"Why is it called YOG anyway?"

Adapted from the article originally presented in OWARI #1 (October/November 1995).

"Why is it called YOG anyway?"

That question came up periodically back in those halcyon days before Toho's "international" version of the same movie, SPACE AMOEBA, superseded the AIP-released YOG - MONSTER FROM SPACE. It's a good question, too. After all, the monsters were actually named Gezora (cuttlefish), Ganime (crab), and Kameba (turtle). They were mutated by something referred to as "Astro-Quasars" in the dubbing. In fact, the name "Yog" is seemingly the only one never used! What's the deal?

Here's my theory : American International had already pre-booked a movie called "Yog - Monster from Space" to theaters, and that project subsequently fell through. Not wanting to lose a buck, AIP scrounged about for a movie that might vaguely connect with that title and discovered they had the rights to Toho's 1970 film ゲゾラ・ガニメ・カメーバ 決戦! 南海の大怪獣 (Gezora · Ganime · Kameba - Kessen! Nankai no Dai Ketto - "Decisive Battle! Giant Monsters of the South Seas"). A little creativity on AIP's part and VOILA! YOG - MONSTER FROM SPACE is born!

Believe it or not, something like this has been documented with another movie and another company. Independent International promised a movie entitled "Blood of Frankenstein" for 1971. This didn't pan out, so they took Paul Naschy's 1968 Spanish Wolfman flick LA MARCA DEL HOMBRE LOBO ("Mark of the Wolfman") and tagged it with the highly deceptive moniker FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR! Only an added prologue provided even a slight connection to the Frankenstein legend.

Did the movie that Toho marketed as the English-dubbed SPACE AMOEBA outside of Japan meet the same fate as Naschy's epic? I don't know, but that's the best idea I've ever managed to muster as to how AIP's newly redubbed theatrical release of it came to be called YOG - MONSTER FROM SPACE.

(Tip of the cap to David McRobie of Xenorama for suggesting this article for re-presentation in his recent blog entry on YOG - MONSTER FROM SPACE/SPACE AMOEBA.)

My World : Some Annotations

Hope everyone enjoyed their glimpse last week into a few of the characters in my personal fictional world. Guess what? You'll be seeing more of that in the future. So be ready for it.

I suppose some background for this particular project is in order. In 2007, I went on a bit of a tear (by my standards) in producing artwork. Now, I have no illusions that my art is good, but it's mine and I have a lot of fun making it. This is lost on some people, I guess. Anyway, I was very prolific that year, and one of my main projects was to create art pieces depicting the characters of my "modern" universe.

I don't really have any concrete plans for this project beyond the art pieces and accompanying backstory thumbnails. However, that doesn't mean you won't be seeing something more involved in the future. There just aren't any plans. Yet.

• Captain Satellite : Captain Satellite first came into being sometime around the 6th grade. He wasn't anything special at first, but eventually he merged with various other characters running around in my own personal universe. By the time I was done, he had emerged as my superhero alter ego. I've been using his name for various projects since 1995.
  
  Interestingly, Captain Satellite was originally conceived as a VILLAIN! He was an adversary for the various superheroes I was playing around with at the time. Later I had a change of heart and "killed off" the villainous Captain Satellite and replaced him with a second Captain who was a superhero. As time went by, Captain Satellite's nefarious origins were forgotten entirely and the superhero version became the only version. That Captain Satellite was the one who evolved into the one we know today.
  
  The earliest incarnations of the character looked somewhat different. The main distinguishing characteristic is that the Captain used to have an old style satellite chest emblem. I'm pretty sure that got dropped because it looked too busy when I drew the character at a smaller size. I originally envisioned his uniform as being yellow, but settled on the current color scheme. This was likely an influence of the old Legion of Super-Heroes member Ferro Lad, who had inspired me a great deal as a kid.
  
  
• Shelly Ericson : Shelly was born in my high school days, though truthfully she has her origins in many female characters I created over the years. Her name and particular backstory struck a chord with me, so she was chosen to be the one to get fleshed out into something like a real character instead of just a surrogate fantasy girlfriend.
  
  The key turning point for Shelly was the Japanese superhero series SHAIDER. As I've discussed in the past, I'm rather enthralled with Shaider's sidekick Annie in the show. She is competent and charismatic, but still needs to constantly have her bacon saved by Shaider. I wanted to take that concept one step further, and have a female sidekick who was actually more competent than the hero. Shelly's personality gradually began to take shape from there, and her distinctive look evolved from Annie's inspiration.
  
  
• Third World : Third World is my underground subversive organization. As you might guess, their name is inspired by the phrase "third world power" that doesn't get thrown around nearly so much since the Soviet Union fell apart. Third World itself owes a huge debt to Marvel Comics' group Hydra. A number of details of Third World are inspired by Hydra, but I sort of took it into my own direction - especially as far as the design of the agents (pictured).
  
  
• Hugo Beaumont : Hugo Beaumont is the Captain's arch-enemy, I guess. I liked the idea of mixing the mad scientist type with the time traveling villain type. Hugo is also a great excuse to mix together hoary old bad guy tropes like the top hat, pencil-thin mustache, etc. He draws from many sources - silent movie bad guys (or Snidely Whiplash, if you prefer!), Lex Luthor, and Kang the Conqueror to name three specific ones.
  

As you may have guessed, one of the biggest challenges in this project is creating something interesting from what was originally just a big personal fantasy. I suppose that is why I've never followed through on my threats of telling an actual story with these characters. They are fun to put through their paces in my head, but I'm not entirely sure that would translate for readers.

As the years have passed, Captain Satellite and Shelly Ericson have moved away from their original purpose of serving as idealized wish fulfillment characters. Why? Because that grew boring to me. They still have their roots in those interpretations, but I enjoy them a lot more now that they've been allowed to stretch out and grow away just being generic avatars for my daydreams. If the day comes when their world is more fully-realized, it will be because they have stories that are demanding to be told.

My Favorite Screenshot Ever

Remember those bootleg Hong Kong (actually often Taiwan-pressed) anime and tokusatsu DVDs that used to be all over the Internet? Maybe they still are, for all I know. Besides their relative cheapness, one of their biggest selling points was that they featured English subtitles.

The catch in that boon to fankind was that the English subtitles were just translations of the Chinese subtitles, sometimes by people with a shaky grasp of both Japanese and English. It's amazing the subs ever came out coherent at all. Sometimes, they didn't even manage that.

The comedy value of these discs can be extremely high. The word "karaoke" became "Karate OK" in one show. But my all-time fave comes from a copy of the 1984 BIOMAN movie. My disc ended up going bad (no great loss), but I had to save this for posterity.



Yes, watch it.

My World : Hugo Beaumont

Hugo Beaumont was bored. Very, very bored. It was hard not to be, considering his lust for adventure in the safe and sterile world of the far future. He craved excitement, but that was the last thing his environment could offer him. All he could do was throw himself into developing the technology that would allow him to break the shackles of his dull existence.

That day came when Beaumont invented his time travel belt. Using the belt, he can travel through time and space to anywhere in the known universe. Now, a normal person would use such an invention for useful purposes. But Hugo Beaumont? He chose to make himself into a nefarious villain - for kicks.

Adapting a peculiar form of costuming, Beaumont traveled to the era of Captain Satellite to match wits with the hero. Their battles have already proven to be considerable, but does Beaumont know how the game will play out? Only "time" will tell!

My World : Third World

The origins of the organization dubbed "Third World" are shrouded in mystery to this day. What is definitely known is that they arose during the years after World War II. Whispers say that among its founders were former Nazis, and the trappings of the group would seem to bear this out. But Third World has followed its own peculiar agenda, far separate from that of Hitler and his ilk.

Third World's goal is complete and utter world domination. This has been complicated by the numerous splinter and spinoff groups that have formed from it. Still, they work tirelessly to achieve their rather lofty goal. What they plan to do after they take over the world is still open to debate, since they don't seem to have a clear idea themselves.

Third World employs a number of super science devices in their arsenal. They sought to kidnap Paul Mann and force him to aid them in creating more such weapons. These foiled attempts led directly to the birth of Captain Satellite, who is now the biggest thorn in Third World's side. Not good thinking on their part, was it?

My World : Shelly Ericson

Can a small town girl from Texas make it in the big city? Shelly Ericson has every intention of finding out.

Shelly arrived in Major City freshly discharged from the Air Force, looking for some direction in her life. She had no idea that it would find her when she attended a speaking engagement at a local college.

As it turned out, Paul Mann was the featured speaker that day, and an agent of Third World attempted to use that to his advantage. The enemy operative stormed the stage, laser pistol at the ready. Thinking quickly, Shelly cut the Third World agent off and disarmed him with her superior fighting skills.

After that incident, Mann offered Shelly what seemed to be a too-good-to-be-true job. She was hired to be his "assistant" - in reality, his bodyguard. Along the way, she would give him pointers on developing skills to protect himself. So when Mann adapted the identity of Captain Satellite, there was no doubt that Shelly would be fighting right alongside him.

Shelly is brave, intelligent, and more than a little stubborn. Though their relationship was strictly business at first, feelings have developed between Captain Satellite and Shelly over time. Where that will ultimately lead is anyone's guess.

My World : Captain Satellite

Who is Captain Satellite? Captain Satellite is Paul Mann - everyone knows that. The real question is : Who is Paul Mann?

Paul Mann showed up in Major City a full decade ago, and quickly took it by storm. His shy, mild-mannered demeanor did little to blunt the brilliance which caught everyone off-guard. Before he'd hit his 21st birthday, Mann was a multi-billionaire.

Except who is Paul Mann? His background details are virtually impossible to verify. His one-time girlfriend, investigative reporter Roxanne Prize, took it upon herself to discover who he really was. She failed, and the resultant rift finished their relationship.

But there are other, more sinister forces that want to know what makes Paul Mann tick. The subversive group Third World has decided that they must have his knowledge to insure the success of their plans. But Paul Mann is not going down without a fight...

Paul Mann has channeled his super-scientific knowledge into the creation of the "Captain Satellite" suit. This unique lightweight powersuit allows him to function as a superhero - Captain Satellite. Though he has no formal training in the ways of adventuring, Mann has the able assistance of his bodyguard/girlfriend Shelly Ericson to give him pointers on combat skills.

Paul Mann has made no secret of the fact that he is Captain Satellite. But who is Paul Mann? That question...has yet to be answered.