Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
CLASSIC COMICS : Iron Man #193 "Godzilla's Return"
Writer: Denny O'Neil
Artist: Luke McDonnell, Ian Akin, Brian Garvey
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Release: 1985
Nearly six years after the closure of Marvel's Godzilla series, writer Denny O'Neil decides to revisit the character in what would become a controversial move among fans of the King of the Monsters. This book, Iron Man #193, sees the title character with some of the West Coast Avengers tackling Doctor Demonicus. The twisted geneticist, not fighting directly, utilizes the heavily mutated Godzilla to do his bidding and battle the heroes on a remote island. The other Avengers are powerless against the beast, forcing Iron Man to grapple with the monster and fly out to sea, where the comic ends on a cliff hanger.
This book represents the third story arc to include the Doctor Demonicus character. Originally in Godzilla #4, Demonicus sent Batragon and other genetic creations at Godzilla before being beaten back. His next appearance was in another licensed series by Marvel called Shogun Warriors, which was based on a Mattel line of toys (which, interestingly enough, featured Godzilla and Rodan even though neither appeared in the comic adaptation). The villain then slipped into obscurity for more than half a decade before reemerging in 1985. The timing for his reappearance should be obvious: with an upcoming US release of The Return of Godzilla (1984) under the Godzilla 1985 marquee, what better time to bring back one of Godzilla's old foes?
Demonicus is not alone, though. With him is a giant aquatic beast who has been bent to the doctor's will. To be clear, this creature is purposely, and conveniently, never named. Yet the allusions as to who it is are clear. Marvel no longer had the licensee to the Godzilla character, yet through some creative writing from O'Neil the identity of this beast are easily traceable.
This wouldn't be the first time the company flirted with licensed properties outside of their comic runs either. In the 1970's and 1980's, this type of practice was not uncommon. For example, characters from both the comic adaptations of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Transformers (Machine Man and Circuit Breaker respectively) have appeared in the main Marvel Comics continuity. Certainly Godzilla's own comic run from the company featured a plethora of Marvel heroes already, such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, so his induction into the continuity was already established.
Sidestepping the controversy, though, how does this comic fare? Well, it's pretty standard actually. There isn't much to the story to begin with, while the art isn't too impressive, although there are a few shots to the contrary of that statement. If not for the Demonicus/Godzilla angle, there would be little reason to even give the book a second glance, as it feels like a fairly run-of-the-mill and rudimentary entry in a long running series.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
CREATURE FEATURE : Irys
Irys (sometimes spelt Iris in the East) is the main antagonist Kaiju from the third & final film in the Heisei Gamera trilogy, Gamera 3: Revenge of Irys. Irys is Gamera's last and most powerful opponent he has ever faced.
Form and abilities
The baby Iris has an armored, mouth-less head with small black eyes, and several long tentacles which sprout from a snail-like shell. It can absorb the life force of organic matter by stabbing them with its tentacle spears, leaving decayed corpses in its wake. The Behind The Scenes feature on ADV Film's DVD shows it was realised on-screen by a remotely-operated puppet.
The adult Iris is basically a bipedal creature with two hooved legs and retractable sword-like arms, topped by a head that resembles a pointed seashell. Its back is a mass of saw-edged plates, and from its sides spring four tentacles hundreds of meters long. Each of these is tipped with a bony spearhead, from which Iris can fire a sonic beam similar to the Gyaos. Iris can still drain the life force from its victims, and in the case of Gamera it was able to absorb the monster's abilities and produce its own fireballs. Its chest region is also covered in glossy, bioluminescent patches. The center patch can suck things into its body. While Legion is the biggest monster Gamera has ever fought Irys is the most powerful.
Iris begins its life as a stone egg, sealed within a small underground temple in Nara village and guarded over by a family line named Moribe - local legend said it was the resting place of a demon called Ryu-Sei-Cho. (A character explains this name to be linked to Chinese mythology) A stone of unknown origin is said to keep the demon dormant as long as it's not moved.
A young girl named Ayana Hirasaka - left an orphan by the 1995 Gamera/Gyaos battle and blaming Gamera for her parent's deaths - entered the cave on a dare and moved the stone. In the process she and the latest son of the Mirobe line discover both the egg & an amulet, similar to the one that linked Asagi to Gamera in the first film. The egg later hatched, produced an infant Iris.
Ayana gains a link to the creature via the amulet and feels a kinship with the creature, stating at one point "Gamera killed its family too"; driven by total hatred for Gamera, she raises Iris (naming it after her dead pet cat) in hopes that it will become strong enough to kill him for her. It was shown to have an affectionate nature, but this is shown alongside the sinister way it eats and, later in the film, the woodland animals it leaves dead.
The Japanese Self Defense Forces quickly deploys and surrounds Iris as it sleeps, attempting to take it out with machine guns and bazookas. Some of the soldiers are killed before Iris takes to the sky and heads for Kyoto, where Ayana had been transferred earlier. The JSDF sends two F-15s in an attempt to shoot Iris down, but it is able to evade them and almost kills them. The fighter pilots are saved by the sudden arrival of Gamera, who engages Iris in a mid-air battle. The JSDF ends the battle by shooting at Gamera, which slows him down and allows Iris to continue on to Kyoto.
Infuriated, Iris pins Gamera's hand to a wall with its spear hand and begins to absorb Gamera's energy. Its tentacles begin to form plasma balls, when Gamera quickly uses a plasma ball himself to sever his own hand. Iris fires the absorbed plasma balls at Gamera who uses his stump to turn the plasma into a plasma fist. Gamera then uses the fist to slice through Iris' chest, killing it and ending its reign of terror.
Unconfirmed origins and motives
The origins of Iris are not explained, and instead the film presents Chinese mythology as explained by Ayana's adoptive brother, the beliefs of the Moribe clan matriach, the theories of government agent/misanthropic recluse Kurata Shinji and the actions of government agent & cultist Ms Asukara.
Grandmother Moribe states that the Ryu-Sei-Cho is a demonic creature that will destroy the world if it is ever released. In contrast, the mythology that the Ryu-Sei-Cho name comes from suggests that the being is the mythical "Guardian of the South", who will defend against a threat from the South; a tortoise (hinted to be Gamera) is said to be Guardian of the North and Ayana asks if the two Guardians are rivals (this was unconfirmed).
Asukara, who (at the start of the Kyoto battle) Kurata refers to as a former shrine priestess and hints her bloodline goes back to the Atlanteans, believes Iris to be a savior against the "evil spirit" Gamera who threatens to destroy Heaven and Earth. With Kurata's help, she has Ayana moved from hospital to Kyoto, where she's built a shrine and where she attempts to use Ayana & her amulet to deliberately draw Iris to Kyoto. She later seizes the amulet for herself to join with Iris against Gamera (calling it "the God Naibo") and the amulet does appear to react, but no serious connection is made and she was killed in the process.
Kurata's belief is that Iris was designed by "the ancients" (Atlanteans), as Gamera and Gyaos was, but with the specific intention to stop Gamera from saving humanity from the Gyaos - "there could be a worse future for Earth than our extinction" and Iris was created to stop that future. He theories it will permanently merge with Ayana to gain power, similar to how Gamera bonded with Asagi but to a greater degree so it can overpower the guardian. Here, Iris is basically out to ensure extinction of mankind (something he openly likes the sound of).
Kurata's belief fits in with what is shown of Iris and its actions: it is specifically awoken by the Gamera-hating Ayana, who lifts a stone it is stated a sumo wrestler couldn't move; like Gamera, it has an Atlantean amulet that links it to a human (effectively making it the anti-Gamera); through Asukara, said to be an Atlantean descendant, it is shown there is a long-running religious belief that Iris will protect Earth from destruction by Gamera; and after it is destroyed and Gamera is wounded, Gyaos flock towards Japan as if they know it's left them an opening.
It is also shown that Ayana's hatred and malice drives Iris, and it was her influence that caused it to massacre her village & adoptive family and seemingly her influence that causes it to attack Gamera. This could mean Iris' development was warped by contact with Ayana and it would not have been hostile otherwise, or simply that the creature was designed to be awoken by and to seek out individuals with such hostility in them.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Godzilla 2014 Set To Film In Hawaii
Godzilla 2014 is set to film on Oahu and Kauai in Hawaii for one month each, totaling two months of shooting on the island, PBN reports. Quite a different environment from the most recent Nanaimo filming location in British Columbia. It's possible this filming location could be used to mirror the scenes from the classic 1954 original, Gojira, where a group of reporters find Godzilla on Odo Island. Since Godzilla 2014 is primarily based on the TOHO original, this is the most likely assumption.
Godzilla isn't the only big-budget film to be shooting on the tropical island, Jurassic Park 4 is also set to start filming there this July as well as in Louisiana. Two massive films set to be released a month apart from each other next summer. 2014 is certainly rearing up to be quite the year for movies.
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| Godzilla's path of destruction. |
J.J Abrams Says Godzilla & Pacific Rim Could Inspire A Cloverfield Sequel
From Scified.com
It would seem the recent developments of Gareth Edwards Godzilla (2014) and Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim movie could very well inspire J.J Abrams to pursue a Cloverfield movie sequel.
In a recent interview with PlayBoy, J.J Abrams had this to say about the possibility of a Cloverfield 2 and Godzilla / Pacific Rim:
"Part of me just wants to let [Cloverfield 2] go, though we've had a couple of discussions about cool ways to do it.Godzilla fans have been pondering the possibility of a Godzilla vs. Cloverfield movie, let alone a sequel to 2008's Cloverfield ever since the film came out. Whether Godzilla would be an influence in the film or not is still just fan speculation - and personally I doubt Toho would agree to feature the creature in a Godzilla vs. film. However, the possibility of a Cloverfield sequel on its own could be something of interest.
I'm looking forward to seeing Pacific Rim this summer. It feels like there are some really big monsters coming down the pike that could inspire something we do."
What do you think of a possible Cloverfield 2 movie? Do you think Godzilla 2014 and Pacific Rim will influence more filmmakers to enter the genre and make more giant monster movies? Let us know by commenting below!
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Pacific Rim Website Updated
The Pacific Rim Movie viral website for the Pan Pacific Defense Corps. (PPDC) has officially been updated! After you get past the generous loading screen, you are met with a barrage of creepy sound effects from the Pacific Rim trailer including Jaeger parts being clanked together, and Kaiju roars - It's awesome.
The new website showcases 4 navigational areas, 3 of which are currently locked with the enticing tag reading Coming Soon. The categories are as follows:
JOIN PPDC which is currently open, CRISIS MAP which resembles the previous PPDC website's homepage, being an interactive map of the Earth, highlighting areas of interest and Kaiju activity. The next two categories are TRAINING ACADEMY and SHATTERDOME, both of which are currently locked.
The new website showcases 4 navigational areas, 3 of which are currently locked with the enticing tag reading Coming Soon. The categories are as follows:
JOIN PPDC which is currently open, CRISIS MAP which resembles the previous PPDC website's homepage, being an interactive map of the Earth, highlighting areas of interest and Kaiju activity. The next two categories are TRAINING ACADEMY and SHATTERDOME, both of which are currently locked.
DAVID GOYER CONFIRMS 2 OTHER MONSTERS FOR GODZILLA 2014
It's been previously rumored that the new Gareth Edwards Godzilla movie featured three monsters, and now we get confirmation from David Goyer who helped out with the script.
In addition to Godzilla, David Goyer says, at a QnA over at Reddit, that while he was working on the movie, there were at least two other monsters featured.
Of course, things could have changed as Goyer notes that since he worked on Godzilla, a bunch of other writers have come after.
Re: Godzilla, I only did 4 weeks on it and there've been a ton of other writers that came after me. But I believe there will be other monsters, yes. There were at least 2 others when I was mucking about with it.
Gareth Edwards is currently filming Godzilla in Vancouver where we have already seen a plethora of set video and images.
We've seen the military involved as well as what appears to be nuclear missiles and devastation, though if Goyer's comments hold true, we don't know if they are from Godzilla or one of the other monsters.
Diamond's Previews Godzilla Releases
Besides the previously mentioned X-Plus releases are a few more vinyl figures, t-shirts and comics.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
CLASSIC COMICS : Godzilla Color Special
Cover: Arthur Adams
Writer: Arthur Adams, Randy Stradley
Artist: Arthur Adams
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release: 1992
Arguably the greatest English Godzilla comic published to date, and possibly just the greatest in general. When the Godzilla Color Special was first printed back in 1992, color in Dark Horse Comics was a rare occasion. This issue proves, though, how much better Godzilla comics are when presented in full color. Arthur Adams is, without a doubt, the best artist ever attached to the Godzilla franchise in the West, and this comic showcases some of his best work on the character. The cover alone is an excellent shot of Godzilla, but the back, displaying Godzilla fighting Gekido-Jin with G-Force centered at the bottom, is simply breathtaking. The dialogue and captions are a little cheesy at times, but the story is pretty solid. The publication's plot sees an oni, by the name of Gekido-Jin, awaken after a man named Kogenta sacrifices himself to allow the creature to break free from its stony state and fight Godzilla. Many describe Gekido-Jin as a Daimajin clone, and while this may have been the intention, the character makes for a very different foe for the King of the Monsters than what we have seen in the past. As for the battles in the book, they are well structured. Adams has a gift for being able to capture action sequences in his panels, and this talent comes through full force in this book for the battle between the two monsters.
As a closing side remark, it's interesting to note that the G-Force featured in this book actually predates the use of the name in the movies, which started in 1993 with Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II. In fact, Toho seemed to take a lot of notice toward this comic in particular, even placing one of Adams' images, of Godzilla emerging from the water, on the front cover of the script for Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995).
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