i>Shin Godzilla</i> is awe-inspiring, even by Godzilla standards. Godzilla's fiery output is astonishing vomiting forth a massive river of fire. The fiery breath comes hosing out of Godzilla’s mouth, engulfing much of the city. Then, separating its lower jaw, it focuses that torrent down into a laser-like needle of destruction, and proceeds to cut through every building in sight. The destruction is constant and nearly overwhelming. I had a visceral reaction to it when I first saw it in the theater, astonishment at so much destruction.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin13.jpg" width="775" alt="That terrifying last shot"><br><br>
Like the Legendary Godzilla, as well as <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/12/godzilla-against-mechagodzilla.html"><i>Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla</i></a> and <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/12/look-at-them-monsters-go-godzilla-tokyo.html"><i>Tokyo S.O.S.</i></a>, there is an anticipatory indication when Godzilla is going to unleash his atomic breath. Godzilla's glow turns purple, giving the audience that delicious ten seconds of anticipation. There are a few new tricks up Godzilla's sleeve. It can concentrate its nuclear fire into a massively destructive beam, cutting through buildings, extending out perhaps two or three kilometers. And, because the film makers know their stuff, they make sure that they destroy the same theater Godzilla did in 1954.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin12.jpg" width="775" alt="Different breath, lots of destruction"><br><br>
But that’s not all. Attacked from behind, Godzilla develops destructive rays from its back, knocking down the American B-2 Spirit bombers that unleashed the MOP bombs on it. It’s a new trick for Godzilla, surprising and frightening, making an assault on the creature all the more difficult. It can shoot down anything behind it, while its atomic breath is able to carve anything else out of the sky. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin14.jpg" width="775" alt="That terrifying last shot"><br><br>
Even though this Godzilla levels buildings like the hand of God itself, the film doesn’t spend much time on the dead or dying. No scenes of children who make the radiation detector go nuts, no mother holding her children to her during the fiery holocaust. But it is not shy about showing the distress of people who are displaced because of the attack. We see a lot of people with filter masks, spend time in a food line. Godzilla’s rampage does not happen to no one. It uproots families, destroys homes, and has consequences. <br><br>
I'm going to step back from what I said <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/10/i-saw-shin-godzilla-last-night.html">in my earlier post</a>. The military is, although more valorized than it was in Ishiro Honda's day, it’s still there for show. It doesn't do anything other than show the scientists how Godzilla works. Godzilla drops a bridge on a tank division, and he smokes two of the three bombers that attack him. It is only with sustained assaults with multiple missiles that we are able to exhaust Godzilla enough to start the process of overheating his internal reactor.<br><br>
As I have said before: This is a Japanese Godzilla film that knows the history of the franchise. So it solves its plot problem in the Japanese fashion: by sciencing the shit out of it. Against an international coalition that wishes to drop a nuke on Godzilla if Japan cannot solve their problem. Which makes for a good, tense third act. The threat of a nuclear detonation, in no way guaranteed to destroy Godzilla, makes an excellent countdown.<br><br>
Whoever wrote the subtitles seems to have a wrong impression about what actually happens to stop Godzilla. Godzilla gets pumped full of blood coagulant (an idea first introduced in <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Space%20Godzilla"><i.Godzilla vs Space Godzilla</i></a>). As in <i>Return go Godzilla</i>, Godzilla is a living nuclear reactor. The film’s solution to this is to pump it full of blood coagulant which will force Godzilla to shut down its reactor because it cannot circulate its blood, which serves as a coolant. Thus the reactor will become too hot. The coagulant does not freeze Godzilla. It stops taking the heat away from the central core reactor. Once the internal nuclear reactor is shut off, Godzilla is no longer hot enough to remain mobile. Or maybe the script doesn’t understand nuclear power as well as I hope it would. <br><br>
Godzilla is then pumped full of anticoagulant. I have a little bit of trouble with this, but only because everyone refers to it as 'freezing' Godzilla. It's an attempt to induce a reactor scram, or shut down. This means actually increasing Godzilla's heat by thickening its blood coolant system until it realizes it's in danger, and its internal reactor shuts down, and it no longer has the energy to supply its own metabolism. So freeze is an inadequate word to describe the process for me. Two, the film uses the imagery of the Fukishima 50, who worked to keep the nuclear disaster under control. The use of the boom pumps is especially striking. But the film doesn't praise the people who get the job done, the boots on the ground. The first wave of boom pumps, and I assume their operators, is annihilated, but the politicians press on. They get the glory, not those who risked themselves.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin16.jpg" width="775" alt="Sciencing the shit out of Godzilla"><br><br>
It’s interesting to see the difference between the two points of view concerning nuclear weapons so close to each other. After all, we don’t know how close 1954 Godzilla was when it was awakened by nuclear testing, and here, it seems accepted that a nuke will destroy Godzilla. But the Legendary took a nuke to the face and was only slowed down. Maybe it’s that Americans like their nukes more than the Japanese, and therefore American Godzilla needs to be immune to them because we’re likely to drop one on him anyway. Or maybe the Japanese don't think anything will survive a direct hit form a nuke, having a bit more experience with them.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/shin15.jpg" width="775" alt="Holy crap that was a lot of buildings"><br><br>
A welcome change to the home video release is the elimination of the titles from the screen. Now everything and everyone that is identified is done so in smaller, discrete supertitles which do not block what’s going on, or crowd the subtitles. Thus, it’s much easier to get the joke that Rando is the “Cabinet Minister of State fort Special Missions Giant Unidentified Creature United Response Task Force HQ Bureau Chief & Deputy Director" as he’s talking about something else with the subtitles separated.<br><br>
I enjoyed <b>Shin Godzilla</b>, both for its fresh take on Godzilla, and its demonstration that something new can be brought to the franchise. I'm very excited that we will have two Godzilla franchises, both the Legendary, as well as Toho's anime trilogy, beginning with <i>Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters</i>, released in November. <b>Shin Godzilla</b> stands as one of my favorite Godzilla films, both for the impressive monster action and the excellent performances from the human actors. John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-57141021213053525142017-08-06T14:55:00.001-04:002017-08-06T14:55:56.150-04:00The Bog Beast Who Never Really Got His Due<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/BB01.jpg" width="200" align="right" alt="Atlas Comics' Bog Beast from Weird Tales of the Macabre #2">
The 1974 version of Atlas Comics (from Seaboard Publishing) was another attempt to compete with Marvel and DC that did not last long. No comic or magazine they put out lasted more than four issues. As there was apparently some sort of mandatory swamp monster requirement for every seventies comic publisher, they introduced their own. Meet the Bog Beast.<br><br>
The Bog Beast is very different from other swamp monsters, so much so that I seriously considered not including it in the Muck Man list. But there are similarities. Bog Beast has been sent by an underground civilization to investigate the surface world, emerging from the La Brea tar pits. It looks like an emaciated human, bubbling over with tar. In the color stories, it is red, about as far from the green or brown of most other swamp creatures as possible. It is also an intelligent, self-aware creature. It has not been transformed, there was no fiery explosion that killed an otherwise normal human. It is not a typical member of its species, but as “The Sun-Spawn Walks” shows, it is one of the fittest members of its subterranean civilization. The Bog Beast is not, and never has been dead, nor was it ever human. There was no catalyst for its transformation, because there was no transformation.<br><br>
On the other hand, it is immune to bullets, and inhumanly strong. And sort of goopy-icky. But the Bog Beast is, similar to many of the muck men, an outsider, who observes humanity from a remove. So it sort of fits, and hey, there are only four stories. So here we go.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/BB02.jpg" width="400" align="left" alt="Atlas Comics' Weird Tales of the Macabre #2"><br>
Bog Beast started off in <i>Weird Tales of the Macabre</i> #2 (Mar, 1975), a black and white magazine reminiscent of <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/05/its-goopy-and-thoroughly-disgusting.html">Skywald’s</a> mood horror titles. The initial story details an odd mix of a recently-fired Hollywood special effects technician, and a put-upon newspaper photographer. The photographer is assigned to the La Brea tar pits, and witnesses the Bog-Beast climbing out on its mission to explore the surface world. He gets mixed up in a Hollywood production, and of course there are life-threatening problems, which the Bog-beast both causes and then solves. Bog-beast thinks clearly, but it cannot communicate, due to the language barrier.<br><br>
That said, we've seen this story before. The Bog Beast invades a film shoot, in a manner reminiscent of a Heap story. When the rain machine goes haywire and causes a flood, the Bog Beast rescues a woman from drowning, as in the <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/04/roy-thomas-shows-his-love-glob.html">Glob’s initial appearance</a>.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/BB05.jpg" width="150" align="left" alt="Atlas Comics' Bog Beast from Tales of Evil #2"><br>
The Bog Beast appeared again in <i>Tales of Evil</i> #2 (April, 1975), and 3 (July, 1975), both in color. The first story, “The Fifty Dollar Body” is a crime story in which Bog Beast serves primarily as a passive observer. The Bog Beast runs afoul of two fugitives, a rather slow-thinking man, as well as a viciously unpleasant woman. Bog Beast tries to communicate with them, but fails. The Beast tangles with the cops, and eventually the two fugitives turn on each other. Bog-beast is freed by the fatally-wounded, who then dies himself. Bog-beast, bewildered by the very human cruelty, moves on. The final frame is very familiar, similar to Len and Bernie's famous "If tears could come they would" ending from the original <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-classic-len-wein-and-bernine.html">Swamp Thing</a> story. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/BB03.jpg" width="400" align="right" alt="Atlas Comics' Bog Beast from Weird Tales of the Macabre #3"><br>
Bog Beast turned up again in <i>Tales of Evil</i> #3, in an untitled story. While visiting the Mount Palomar observatory, Bog Beast discovers bodies torn to shreds, and a woman still alive. She turns out to be a werewolf, and Bog Beast must fight her. Throwing her off a cliff, he attracts the attention of the police, who then net and capture him.<br><br>
This is the first fantastic story of the Bog Beast. Everything else has been noir or crime, but here we have our first story with supernatural elements. Swamp Creatures meet with werewolves often. <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-classic-len-wein-and-bernine.html">Swamp Thing</a> and both the Hillman and the Skywald incarnations of the <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Heap">Heap</a> did. Likely the ferocity of the werewolf makes for a good opponent for the Swamp Monster: Although the werewolf is usually frenzied, the Swamp Monster is slow and tough. Few of them have been as appealing to male gaze, however.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/BB04.jpg" width="300" align="right" alt="Atlas Comics' Bog Beast from Fearful Spectres #3"><br>
Atlas folded in 1975, and the <i>Tales of Evil</i> 3 was long believed to be the last Bog Beast story, the Internet has shown one that surfaces in an Australian anthology comic <i>Fearful Spectres</i> (1982) from publisher Gredown Comics. As far as I understand it, the story was likely sold since it was complete, and there was no sense it letting something that could bring in money go to waste, even if wasn't published under the Atlas banner. “The Sun-Spawn Walks” initially shows a new power Bog-Beast has not previously displayed. He is able to turn into a goopy, boneless form and flow through bars of a prison. And in a more comic-book story, Bog is attacked by an entity that seems to be made of living flame, and defeats it by turning to liquid form and smothering it.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/BB06.jpg" width="445" align="left" alt="Atlas Comics' Bog Beast from Fearful Spectres #3"><br><br>
Although it's unlikely have influenced it, this story also has an antecedent to psychic girl "Casey" from the Pasko and Yeates <i>Swamp Thng</i>. Bog meets a woman who is deaf mute from birth, and has therefore developed telepathy. By the end of the story, she has been badly burned, and their psychic link is severed. Thus Bog is alone again.<br><br>
And that was the end of Bog, and the end of Atlas Comics. Unfortunately, Bog never developed doesn’t have much personality. This might be due to its bouncing around between writers (Gabriel Levy for its first appearance, John Albano for the second outing, Levy again in <i>Tales of Evil</i> and the unknown author of “The Sun-Spawn Walks”). It's tangential to the usual run of Swamp Monsters, but interesting to see the concept stretched, if not to the breaking point. <br><br>
Next time, I'll be yammering on about the second iteration of Marvel's <i>Man-Thing</i>. See you then. John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-45795059688843206502017-07-30T12:01:00.000-04:002017-07-30T12:15:54.475-04:00The Outward and Physical Sign of the Recognition of My NECON Peers: A Fez<img src="http://qusoor.com/images/fez-worthy.jpg" width="300" align="right">In this picture, you see the representation of the recognition of my achievements on this blog.<br><br>
<a href="http://campnecon.com/">Camp Necon</a> is a wonderful get-together, and I haven't blogged about it for several years. NECON is like rock and roll camp for writers. I get to mingle with fantastic people, talented writers, people whose work I read and respect, in a congenial atmosphere. Because it's limited to 200 people, I don't get that 'crowd exhaustion' I get with larger conventions, where I have to get away from the convention I am attending just so I can have some breathing space.<br><br>
I'd name all the people I'm pleased to have met or got reacquainted with, but that list would be as long as the <a href="http://campnecon.com/necon-37-campers-list/">Campers list itself</a>. The traditions of NECON, passed down from the late and greatly beloved Bob Booth, remain in place. Single track panels mean that you never have to choose between which panel you want to see. A roast of unique local hot dogs, called Saugies, while everyone meets and greets. There is a level of camaraderie sharing that is unlike any other get-together I've ever attended. I have said it before and I will say it again, NECON is my family of choice. They are surprisingly generous, in perspective, their experiences, and their time. Special thanks to Jim Moore for setting me straight about something I had tangled up into a knot in my head. And Vikki Ciaffone. And Errick Nunnaly. And Bracken MacLeod, Dana Cameron, Matt Bechtel, Mary Booth, Trish Cacek, Craig Shaw Gardner, Beth Massie, Barbra Gardner, Cort Skinner, Gemma Files, Laird Barron, Weston Ochse, Yvonne Navarro, Larissa Glasser, Jeff Strand, Greg Dearborn... of hell with it. Everyone at NECON deserves thanks for being there, for making a wonderful and family atmosphere, even if I didn't interact with them much. <br><br>
At the end of NECON 37, fezes are handed out. During the weekend, the organizers chose actions they deem 'fez-worthy.' My admission that I wad watched 89 kaiju for <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/My%20Year%20of%20Monsters">My Year of Monsters</a> films was deemed 'fez worthy'. This means that I was recognized, by a group of my peers, for this blog. For my pursuit of obscure kaiju films. So thank you to my readers, for keeping me going, for encouraging me.<br><br>
This fez is for you.
John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-44569679450122746272017-07-01T14:41:00.000-04:002017-11-24T17:08:08.477-05:00Winding the Initial Swamp Thing Down: Michelinie and Conway
No one envies the person who has to follow a legend. <i>Swamp Thing</i> was one of the most popular comics around, and when Len Wein departed the series, someone had to be found to replace him. Enter David Michelinie, with Nestor Redondo already working the art. Michelinie’s plots were a bit more overt presenting the problem right off, rather than working up to them, as Len’s scripts had done. The majority of the plot is then solving the problem, rather then defining it.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0114.jpg" align="right" width="400">
His first story is “The Tomorrow Children” (likely a reference to the Thames Television show which first aired in 1973), in which Swampy meets a group of deformed but psychically potent children. As a freak himself, Holland immediately sympathizes with the children, and acts as their protector. Once an angry mob with flamethrowers start a fire, the most powerful of the psychic children sacrifices herself to save a ‘normal’ boy. But Micheline is canny enough to make the ending bittersweet. The remaining children find another protector, but he isn’t willing to expose his new charges to the public. Swamp thing walks away in disgust.<br><br>
Given the enormous success of both the book and film version of <i>The Exorcist</i> (1973), it was inevitable that some of it would leak into <i>Swamp Thing</i>. But “The Soul-Spell of Father BLiss” has an interesting twist, as the priest in the story uses the Devil’s magic in an attempt to hasten the end of the world. Like Anton Arcane, he imprisons Alec Holland’s soul, but instead of taking it himself, he leaves the body open for a demon. It gets a bit messy. This is also the beginning of a more supernatural arc for Abigail Arcane, which peters out when the series ends.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0115.jpg" align="left" width="775">
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0116.jpg" align="left" width="250">
In issue 16, “Night of the Warring Dead”, Holland finds himself on a remote island, entangled in a native insurrection. Written three years before Warren Zevon’s “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” the two works clearly draw from the zeitgeist. An island revolution involves Laganna, the last priestess of her people, and Adam Rook, a disaffected Vietnam Vet unable to find his way in the world that doesn’t involve a gun. Like many of Michelinie's stories, it's a downer, and if not exactly Gothic. But like many of Michelinie's stories, they are tragedies drawn from contemporary times, rather than classic stories. This story is much more grounded in then-current political realities than Wein's work.<br><br>
“The Destiny Machine” resurrects, comic-book fashion, Nathan Ellery, the leader of the Conclave. Michelinie continued to use Len’s characters of Abby Arcane, Matt Cable, and Bolt, although Bolt was often separated from the group or unconscious, as if Michelinie didn’t know what to do with him. There is also a repetition of the object without which the enemy cannot work, which allows for a quick resolution. The demons in the “Village of the Doomed“ cannot survive without their book, Laganna can’t command the dead without her talisman. Once the object is destroyed, the threat dissolves. Michelinie doesn’t have the heroes celebrate, however. The villain is always sympathetic, so there isn’t any cheering, and always sympathy for the individual who has fallen from the side of righteousness. <br><br>
One of Michelinie's recurring themes is hypocrisy and the evil done by those willing to employ dishonest or destructive means to achieve their ends. More than Wein, Michelinie developed the background of his villains and antagonists. Father Bliss, Laganna, Dr Pretorus, all use terrible means to achieve what could be seen as noble goals. These characters and themes are very different from say, <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/06/slinging-swamp-mud-at-icons-steve.html">Gerber's <i>Man-Thing</i></a>, although both were political. Gerber concentrated on the protagonists, and his antagonists tended to be less developed.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0120.jpg" align="right" width="200">
With Issue 19, Gerry Conway, the original writer for <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Man-Thing"><i>Man-Thing</i></a>, took over. Conway had a very different sense of the Swamp Thing, and here and there I can see hits that Conway regarded Swamp Thing as very similar to Man-Thing. Like the transformation of the Skywald Heap, Swamp Thing now has a mindless self, without the guiding intellect from Alec Holland. It comes from the cut-off arm from <i>Swamp thing</i> #5, which has regenerated into an entirely new Swamp Thing. Also similar to Gerber’s <i>Man-Thing</i> #7 (July, 1974), the Swamp Thing encounters one of the great legends of the Florida swamps, the fountain of Youth, and a motorcycle gang, also reminiscent of Gerber’s Foolkiller introduction the previous year in Man-Thing #3. There’s also a developer (who is no F. A. Schist) building something in the swamp. Conway even slips in issue #20, ascribing the Man-Thing’s origin to Swamp Thing. But the mindless Swamp Thing clone enables Conway to be rid of Cable and Abby and Bolt, and he seemed interested in building his own cast of side characters, if his run had not been cut so short.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/BB122.jpg" align="left" width="400">
Simultaneous with Issue 19, October 1975, Batman and Swamp thing got together again in the <i>Brave and the Bold</i> #122, story by Bob Haney, art by Jim Aparo. “Hour of the Beast.” In which hustler B. B. Riggs captures the Swamp Thing and brings him to Gotham as a freak show. The capture is accomplished with the same sort of foam that was used to capture Swamp Thing in Len Wein’s last issue “The Leviathan Conspiracy” (#13). Gotham is, coincidentally, hit with a rapidly-growing plant that threatens to take over the city. This is something Swamp Thing himself will do during Alan Moore’s stint as writer. But the story doesn't rely on Holland's intellect as a biochemist, but more on his strength. Again.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0121.jpg" align="left" width="300">
Michelinie returned for issue 21, which is unlike anything else done on <i>Swamp Thing</i>. Solus, an outcast alien and collector of freaks, beams Swamp Thing into his ship for his menagerie. It’s an interesting and very weird story, a science-fiction Gothic fairy tale. It is also the last story most people involved with Swamp Thing acknowledge.<br><br>
Issue 22 returns to Michelinie’s initial story, in which a government conspiracy has a scientist capturing and sequestering human mutants which have been contaminated with radioactive pollution. None of these have psychic powers, however, although they have the same noseless face and unnaturally yellow skin as the mutants in issue 14. They also share Father Bliss’s desire to save the world by destroying it, as a madness comes on many of the mutants. But just when it seems like a by-the-numbers story of madness, he ends the story with a touching homage to Whale’s <i>Bride of Frankenstein</i>. Redondo does a very good job of making the Solomons’ last moments poignant. Again the story beneath it bears many common David Michelinie tropes.<br><br>
Conway returned with issue 23, “Rebirth and Nightmare” and decided to take the unfortunate route of giving Swamp Thing what he was seeking. Holland, with the aid of his brother (a road never returned to by any later writer) Edward Holland, also a biochemist, and his live-in graduate student, Ruth Monroe. Alec Holland regains his human shape, and becomes a Hulk-like transformer. This only lasted for two issues. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0124.jpg" align="right" width="400">
The final (published) issue of Swamp Thing, #24, “the Earth Below” was written by David Anthony Kraft (with plot idea from Gerry Conway), illustrated by Ernie Chua and Fred Carrillo. No doubt this shifting of the creative team was the result of low sales, and presaged the cancellation of the series. With the help of his brother, Holland recreates the conditions that turned him into the Swamp thing, but setting off an explosion near the Swamp Thing, with the laboratory chemicals exactly as they were during the initial transformation. There’s a pool of clean water for him to dive into. Ultimately, makes about as much sense as frying a fried egg to make it raw again. Once human again, Holland is attacked by a thick-muscled Thrudavig, and spends the whole issue wishing he could be the Swamp Thing again. It’s a bit frustrating, since the ‘he gets what he wants but he misses what he used to have’ schtick is old. <br><br>
Issue 25 was a promised Swamp Thing vs Hawkman issue. Some of the penciled sketches have been leaked on line. Swamp Thing was still pursued by Colossus, a criminal organization with governmental links (Sabre, a villain with a saber for a left hand, is a former federal agent). This thread was picked up again a few years later by Martin Pasko in his recrudescence of the Swamp Thing in 1982. Holland seems to be alternating between the Swamp thing and his human form, but I have only seen some of the pages, so I don’t know exactly how this works. The duality of Holland and Swamp Thing turning into each other certainly has its roots in Gothic literature, the well-known and often imitated <i>Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i>; Bruce Banner and the Hulk likely being the most famous version of the idea. However, the Swamp Thing is again being pursued by a shadowy organization, this time the Colossus. Swamp Thing has long interacted with such organizations, beginning with Nathan Ellery’s Conclave, to this truncated encounter with Colossus, and later the omnipresent Sunderland Corporation from Marty Pasko, which had links to the federal government. Alan Moore Sunderland used to bedevil the character. And although the events of the Gerry Conway <i>Swamp Thing</i> are ignored by all later writers, there are elements that were perfectly in keeping with the character as it had been subsequently written. <br><br>
But Jerry Conway wasn’t done with the Swamp Thing. Less than a year after the book’s cancellation, Swamp Thing became a guest star in the <i>Challengers of the Unknown</i>, a science team, primarily of non-superpowered individuals. The science aspect theoretically allowed biochemist Holland to fit in reasonably well, but that wasn’t the way it worked out.<br><br>
Issues 82 and 83 pick up with M’nagalah, the Lovecraftian horror encountered in <i>Swamp Thing</i> #8. One of the Challengers becomes infested with M’Naglah, and team seeks out Dr. Holland, who has reappeared, working with his brother. At the end of issue 83, Holland returns to his Swamp Thing form, with the little note that apparently the cure developed at he end of Swamp Thing wasn’t so permanent after all.<br><br>
Issue 84 begins with an encounter between Deadman and the Swamp Thing, an association that will be reaffirmed several times, both in Alan Moore’s run-up to issue 50 and also in the Justice League Dark storylines. In saving the professor, Swamp Thing becomes an unofficial member of the group, even though he can’t wear the standard issue Challengers’ uniform. They go through a couple of adventures, including a war in the far future where everything is dystopically horrible. But it’s not particularly interesting, and the Swamp Thing isn’t used for anything but his brute strength. Which is a pity.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/CHAL87.jpg" align="right" width="400">
The <i>Challengers of the Unknown</i> stories move away from the Gothic and more into the adventurous and brightly-colored world of super-science. There is a fistfight in every issue, and overall, the stories aren’t that interesting. They certainly don’t add anything new to the story of Swamp Thing, who is utilized more like the Marvel Thing: inhumanly strong, and resilient. The <i>Challengers of the Unknown</i> ended with issue 87, June/July of 1978. <br><br>
Less than a year later, in April 1979, Swamp thing returned in <i>DC Comics Present</i> #8: “The Sixty Deaths of Solomon Grundy.”. Having teamed up with Batman twice, Swamp Thing is this time allied with DC’s other big hero: Superman. Notably, the story is by Steve Englehard, who would be instrumental in getting Steve Gerber into the Ultraverse, and the invention of his own swamp monster, Sludge. Solomon Grundy isn’t on my list. Although he is initially clearly descended from the same root as the Heap and Swamp Thing, he loses his swampiness early on. He is more a zombie that comes from the swamp than a swamp monster, despite being described by Green Lantern (in <i>All-American Comics</i> 61, all the way back in 1944) as made of wood and leaves. Swamp Thing pursues Solomon Grundy, realizing he has the opportunity to study something he believes is similar to himself. Unfortunately, Superman only wants to put Grundy away. Swamp Thing cannot communicate easily with Superman, so he is forced to assist Grundy as the only way he will be able to study the plant zombie. He manages to do so, in a random underground lab he has discovered, and discovers that Grundy is not like him. Grundy is not alive, and therefore, not like the living plant that is Alec Holland. The story has a bit more depth than I initially thought it would.<br><br>
And thus the first iteration of DC's Swamp Thing, which <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-classic-len-wein-and-bernine.html"> began so strongly</a>, suffered the fate of many characters. Used by writers who don't really understand the appeal of the character, guest appearances shoved the Swamp Thing into a role to which it is not suited. Thus is a common occurrence in comics, where characters become communal property. Anyone can use the character, even those who do not understand its nuance. This slow petering out might have been the end for Swamp Thing, but Wes Craven purchased the rights to the story and made a film of the property. More on that later. But before I get to that, there’s Atlas’ Bog Beast, an oddly different sort of swamp creature. John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-78787470708195039002017-06-02T18:31:00.001-04:002017-06-02T18:31:58.418-04:00The End of a Long Campaign<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/TOH.jpg" width="775" alt="Tomb of Horrors original cover, art by David C Sutherland III"><br><br>
When I started my Pathfinder campaign, I wanted three things. I wanted to involve a lot of undead, I wanted killer dungeons, and I wanted an Egyptian theme to the campaign. Luckily, the first two go hand in hand. And when I discovered that Pathfinder's default setting of Golarion has an Egyptian-analogue called Osirion, it was suddenly much easier to set up. <br><br>
My superobjective (an actor's thing) was that I wanted to have people in the house. A lot of middle-aged men suffer from loneliness and depression because they do not socialize enough. Having gamers in to laugh, kill things, and generally goof around forces me to be social once a week. I have noticed my depression has visited less often since I started the group.<br><br>
I fused together Pathfinder's Osirion and Green Ronin's fantastic <b>Hamunaptra</b> for background. I didn’t have the time to write my own adventures, but I have a lot of deathtrap dungeons already, and it was easy to fill in with other adventures that fit the theme. I think it worked reasonably well.<br><br>
The adventures were:<br><br>
<b>Hive of Villany</b>: from Dungeon Crawl Classics #29, <i>The Adventure Begins</i> (Goodman Games)<br>
The characters started out as prisoners, their sentences commuted by the Temple of Set in return for doing some dirty jobs. Their first assignment was to find out why the temple's bees weren’t producing honey. This properly set the campaign tone as not entirely serious.<br><br>
<b>Malice of the Medusa</b>: Dungeon Crawl Classics #45 (Goodman Games)<br>
The first actual tomb-raiding. This is a fun low-level adventure with good background, several small tombs, and an entertaining plot.<br><br>
<b>Forgotten King’s Tomb</b>: (Kobold Press)<br>
I hate to call this disappointing, but it’s a bit simple. I made this a more interesting adventure by allowing the adventurers to negotiate with the involved mummy.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/pyramid1.jpg" width="150" alt="Pyramid" align="left">
<b>Pharaoh</b>: I3 (TSR)<br>
I bought this 1<sup>st</sup> edition adventure back when it first came out. I’ve carried it through many moves for more than thirty years, and finally got to run it. A wonderful adventure, a pseudoegyptian dungeon crawl set in a pyramid with a lot of creativity, plenty of strangeness, and a surprising amount of humor. The backstory provides a good hook that the players can figure out and interact with.<br><br>
<b>The Rebel's Ransom</b>: Pathfinder Society 02-03 (Paizo)<br>
A particularly good Pathfinder adventure, involving a certain amount of tomb-robbing, but with a twist. A combination of interesting characters, clever traps, and an enjoyable progression make this a great adventure.<br><br>
<b>Tomb of the Blind God</b>: Dungeon Crawl Classics C9 (Goodman Games)<br>
This was a side-quest that first touched on my own campaign arc. They are initially sent because a girl is kidnapped, and golly, there's grells, grimlocks, and more information about the past than they thought was going to be there. <br><br>
<b>The Scorpion Queen</b> from <i>In Search of Adventure</i> (Goodman Games)<br>
Maybe not the most inspired adventure. Still, a few puzzles, a little combat. The players didn’t seem to mind.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/pyramid2.jpg" width="150" alt="Imprisoned with the Pharaohs" align="left">
<b>Imprisoned with the Pharaohs</b>: J1 (Paizo)<br>
One of the adventures that made me realize that a 3<sup>rd</sup> edition Egyptian-style campaign was possible. A fine adventure in a pyramid with mummies and all the Egyptian trappings I could want. Also the introduction to the mystery of Aucturn.<br> <br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/pyramid3.jpg" width="150" alt="The Pact Stone Pyramid" align="right">
<b>The Pact Stone Pyramid</b>: J3 (Paizo)<br>
Following on from the previous pyramid adventure, this was another pyramid dungeon crawl, and had its own contribution to the mystery of Aucturn. I provided my own answer to the mystery, and just about the time we were playing this, Paizo came out with their own. I liked mine better. Nevertheless, this was another fun pyramid adventure from the people at Paizo. <br><br>
<b>Wrath of the Accursed</b>: Pathfinder Society 2-20 (Paizo)<br>
A city-based intrigue adventure from Paizo. It made for a nice change of pace, giving the characters a chance to do some negotiation, and run through the streets of the city. <br><br>
<b>The Dog Pharaoh's Tomb</b>: Pathfinder Society 3-12 (Paizo)<br>
A smaller adventure than J1 and J3 above. Still, this was a good, rich adventure with interesting tomb traps, undead to destroy, and links to the future of the campaign. <br><br>
<b>Caves of the Crawling Lord</b>: Dungeon Crawl Classics #37 (Goodman Games)<br>
This was the adventure where the whole plot basically came out. And the characters learned that leaving the alchemist alone in front of the undead antipaladin was a mistake. Here the players found out about the Dynasty of Jackals, a line of corrupt and demon-consulting pharaohs whose names had been eliminated from official history. They discovered the mummified remains of the majority of the line, but not the ultimate resting place of the Dark Undying One, the last and most terrible of the Dynasty of Jackals. He was so evil that merely speaking his name would bring damage upon the utterer. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/TOH0.jpg" width="150" alt="The Tomb of Horrors" align="left">
<b>Tomb of Horrors</b>: (3rd ed version) (WOTC)<br>
Acererak was the court wizard of the Dark Undying One. The mechanics of Pathfinder mean that the adventure cannot be as deadly as it was originally intended to be. Still, the three pit traps puzzle is something you can't roll dice for, and it got the players, both here and in <i>Necropolis</i>. Good fun. This signaled the beginning of the serious trapped tombs adventures: the next three tombs were tributes to this classic. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/TOH1.jpg" width="150" alt="The Tomb of Horrors" align="right">
<b>Dread Crypt of Srihoz</b>: Dungeon Crawl Classics 25 (Goodman Games)<br>
Srihoz was the chief of the Navy under the Dark Undying One. This turned out to be more deadly than the infamous meat-grinder <i>Tomb of Horrors</i>. While the Tomb was first, the designers of the Dread Crypt also had some very dirty tricks to lay on the characters.<br><br>
<b>Lost Tomb of Kruk-Ma-Kali</b>: (Kenzerco)<br>
The tomb of the Dark Undying One’s mightiest general. Wonderful tribute to the <i>Tomb of Horrors</i>. But another instance where the extensive magics involved would have been much more expensive than a resurrection spell. But shush, because this one is really good, even though I ignored the wilderness adventure getting there.<br><br>
<b>The Mud Sorcerer's Tomb</b>: <i>Dungeon</i> #138 (Paizo)<br>
The individual entombed here was the tomb architect of the Dark Undying One’s court. And had directions to the tomb of Mrs. Dark Undying One. An update of a great 2<sup>nd</sup> edition adventure, also from <i>Dragon</i> magazine. A sly, thoughtful tribute to <i>Tomb of Horrors</i>, which fit easily with the campaign’s theme of tombs and deadly traps. <br><br>
<b>The Rolling Tomb</b>: Dungeon #215 (WOTC)<br>
An interruption of the main quest with a delightfully insane premise. The hook is "a full-sized pyramid on rollers is going to squash Pharaoh's favorite oasis. You will do something about this immediately."<br><br>
<b>StarHaunt</b> Dungeon #207(WOTC)<br>
StarHaunt was a bit of an emergency insertion. I'd made <b>The Rolling Tomb</b> too difficult. But replacing the meteor with an undead god-fetus made this adventure wonderfully macabre. Seriously. Look up "atropal scion" and tell me that isn't creepy.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/TOH8.jpg" width="150" alt="The Tomb of Horrors" align="left">
<b>Crypt of the Devil-Lich</b>: Dungeon Crawl Classics #13 (Goodman)<br>
After a couple of less trappy-deathy adventures, this was back to the meat grinders I love. Lots of traps, and traps within traps. There was a wonderful moment with the hellwasp swarms when everyone was helpless except the Fire Oracle. Who cashed in his chips later this adventure.<br><br>
<b>Necropolis</b>: Necromancer Games<br>
Sort of Gygax's adventure to top <i>Tomb of Horrors</i>, this is as gonzo and weird as you might expect. Wonderful, and one of the adventures the campaign was constructed to lead up to. Well converted by the people at Necromancer Games, and delightful fun for the players. They destroyed the Dark Undyng One, and the beacon that was drawing Aucturn close, amplifying necromantic spell effects. But that wasn’t the end of it all. Turns out the court wizard, Acererak also had a few lingering threats to the well-being of the world. <br><br>
<b>Prisoner of Castle Perilous</b>: <i>Dungeon</i> #153 (WOTC)<br>
The players learned that Acererak wasn’t quite as destroyed as they thought he’d been. And he’s mucking about with something in the Negative Energy Plane. Good adventure, and the beginning of the campaign’s endgame.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/TOH2.jpg" width="150" alt="Return to the Tomb of Horrors" align="left">
<b>Return to the Tomb of Horrors</b>: (TSR)<br>
I didn't use the introductory adventure, but the rest was pretty darn entertaining, if a little weird to convert to Pathfnder. Still, this is a solid, puzzling sprawl of a mega-adventure, and I’m quite happy that I finally got to run it. <br><br>
<b>Tomb of Horrors</b>: 4th ed (WOTC)<br>
This was the third and final Acererak the party faced. I’m a little sad I wasn’t able to reconcile the initial parts of the adventure with my campaign, instead only using the final adventure. Still, I liked this. Unfortunately, the party acted with a little haste before they learned what was going on, and managed to doom themselves. Ah well, such is giving control of the story over to the players. And there’s a lot of potential to having a new Devouring God. <br><br>
There are a few adventures I wanted to run but couldn't find a way to slip in. Grimtooth's <b>Dungeons of Death</b>, Mayfair's <b>Undead</b>, and the <b>Tomb of Iuchiban</b> from Alderac. But they either didn’t fit the structure of the campaign, or mechanically would have lost too much when converted to Pathfinder. But now we’re onto a new campaign, one starting with zero level characters with random backgrounds and straight 3d6 characteristics. Let’s hope might oaks from small acorns grow. <br><br>
I want to thank everyone who was part of the campaign, and made it the successful fun it was. Chris, John, Tristan, John, Diane, Shannon, Tara, Alex, Dave, and Nick: thank you all very much. I hope you had as much fun as I did. John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-11803348598108069332017-05-29T13:58:00.001-04:002017-05-29T13:58:38.325-04:00I bit the bullet...<a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=908513"><img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/patreon-logo.jpg" width="250" align="left"></a>After literal months of agony and wishy-washiness, I pulled the trigger on my <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=908513">Patreon page</a>. If you enjoy my writing, you can get previews of my books there, before they come out.<br><br>
If you haven't yet read my work, you can mosey over to the <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=908513">page</a> and read the first chapter of my fantasy/noir novel <b>Necromancer for Hire</b>. Only the first one is free. But if you support me at $2 or higher, you can read a chapter a week until it's finished. Support me at $5 a month, and you will get a copy of every book I publish, as my way of saying thank you.<br><br>
I intend to change the contribution level names and images, but not the actual rewards as I go on with this. A hypothetical steampunk airpulp story will likely have levels that have to do with biplanes. Right now, it's all about the bodies.<br><br>
And a huge thank-you to Darrell Grizzle, who joined within an hour of me posting the initial link. There are days when I doubt my ability to write a compelling, marketable story. Darrell killed that doubt for the next month. Thank you Darrell! John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-23894307744641274882017-03-11T12:10:00.000-05:002017-07-30T15:50:36.772-04:00Kong: Skull Island, The Heart of Kaiju DarknessThe first thing I noticed, even in the trailers, is that <b>Kong: Skull Island</b> knows its roots. This is not <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/01/overindulgence-and-ape-king-kong-2005.html">Peter Jackson's unbridled <i>King Kong</i></a>. This is a movie that remembers the <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/07/my-year-of-monsters-kong-king.html">1933 film</a>, but at the same time is not enslaved to it. Kong's stature is erect, as it was in 1933, and more credible than in <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/04/its-not-all-glory-being-king-1976-king.html">1976</a>. Kong battles an octopus-thing as he did in <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-royal-rumble-king-kong-vs-godzilla.html"><i>King Kong vs Godzilla</i></a>. the Skullcrawlers are from the original film, and there is a giant spider in reference to the infamous lost and deleted scene. And, possibly because it's Legendary, there's a sly <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-special-ingredient-is-love-pacific.html"><i>Pacific Rim</i></a> reference when someone shoots a kaiju in the face with a flare. <br><br>
<img src="http://qusoor.com/images/monsters/Kongskull2.jpg" width="770" alt="Kong"><br><br>
One major thumbs-up for me is that Kong's island is in the South Seas, and the natives of the island are finally not African. Although Jackson's production used <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_(2005_film)#Cast">"a mix of Asian, African, Maori and Polynesian"</a> actors, they do look very African. Not so in <b>Kong: Skull Island</b>.<br><br>
For the first time, not everything is relentlessly hostile. Sure, the Skullcrawlers are just out for lunch, and the wee pterodactyls are pretty nasty, but Skull Island finally seems to have an ecosystem that doesn't try to consume every human that sets foot on the island. And because some of the shoot is on location, you can see the swarms of insects. It's a nice touch, although I suspect the actors were none too happy about it.<br><br>
The Skullcrawlers, the main antagonists of the film, deserve some mention. Clearly modeled on the two-legged lizard from the original Kong, they've been upgraded. And they a good look. Like the MUTOs from Legendary <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/09/leave-them-wanting-more-godzilla-2014.html"><i>Godzilla</i></a>. Despite them being an homage to the original film, the feeling is that you have never seen anything like that before. Their movements are fluid for something that has such a unique method of locomotion. They're presented as frightening, and worthy opponents for the mighty Kong.<br><br>
New Skullcrawler...<br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Kongskull1.jpg" width="770" alt="The new Skullcrawler"><br><br>
Old Skullcrawler... <br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Kongskull3.jpg" width="600" alt="The old Skullcrawler"><br><br>
The use of the military is interesting. Somewhat in keeping with the seventies end of Vietnam era. Col Packard (Sam Jackson) is a deeply traumatized officer who, on seeing his country leave a conflict unfinished, decides he is going to take no shit. Not from giant monsters, certainly. But his men are not quite as hell-bent as he is. So the military is not here for show, as it was in <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Ishiro%20Honda">Ishiro Honda</a>'s work. But neither is the military turned into a bunch of clowns, as they were in the <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/09/attention-to-detail-does-matter.html">1998 <i>Godzilla</i></a>. The military are depicted as individuals in a system, and the military is represented by different people. Which is, I think, pretty fair. Although I do take exception to Vietnam-era soldiers carrying poison gas grenades. But ultimately, in good kaiju film fashion, the military and guns are not the solution to the plot problem. <br><br>
Kong downs so many helicopters I couldn't help wonder if he was still pissed off from the 1976 film, where he was shot off the World Trade Centers by helicopters with miniguns. But hey, they were dropping bombs...<br><br>
It's a good film. Enjoyable, and I suspect it will stand up after repeated watching. I'll definitely be owning this one.<br><br>
Next month, <b>Colossal</b> comes out, the Nacho Vigalondo/Anne Hathaway kaiju film. And you can bet I'll be there. John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-29303042933483493832017-01-29T21:00:00.000-05:002017-01-29T21:02:28.263-05:00We Have To Talk About Marvin<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/marvin1.jpg" width="100" alt="Marvin the Living Dead Thing, before he was dead" align="left">
<i>Eerie</i> was a Warren Publications magazine, which, in the seventies, was clinging to the format EC had been forced out of. Their flagship publications included <i>Creepy</i>, <i>Famous Monsters of Filmland</i>, and <i>Vampriella</i>. In format, <i>Eerie</i> is similar to <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/05/its-goopy-and-thoroughly-disgusting.html">Skywald’s</a> mood-horror, a black and white magazine that avoided the Comics Code Authority’s censorius eye.<br><br>
The majority of the magazine was short, moody stories, often with a buxom woman to add a little sex appeal to the story. The initial Marvin story "One is the Lonliest Number" written by Allen Milgrom, primarily known as an artist, achieving great success with Marvel's <i>Secret Wars II</i> and two years on <i>The Avengers</i>. Esteban Maroto provides beautiful line work. With this frankly stellar combination of artist and writer, the Marvin story is affectingly tragic.<br><br>
Marvin merited the front cover of <i>Eerie</i> #49 (July 1973) <i>Swamp Thing</i> was in full swing, and had just published issue #5. <i>Man-Thing</i> was still appearing in <i>Adventure Into Fear</i>, but by the beginning of 1974, would be in its own magazine. The Skywald Heap had just had its final story in <i>Psycho</i> 13 (July 1973). So the ground was well-tread, but Milgrom managed to put the familiar tropes into a unique story.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/marvin3.jpg" width="500" alt="Marvin the Living Dead Thing, enjoying himself for the first time" align="right">
Marvin the Dead Thing is in many ways a distillation of the Swamp Monster trope. Marvin Kanfer, we are told in the first panel, had always been alone. Six panels later, he kills himself by throwing himself in a polluted river. The pollution from ‘several factories’ serves as the catalyst (like Ted Sallis’s Super Soldier Serum, Dr. Holland’s bio-restorative formula, or the executed babies in the Heap’s Wausau Swamp). The results, inevitable. Marvin returns as a swamp monster without knowing it (similar to Sallis in his first Man-Thing story). The police get involved, and Marvin gets to demonstrate his strength and his invulnerability to bullets. He is more sentient than the <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/06/slinging-swamp-mud-at-icons-steve.html">Man-Thing</a>, but thought is slow, so he id not as in control of his mind as the <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Swamp-Thing">Swamp Thing</a> or <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/05/its-goopy-and-thoroughly-disgusting.html">Skywald Heap</a> are.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/marvin2.jpg" width="300" alt="Marvin the Living Dead Thing, and the stone of social approval" align="right">
This is the first time that the genre has mined the idea of family for the swamp monster. Previously, the monster had been a lonely presence without attachments, only friends and enemies. The transformation into the swamp monster got rid of the individual’s previous life. However, Marvin is a different sort of person. In a story that perhaps draws from the classic 1931 James Whale <i>Frankenstein</i>, Marvin is befriended by a young girl who is not put off by the way he looks. But a mob (literally, a torch-waving mob) comes into the swamp to hunt Marvin down. Instead of killing him, however, they kill little Susie. Unwilling to accept the death of the little girl who had been his playmate, Marvin places her body in the same toxic sludge that brought about his transformation. After weeks of waiting, he is rewarded with her sludgy resurrection. The two then bond, and presumably, live happily ever after as man and child, free of the restraints of society. The story is similar to a <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/09/strange-fruit-o-morto-do-p.html">Morto do Pantono</a> story, “A Pequena Silvia”.<br><br>
There us a bit of metaphor to be drawn from the stone and rope that Marvin uses to drown himself. If we view this as a symbol of the weight of society’s opinion which weighs on Marvin, it is this that eventually drags him down. During his conflict with the police, Marvin pulls the stone and rope off, throws it as a weapon, or sign of defiance, then he is free of society's opinions and rules. He can return to the swamp and be what he is. There’s a happy naturalness in this story. Marvin is the living rejection of modern society, and once he is free of those bonds, he can finally find satisfaction. Society is so damaged that the transformation of Marvin from human into a swamp monster is what allows him to be happy.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/marvin4.jpg" width="450" alt="Marvin the Living Dead Thing, and the worst moment of his unlife" align="left">
Esteban Maroto’s work is never more poignant as the image of Marvin holding his playmate in his arms. The despair and sadness on Marvin’s disfigured face is palpable, and really makes the point of the story.<br><br>
Just under a decade later, in February 1982, literally the month that Wes Cravern's <i>Swamp Thing</i> film his the theaters, <i>Eerie</i> resurrected Marvin. The writer is different, and so is the artist, but this is the second Swamp Creature's resurrection . Perhaps, like the return of Swamp Thing, this return was prompted by the Wes Craven <i>Swamp Thing</i> film. But Marvin returned.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/marvin6.jpg" width="200" alt="Bad people. Baaaad people" align="right">
This story is less straightforward. Marvin watches a young couple dump their stillborn baby into the polluted waters that transformed Marvin into the swamp creature he is. Bobby-Jean and Billy are a troubled couple. Billy said he’d marry Bobby-Jean, but he most take care of his grandmother. But Billy is apparently a serial impregnator, and his supposedly sick grandmother is someone who takes care of unplanned pregnancies. The two of them have a business together, him taking advantage of inexperienced girls, his grandmother getting paid well to deal with the pregnancies.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/marvin7.jpg" width="250" alt="Vengeful Baby" align="left">
The stillborn babe returns to life, thanks to the polluted waters, and immediately goes out to seek its father. Bobbie-Jean, hemmorhaging, tries to escape into the swamp, and the baby finds Billy, killing him. It also kills his grandmother. Bobby-Jean, dying, is taken by Marvin to the swamp, and the three of them turn into a kind of happy swampy family.<br><br>
There’s a whole lot more dialog and exposition in this story. And at the same time, it’s less atmospheric and less complex. This is a more straightforward murder and revenge story, and Marvin as a character plays almost no part in it. Instead, he is primarily a watcher of the action, only There are several moments when the writer uses the shortcut of a character ‘just knowing’ something that helps move the narrative along. “Ode to a Dead Thing” is not as well-written as the original story, but it does have its tender moments, such as when Marvin carries the dying Bobby-Jean into the swamps. It is a pretty straight riff on the original story, adding another member to Marvin’s family.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/marvin8.jpg" width="450" alt="Happily every after... in the swamp" align="right"><br>
The themes of the original story are gone. Marvin’s rejection of the modern world has vanished, and been replaced by an evil family, Billy and his grandmother, who are selfish, irredeemable villains. They are villains who the reader will not mourn when they are murdered by the resurrected baby. Marvin’s story is more of a wrapper around the standard revenge story, with the resurrected swamp baby serving the usual Heap role of dispenser of justice.<br><br>
“One is the Loneliest Number” The first Marvin the Dead-Thing story stands as an excellent encapsulation of the majority of the tropes that make the he swamp-monster work. Using the inherent loneliness of the character to good effect, as well as the pathos evoked by that character desperately, finally caring for someone else. This emotional work is muted in the second, more simplistic story, as mentioned above. I wonder if Marvin’s return was a test balloon for making him an ongoing character, If so, it did not catch on. Like Carlton’s “Lurker in the Swamp” there are only two Marvin the Living Dead Thing stories. They are worth seeking out for the swamp monster enthusiast, especially <i>Eerie</i> # 49.<br><br>
Next Month, the end of DC's initial series of <i>Swamp Thing</i>, featuring writers David Michelinie and Gerry Conway.
John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-28728949284160518002016-12-17T15:54:00.001-05:002016-12-17T15:54:42.945-05:00Coming Full Circle: Roy Thomas Adapts Sturgeon's "It" To Comics<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/it2.jpg" width="200" align="left">
In 1972, Marvel handed a new magazine, <i>Supernatural Thrillers</i> to Roy Thomas. The new magazine, which ran 15 issues, started as an attempt to capture the new macabre movement in comics. With the loosening of the CCA rules, Marvel thought they could now adapt classic weird short stories into comics, giving the medium more legitimacy. This plan lasted four issues, adapting Sturgeon's “It”, <i>The Invisible Man</i>, Robert E. Howard's “Valley of the Worm” and finally <i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde</i> before the original creation N'Kantu, the Living Mummy came to dominate the title.<br><br>
In December 1972, the first issue of DC's <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-classic-len-wein-and-bernine.html"><i>Swamp Thing</i></a> had just appeared, Gold Key had just released their first <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/11/gold-key-puts-its-oar-in-don-gluts.html"</a>“Lurker in the Swamp”</a> story, and Marvel's own <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/06/slinging-swamp-mud-at-icons-steve.html">Man-Thing</a> had just merited its own magazine appearance as the lead in <i>Fear</i>, and Skywald's <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/05/its-goopy-and-thoroughly-disgusting.html">Heap</a> was going strong in <i>Psycho</i>. That's a lot of swamp monsters to choose from. It had been three years since Roy Thomas had created the <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/04/roy-thomas-shows-his-love-glob.html">Glob</a>. The Swamp Monster was at virtually every publisher, but no one had yet begin to really delve into the possibilities such a character held for long-term story telling. When Roy Thomas was handed the opportunity to launch a more literary series, he decided the first story he wanted to adapt was Sturgeon’s “It.” He adapted the story himself, primarily using Sturgeon’s language. As a fan of the story, why wouldn’t he?<br><br>
Thomas had been a professional for three years at this point. The first story he’d worked was the Incredible Hulk story in which he had created The Glob. His adaptation of Sturgeon’s story is solid, using as much as the original author’s text as he could, while still adapting the story to a different, more visual medium.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/it3.jpg" width="773">
The art is good. Not as moody as Wrightson, Bissette, or Mayrik, but the faces are expressive, and the emotional content of the story is conveyed well. Penciler Marie Severin would illustrate more than a hundred and sixty issues for Marvel. Especially effective is the panel <page 7> Where Alton tells Corey about finding the corpse of his dog Kimbo is excellent. The tension in Alton’s stance, the sadness mixed with wariness are plain.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/it1.jpg" width="773">
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/it4.jpg" width="300" align="right">
The creature itself is painted in a combination of green and gray, and is not as distinct from the background as Swamp Thing and Man Thing would be. Which is a bit of a shame since it’s difficult to see exactly what It looks like. The coloring, however, emphasizes the fact that it is made of the swamp stuff that surrounds it. Although it is human-shaped, It does not have a recognizable face. It has eyes, but they are usually brushed over in the same color as the rest of the creature. Other swamp monsters have red eyes, which helps to separate them from the rest of the creature, but that’s not the case here. As a result, I find it difficult to figure out which direction the creature is ‘facing.’ This and the coloration leads to a certain amount of cognitive dissonance, which is not entirely unwelcome in a thriller/horror comic.<br><br>
The way that Alton dotes on the dog makes me wonder if the dog as adjunct was a deliberate homage on the part of Swamp Thing scribe Len Wein. Steve Gerber also wrote a story involving a dog in the swamp, in issues 9 and 10 of <i>Man-Thing</i>. Kimbo is one of the early emotional hooks that moves the plot of “It” forward.<br><br>
Apparently, Marvel had the idea of turning “It” into an ongoing series. But what good would it have done to set one swamp monster against another from the same publisher? <i>Man-Thing</i> had done well enough to was doing reasonably well. Was there enough market for two Marvel swamp monsters? Thomas didn’t think so. So “It” remained a one-off from <i>Supernatural Thrillers</i>. Unfortunately, Marvel has lost the contract Sturgeon signed, so it was reprinted once. Beyond that, it’s in legal limbo, since no one knows the terms of the contract. So muck monster completist’s only hope of finding the story is to buy an old comic. Luckily, it’s not enormously popular, so copies are relatively inexpensive. It's a good single issue, and brings the origin of the swamp monster back to its origin, the Theodore Sturgeon story. But it's a single issue, so there's really not a lot to dig into here.<br><br>
Next month, Warren Publishing gets into it with their own, pretty unique swamp monster. John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-20682191936315819412016-11-20T15:40:00.001-05:002016-11-20T15:40:07.761-05:00Gold Key Puts Its Oar In: Don Glut's The Lurker in the SwampComics, as an art form, have developed a heavily imitative business model. Most early horror comics were made in imitations of EC’s anthology format, complete with weird narrators. In 1972, Gold Key comics, one of several comics companies that survived until the early eighties, was still publishing comics digests, including Mystery Comics Digest. Tucked into the anthology of some nineteen stories including “Miracle of the Marne” and “The Ghost of the Gorilla” is “The Lurker of the Swamp.” By this time, there had been a certain amount of television pickup of swamp monsters. In November of 1972, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery aired a story adapted from Margaret St. Clair’s short story “Brenda.” Although not as popular as vampires of werewolves, but Swamp Monsters had at least touched the television medium.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/lurker2.jpg" align="left" width="450" alt="The Lurker from the Swamp">
The Lurker is subtle twist on the now-standard Muck Man short story, in this case written by Don Glut and illustrated by artist Jesse Santos (nether of whom are credited in the digest itself). Bank Robber Martin Kraz returns home after a ten year stint, only to find that his buried loot is guarded by the swamp monster. Like the early Hillman <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Heap">Heap</a>, the Lurker feels the need to feed, and it first sighted carrying off sides of beef from the local butcher shop. And like all swamp monsters, the Lurker has a powerful will to live that keeps the dead individual mobile. But Glut changed the formula, both for this as well as the Lurker’s later appearance in Doctor Spektor. For one, Martin Kraz is not a likeable character. And like Joe Timms from Like Roy Thomas's initial <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Glob">Glob</a>, he’s a small-time criminal. Although Kraz has just been released from prison, rather than being an escapee. He discovers that the Lurker is the remains of his original partner, who helped him bury the loot. However, Kraz discovers that a gun does work on the swamp monster. But the curse of Haunted Swamp overcomes Kraz, and he becomes a mucky Lurker, even as the previous one dies. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/lurker1.jpg" align="right" width="350" alt="The Lurker from the Swamp">
That said, there are several key differences that make the story stand out. One, the Lurker in the Swamp is not immune to bullets. So while the usual revenge (this time between two robbers) serves as the (apparent) climax of the story, Glut’s twist is that the Lurker dies, and the man who murdered it becomes the new Lurker. This idea of of the serial identity, that the swamp monster is not unique but an identity to be assumed, would not be picked up again until Alan Moore’s stint on <i>Swamp Thing</i>. Another twist on the tale is that the catalyst that changes the human into the Lurker is not pseudo-science, but supernatural. Haunted Swamp was where the local constabulary dumped the bodies of witches.<br><br>
Four years later, in 1976, Glut revisited his muck monster in his ongoing series <i>The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor</i>. The good doctor is an occult detective, created by Don Glut as a one-off for Gold Key's Boris Karloff's Tales of Mystery #5 (July, 1972). By April of 1973, Spektor had his own series, The <i>Occult Files of Doktor Spektor</i>, which reached twenty-four issues between 1973 and 1977, and a 2014 miniseries Doctor Spektor, Master of the Occult. Don Glut took several creatures from his time writing digest shorts into Dr. Spektor's ongoing series. And with issue 21 the Lurker and Doctor Spektor crossed paths.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/lurker3.jpg" width="780" alt="The Lurker from the Swamp"><br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/lurker4.jpg" width="400" align="left" alt="The Lurker from the Swamp">
One of Glut's strengths is his in-depth knowledge of the genre, so he can anticipate where the reader believes the story is going. So the story is not a simple monster hunt, it has a good twist in the end. The Lurker has also changed a bit in the four years between its appearances. The Lurker Dr. Spektor encountered doesn't appear to be animated by the spirit of the criminal Martin Kraz. It is now immune to bullets, where the initial appearance was not. It also showed a new power, a command over plants. This once showed up in the Heap comic, and Glut says he had read several Heap comics, although it's difficult to say which ones exactly. Control over plants was a rare power among the Muck Monsters, or was until Alan Moore took the ability to the terrifying extreme with <i>Swamp Thing</i>. Post Moore, many swamp creatures would be able to control plants.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/lurker5.jpg" width="340" align="right" alt="The Lurker from the Swamp"><br><br>
Part of the change is the gentling the soul of the monster. Initially Spektor believes the Lurker is responsible for disappearances in the Haunted Swamp. And it seems like a good bet that it was. The Lurker, however, turns out to be benevolent, almost a guardian of the swamp, protecting the people of the swamp from a greater menace. And like Roy Thomas's initial <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Glob">Glob</a> story, it sacrifices itself by walking into the quicksand.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/lurker6.jpg" width="250" align="left" alt="The Lurker ain't dead yet">
It's a good and surprisingly complex story. And Glut was savvy enough to show the mucky hand of the Lurker rising from the depths. Obviously, there's life in the old monster yet.<br><br>
Unfortunately, this was the last chance he got to write the Lurker, and in his interview for <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/09/next-project-history-of-swamp-monsters.html">Swamp Men</a>, Glut demonstrates a bit of disappointment that he never got to write a third Lurker story. To him, as to me, there is something unique and poignant about these mucky anti-heroes, something that allows us to write many stories on their oddly unfinished and inhuman features. And in Glut's two stories are the seeds of muck men attributes that will be picked up by later writers. I can only wonder what he could have done if he had continued with the character.<br><br>
John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-79930074454649758872016-11-17T19:36:00.003-05:002017-10-15T17:17:58.702-04:00Two Trailers for Kong: Skull Island<iframe width="775" height="436" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h9y6oPka3us?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br><br>
The new <b>Kong: Skull Island</b> trailer is pretty interesting. First off, Kong looks like he did in the <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/07/my-year-of-monsters-kong-king.html">1933 original</a>. Short legs and erect posture. This makes him seem more human. The way people talk about him indicates he is not a raging beat, either. He also exists within a larger biome than he has been seen in previously. He didn't seem to really interact much with the other creatures of Skull Island in Peter Jackson's <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/01/overindulgence-and-ape-king-kong-2005.html">2005 film</a>. There is a greater diversity among the inhabitants, also. Not just classic dinosaurs, but also a giant mammal, what appears to be a water buffalo. Let's hope that some of the inhabitants show up and don't immediately get into huge fights.<br><br>
John Goodman, I suspect, is our link to the American <a herf="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/09/leave-them-wanting-more-godzilla-2014.html">Godzilla</a> films. He says he's been trying to convince people about Kong's existence for years, so I suspect he's part of Monarch. I'd also like to know the nature of the military involvement in what is seems to be a purely commercial enterprise. But that's me.<br><br>
<iframe width="775" height="436" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YAbI4w95cTE?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br><br>
The initial trailer doesn't have the same punchy energy, but I think it tells us more about the film itself. At 1:52, you'll see a soldier firing off off a triceratops skull. Will they tease dinosaurs and not bring them out? The "Skull-Crawlers" are dinosaur-like, remind me of the serpent creatures in the Willis O'Brien original.<br><br>
the film takes place in 1971, and there are a lot of visual references to <b>Apocalypse Now</b>, considered one of the definitive films about the Vietnam conflict.<br><br>
You can bet I will be seeing this opening weekend. John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-40998240298310053042016-10-12T11:00:00.001-04:002017-10-15T17:18:42.843-04:00Triumphant Resurgence: Shin GodzillaI saw <b>Shin Godzilla</b> last night. I enjoyed it a great deal.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Shin1.jpg" width="775" align="right" alt="Shin Godzilla!"><br><br>
I like my Godzilla grim, so the reversion to the <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/06/giant-monsater-fix-godzilla.html">1954 film</a> which treats Godzilla as a force of nature, a natural disaster, is a welcome point of view. There's a straight line from the original to <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-big-guys-back-return-of-godzilla.html"><b>The Return of Godzilla</b></a> to this. Much as I enjoy watching monsters battling each other, I didn't miss it here. The drama is the conflict between Godzilla, the government response team, and the government trying to get out of its own way.<br><br>
Like all disaster films, the nature of the situation has to unfold, grow deeper. And in this case, Godzilla changes, thus altering the situation. I'm not going to spoil much of the film, but this is a forward-looking Godzilla, one that has new tricks up its sleeve. Like the 1954 Godzilla, it isn't until the second encounter that Godzilla uses its atomic breath. Like the original film, it's a big reveal. And then things change, and continue to change. I liked that.<br><br>
With these two paragraphs behind me, I will say that there isn't much new in the formula, but it's handled very well. There are a lot of people running around getting things done. Previous installments of the franchise often involved the government figuring out what to do, but this really steps it up. Like <b>The Return of Godzilla</b>, there is a lot of international attention given to the problem of Godzilla, and the government is put under considerable pressure to stop Godzilla or have another nuke dropped on Japan. However, where that film portrays a static government confident of its control of the forces at its command, <b>Shin Godzilla</b> shows us a government in chaos, overlapping priorities, wrong guesses, and This leaves us with a ticking time bomb against which the scientists must race, similar to <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/08/ghidorah-rides-again-invasion-of-astro.html"><b>Invasion of Astro-Monster</b></a>. Also, the technology to stop Godzilla is a combination of <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/07/through-dark-cosmic-mirror-godzilla-vs.html"><b>Godzilla vs Space Godzilla</b></a> and <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/08/killin-it-old-school-godzilla-vs.html"><b>Godzilla vs Destroyah</b></a>. So the film is well aware of its roots, drawing on the more successful and popular entries from the franchise.<br><br>
The devastation of Godzilla's second rampage is <b>astonishing</b>. The tension is ratcheted up, the amount of damage Godzilla does seems to escalate exponentially. It's awesome. And I like the looks of the new Godzilla. It has staged growth, like <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/02/avant-garde-or-just-crap-godzilla-vs.html">Hedorah</a>, although there's some unfortunate similarities to the evolution of a Pokemon. But this multi-stage development has been present in the franchise for longer than Pokemon have been around.<br><br>
I and others before me have written about the increased militarization of Godzilla films. The Japanese military doesn't get a lot of play because of the restrictions placed on it by the US at teh end of World War II. So Godzilla films have traditionally been something for the Japanese audience to enjoy military display, since Japan is being invaded. <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Ishiro%20Honda">Ishiro Honda</a> almost always portrayed the military as for display only, it never solved the problem of the monster movie plot. Part of the difficulty with the <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/09/attention-to-detail-does-matter.html">1998 American remake</a> was the portrayal of the military was the solution to the problem, but they had to be incompetent because otherwise the film would last as long as it took to deploy the appropriate firepower. But the military shines here, and I don't think the directors were entirely honest about it. The Japanese Self-Defense Forces is very careful, not attacking Godzilla when there are even two civilians who might get hurt. The film graces them with near-perfect certainty as to the location of civilians. And then, when the military takes it in the chin, casualties are glossed over. The big G hammers the military with its atomic ray, but the losses are never mentioned, as they are in the more nuanced <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/12/all-about-rage-godzilla-mothra-king.html"><b>Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, Giant Monsters All-Out Attack</b></a>. The boom pumps (called 'cranes' in the film) used on Godzilla are similar to those used to cool down the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster">nuclear disaster</a>. That said, the first wave of boom operators, don't walk away. They are not mentioned again, but the likely future Prime Minister Rando Yaguchi is praised. Not the people who did the actual work. This ties into my old post about <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/04/strong-leaders.html">strong leaders</a>. Rando sacrifices his military men, who are not mourned for their sacrifice. The camera and script lionize him for his leadership. Which, given its invocation of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_50">Fukushima 50</a>, seems disingenuous at best, blindly deceptive at worst. This is exactly the sort of wishful thinking <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/06/post-traumetic-stress-kaiju-monsters.html"><b>Monsters: Dark Continent</b></a> addresses.<br><br>
But that's pretty much all by implication, things the camera doesn't show. I found it a very good film, and seems likely to become one of my favorites in the Godzilla canon. Long live the franchise.
John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-50167593652788989802016-09-30T11:53:00.000-04:002016-09-30T11:53:40.867-04:00Strange Fruit: O Morto do PântanoWith translation assistance from David Ribeiro<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/Morto1.jpg" width="400" align="right" alt="Eugênio Colonneses' O Morto do Pantono">
I had the good fortune to stumble on a lesser-known literary descendant of <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Heap">the Heap</a>. As far as I know, O Morto do Pântono (“The Dead Man from the Swamp”) has never been formally translated into English. It is a Brazillian comic, the creation of <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%25C3%25AAnio_Colonnese&prev=search">Eugênio Colonnese</a>, a multitalented and prolific artist who wrote and illustrated movie posters, World War Two comics, created several superheroes, and was partially responsible for the widespread use of comics in Brazilian education to engage and motivate students. His most famous creation, however, is Mirza, mulher vampire (Mirza, the Vampire Woman). Mirza should be familiar to anyone who knows Warren Publishing’s <i>Vampirella</i>; aristocratic, voluptuous, and scantily-clad. It should be said, however, that while Vampirella’s first issue came out in September 1969, Mirza arrived in 1967.<br> <br>
As a backup to <i>Mirza</i>, Colonnese created O Morto do Pântono. This swamp creature, which I’ll refer to as O Morto, “the dead man” has enough similarities to imply that it was inspired by the Heap. Although I cannot make a direct connection, O Morto is a human-derived, but dead creature of the swamp. In the same way that the Heap’s later stories were structured, O Morto is a vessel of narrative justice via retribution, although O Morto’s methods aren’t quite as varied as the Heap’s. It seems to have inhuman strength despite the spindly nature of its limbs and short, hunched torso. Like the Heap and most swamp creatures that follow it, O Morto is immune to bullets.<br> <br>
At the same time, the character has enough dissimilarities to give O Morto his own flavor. Unlike most comic book swamp monsters, and again ahead of later muck men like <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Swamp-Thing">Swamp Thing</a> and Sludge, O Morto can reason and even talk. Although its skin is heavily textured, where that of regular people is undecorated, it retains a more human shape than the Heap or Man-Thing, even with a halo of hair with a balding pattern. In another departure, O Morto does not wander far from his swamp. The Heap’s stories were set in locations across the globe; Africa, China, the Middle East, American and Europe. O Morto remains where he is, and waits for the evildoers to come to him. And come they do. Blackmailers, marijuana smokers, and other bad men. Uniquely among the muck monsters of comics, O Morto always carries an enormous single-bit axe.<br> <br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/Morto5.jpg" width="250" align="left" alt="Eugênio Colonneses' O Morto do Pantono">
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/Morto6.jpg" width="250" align="right" alt="Eugênio Colonneses' O Morto do Pantono">
As the name implies, O Morto regards himself a dead person. His immunity to bullets seems to back this up. It isn’t until 1985, nearly two decades after O Morto’s first appearance, that his origin his even hinted at. In "Bodies Without Heads Do Not Speak," a legend is recounted that O Morto was once a judge who was dragged to the wetlands and killed with an ax. His subsequent resurrection is left as a mystery, but this explains some of the moral yet harsh nature of his justice, and his territoriality. Despite this new understanding of the character's background, he solves his problems in the the same way, an axe-blow to someone's head. <br> <br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/Morto2.jpg" width="250" align="left" alt="Eugênio Colonneses' O Morto do Pantono">
Unlike Dr. Ted Sallis who became the Man-Thing, Dr. Alec Holland who became the Swamp Thing, or Baron von Immelmann, O Morto does not seem to be highly educated. Judges of this period in Brazil were not required to have a law background, merely to pass a test on the local laws. He’s a bit more down to earth than the previous lives of other of the Heap’s literary descendants. In this way, O Morto seems to presage such slasher fare such as Jason Voorhees. But where Jason varied his implements and tended to merely start with the immoral youths and move on to their friends, O Morto just goes after the bad people. With a huge axe. He occasionally meets people who are not reprehensible, Sílvia in “Little Sílvia” as well as Bernardo in ”Bad Smell.” He does not kill indiscriminately. Only those he believes are bad. As such, his stories tend to follow the mid to late Heap style of story. A bad person goes into the swamp, only to be violently foiled. O Morto is also the only supernatural element in the these stories. Everything else is strictly noir or crime.<br> <br>
Another interesting quirk that sets O Morto apart from other swamp monsters is its tendency to speak directly to the reader, likely reflecting the hosts of EC’s fifties anthologies, the Vault-Keeper, the Crypt-Keeper, and the Old Witch. O Morto does double-duty, however, serving both as character as well as narrator. In the earlier stories, he has a splash image taking up the majority of the page, usually delivering a ghoulish or misanthropic message. In “The Gnats” he doesn’t actually appear in the story, serving instead as an outside observer of human wickedness and cruelty.<br><br>
O Morto definitely has a personality. He is misanthropic, several times referring to humanity as muck or slime, happy when the mulch of humanity returns to the muck of the swamp. And he is more than willing to refer to the reader in such terms. But at the end of “Damn Herbs” he lets us know that this is not the only side to him: <br> <br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/Morto10.jpg" width="450" align="right" alt="Eugênio Colonneses' O Morto do Pantono">
"A coisa melhor do mundo e o lodo. Lodo e o podridao como estes dois! Ervas malditas, Mosquitos, pernilongos, oh! Que sinfonia harmoniosa! Tudo isso enche sde satisfacao minha sensibilidade de poeta, bem no fundo de minha alma! Ah Ah Ah! Embora eu nao tenha "fundo" E muito menos alma!"<br><br>
Loosely translated: "The best thing in the world and the mud. Slime and rot like these two [people he’s just killed]! Damn herbs, mosquitoes, gnats, oh! That symphony! All this fulfills my poet's sensitivity, deep in my soul! Ah ah ah! Although I do not have "background" and much less soul!’<br><br>
With ten, or possibly eleven, published stories between 1967 and 1968, Morto went dormant in the seventies, with the exception of a single story published in <i>O Vampiro</i> in 1974. But like Swamp Thing and Man-Thing, O Morto do Pântono was revived in the early eighties. Eight new stories were written for the Brazilian comics <i>Spektro</i>, <i>Calafrio</i> ("<i>Chill</i>"), and <i>Mestres do Terror</i>. One final story, “The Night 0f the Kidnappers” was created, for the <i>Mirza, A Vampira</i>, collection from Opera Graphica in 2002, with a script by Franco de Rosa. The final story of Morto, and the one in which Mirza and O Morto finally meet. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/Morto3.jpg" width="350" align="left" alt="Eugênio Colonneses' O Morto do Pantono">
What makes these black and white stories stand out so much is the life, if you’ll pardon me, and energy that Eugênio Colonnese imparts to his creation. The swamp is lit like a noir film, dark and white, with no grey tones. Although I suspect this is a necessity of the printing process originally used, Colonnese’s art makes fantastic use of the medium. The line work is reminiscent of both Bernie Wrightson and Steve Bissette, fine and frenetic in places, other times using broad gestures to suggest more than is actually present on the page. Colonnese has a fine eye for the grotesque, and constantly creates memorable images. <br> <br>
I could only get my hands on the 2005 release, <i>O Morto do Pântono</i>, which contains seven of the twenty stories, and I’m a bit sad that I have been unable to locate any more of the stories. But pursuing this would involve a search for forty-year old comics in a country I’m more than twenty-seven hundred miles away from, and in a language I don’t understand. Additionally, there seems to be a contradiction in the introduction: three of the stories, “Hellish Herb” “The Gants” “The Red Jalopy” all bear the by-line of Luis Meri, but the history section claims they were written by Luis Quevedo. For all I know Mali is a pseudonym for Quevedo, or vice-versa, but it’s not something I have been able find any information on. I would send queries to the publisher, but Opera Graphica ceased operations in 2009. <br><br>
It has been suggested by <a href="https://www.amazon.com/review/R3IKZH5XCGBNFK/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1563890445&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=283155&store=books">Amazon reviewer Lawrance Bernabo</a> in his review of <i>Swamp Thing: Dark Genesis</i> that Swamp Thing was inspired by O Morto do Pântano, but it seems very unlikely. Though O Morto was created in 1967, I can’t find any evidence that it was ever translated into English. Further, I have not been able to find any reference to Len Wein or Bernie Wrightson, (the same for Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, and Grey Morrow, creators of Man-Thing which famously and contentiously debuted months before Swamp-Thing did) mentioning O Morto when they recount the origins of their muck monster. And given what an exhaustive job Jon Cooke did interviewing those creators for the monumental and extremely thorough <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2015/09/next-project-history-of-swamp-monsters.html"><b>Swamp Men</b></a> book from Twomorrows publishing, I find it very unlikely that they wouldn’t have mentioned it.<br> <br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/Morto7.jpg" width="400" align="right" alt="Eugênio Colonneses' O Morto do Pantono">
I was extraordinarily pleased to come across O Morto do Pântono, because I love the all the permutations of Hillman’s The Heap. O Morto is another very entertaining, unique offshoot from the Heap’s fecund trunk. There’s a charm to the stories, and Colonnese’s art is stunning. Hopefully, and perhaps this article will help, the character will get more of the exposure that it deserves. I would love to read the rest of O Morto’s stories.<br> <br>
O Morto appeared in twenty different stories, spread out over thirty-five years. Only seven appeared in the eponymous collection which was published by in 2005. I won’t include a list of the illustrations that appear in various magazines, although the Opera Graphica editors note a number them for their complete history of O Morto. All stories were illustrated by Colonnese. Stories in bold appear in the Opera Graphica collection.<br><br>
• <b>“Sou: O Morto do Pântano”, “I am The Dead Man of the Swamp” in <i>Mirza, Mulher Vampiro</i> #1, 1967. Script by Luis Quevedo</b><br>
•“Orquídea Vermelha… Cor do Sangue” “Red Orchid… the Color of Blood” <i>Mirza, Mulher Vampiro</i> #2 1967. Script by Luis Quevedo<br>
•“Prisão Macabra” Macabre Prison, in Mirza, Mulher Vampiro #4, 1967. Script by Luis Quevedo<br>
•“Capturem… O Morto do Pântano” “Capture… The Dead Man of the Swamp” in Mirza, Mulher Vampiro #5, 1967. Script by Luis Quevedo<br>
•<b> “Erva Maldita!” “Hellish Herb!” in Mirza, Mulher Vampiro #6, 1967. Script by Luis Quevedo</b> <br>
•<b> “Os Pernilogos!” “The Gnats” in Mirza, Mulher Vampiro #7, 1967. Script by Luis Quevedo</b><br>
•<b> “O Calhambeque Vermelho” “The Red Jalopy” in Mirza, Mulher Vampiro #8, 1967. Script by Luis Quevedo</b><br>
•“Sem Titulo” “Untitled” in Mirza, Mulher Vampiro #9, 1967. Script by Luis Quevedo<br>
•“Um Amigo!” “A Friend!” in Mirza, Mulher Vampiro #10, 1967. Script by Luis Quevedo<br>
•“O Peso do Ouro” The Weight of the Gold” O Vampiro # 13, 1974 (possibly a reprint from Mirza, Mulher Vampiro #11, but the editors at Opera Graphica weren’t able to lay hands on a copy). Script by Eugênio Colonnese<br>
•“De Volta ao Mundo do Terror!” “Back to the World of Terror) Spektro #23, 1981. Script by Basilio Almeida<br>
•“Sem Titulo“ “Untitled” in Mestres do Terror #1, 1982. Script by Décio Miranda Júnior<br>
•“O Crime Perfeito” “The Perfect Crime” in Mestres do Terror #2, 1982. Script by Eugênio Colonnese<br>
•<b> “A Pequena Silvia” “Little Sílvia” in Mestres do Terror #7, 1982. Script by Osvalo Talo</b><br>
•“Fuga Para o Amor we a Morte!” ‘Escape to Love and Death!” in Mestres do Terror #8, 1982. Script by Octacilio D’Assunção <br>
•“Noite de Luar… no Pântano!” “Night Moonlight… in the Swamp!” in Mestres do Terror #9, 1982. Script by Osvalo Talo<br>
•“Uma História de Amor!” “A Love Story!“ in Mestres do Terror #18, 1983. Script by Osvalo Talo<br>
•<b> “Corpos Sem Cabeças Não Falam…” “Bodies Without Heads Don’t Speak…” in Mestres do Terror #29, 1985. Script by Osvalo Talo</b><br>
•<b> “Mau Cheiro” “Bad Smell” in Mestres do Terror #36, 1986. Script by Osvalo Talo and Reinaldo do Oliveira</b><br>
•“A Noite dos Seqüestradores” “The Night 0f the Kidnappers” Mirza, A Vampira, 2002. Script by Franco de Rosa<br>
John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-83292234167003227682016-08-28T10:40:00.000-04:002017-11-24T17:08:39.436-05:00The Classic: Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson's Swamp ThingSometimes I wonder what was in the air, or perhaps the water in 1971. Three swamp creature crawled their way into comics in a single year. <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/05/its-goopy-and-thoroughly-disgusting.html">Skywald’s Heap</a> was the first, published in March, <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Man-Thing">Marvel’s Man-Thing</a> followed in May, and DC’s Swamp Thing followed in July. Accusations of copying have flown ever since, both professionally and in the respective fan communities. But that’s not a knot I'm prepared to detangle. Looking past the similarities of the swamp monsters allows us to perceive their great differences. As a character-driven media, comics depend very heavily on the character for the type and style of story that can be told. Swamp monsters are not, generally, interchangeable. One of Steve Gerber’s Man-Thing stories would not work if the Man-Thing was swapped out for the Swamp Thing, or even the Skywald Heap.<br><br>
Bias alert here, <i>Swamp Thing</i> was the comic that got me into comics, and for a long time, kept me buying. Like a lot of kids, I got a big stack of hand-me-down comics at a young age, including <i>Swamp Thing</i> issues 9 and 10. They were unlike anything I had ever read anywhere else, and still have a special place in my heart. They had such an effect on me that the second volume of <i>Swamp Thing</i>, starting in 1982, was the first comic series I followed regularly. I stopped at issue #10, and then returned four years later with <i>Swamp Thing</i> 48. Swamp Thing and I have history.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0101.jpg" width="775" alt="House of Secrets 92, by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson"><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0102.jpg" width="300" align="right" alt="House of Secrets 92, by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson"><br>
Swamp Thing’s initial story appeared in <i>House of Secrets</i> #92, cover date July, 1971, a collaboration between Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. A one-shot Victorian Gothic tale of Alex Olsen, who is murdered and left to die in the swamp. He returns to find the murderer making the moves on his wife. Smashing through a window, he murders the man who murdered him. However, he cannot reconcile with his wife, she cannot recognize him in his new mucky form. He then returns to the swamp, forever. Len Wein’s wordsmithing in this story is excellent and moody, and Bernie Wrightson’s art is magnificent. What makes keeps it from being yet another "back from the dead to take revenge on the murderer" story is the heartfelt love story that underlies it. The images from the story, with the red eyes and the outstreteched hand, the image of the Swamp Thing peering at the house where it once had a normal life, have become iconic. From this story sprang so much of the non-superhero comics of the nineties and the first decade of the two thousands, two films, a cartoon, a live-action TV series, and more than four hundred stories featuring the character. Although the seminal partnership between Wein and Wrightson only lasted eleven stories, those classic stories have left an indelible mark on comics.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0103.jpg" width="350" align="left" alt="The Swamp Thing, by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson">
One year after <i>House of Secrets 92</i>, Wein and Wrightson brought the concept back, this time in a modern setting. They had been reluctant to do so, but were encouraged to do so by DC editor-in-chief Carmine Infanto, who had once been the illustrator for <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Heap">Hillman's Heap</a>. As the new <i>Swamp Thing</i> (#1 cover date November 1972) this was an ongoing series, the background is better fleshed out, and Alec Holland is a more fully realized character than Alex Olsen was. And the Hollands are working on a biorestorative formula, a catalyst added to the swamp to make the transformation of the protagonist into a grotesque more credible. Interestingly, between the <i>House of Secrets</i> story and the first issue of <i>Swamp Thing</i>, Len Wein wrote the second Man-Thing story for Marvel. The story was shelved when <i>Savage Tales</i> #2 was postponed, but brought back by Roy Thomas, and saw print in <i>Astonishing Tales</i>, in June, 1972.<br><br>
As a character, the Swamp Thing is very different from the Hillman Heap, and Man-Thing. Not only does the creature retain the intellect of Dr. Alec Holland, it also retains some ability to speak. This also separates it from the Skywald Heap, which could think, but wasn’t a scientist, and couldn’t speak. As the decades have passed, speech has gotten easier for the Swamp Thing, but in the initial Wein and Wrightson stage, it’s pretty limited. Instead of being shaggy, as Man-Thing and the Hillman Heap are, the Swamp Thing is mossy, its surface (skin?) is smooth, although shot through with roots. It has the shape of a larger, more muscular man than Alec Holland was, as opposed to the shapeless goopiness of the Skywald Heap. Being able to reason and even sometimes speak allows the character a more active role in its stories. It need not be reactive, but can interpret what it sees without the need of an intermediary. Despite this, the Swamp Thing manages to get a supporting cast of humans, allowing for some complex stories told from different points of view.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0104.jpg" align="right" width="450" alt="Swamp Thing #3, by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson">
The Swamp Thing’s background cast is filled out with two people initially. Matt Cable was assigned to protect Alec Holland and now chases the Swamp Thing here and there across the globe. Cable is a bit generic, a down-on-his-luck government agent who hunts the monster that has ruined (in his opinion) his career. While on a trip to the Balkans, he picks up Abby Arcane, niece of recurring villain Anton Arcane. The two make a good team, although Abigail doesn’t have a lot of agency. They duo becomes a trio with Jefferson Bolt, a black man who was being held by the worms in issue eleven. Wein doesn't develop Bolt all that much, really only having two issues to do so. Bolt seems like he is there to provide conflict, or at least a different perspective that Abbey is unable to provide. The two (and then three) often provide a more human counterpoint to the Swamp Thing's stories, although occasionally (Issue 5 "Last of the Ravenwind Witches", and issue 10 "The Man Who Would Not Die") they don't show up at all. The supporting cast allowed Wein and Wrightson to approach stories from different perspectives. Issue 9, "The Stalker From Beyond" is an excellent example, switching perspective from Cable and the Abbey back to the Swamp Thing, moving the story forward through each character's perspective.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0105.jpg" width="350" align="right" alt="Swamp Thing #5 the legendary werewolf, by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson"><br>
The initial story of Swamp Thing is strangely unlike like the rest of the book. It’s a modern revenge thriller, an expansion of the original story. Later stories are almost entirely Gothic. Sorcerers dreaming of immortality, werewolves, New England witches, creepy robot human replacements, a Lovecraftian horror down a mine shaft, and an alien all populate the pages. Only issues 1 “Dark Genesis” and 7 “Night of the Bat" are without supernatural of science-fiction trappings. Wein crammed a lot of story into the twenty-four pages, and while they are nods of homages to films like <i>Freaks</i>, <i>The Wolf Man</i>, and <i>Frankenstein</i>, they are not imitative. The werewolf story happens on the moors of Scotland, the alien story takes place in the swamps of Louisiana, giving each a unique setting and flavor. The book fell into a "monster of the week" format almost by default. Multi-issue story arcs were not the norm in the seventies, so this could be viewed as an extended horror anthology series, like <i>House of Secrets</i>, but sharing a protagonist. The stories often present a familiar trope, but they are always given a unique twist. And this is Wein's genius, and half the reason these stories have held up.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0106.jpg" width="250" align="left" alt="Swamp Thing #7 Swamp Thing vs the Batman, by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson"><br>
Swamp Thing interacts with the rest of the DC Universe only once during Wein and Wrightson’s time on the book. Swamp Thing comes to Gotham City, the home of Batman. The Batman concept is flexible enough that it doesn't break the Gothic horror atmosphere that Wein and Wrightson carefully cultivated. The story itself stretches the concept of the Swamp Thing himself. For the first time, he is in a city. And the plot is again not a horror one, but an investigation, but starring Batman and the Swamp Thing conducting parallel lines of inquiry, arriving at he same conclusion at the same time. It works as both a Batman mystery and a Swamp Thing horror story, and sets in motion an association between the Batman and Swamp Thing that would be fruitful for years to come.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0109.jpg" width="325" align="right" alt="Hello, old enemy. Anton Arcane, back from the dead the first time in Swamp Thing #10, by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson"><br>
Issue 10 also deserves some special mention, since it’s the only issue with Wrightson as the plotter. It's a ghost story, as well as the return of Anton Arcane, who becomes the Swamp Thing's longest-lasting recurrine villain. His appearance here is quite memorable for its pure grotesqueness. Wrightson says the climax came from Ray Bradbury’s “The Handler” (adapted in <i>Tales from the Crypt</i> 36) and the parallel is easy to see. The image with the tombstones is very close to the <i>Tales of the Crypt</i> story. The story itself is radically different from the original Bradbury. It's a wonderfully dark story, and for once, the Swamp Thing is more a passive observer of the action rather than a participant. It’s a wonderfully dark story, very well told, and remains a personal favorite of mine. One point about "The Man Who Would Not Die" which I have never seen addressed, is the change of the old woman’s name from “Auntie De Luvian” to Auntie Bellum” in virtually every reprint I’ve seen. I’ve always wondered why tiny touch has been changed in the reprints. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0107.jpg" width="200" align="left" alt="The original Auntie De Luvian from Swamp Thing #10, by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson"><img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0108.jpg" width="200" align="left" alt="Auntie Bellum, from the reprinted Swamp Thing #10, by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson"><br><br>
Although I have written mostly about Wein's writing, I have to note that Wrightson's art is the perfect match to Wein's storytelling. He often adds strange or disconcerting angles to his art which makes it more powerful. He also ads subtle layers to stories that are not in Wein's scripts. For example, there is a sequence in "The Stalker From Beyond", a stack of page-wide panels in which the army squad is setting up camp. From the apparent chaos of the first panel, the men have resolved themselves into their respective sides concerning the fate of the alien. Those that want to kill it stand to the right, those that do not stand at the left. It’s a very subtle piece of art, but one that ads texture to the story. When Nestor Redondo took over the art chores with issue eleven, this layer of artistic nuance was lost. Which is not to say that Redondo was a bad artist. He isn't. He's an exceptional artist. But he was more of a superhero artist, so his choices of point of view tended to be more conventional. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0110.jpg" width="350" align="right" alt="Swamp Thing #11 The Conqueror Worms, by Len Wein and Nestor Redondo">
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/muck/ST0112.jpg" width="200" align="left" alt="Swamp Thing #13 Len Wein's farewell to the series, by Len Wein and Nestor Redondo">
Wein wrote another three issues with artist Nestor Redondo made the comic his, and gave us very strong art. Unfortunately, virtually anything would have seemed pale after the masterwork Wrightson did. That said, Redondo's art is sharp and very well defined, although not as detailed or chaiscuro as Wrightson. Len Wein’s stories remained solid, addressing more novel concepts such as alien worms that wanted to keep humanity for food stock, time travel, allowing some wonderful illustrations of strange worms, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and lions from the Roman arena. But the stories were pitched and broken differently. They were were no longer a collaboration, but fully scripted by Wein before being sent to Redondo. So they have a different feel. They're still good, but they lack the sense of the Gothic and the grotesque that was present in first ten issues. The only thing I can say is that they feel more like a standard comic-book. A little more 'gonzo' and a bit less personal. They're still worth reading, but it seems clear that Wein was winding down his time on the book. As a lovely farewell, Wein ended the series with the same line that ended the short story: “... And if tears could come, they would.”<br><br>
More than Man-Thing, which in its heyday was Steve Gerber's personal pulpit, the Wein and Wrightson Swamp Thing is foundational in the development of modern comics. Both of these comics sold well, outstripping popular superhero comics of their day. But Man-Thing doesn't seem to have acquired another writer who understood how to write compelling stories for the character, and Man-Thing has not managed to recapture its popularity under Gerber. Swamp Thing, on the other hand, managed to attract other authors and artists who would re-create the character, changing it from a simple "mucky human" into something larger and even more unique. Swamp Thing would eventually become the springboard from which DC Comics launched Vertigo, its successful line of horror comics in the early nineties. Swamp Thing is and remains a reminder that comics are not the exclusive domain of superheroes, that horror comics have and continue to be viable titles that, when well-written, sell well.<br><br>
I hope I haven’t simply sung the praises of the Wein/Wrightson issues of <i>Swamp Thing</i>, but given the reader an idea of why I consider these to be some of the best comics ever produced. When it was going strong, <i>Swamp Thing</i> was one of DC Comics’ best sellers, and the stories have been endlessly reprinted. While the character has changed, especially after Alan Moore’s reinterpretation of the character in the eighties, these stories continue to be the firm foundation on which this extraordinarily popular character is based. The moody, beautiful art of Bernie Wrightson (and later, Nestor Redondo) combines with the carefully-chosen words of Len Wein to create a modern masterpiece, a book that i have read and re-read many times since I discovered it more than thirty-five years ago.<br><br>
John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-30873150612567539142016-07-29T10:43:00.000-04:002018-07-07T22:54:05.924-04:00Giallo Meets Kaiju: CozzillaLuigi Cozzi, an Italian film maker, wanted to bring <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/06/giant-monsater-fix-godzilla.html"><i>Godzilla</i></a> to Italian theaters in 1977. Seeing the success of the <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/04/its-not-all-glory-being-king-1976-king.html">1976, version of <i>King Kong</i></a>, Cozzi pursued a re-release of <i>Godzilla</i>. Unable to secure the original Toho film, he did manage to get the rights to the American edit, <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-palimpsest-godzilla-king-of-monsters.html"><i>Godzilla, King of the Monsters</i></a>. Told that theaters would be wary of a black and white film, he hired Armando Valcauda to convert the film from black and white to color. In three weeks. He also added 70's era electronic music and stock footage increase the run time. The result is a a film based on the American edit of the original Japanese, with the English dubbing redubbed into Italian, and bearing the indelible stamp of Luigi Cozzi.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Cozz1.jpg" width="774" alt="Luigi Cozzi's Godzilla in all its weird sherbet glory"><br><br>
The shots of this film will be watery and grainy. Like <i><a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/11/more-than-kind-of-weird-attack-of-giant.html">Attack of the Giant Moussaka</a></i>, it has never been released on home media in America. In fact, I don't believe it has been released on home media anywhere in the world. The copy I was able to find on Youtube is just ninety minutes, apparently because it was taped from a cut-down version broadcast on Italian television. Watching it brings back all those memories of the fragility of videotape. Of course the destruction of Tokyo is the most watched part, and therefore the part that cuts out the most. It's strange to me that this version is only available in such bad shape. Even <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/06/for-love-of-god-stop-crying-pulgasari.html"><i>Pulgasari</i></a> is available in better condition.<br><br>
<b>Update</b>: Geno Cuddy has restored the original elements of <i>Cozilla</i>, and if you look on the web, you should be able to find it. Cuddy has done an good job of cleaning the film up, the picture quality is much sharper than the watery Youtube version I originally took the screenshots from. Five years ago, I didn't think there would ever be a version of this film available, so hats off to Mr. Cuddy for doing an excellent job. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Cozz4.jpg" width="774" alt="Man, I want some ice cream now."><br><br>
<i>Cozzilla</i> opens with scenes of daily life in Tokyo. People walking, going about their daily lives. There's even some footage of people using a bridge that Godzilla will later destroy. And then there is footage of a nuclear detonation. The effect is quite shocking, especially afterwards when we are shown images of charred bodies from the nuclear attacks. Cozzi's film differs from the Raymond Burr version primarily in its use of stock footage. So there are inserts here and there, usually clustered around the action scenes. I believe, and it's difficult to be sure because of the quality of the reproduction, that there's at least one shot of a person being hit with a flamethrower during Godzilla's rampage in Tokyo. There's even a small bit taken from <i><a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/06/year-of-monsters-godzilla-raids-again.html">Godzilla Raids Again</a></i>. The stock footage leads to the occasional absurdity, such as watching propellers rev up and then seeing jets on the attack. It also cuts directly across the anti-military stance of the Ishiro Honda's original film. When Godzilla is being killed by the Oxygen Destroyer, it surfaces. Then we are given stock images of battleships blasting their guns, implying that they are assisting with the death of Godzilla.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Cozz3.jpg" width="774" alt="And we helped!."><br><br>
The stock footage used in the aftermath of the attack is particularly jarring. As Ifukube's beautiful hymn of peace soars, we get stock footage of charred bodies, corpses floating in the tide. This strips away the fantasy aspect of the film. We are looking at images of the dead, who were not killed by the metaphorical and nonexistent Godzilla, but by wars, bombs, and fire. What's the point of Godzilla as metaphor if the film will break through that metaphor and shows us the ugly reality behind it? Especially as the film revels in virtually every other aspect of militarism, with added planes, more explosions, more gunfire. Some things, I feel, are best left suggested in film, and if these added scenes had been actors in makeup, I would be less creeped out. But all that was added was stock footage. These are real people. And that makes it very difficult for me to watch this part of the film. <br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Cozz2.jpg" width="774" alt="OK, that's a bit much."><br><br>
One thing that this version of the film does make very clear is how streamlined the original <i>Godzilla</i> is. There's little fat on the film, everything is there for a purpose, and serves it well. It is well paced. Terry Morse's re-edit of the film is a bit looser, making room for another character who is there to explain what happens on the screen. <i>Cozzilla</i> lacks Moore's more deft touch, partially because of the time and money constraints. But the footage added to <i>Cozzilla</i> often feels forced. Dr. Serizawa's descent to confront Godzilla at the end of the film is interrupted by a shark and an octopus fighting, the footage coming from <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/07/my-year-of-monsters-beast.html"><i>Beast From 20,000 Fathoms</i></a>. Which doesn't add anything but motion. It's not even action.<br><br>
<i>Cozzilla</i> is a product of a specific time and place, and a reflection of its creator, Luigi Cozzi. The seventies were a time of experimentation, and even established franchises like Godzilla, underwent transformations. Overall, it reminds me of <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/02/avant-garde-or-just-crap-godzilla-vs.html"><i>Godzilla vs Hedorah</i></a>, as an radical departure from conventional film making. I find it rather busy, especially in the foley department. During the attacks on Godzilla especially, the sheer chaos of the added bombs, machine-gun fire, and swooping airplane noises. <i>Cozzilla</i> was popular in Italy, and was definitely influenced by the <i>giallo</i> school of film-making. It's a little too lurid for me, but I can see that I'm becoming conservative in my taste in kaiju film: gore practiced with restraint, orchestral score.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/Cozz5.jpg" width="774" alt="It's kind of psychadelic, man."><br><br>
Ultimately, <i>Cozzilla</i> is a chore for me to watch. The narrative of the original film has been stretched and torn by two edits. There's an unfortunate amount of dramatic dead space, and the addition of authentic dead bodies gives me the creeps. It's a strange film, from a very different aesthetic than I'm used to in kaiju. <i>Cozzilla</i> is very much a product of its own time and space, as well as its creator, Luigi Cozzi. You can view the watery, multi-generation copy on on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1qRxEY0USQ">Youtube</a>.John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2407201958962893080.post-59210338537285145712016-07-12T08:16:00.000-04:002017-10-15T17:17:32.697-04:00The Palimpsest: Godzilla King of the Monsters <i>Shin Godzilla</i> will be coming out on the 29<sup>th</sup>. And I thought it was time to return to My Year of Monsters.<br><br>
I didn't write up the Terry Morse edit of <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/06/giant-monsater-fix-godzilla.html"><i>Godzilla</i></a> because I had the feeling it was beneath my notice. Just a bastardization of a classic I love. Raymond Burr as Steve Martin inserted into the already-existing film. Many people refer to it as the insulting, butchered, heavy-handed attempt to dumb down a movie to the point where it's easily digestible for American audiences. As if someone let Michael Bay add sequences to an Akira Kurosawa film. But again, David Kalat provides some much-needed perspective. Dubbing was the only way that a Japanese film was going to get any sort of audience in America in 1956. The film industry hadn't been around that long, and American audiences weren't prepared for something as complex as reading words and listening to the the intonation of the delivery in a different language. It's a developed skill. So dubbing a foreign film into English was in fact a huge act of faith by the distributor, since few films had been dubbed from Japanese, a nation that only eleven years before the US had been at war with. Acquiring the film only cost $2,500. The redub and reshoot cost $200,000. <br><br>
That said, there is nothing as indicative of what this film is as the Transworld Pictures logo places over the Toho starburst. the lower part of the screen is blacked out so the Japanese characters aren't visible.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/GKM01.jpg" width="775" alt="Godzilla: King of the Monsters: A Palimpsest Of the Film By Ishiro Honda"><br><br>
Very notable is the movement of the destruction of Tokyo to the very beginning of the film. Rather than build the tension in a documentary fashion, as the original did, King of the Monsters shows us the stakes right off. Tokyo has been devastated, and the majority of the film is flashback, narrated by Steve Martin (Burr). The new dub also makes a point of saying that the menace, not yet identified as Godzilla, is a global concern.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/G54-9.jpg" width="775" alt="yes I'm cheating by using pictures I've already used before."><br><br>
The impression that the anti-nuclear testing theme of the story has been completely removed is, under close scrutiny, incorrect. Dr. Yamane says "It is my belief that Godzilla was resurrected due to the repeated experiments of H-bombs." The shot of the little boy being scanned with a scintillation counter remains. The end doesn't bring up the dangers of nuclear testing again. So the topic is mentioned, but not emphasized.<br><br>
Morse's insert shots aren't bad. Anyone who has seen the original several times can tell where most of the new scenes are, but they are not glaringly obvious. Thanks to back shots and dubbing, it's possible for Martin to interact with Emiko Yamane, the protagonist of the Japanese film. Even Dr. Yamane, briefly. Several times, Morse uses the sound of the Japanese film to link the transition from original footage to new, which works well. Additionally, Ishiro Honda's documentary style was a good canvas on which to overlay Burr's explanatory voice over.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/GKM02.jpg" width="775" alt="Steve Martin, our narrator."><br><br>
In an interesting mix of dubbing and inserts. Only the main characters are dubbed, Emiko, Professor Yamane, Serizawa. Virtually everything else is untranslated. Other scenes of untranslated Japanese are used, and then Martin's Japanese translator, Tomo Iwanaga, who will sometimes translate an ongoing scene. Poor Tomo apparently dies in Godzilla's attack in Tokyo, and is not mentioned or mourned. Fortunately, the scenes of Godzilla destroying Tokyo are primarily wordless, so these need virtually no treatment or adaptation. Dubbing, as a process is complex and more removed from the original than subtitling, for example. The speech has to be in a language with different rules of grammar, and yet the length of the line must match the amount of time the actor's lips move. <i>Godzilla: King of the Monsters</i> has mediocre dubbing at best, and there are some egregious parts, such as when Professor Yamane's dub actor, Sammee Tong, apparently could not pronounce “phenomenon” properly.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/GKM03.jpg" width="775" alt="Our Heroic Translator."><br><br>
Martin plays a part that is later echoed in many Godzilla films, that of the reporter. Beginning with Goro in <a herf="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/05/breaking-monster-mold-hard-mothra.html"><i>Mothra</i></a>, the reporter, the professional seeking truth, becomes a standard character of Godzilla films and the genre generally.<br><br>
Another change is the reputed height of Godzilla. Here, Martin reports that he is four hundred feet tall, a height not even achieved by the massive <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/09/leave-them-wanting-more-godzilla-2014.html">Legendary Godzilla</a>, or even <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/search/label/Godzilla%20Resurgence">Shin Godzlla</a>. Whether this was done to impress American audiences, or because everything in America is bigger, or just to sound cool for the trailer, I don't know. None of the footage has changed, so Godzilla doesn't look four hundred feet tall. Likewise, the electrical wires that are set up now carry three hundred thousand volts, rather than fifty thousand.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/GKM04.jpg" width="775" alt="Big. Not 400 feet big, bit still sizeable."><br><br>
David Kalat writes that Steve Martin's narrative during the destruction of Tokyo improves the tension of the scene, and this is one of the few times that I disagree with him. In horror, a select few writers who will only show what is happening without commenting on it. Many feel it necessary to tell us how terrible the thing the audience is being shown is. Honda's original scene is presented without commentary, without feeling the need to tell the audience how bad the destruction is. It trusts the viewer to make that conclusion. And we do. The sequence is filmed so well that it presents something of a platonic ideal of city-wide destruction. In later years this sequence would come to symbolize utter destruction. Martin's commentary is therefore gilding the lily, telling us how to feel about things that already sufficiently conveyed on screen.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/GKM05.jpg" width="775" alt="Steve tells us all about it."><br><br>
The part that probably inspired the character of Steve Martin, the radio reporter speaking as Godzilla approaches, is left intact. Further, Terry Morse left in one of the most powerful scenes, that of a woman hugging her children to her amid a shower of sparks. The impact is somewhat blunted, because we do not know what she is saying to them.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/GKM06.jpg" width="775" alt="Will I get residuals for originating the character?"><br><br>
The film stops being a flashback sixty minutes into the eighty-two minute run time. To give Martin more plot significance, he is the one that convinces Emiko to tell Dr. Serizawa to use the Oxygen Destroyer to kill Godzilla. To do so requires a very on-the-nose back and forth between Emiko and Martin, in which Emmiko says she can stop the destruction, but she promised Dr. Serizawa she wouldn't tell. It's a clumsy piece of writing, glaring because the rest of the translation isn't bad.<br><br>
There's another subtle difference in Serizawa's attitude that s also very telling. Here, he doesn't want the Oxygen Destroyer to fall into the wrong hands. In the Japanese version, <i>any</i> hands are in the wrong ones. This represents, among other things, the difference in the experience of Japan and America during World War II.<br><br>
What's particularly strange about the ending is not that Dr. Yamane doesn't talk about the dangers of nuclear testing. But the rest of that removed speech conjured the possibility of a second Godzilla. <a hrf="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2013/06/year-of-monsters-godzilla-raids-again.html"><i>Godzilla Raids Again</i></a> had already been made when <i>Godzilla: King of the Monsters</i> appeared in the US. But film producers didn't often think of foreign franchises back then.<br><br>
<img src="http://www.qusoor.com/images/monsters/GKM07.jpg" width="775" alt="Big. Not 400 feet big, bit still sizeable."><br><br>
Whatever I think of the modification of <i>Godzilla, King of the Monsters</i>, Raymond Burr was proud to have played the character, and returned to play the same character again in the American version of <a href="http://flawediamonds.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-big-guys-back-return-of-godzilla.html"><i>The Return of Godzilla</i></a>. Ultimately, however, the film's greatest failing is the voice-over. Rather than trusting the audience to draw their own conclusion about what was happening on-screen, Martin spells everything out, at length, sometimes repeating himself. That said, without the dub, the markets would not have sprung up to watch Godzilla in subtitled form. We first caught dubbed versions of Godzilla films flipping through the move channels. Without <i>Godzilla, King of the Monsters</i>, Godzilla likely would not have caught on in America, as I think world culture would have been poorer for it. I likely won't watch it again for fun, since the unadulterated version is easily available to me, and I have no nostalgic memory of this version.<br><br>
Why suddenly write this? Because next up is the 1977 Luigi Cozzi Godzilla, which is derived from <i>Godzilla: King of the Monsters</i>. And it'll be impossible to understand one without understanding the other. John Goodrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04193512490180575763noreply@blogger.com0