Chadzilla ROARS!!! (The Official Blog of Chadwick H. Saxelid, Writer)

Godzilla: Legends #2

Lifespan:

"The egg is the most valuable specimen to be discovered in decades."

Okinawa, 2007...

Lance Corporal Graves returns to Camp Schwab with a rather unique, and unwelcome, souvenir...  An egg taken from the nest of the monster Rodan.  The angry mother comes looking for the stolen egg, of course, and catastrophic disaster ensues.

But Dr. Holder, a scientist working at Camp Schwab, manages to hide the egg from the attacking mother and keep it for further study.

Okinawa, 2011...

Dr. Holder has kept the egg hidden from Rodan for four years.  During that time he has become dangerously obsessed with it.  Holder's obsession has so unbalanced him that he abusively neglects his obviously troubled son, Ethan, and lashes out at anyone he perceives as threatening the egg.

When the government orders that the egg be destroyed, Ethan offers to help his father "hide" and "protect" the egg.  But what Ethan really wants to do is to take the egg to school, so the monster Rodan can deal with the bullies that are making the boy's life hell.

Wait just a minute.  Did writer Jon Vankin put too much Mothra in his Rodan story?  Or maybe it was too much Gamera that was put in.  That would ironic, though, since the giant turtle doesn't even belong inside of Toho Studios stable of classic giant monsters.

Granted, it has been a long time since I have seen either (original) film, but I do seem to recall that it was Mothra who was the warm and fuzzy maternal type, not Rodan.  I do remember that Rodan and his mate got a surprisingly touching death scene at the end of the very first film.  Rather than survive alone, the "monster" Rodan chose to die with its mortally wounded mate inside of an erupting volcano.  So I guess the monster Rodan has a rather romantic and caring side, too.

I am still guessing, because there is nothing in this Rodan centered one-shot that makes any kind of sense whatsoever.  Why the four year jump between the prologue and the main story?  What has Dr. Holder been researching and why has he become so obsessed with Rodan's egg?  Both are unexplained to the point of being flat out ignored.  Holder's just an explosive nutcase with an egg.

Ethan's side of the story is the typical bullied teen seeks revenge on his tormentor's tale.  Instead of bringing a gun to school to shoot the bullies, Ethan lures a giant monster in to either crush them or eat his bullies.  It's kind of vague as to what Rodan does to Ethan's tormentors, but it is unlikely that they survived to graduate from High School.  

This entire one-shot is vague and confused.  Why Ethan suddenly develops an emotional bond with the attacking Rodan makes no sense.  Rodan deciding to carry Ethan away makes no sense, unless Ethan is going to be fed to the new born Rodan.  The fallen Dr. Holder's heartbroken mourning at the "loss" of his son makes no sense.  Nothing in Lifespan made sense.  It was the most baffling and nonsensical story I have read in quite some time.

Movie News: Rejected Godzilla design

Whether or not the new American produced Godzilla movie will even get made (and released) remains to be seen.  From moment one I have been of the "I will believe it only when I am sitting in a theater and actually watching it" frame of mind.

Anyway, a family emergency has prevented me from writing a review for you today (there might be one of Friday, or there might not be one, the emergency situation is ongoing and ever changing at the moment) so I decided to share this rejected design art for the film, courtesy of an article that was posted on Dread Central:

Godzilla: Legends #1

The Underdog:

"Ever since his first recorded appearance, when he was defeated by [Godzilla], Anguirus has lost every single battle with another monster that we have on record."

When Destroyah attacks (Tokyo, I think) the military is eager to try a scientist's new "Dog Whistle".  During a sound frequency experiment meant to attract whales, Dr. Brian Anders discovered a sound frequency that would attract Godzilla.  Unfortunately Godzilla's arrival resulted in catastrophic destruction and the loss of all of Anders' research material.  So the scientist is doubtful that his rebuilt Kaiju "Dog Whistle" will even work.  But desperate times call for desperate measures and a sound frequency is broadcast.

The monster that shows up to fight Destroyah is not Godzilla, though.  It is Anguirus.

Although I have seen every single Godzilla film I-don't-know-how-many-times, it wasn't until I read this humorous one shot that I realized that Anguirus has not won a single one-on-one fight.  He's always been defeated, or he has had his good buddy Godzilla (at some point after the events of Godzilla Raids Again the two became friends) acting as back-up.

In this story Anguirus has to go snout to claw with Destroyah, the second most powerful Kaiju of them all.  The most powerful Kaiju being Kaiju Alpha itself (which would be Godzilla, of course).  The fight is what you would expect, Destroyah easily hands Anguirus its very own backside over and over.  The battle is so clearly one sided that Dr. Anders stoops to calling the tenacious Anguirus moronic.  How rude!

But KDF (Kaiju Defense Force) Major Samantha Tagger knows that Anguirus is no moronic monster.  The horned beast is actually a courageous underdog that refuses to backdown from a fight.  Hey, underdog is the title of the story!  Wow.  What a coincidence, eh?  So the Major decides to give Anguirus a little help with the fight against Destroyah.

The monsters and the city crumbling battle they wage are both lovingly rendered by artist Matt Frank and colorist Josh Perez.  More than a few of their panels look like they could be illustrations of, or storyboards for, an actual Toho Studio production.  In fact, both monsters look and behave as if they just wandered in off the set of whatever was their last Toho Studio appearance.  

This one shot, like the five issue story Gangsters & Goliaths, is a seamless fit with the canonical Toho Studio productions.  I cannot give of any higher praise than that.  Godzilla fans everywhere will be grinning ear-to-ear while reading these books.

Godzilla: Gangsters & Goliaths #1 - 5 (of 5)

Detective Makoto Sato's determination to take down Tokyo crime boss Ryota Takahashi has landed him at a very bad place: Monster Island.  But only after Takahashi has Sato framed for murdering his partner.  Takahashi's henchmen then take the Detective out to Monster Island so that Sato's dead body will never be found.  

But Sato manages to escape the henchmen and use the island's giant residents against them.

Injured and unconscious, Sato is found by the Keepers of the Elias and brought to a safe haven.  There Sato meets the Elias and learns that they are the keepers of Mothra.  Sato misunderstands the purpose of the Elias, though.  They, and Mothra, are tasked with bringing balance and harmony to that which is discordant.

Sato, furious at the injustice that he and the city is tasked with protecting, demands that the Elias and Mothra help him bring balance and harmony to Tokyo.  The Elias warn Sato that forcing Mothra to help him with his vendetta will only cause a greater discordance.  

Something that turns out to be more than a bit of an understatement.

Godzilla: Gangsters & Goliaths is not just a great Godzilla story, it's a great story, period.  Not only is each and every issue packed cover to cover with action and monsters, but it also has a terrific human story rooted in the character of Detective Makoto Sato.  Sato is a tough as nails bad ass cop in the style of Dirty Harry, and it his fight for justice that drives the monsters to and from Tokyo.  

Although it sounds a tad bit heavy handed, Godzilla and all the other monsters on Monster Island are really just externalizations of Sato's barely internalized rage at the crimes and injustices that Takahashi has committed against both Sato and the city of Tokyo.  Writer John Layman drives this point home with a flashback dialog exchange between Sato and Takahashi.  Sato calls Takahashi a monster, only to have Takahashi retort that he does not consider himself to be a mere monster.  Takahashi thinks of himself as daikaiju.  I could not ask for a sweeter "ironic in-joke" than that line.

The battle builds to a tense and exciting conclusion and the actual ending of the tale is both poignant and satisfying.  Gangsters & Goliaths is, hands down, the best Godzilla movie that Toho studios has never made.

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #4 -6

Godzilla and Anguirus clash in Los Angeles and reduce all of Southern California to corpse strewn rubble.  Battra climbs onto the Eiffel Tower in Paris and forms a cocoon around itself, entering into a pupal stage.  A giant spider bursts out of the Southern California soil.  Attempts to kill Anguirus (in the United States) and Rodan (over Germany) with poison gas only result in the loss of more human life.

But the "Think Tank" that President Oba... um, President Ogden has assigned to figure out a way to fight the giant monsters laying waste to the civilized world has created an ingenious and powerful new weapon...

MechaGodzilla.

Wow, writers Eric Powell and Tracy Marsh sure were in a bad mood when they wrote issues four, five and six.  In issue four they introduce disillusioned war veteran Steven Woods, a morose and angry man sickened by how the so-called "Greatest Generation" (i.e. the ones that worked so hard and sacrificed so much throughout the Great Depression and World War 2) has somehow given birth to a "culture of gluttonous, selfish, spoiled children" with horrible taste in entertainment.  In a previous issue the idiotic antics of Lady Gaga (renamed Girly Yaya for the comic) were caustically lampooned, in issue four the "Reality Series" Jersey Shore gets a brutal and much deserved comeuppance.  So does the vacuous "news" media, the childish "us versus them" intolerance of the Light/Right political discourse, and...

Wait a minute, did George A. Romero ghost write this comic book series?  Because making social commentary and/or satire an integral part of a genre entertainment is pretty much the sand box he created.  I'm not complaining, just pointing out the obvious.

Now that the relaunched Godzilla comic series well underway, it is clear that writers Eric Powell and Tracy Marsh are going the dark route.  This series isn't the child friendly Monster Island variant most Godzilla fans grew up watching on Saturday afternoon television.  This is the brooding and destructive Godzilla of the first two films.  The one that leveled metropolitan areas inhabited by thousands of men, woman, and children.  Tens of thousands back then, hundreds of thousands right now.

Kingdom of Monsters pulls no punches in showing just how quickly the society that has bred several generations of "gluttonous, selfish, spoiled children" would collapse.  It also does not hide the unpleasant truth that far too many of those "gluttonous, selfish, spoiled children" would be quick to sink into barbarity as the brutal reality of "Survival of the Fittest" (and not that "Social Darwinism" stupidity, either) begins to reassert itself.  Godzilla and company are not the only life threatening monsters in the story, as the "game" of peek-a-boo Sgt. Woods "plays" with Allie at the end of issue six shows with blood-chilling clarity.

There are some very dark and deadly days in store for humanity, it seems.

TV Stuff: Super Scary Saturday Intro to Godzilla's Revenge

TV Stuff: TNT's Monstervision Godzilla Marathon promo

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1 & 2

"The war... the economy... the oil spill... now this... YOU HAVE TO BE @%$#ING KIDDING ME!"

Godzilla pops out of the ocean and commences to stomp everything and anyone on Niijima Island unfortunate enough to be in his way.  The Japanese military mobilizes and, after its traditional weaponry prove to be ineffective against the beastly behemoth, the government authorizes the use of a nuclear weapon.

That only makes the monster Godzilla bigger and madder.  It also gives him the ability to breath fire.  Whoops.

And that was issue one, in a nutshell.

Issue two has a giant turtle looking monster (Anguirus, not Gamera) pop out of the ground in Mexico and a flying dinosaur (Rodan) hatch from a prehistoric egg in Moscow (which, having been there, I can say looks absolutely nothing like the city I visited).  Monsters are popping up everywhere and destroying cities and killing countless people.  There is only one thing for people to do...

Blame President "Ogden" (who is really President Obama) for not doing anything, or not doing enough, or just getting in the way of the people that would be doing something if it weren't for the "lily-livered, pro-monster communist" that is in charge.

Yes, Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters isn't the least bit afraid to toss in some laugh out loud funny satire in the midst of its surprisingly lethal monster action.  At the moment the monsters are far removed from the cute and cuddly anthropomorphized over-sized toys that fought on cityscape free sound stages.  These behemoths have plenty of blood caked between their toes at the moment, which is fine with me.  It is nice that the book takes the time to acknowledge that these monsters, like any natural or man made disaster, will take a horrible toll wherever they show up.

Not that the book is dour, far from it.  There is some pretty funny satire of the current political climate and of the string of natural and man made disasters that have happened in the last few years.  There is also some great gallows humor, as well.  The pitch black comedic ending of issue two had me doubled over with laughter.  That and the political comedy were enough to convince me that, while the book has yet to introduce any reoccurring human characters beyond the fictionalized President Obama, there would be plenty of creative room for the book to rumble tumble around in.

When I finished issue one I was bit worried.  Although the book entertained me and left me looking forward to the next issue, I was also hoping that the book wouldn't be too light on story or human characters.  Issue two, while still light on story and human characters, has enough comedy and commentary in it to assure me that writers Eric Powell & Tracy Marsh have a good idea of where they want to take their monster story.  I look forward to finding out where that will be.

A Moment of LOL (Stating The Obvious Edition)

see more Very Demotivational

A Moment of LOL (Excessive Cuteness Edition)

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Everybody loves Godzilla, but kitteh loves him most...

A Moment of LOL (Extreme AWESOME Edition)

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Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters - by August Ragone

The life and work story of one of the most famous and influential members of the Japanese Motion Picture Industry.

And the emphasis is very much on the latter than it is on the former.  While author August Ragone, a friendly fixture at local (for me, at least) Science-Fiction/Fantasy themed events such as Wondercon, got an unprecedented amount of access to the Toho and Tsuburaya Productions vaults, and the listing of Eiji's contributions to both film and television is definitive, readers of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters will set the book down knowing far more about the cinematic contributions of the Old Man (as he was affectionately called by those around him) than the man himself.  Then again, it is my understanding that Japanese society is notoriously closed mouth about personal matters to outsiders in general and foreigners in particular, so getting any more up close and personal with the Master of Monsters beyond this volume is probably impossible.

For many, if not most, genre movie fans, Eiji Tsuburaya stands shoulder to shoulder with another special effects giant, Ray Harryhausen.  His many creations, two of the most famous being Godzilla and Ultraman, remain well known and well loved to this very day by new and old fans across the globe.   I should warn any and all that reading this book will strike you with the urge to splurge.  The countless stills and behind the scenes photos will only wet your appetite to see these beloved characters back in action.  So be prepared to invest in some DVD purchases or rentals.

Tsuburaya, like his well known counterpart Harryhausen, knew that the key to making the magic real was in creating a creature (or hero) with a distinctive character for the viewer to invest in emotionally.  There was, and remains, a childlike joy to his work that is infectious.  You cannot watch a Tsuburaya effect and not walk away smiling.  A reaction that the Old Man wanted more than anything else.

That Tsuburaya was more interested in creating something to be enjoyed is explained perfectly in a passage wherein Ragone details the making of Frankenstein vs. Baragon (released stateside as Frankenstein Conquers the World):

"Some critics have wondered why Tsuburaya employed a puppet horse for the scene when Baragon raids a small ranch...When Tsuburaya was asked why he didn't use a composite of a real horse or use a rear-screen process to create something more realistic, he had replied, "Because using a model horse was more fun!"

That explains it all, perfectly, and for those that did not need to have it explained to them, Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters is essential.  No fan's library should be without it.

Godzilla: Age of Monsters - by Randy Stradley, Steve Bissette, Bob Eggleton, Arthur Adams, Kevin Maguire & Others

Godzilla: Age of Monsters collects stories from various Dark Horse Comics for 250 pages of kaiju sized thrills.

Although Godzilla is the only monster from the Toho Studios kaiju eiga roster to appear in the Dark Horse Comics run, it is quite clear that the editors, writers and artists at Dark Horse "got it" far better than the team in charge of Marvel Comics goofy as hell (but still fun to read) run back in the tail end of the Bronze Age.  (No, that is not a snide comment about how old I am getting, it's a reference to the era Marvel's version was printed.)  Each of the stories (save for the satirical finale, Godzilla's Day) reads like a series of storyboards for a Toho movie and each of the giant monsters that the Big G does face in the comics would be a kick ass addition to the Toho monster stable.  Although Gekido-Jin would have some (Many?) grumbling that he is nothing but a Daimajin clone.  So it goes.

Contained in this volume (there is another one that I will be cracking open in the coming months) are a series of stand alone stories and linked story arcs that gives all the monster carnage an anchoring of human drama; the tragic story of Professor Noriko Yoshiwara, who lost her mother and father in Godzilla's first rampage in the Dark Horse Comics universe and whose drive to kill Godzilla backfires horribly.  Of course it does, if it didn't, then there wouldn't be any drama to hold a reader's interest between the plentiful action sequences.  But there is and Godzilla: Age of Monsters should delight most, if not all, comic book reading Godzilla fans.

A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series - by David Kalat

For those who, like me, have ever had to struggle to explain to someone just what it is about Godzilla and his cinematic legacy that they love so much, there is hope.  David Kalat's excellent (although now hopelessly out of date) A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series is the perfect book to either lend out to the unconverted, or simply quote to them the next time some condescending rube asks, "What is it about those stupid movies that you love so much?"

The only downside to this paperback reissue is that it has not been revised and updated to address the debacle that was the American "Godzilla" from the "creative" team of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin (Steve Ryfle's superb Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (The Unauthorized Biography of Godzilla) does, however, contain a splendid deconstruction of just how wrong "Deanzilla" was) and the Millennium Series that began in 1999 with Godzilla 2000 and concluded with Godzilla - Final Wars.  Kalat writes with such intelligence and insight regarding Godzilla's birth as a terrifying and indestructible allegory for the atomic bomb in 1954's Gojira and the gradual anthropomorphizing the King of the Monsters underwent until, in 1965's Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster, he was reborn as Japan's heroic defender.  After switching teams it was only a matter of time before Godzilla became nothing more than a simple child's plaything.  Godzilla's "cute n' cuddly" phase led to such overly maligned 70's entries as Godzilla's Revenge (naysayers be damned, underneath all that stock footage is a touching and intelligent children's film with a very serious message), Godzilla Vs Hedorah (a film Kalat argues is the darkest Godzilla movie since the first one), Godzilla vs. Gigan, and the almost universally reviled Godzilla vs. Megalon (hell, even Megalon apologists such as I have to start off a defense with, "Yeah, it's pretty much the low point of the series, but...").  Godzilla eventually came full circle, returning to his dark, destructive roots in 1984's excellent return to form, The Return of Godzilla (released in the USA in a camped up version in 1985 as Godzilla 1985).  From that point on Godzilla was no anthropomorphous child's plaything.  He was a monstrous and destructive badass that was impossible to stop.  Well, until the supposed "final" film in the series, and a personal favorite of mine, Godzilla vs. Destroyah.

With each film in the series Kalat examines how the gradual changes in Japan's cultural and political landscape influenced how each film approached and handled Godzilla.  The anti-capitalism sentiments that ran through films such as King Kong Vs Godzilla and Mothra vs. Godzilla.  Or pointing out how all the "strong female" characters in the 60's and 70's era films were invariably aliens (or a cyborg) that were ultimately destroyed (or destroyed themselves) for their transgressions against the patriarchal structure of Japanese society.  The inevitable switch from an anti-militaristic stance in the 50's, 60's, and 70's to a fiercely pro-military stance in the 80's and 90's as a new generation of filmmakers (one that viewed the ravages of war and the atomic bomb more as a memory than as an actual reality) replaced the old.  It says something that Godzilla weathered it all and, despite being old enough to qualify for membership in AARP, the King of the Monsters is still going strong to this very day.

Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)

"Listen kid, there are two things you don't know about the Earth.  One is me.  And the other is...Godzilla."

Godzilla has finally been contained, frozen in the wasteland of Antarctica.  But the world is far from being free of monsters.  Setting aside their many differences, the countries of the world unite to form the Earth Defense Force to combat the various monsters that threaten the major cities of the world.  (Why is it always major cities?)  During one especially hectic day of monster attacks, a mysterious alien ship appears in the skies over the various monsters and whisks them away to parts unknown.

The aliens are the Xillians, a seemingly benevolent species that has come to Earth to save it.  Or so they say.  But a United Nations scientist, several members of the Earth Defense Force, and a spunky girl reporter notice that there is something not quite right about the Xillians.  What terrible secret are the aliens hiding behind the kind faces they wear in public?

Godzilla: Final Wars looks to be the final Godzilla movie for quite awhile.  Yes, Toho Studios did announce that it would be as such during its production, but that could also have just as easily been a marketing move on the producers part.  But I think that it is safe to say that the lackluster box office and, please correct me if I am wrong, the predominantly negative reaction to the film have probably put the series on an indefinite hold.  (If Final Wars had made a decent return, another film would have been made because, "The fans demanded it.")  I also think that it is too bad that the Godzilla series has gone into hibernation, because Final Wars shows that there is plenty of life left in the Big-G franchise.

The movie isn't particularly original, its plot is just Destroy All Monsters mixed with a hodge-podge of elements taken from other, more successful films: The Matrix, X2: X-Men United, and Star Wars, just to name three.  But what Final Wars lacks in originality, it more than makes up for in kinetic narrative energy and the obvious joy director Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus) had with being able to play with however many toys he wanted to.  And he wanted to play with a lot.  I can't help but picture him as the kid with chocolate smeared all over his mouth, playing with his Godzilla and Foes action figures in front of the TV.  Because that is precisely what Godzilla: Final Wars feels like, the work of an energetic kid playing with his toys.  One that is easily distracted and integrates into his play whatever happens to catch his mile a minute fancy, until the game loses all coherence and it just degenerates into one giant, slate cleaning action figure rumble.  I could spot the moment in Final Wars when that very thing happened; it is when Captain Gordon (Don Frye, giving a performance of such over-the-top bad assery I started to believe that he could take Godzilla in a fist fight) explains his "release Godzilla plan" to his crew.  Everything after that is just one long monster rumble, although many have grumbled that the individual rumblings were a tad on the short side.  Many of the fights amounting to nothing more than a one-two-you're out cameo, rather than a real battle.  But I think few would argue that the comically brief tussle between the Big-G and his American counterpart (now officially named Zilla) was anything but a spot on piece of fan service:

Now that is how it's done Old School.  And Old School is exactly what Godzilla: Final Wars is.  This is a Godzilla movie for anyone that prefers the Showa era over the Heisei.  But if the daring reinvention that Shusuke Kaneko attempted with Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack is more to your liking, then you just might come away from Godzilla: Final Wars thinking that a wonderful opportunity had been squandered.

Marvel Comics Essential: Godzilla King of the Monsters - by Doug Moench (Writer) & Herb Trimpe (Artist) & Others

"That thing was gigantic - like a dinosaur or something."

When the iceberg that has been holding him prisoner begins to thaw, Godzilla awakens from his cryogenic slumber and bursts forth just off the coast of Alaska.  Within moments of his coming ashore, the fire breathing mutant dinosaur destroys a large section of the Alaskan Pipeline and then goes toe-to-toe with a tough talking S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent named Dum-Dum Dugan.  (You tell Dugan that his name is every bit as appropriate as it is silly.  You'll probably wind up being able to count all of your remaining teeth with one hand, without using your thumb.)  But Godzilla isn't your average giant monster.  (Is there even such a thing?)  He shrugs off everything that Dugan shoots at him as he makes rubble out of large sections of Seattle, San Francisco (ya!), Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City, all while battling an astounding assortment of monsters, both great and small, as well as Super Heroes and Villains.  The latter two groups Dum-Dum Dugan prefers to call "costumed clowns."  With each battle it becomes clearer that Godzilla is more friend to humanity than he is foe.  But Dum-Dum has his doubts...

Man, in all that synopsizing how could I forgot to mention young n' spunky Godzilla lovin' Rob Takiguchi and his telepathically controlled giant robot, the RED RONIN?

Marvel Comics Essential Godzilla is twenty-four issues of impossible to resist kaiju sized fun.  Not only does the Big G face off against the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but he also grapples with the Champions, the Fantastic Four, an evil doofus calling himself Dr. Demonicus, a giant Bigfoot, a trio of alien Mega-Monsters (the three of which look like rejects from a Spectreman casting call), and a posse of angry cowboys.  He also gets sent back in time to battle with, then fight alongside, the Devil Dinosaur.  As you can see, a lot happened to Godzilla during his two year residency at Marvel Comics.  While the book falls short of being anything that could be called classic, it nonetheless makes for some very entertaining reading for those with a fondness for Godzilla vs. Gigan and its ilk.