Larry Yakata

Hoo boy, this has been a looooong time in coming. Forget recent blogging delays - this subject came up on Twitter back in FEBRUARY. I promised myself I would write about it in more depth one day. Well, it's now June, so maybe I ought to get around to it.

It all began with a discussion with Igadevil about those Ultraman comic books that came out from Nemesis Comics (Harvey) in the 1990s. They were pretty crazy - especially the "regular" series (it, uh, included a -1 issue) which I didn't follow. I seem to recall that I asked Iga if Dwayne McDuffie wrote that series as he had the earlier mini-series (Ernie Colón being the artist on all of it). No, it turns out the regular series was instead written by Larry Yakata.

Who in the world is Larry Yakata? It's a question no one has cared to ask, apparently. But I did, especially since he got a gig writing for a long-established company on a licensed property. There had to be more to this "Larry Yakata" than just a handful of Ultraman comic books.

Well, the GCD doesn't have his Ultraman stories logged, but it does have an overview of credits for the mysterious Mr. Yakata. Most of it is Conan for mid-80s Marvel. That was...unexpected. There's also a story (fill-in? miscredit?) for a YOUNG MASTER comic primarily written by Larry Hama. That indicates my original line of thinking. I suspected Larry YAKATA was really Larry HAMA working under a thinly-veiled pseudonym.

That didn't really explain the Ultraman thing. Though Hama is identified heavily with G.I. Joe, Ultraman doesn't seem up his alley. Besides, the stories just felt so out there for Hama. I let my mind wander a bit about it, especially the idea that Yakata might have gotten the assignment because of a connection to the prior writer. That was when it clicked for me.

There is a known writer out there with a connection to both Dwayne McDuffie and Larry Hama. He has written about the influence Hama had on him at Marvel, and I could believe he adopted the "Larry Yakata" nom de plume in tribute to him. He was friends with McDuffie and was even an early part of Milestone Media. I could absolutely see McDuffie recommending him as his replacement.

I'm talking about Christopher Priest, though I believe he was still going by "Jim Owsley" professionally at the time. Now, Priest is definitely the sort of guy I could see writing those wacky Ultraman comic books and Conan stories, too. Does that mean he is, in fact, Larry Yakata? I don't know, but he seems the likeliest candidate at this point.

Sailor Erato

Our friend Wandering Kotka recently completed a commission special dedicated to Sailor Moon, in honor of the new series currently airing. I was literally the last person to participate, and I presented an odd challenge - Rene Bond as a Sailor Scout! Well, you can see the result above, especially if you right click to make bigger. Say hello to Sailor Erato!

If you would like to comment on Kotka's upload of this, and read her wonderful description, you can do that right here!

NEXT: something not about Rene Bond. Honest.

Random Access Memory

There are days like today when you are doing your best to live in the moment when suddenly...


It's 1982. I'm in the town of Eunice for some reason, and we stop at a drug store. There I find a copy of Justice League of America #207. I feel like I've uncovered pirate's treasure, since I had earlier that year purchased All-Star Squadron #14. The Justice League book is Part 1 of a 5 part story, and the All Star book is Part 2. I resolve that I will need to return to this drug store in the future if such finds are to be made there. I never do. It's probably a bit late to think about making the trip.

It's 2012. I've been chosen for jury duty the week of my 40th birthday. This feels like I've been sentenced to hard time for the crime of having my name randomly selected. I sit in a jury room arguing with total strangers on that birthday, ruminating silently that this may turn out to be the worst in my litany of disappointing birthdays. Only time will tell if that's true.

Now it's 1991. A different birthday. For some reason, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT runs a feature on GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH on their program. This despite the fact that the film will never play theatrically in the United States, and will only receive a video release years later. I am uncommonly excited by this, and even tape the show when it airs on a different station that night. I watch the show so much over the years that I can still tell you the forgotten Emilio Estevez/Mick Jagger co-starring effort also previewed therein (it's FREEJACK).

I don't even remember the year. I know I'm on a payphone when I call her. I don't even recall why, but I could hear her smile over the lines as we talked. Neither of us know that in the not-too-distant future, she will grow to hate me. For that moment, at least, we are just happy to hear the other's voice.

It's 2007, and I am hopelessly lost in Houston. A friendly older gentleman in a cowboy hat is getting coffee, and I ask him for directions. He sets me on the right track, and I make it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. It turns out to be one of the greatest days of my life. None of the heartaches in the ensuing years will ever change that fact, or that weekend.

Back to 1986. It's a crazy hot summer day. I am sitting in the parking lot of Bookworm's Apple with my copy of Crisis on Infinite Earths #12, the conclusion of DC Comics' giant maxi-series. I am ready for it to be finished, for a lot of different reasons. I have no way of knowing that it is the beginning of my long, strange trip to disillusionment with comics. I further have no way of knowing that in a few years, Bookworm's Apple will be gone forever.

It's 1994. I am walking across the bridge on my college campus. I am talking to the girl I've silently had a crush on for the last two years. Every part of me is screaming to tell her, at least to have the peace of mind that I got it off my chest. I don't. I let her walk away, all the while thinking that I will never see her again. I never have.

This is 1996. This is the day I found out I would lose my job when a secretary asked me when I was returning my contract and I had to tell her I hadn't received one. I'm not sure how I held that humiliation in without breaking down right there, but I did. Later, I excused myself to the restroom and cried. I don't think I've ever gotten over the betrayal I felt right then.

Forward to 1998. I am trudging through the mud for a job interview in a temporary trailer. I am desperate and at the end of my rope. I could never guess I would be spending the better part of the next 16 years in the half-finished building occupying the same lot.


...And with that, I am back to today, feeling a lot like I did on that day in 1998. It's more of a quiet desperation still, but it's lurking there. I wonder sometimes if the past is really as happy as we make it seem in our memories, or if we just long for the innocence and not knowing unhappy truths and the way things turn out.

My memory is random. I cannot retain most of what happened yesterday, but something from junior high is as vivid as if it did happen yesterday. Sometimes it's as obviously important as high school graduation, and sometimes it's something seemingly trivial like helping someone air up their tire. I have long ago stopped trying to figure out how my brain operates. I am who I am.

I don't seek answers from these slivers of memory, because I am not sure they even contain any. I try not live inside of them, although the temptation is great at times. I tend to think of them as markers signifying where I have been and how far I have traveled. And the thing about any trip is, you can't spend too much time looking at where you've been or you'll never get where you're going.

A Farewell To Casey Kasem

(Photo via Crystal Price KFOX 14)
I don't talk about every passage from this mortal coil that impacts my life, but this is too big to go unmentioned. I've talked a lot about AMERICAN TOP 40 in these parts the last few years, and I've been a faithful follower of the 1970s rebroadcasts during that time. This weekend was no different, and probably at the same time I was listening Sunday morning, Casey Kasem passed away at the age of 82.

This was not a surprise. If anything, it's something we were all expecting. The very unfortunate circumstances about his life and welfare the last few years have been discussed elsewhere, and are not something I want to dwell on besides acknowledging their existence. Instead, I want to focus on the positives of his life and career.

I first became aware of Casey Kasem as a personality from the AMERICA'S TOP 10 TV show, which was an extension of what he was doing on the radio with AMERICAN TOP 40. If Kasem had only worked in radio, he'd still be a legend. But he did plenty of acting and voiceover work, too. Casey was most famous as Shaggy from SCOOBY-DOO, but he was also Robin in SUPER FRIENDS and other shows, Mark in BATTLE OF THE PLANETS, and really too many other voices to list. There is something oddly comforting about his delivery, and when I hear him, it's like an old friend stopping by for a visit.

Casey Kasem wasn't a perfect human being by any means. But he had an iconic career, and by any measure, his was a life filled with success. Rest easy, Mr. Kasem, as you finally reach those stars.

Naomi Morinaga Makes A Comeback!

I'd like to think this will put an end once and for all to all the searches about her being dead.

It was birthday boy Igadevil (hope it was a great one!) who broke the news to me on Twitter: Naomi Morinaga is making a comeback in Toei's new V-Cinema Space Sheriff projects! Yes, "Annie" will be returning and also returning will be Den Iga, the original Sharivan. This means we're getting both Naomi Morinaga and Hiroshi Watari, her co-star on the series SPIELBAN.

This is very exciting news for me, and probably for a lot of people who wind up on this blog. If you'd like to keep updated, Toei has uchukeiji.com for that purpose. There are also links to Twitter and Facebook pages for the project. You bet I'm following both of them!

Ken Utsui

It was Igadevil who broke the news for me on Twitter: Ken Utsui had passed away at the age of 82.

Outside of Japan, Utsui is probably best known for playing the superhero Starman (originally Supergiants). And though he wasn't fond of the role in later years, it's not hard to understand why it's so memorable. Ken Utsui was truly larger than life as Starman, capable of being both a protective father figure and bad guy destroyer and absolutely convincing in either mode. It didn't hurt that Starman was able to be both a bit more imaginative and a bit more violent than his American inspiration Superman.

As much as I love Starman, though, it was merely a fraction of Ken Utsui's life. He had a long and distinguished career in both film and television. He will be missed.

Happy Birthday, Naomi Morinaga!

Brief post today, but I want to acknowledge the birthday of the one and only Naomi Morinaga! Yes, the Japanese actress who causes more people to end up at OWARI than any other subject celebrates a birthday on March 12. According to the Japanese Wikipedia*, she was born in 1964. Yep, that makes her 50 today! Wow, that is...a sobering thought.

I hope Naomi is having a happy birthday wherever she is in her post-fame life. I don't know of an official or even unofficial site for her, other than my own Pictures of Naomi Morinaga. I hope that will suffice.



*I qualify this because the English Wikipedia gives 1965. I am going to trust the Japanese source here.

Saturday Sneak Preview!

Daddy's had a hard week, kiddo. With this losing an hour business tonight, I'm not sure I'm up to tackling anything that's on my "to blog" list. And yes, I have such a list. Hush.

Anyway, in lieu of writing something new, here's an excerpt of something I've been working on for entirely too long. I'm editing it and about to send it off shortly. What's it for? Wait and see.

Let's not forget, this is a Godzilla movie at heart. Godzilla gets some choice moments, and the heretofore unexplored Godzilla/Rodan feud takes center stage for a bit. (OK, they had never been in a movie together prior to this – details!) The “banter” between these two is another reason I love this film so much. This movie also marks the beginning of the “face turn” for these two well-established monster heels. But really, they are playing tweeners, and while GHIDRAH simplifies things perhaps a bit TOO much (...what about all the casualties they caused?), it can be forgiven since no one expects that level of deep thinking in escapist entertainment. Or shouldn't.

Good Blogkeeping

Let's go through this via bullet points, shall we?

• Continued Next Week! recently passed a milestone - 100 followers! Especially surprising is that this was at least partially due to a photo of Jane Adams I posted over a year ago. Still, I am happy people seem to enjoy this little side project of mine. Not bad when you consider I almost closed it twice.
  
  
• Rene Bond Tribute on Facebook has almost made it to 100 Likes! I find this particularly gratifying, since I was questioning even continuing it a month ago. There have been some potentially exciting developments happen since then. My hope is that they will eventually lead to my goal - a better picture of who Rene Bond was as a human being.
  
  
• On the other side of the coin, Pictures of Naomi Morinaga has been throttling down a little bit. I never get much feedback on this, but surely someone is visiting it. I've just gone through a couple of image folders there, and don't have as much ambition for it right now. Whether that will return is something I don't wanna guess. However, it WILL be sticking around.
  
  
• I am slowly working my way through the archives here, tagging entries better and fixing some formatting issues that have cropped up on some old posts. I'm only at the end of 2010 right now, so this is not a project that is going to be finished anytime soon. A similar project is occurring on my Tumblr, though that might -- MIGHT -- get done sooner.
  
  
• I have one more blog post sitting in the queue that needs to be finished and posted. Other than that, I am planning on taking the rest of this month off here. I need to recharge the old batteries, and I have at least one (*GASP*) deadline that I need to meet. Barring unforeseen circumstances, of course (and they always seem to come up), it's time for a mini-vacation from blogging.
  

New Robot Keiji!

In a link courtesy of August Ragone, we learn that a NEW manga of Shotaro Ishinomori's ROBOT KEIJI is coming in 2014. It's an amazing promotional video, and while I don't know if I will be following the comic, I salute whoever put together this video!

Sumo Domo

My latest vending machine friend.

Rear view.

Star Force Vol. 2, No. 5

When we last discussed the Myron Fass family of magazines, I mentioned that the one I had really been seeking - the one that truly spurred me on the quest - had still eluded me. I am happy to report that, as of today, I am the proud(?) owner of a complete and reasonably decent copy of Star Force Vol. 2, No. 5.

This earlier entry spells out in more detail the importance of this magazine to my personal history. What's odd is that I wasn't even looking for it the night I found it. I was on eBay buying something totally different last week and decided to check on this mag's availability on a whim. And lo, there it was.

I am seriously tempted to do a full write-up on this one in the future, and track down the original sources and authors of the articles. All of them have had their credits removed, and I think that's a darn shame. There is a lot of solid information in a couple of them, and one or two are so freaking loopy that I feel the perpetrators should be publicized.

Oh, and the ads? The ads are GOLDEN. Most of them are for books that I suspect are also published by Myron Fass. However, there is an ad for Army surplus that promises me a tank for under $200, and another ad selling handguns through the mail. Truly, I had NO IDEA what was going on in 1981 when I got this magazine.

Another quest completed, thanks to the magic of the Internet.

$20 Pin-Ups: Sydney

$20 Pin-Ups: Sydney by =KabukiKatze on deviantART

I told you I'd tell you when this piece went live on deviantArt, and today is the day! Be sure to click on the embedded image above to travel to the magical land of dA and leave feedback for Kabuki on this!

Thanks again, KK, for such an exemplary job! And I am pleased to report that Sydney LOVES it!

My Dreams Will Dance!

Let's talk about this picture, shall we?

As you might recall, I befriended a young lady named Sydney Corcoran earlier this year. Sydney was severely injured in the Boston Marathon bombing, and of course, that's how I ended up "finding" her online. But that horrific experience does not and should not define who she is as a person. There is more to her and her life than just what happened to her - even if that is hard for people to remember sometimes.

Sydney has really struck me as a strong and resilient young woman. But that doesn't mean it's easy. She is, after all, 18 years old, and that can be trying even without the extra burdens placed on her. The last couple of weeks have been particularly challenging in a way that they never should have been in the first place. But that's another story.

Concurrent with recent events, my good friend Kayleigh Lebak (aka Kabuki Katze) was running a special on pin-up ladies on her deviantArt page. (This special still has a couple of days if you'd like in on it!) Kayleigh had previously crafted this Beauty and the Beast card for me as a gift to Sydney. One night, the wheels started turning in my head, and I went to Kayleigh with my idea.

The idea was simple: a pin-up of Sydney, glamorous and powerful and free. She is not untouched by all that has happened to her, but she is unbowed by it. The reference was photo of the lady herself taken this summer. So yes, this is absolutely Sydney Triumphant.

The text for this piece is derived from the English translation of Rica Matsumoto's "Alive A life" (actual title), the theme song to the Japanese superhero series KAMEN RIDER RYUKI. These words in particular really strike a chord for me with regards to Sydney, especially since she is a dancer. They fit the pose perfectly, and have the odd sort of poetry you can only get via non-native English.

The point of this picture is to highlight Sydney's inner and outer beauty. Sydney is a gorgeous woman (even if she doesn't always think so), and her scars don't change that. If anything, they call attention to the person inside who has survived so much already in her short life. She is extraordinary, and I am proud to call her my friend.

Sydney is an individual, and it's important to not forget that simple fact. Her healing process is an ongoing one, and isn't just all of a sudden magically finished. Some days are a struggle. But with her indomitable will (or is that stubbornness?), I have no doubt she will emerge victorious. And her dreams will dance.

This one's for you, Syd.

(Special thanks to Kayleigh for her amazing talent in creating this picture and for giving me permission to post it early. Watch this blog for news of it going live on her dA account!)

Big In The Philippines

So, this happened last week.

I have to say, I never anticipated the significant number of hits I've received from the Philippines. They are my Number #2 referring country, after the United States. Whether it's from an entertainment list site or a forum for "Pinoy Pistol Enthusiasts" (sadly, you must register to view it), I thank my Filipino friends for always being a consistent audience for OWARI.

(OK, yes, almost all of them are here for Naomi Morinaga. Indulge me!)

"GUOOO!"

Sometimes, you just have to post a pic of Mazinger Z.

Scanned from Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics by Frederik L. Schodt.

"Giant Robot, Use Your Galaxy Gear!"

OK, here are both commercials as featured on the Samsung Mobile USA Youtube channel. The "A Long Time Coming" one is particularly entertaining, since it opens with footage from JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT! There's also footage from such shows as GET SMART!, THUNDERBIRDS, and (as promised) MARINE BOY.

Samsung Galaxy Gear Commercial

I saw this commercial during the NFL games this afternoon. Wow, it really got my attention! I mean, I wasn't expecting to see both Power Rangers and Johnny Sokko! But even if those shows aren't your cup of tea, there are others that may just push your nostalgia buttons.

There is another, longer commercial with more clips and more shows (including Marine Boy!). This is all I found online right now, and I can't guarantee this particular upload will last. I'll probably be revisiting this subject in the near future.

So very cool.

Kamen Rider Is Real!

I saw this story earlier tonight, and found it so utterly charming that I thought people would enjoy it. Heartwarming and cool all at the same time.

If the MSN link expires, you can see the pictures (and read the English text) at Vintage Henshin, originally posted by Purplevalkyrie.

Xenorama #16

Say, didn't we just do this? Well, sure, but why not have another?!? That's right, after an absence of many years, XENORAMA is coming out with its sixteenth issue hot on the heels of its fifteenth issue!

Head honcho David McRobie has all the details here on XENORAMA #16. Or if you just wanna straight up order it right now, you can do that, too. And in case you were wondering - yes, I am involved in this issue!

This is shaping up to be an incredible issue. Can't speak for you, but I am certainly looking forward to it!