R.I.P. Shunsuke Ikeda & Al Williamson

I haven't really written a lot of memorial posts here for famous people. It's not because of a lack of respect, but more because I feel like there are others out there who can do a much better job. However, this weekend saw two passings which I feel compelled to mention.

We learned on Friday of the loss of Japanese actor Shunsuke Ikeda, featured in such tokusatsu favorites as RETURN OF ULTRAMAN and KIKAIDA 01. As you might recall, I watched the entire KIKAIDA 01 series last year. The show has its share of problems, but Ikeda-san is never one of them. He always turned in great work, even though the series wasn't as focused on his character as the title would lead you to believe. If I could ask for one thing differently from KIKAIDA 01, it would be to give me more of Ichiro/Kikaida 01.

On Saturday, illustrator Al Williamson left us. I raved about the book collecting his Flash Gordon work in August. But Williamson's career was far more extensive than even that iconic spaceman. Many knew him for his work on STAR WARS comics and newspaper strips, or from the classic EC Comics from the 1950s, or from any number of other sources. Ironically, I recently reacquired a handful of Marvel books that feature him inking Steve Epting. I am proud to say that one of only two letters I've had printed in Marvel publications praises Al Williamson's work.

August Ragone has an essential and informative memorial to Shunsuke Ikeda on his blog. Flesk Publications' owner John Fleskes has posted the official announcement approved by the family for Al Williamson. I urge you to check them both out.

Two different men, on two different continents, with two different careers and lives. And yet, I'll feel their losses equally. Rest in peace, gentlemen. You both gave us your best.

A Nightmare Made Flesh

Urban Nightmare by Kabuki Katze

A Nightmare Made Flesh by Christopher Elam

I grew up in "The Minors." When I was 12, I saw my little brother Dennis gunned down in front of me. That's the kind of thing you never forget.

I've always strived to better myself, and make the most out of the opportunities I have in my life. Somewhere along the way, as I studied my people's African heritage, I left Jim Lawrence behind and found Xolani Shabangu in his place. But I've never forgotten my roots. That's why I moved back here.

The old neighborhood might be even worse now than when I left it. I've worked hard to be a civic leader and make a difference in people's lives, but there's only so much you can do when faced with such crushing poverty. That's especially true when the establishment would rather sweep the problem under the rug and pretend your concerns don't exist.

One evening in particular will be burned into my brain forever. My outreach session had just finished when a hail of gunfire filled the air. Drive-by shooters left 4 people dead. One of them was a 10 year old boy - the same age Dennis had been when he left for a better place.

Those gunmen had been trying to send me a message, but it was others who paid the price. As I watched a woman crying as she held her lost baby, I felt a despair I hadn't felt in a long, long time. Would those jackals really win? For a moment, I wished they had taken me, too.

I laid in bed that night, staring at the ceiling. I thought about Captain Satellite, and all the good he did. But even if Captain Satellite lived in Major City, he belonged to the world. Captain Satellite was too busy fighting terrorists, super villains, monsters, and aliens to have time to deal with the small stuff like muggers and pushers.

But what if...what if there was a super hero for the little guy? A hero who patrolled the streets and kept them safe. A hero who made a difference on a smaller scale. A hero who tried to prevent what had happened hours earlier. Why couldn't a man do that for his community?

Well, why couldn't he?

Three nights later, I saw a young woman hurrying home from a late night work shift, and I saw the predators lying in wait for her. But none of them saw me.

When those punks slithered out the shadows and I heard a switchblade open, I acted. I emerged from my hiding place behind them and told the girl to run away. As she obeyed, her would-be attackers angrily whirled to face me.

"You're a dead man!" one of them screamed. "Who do you think you are?"

My muscles tensed beneath my rainjacket, preparing for the first of many lessons I would be teaching on the streets. "I'm the Urban Nightmare," I seethed, "and I'm taking back my city."

No one has forgotten my name since then. Crime will never go away, but now the criminals look over their shoulders, too. Sometimes, that's the best you can do when faced with impossible odds.

Shelley Sweeney

As amazing as it is to me, it was almost a full decade ago that GODZILLA 2000 was released in American theaters. Boy, I was super-excited for that - saw it twice, despite it only playing at the (now-closed) bottom feeder cinema. In fact, I was so excited that I couldn't contain myself at one point and inadvertently blurted out something in response to the action on-screen.

The amusing part of this anecdote is that it came during one of the crowd shots, when I exclaimed to a clueless Louisiana audience, "Hey, it's Shelley Sweeney!"

Shelley Sweeney, if you don't know, is a Canadian model and actress living in Japan. She made a big impression on Godzilla nerds the world over in the 1993 GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA. She later turned up, albeit in a much smaller role, in GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH (1995). There were also appearances in shows like ULTRAMAN TIGA, MEGARANGER, and B-FIGHTER. So seeing her playing a reporter in an incidental role wasn't exactly news. But it was still exciting!

In the last year, it was been my privilege and my pleasure to get acquainted with Shelley Sweeney via the magic of Facebook. Even though our interaction has been limited at best, I feel I can say with confidence that she is as classy and personable as she is beautiful. And that is saying a lot, because Shelley is an absolute knockout.

You can learn more if you visit Shelley Sweeney's official website. Be sure to tell her that Christopher Elam's OWARI sent you!

Kabuki Katze's Greatest Captain Satellite Hits - Vol. 1

Captain Satellite & Shelly Ericson
Firegirl vs. Hugo Beaumont & the Phantom Rogue

Continuing the Cap art trend from yesterday, I thought I'd post this entry to take us into the weekend. You've seen both of these images before, in this entry and this entry. However, those older entries only included smaller versions, and linked you to Kabuki Katze's dA page.

That was all well and good, but I decided that I should have the full-size versions available here, too. It seemed especially silly to not have them here when I considered that I would be hosting a number of images that aren't available anywhere else. Why skimp on a pair of triumphs like these?

Oh, and "Vol. 1"? Does that mean there's more to come? Yes. You'll be seeing both new Cap art from Kabu, and vintage art dating all the way back to 2005.

It's In The Cards

One of the joys of being a member of deviantArt is that it has led to a lot of cool things that otherwise wouldn't have happened. A case in point is the image in this entry.

Sean Moore is an artist based in Florida who has done some of the sketch cards that are randomly inserted in packs of non-sports cards these days. He has recently been offering people a chance to get their own personal sketch cards, drawn to order.

This was simply too irresistible to me, so I pre-ordered a few and asked for renditions of a few of my personal characters. You can see the results below.



We have Captain Satellite (natch), Devil Dynamite, Blue Behemoth, and Drone Man. As you might imagine, just seeing these scans was quite the charge. Now that I have them in my hands, it's even better.

Sean is still taking orders for these Personal Sketch Cards, and is even running a special deal at this writing. I have another order in the pipeline, and you can expect to see more of the Captain Satellite crew in card form. If you like what you see, I'd recommend motoring over to his dA page at the link above and checking out the terms. It would be money well-spent.

Robin, You Are Enjoying This Too Much

...It's perfectly innocent, honest.

History, Revised : The Caesar Salad

The Caesar Salad has been the source of many spurious tales through the years. The actual story is quite fascinating and deserves to be told.

The Caesar Salad is named for its inventor, the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar. It is not commonly known that Caesar was an absolute connoisseur when it came to the matters of green leafy vegetables. Since the majority of his time was consumed with the day-to-day business of running a vast empire, he chose to keep his burgeoning salad business a secret. Considering subsequent events, this bit of caution may have been his undoing.

It is widely believed that Caesar was slain due to internal politics. Actually, it was the professional jealousy of his "good friend" Brutus. Brutus had entered the catering business after the breakup of his band the Ides Of March (they had been unable to follow up the smashing success of the song "Vehicle"), but was stymied in his efforts by the Not Caesar's Catering Service. A late night break-in at his rival's headquarters, subsequently revealed by informant Aurelius Sexius, brought the truth to light.

Brutus' plan was cunning and simple. One sabotaged Salad Shooter later, Julius Caesar was no more. As the Romans gathered to pay homage to their fallen emperor and pray to the great god Popeil, one wiseacre piped up and said, "I have not come to bury Caesar or to praise him - but to get that damn salad recipe!"

This touched off days of burning and pillaging. When it was all said and done, an unknown ruffian had absconded with the recipe and proceeded to bootleg it far and wide. Thus, the Caesar Salad went down in the annals of history while its true source remained forgotten. Until now, that is.