Cover Story - Top 15 Basil Gogos Covers

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This weekend the world lost a titan of illustration and horror- Basil Gogos.  Gogos was one of the fundamental names in horror artwork; his style was unique and widely influential in a way that few others have ever managed.  He’s also one of a lot of artists that don't get brought up nearly enough due to how much his work was instrumental in defining a previous era.  Gogos’ greatest volume of published work with the farthest reaching impact was unquestionably his huge collection of cover art produced for Famous Monsters of Filmland.  

Famous Monsters was a horror/monster/schlock magazine that first saw print in 1958 and basically invented the horror movie subculture.  In the days before the Internet stuff like Famous Monsters was the only way horror fans could interact with other fans or even get a hint of the horror landscape beyond their own personal borders and it helped inspire a lot of fans turned creators over the years.  So, today we honor a great man and his great legacy with the top 15 Basil Gogos covers of Famous Monsters of Film Land.

Filmland - 8 Kaiju That Should Join the MonsterVerse

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We’re now a couple weeks out from Kong: Skull Island, the 2^nd installment of Legendary’s proposed “Monster-Universe” of films.  For those not in the know, this is a planned shared universe of giant monsters movies that’s been in the works for a while now.  The concept originated with Legendary’s desire to reboot Godzilla for the modern blockbuster age when they came across the script for Pacific Rim.  They like some of the concepts but ultimately ended up deciding to make a Marvel-style shared universe instead.  The first installment in this was 2014’s Godzilla, directed by Garreth Edwards, which wasn’t great. 

However, Kong: Skull Island looks fresh and Godzilla: King of Monsters is showing a lot of promise, bringing in Michael Dougherty, director of Krampus and Trick r Treat, as a new director along with three classic monsters in Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah.  All of this is leading up to an eventual King Kong vs. Godzilla remake, though there’s plenty of room for franchise expansion beyond that.  That subject of franchise development is what I’m here to talk about today with 8 classic Toho Kaiju who should appear next in the giant monster-verse. 

The Mummy Trailer Breakdown

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Let’s talk for a second about “cinematic universes.”  The idea of cinematic universes is a pretty new concept for most general audiences, but it actually finds its origins with the so-called Universal Monster Cycle.  

This was a collection of films produced in the ‘30s and ‘40s by Universal Studios and are considered the first major horror hits of the talking picture era.  Basically, our universally held conceptions of Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, the Wolfman all come from these movies, and they all ended up sharing continuity with each other. 

The big reason for this was that aside from being owned by the same studio, each of the monster movies had a unique style while still fitting together as a cohesive whole.  That’s always been the secret of the cinematic universe, and now, 85 years later, Universal seems to have forgotten it as they return to this particular well with 2017’s The Mummy.

Kong: Skull Island Trailer 2 Analysis

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One of the more obnoxious trends of the 2010s is every studio under the sun trying to scare up a bit of the Marvel shared universe magic.  While I like the Marvel movies, I do think people put a little too much stock in their shared universe angle being why they’re successful.  The truth is that if Iron Man, Avengers, or Civil War hadn’t been good movies all the continuity in the world wouldn’t have saved them; see The Incredible Hulk. 

While there are a lot of reasons studios have come to obsess over shared universes none of them seem to be the thing that actually makes shared universes fun.  See, studios love shared universes for the online marketing hype machine of clues and threads or the way it brings syndicated storytelling to the movies, making films binge-able when the thing that makes them fun is that they allow several different genres to co-exist.  This is where Kong: Skull Island comes in. 

Rogue One 2nd Trailer Analysis

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It’s amazing how quickly the cultural landscape can be almost completely redefined.  Go back just 2 years and the idea of Star Wars, as a continual geek media presence, would’ve seemed far-fetched at best.  Oh to be sure, Star Wars has always been AROUND but for the most part that’s been in the form of a handful of cartoons and a rampant expanded universe brand mainly propped up by the paperback genre fiction machine and the brand’s universal appeal in the world of video and board games. 

Now, however, Star Wars is set to have a new film come out every year like clockwork till at least the end of the decade, basically making the question of “what’s going on with Star Wars?” a perpetual one.  There’s always going to be the next episode or the next spin-off or the next TV series at least till the end of the new trilogy and probably beyond.  In just a year it’s become the equal of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; a constant force of culture that must always be addressed at any time.  With that in mind, let’s take a look at the latest Rogue One trailer.

Kong: Skull Island First Trailer

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Edited by Robert Beach

One of the more bizarre stories of the 21^st century is the bizarre disconnect between the companies that make movies and the companies that simply finance and distribute them. This has become an even more central part of the story of film production in the age of franchises and sagas where every studio is looking for their multi-film, years-long movie series. 

The most recent example of this would have to be the case of Legendary Entertainment, who recently broke with former partners Warner Brothers and had spent the last three years trying to prove themselves a viable investment through their growing slate of prospective giant monster movies. 

This started in 2013 with their push for Pacific Rim and then broke into the big time in 2014 with Godzilla. Godzilla’s the film that proved them a solvent business, so in 2015, they announced plans for a whole slate of Kaiju flicks based around Godzilla 2, Kong: Skull Island, and finally a remake of King Kong vs. Godzilla. This year, we’ve got our first look at that ambitious plan with the debut trailer for Kong: Skull Island. 

Static Thoughts - History of Spider-Man TV Shows

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In case you’re unaware, today marks the fourth season finale of Marvel’s ongoing Ultimate Spider-Man animated series.  The show is one of four ongoing Marvel animated productions running through their Disney connection alongside Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Hulk & the Agents of SMASH, and Guardians of the Galaxy.  

The show has become pretty widely popular with kids, introducing a wide supporting cast of Marvel mainstays while also blending its elements with the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe while also featuring great comic shout outs, like the debut of fan favorite Miles Morales as played by Donald Glover.  We’ll see if it persists now that Marvel has an onscreen Spider-Man as well but for now, I figured we could celebrate with a look back at Spider-Man’s long, storied history on television as Marvel’s #1 franchise. 

Static Thoughts - Extreme Ghostbusters

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Edited by Robert Beach 

In 1984, Columbia Pictures produced Ghostbusters, a horror comedy starring a quartet of hilarious comedians and a ton of great genre elements.  The film was initially intended for an older audience, which is why most of the humor in the film is about sex and adult situations with the special FX action sequences packaged around the dialogue heavy gags and comedy.  However, much to Columbia’s surprise, the film proved a massive hit with kids whose parents took one look at the trailer featuring a cartoon ghost logo and claymation monsters getting zapped with lasers and decided to bring their children off to see it.  

Now with a merchandising juggernaut dropped into their laps Columbia needed to maintain interest from their audience while the sequel was in development.  Their solution was The Real Ghostbusters, a top notch ‘80s animated series premiering in 1986 and lasting till 1991.  Then, six years later in 1997; they made a sequel show called Extreme Ghostbusters.

John Boyega Joining Pacific Rim 2 Changes Everything

Edited by Robert Beach 

John Boyega, a talented actor who finally broke into the mainstream in last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has finally landed his first major post-Star Wars gig with Pacific Rim 2. The shaky sequel to 2013’s international hit has cast Boyega as the son of Idris Elba’s Stacker Pentecost from the first movie. This is a major announcement and a major stroke of good fortune for Pacific Rim 2. 

Since the announcement, the film's production has been on unstable footing after the Pacific Rim animated series dissolved on top of creator/director Guillermo Del Toro announced he wasn’t returning to direct the sequel, leading Legendary to drop any concrete premiere date for the film. Speaking of premiere dates, it was Godzilla 2 that slipped into Pacific Rim 2’s place on the schedule, forming an interesting rivalry. Additionally, Godzilla 2 is also facing down trouble as director Gareth Edwards won’t be returning for the sequel to his 2014 kaiju blockbuster. 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer

Edited by Robert Beach

By now, you’ve probably heard the Disney/Star Wars experiment isn’t going to be limited to the new trilogy of films kicked off by The Force Awakens. In case you didn’t know, the plan is every other year (i.e. 2016, 2018, 2020, and so on) instead of an episodic movie. They’ll release a spin-off flick as part of a new series entitled A Star Wars Story because the original name of Star Wars Anthology wasn’t enough of a mouthful I suppose. 

A lot of folks, including yours truly, are cautious about this plan as it smacks of corporate milking and risk of overexposure for a brand that only just found its way back to credibility after nearly a decade of being a joke in the mainstream; however, all those anxieties were washed away in an instant with the release of the first trailer for the first of these films entitled: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

1st Godzilla 2016 Images

In case you hadn’t heard there’s a new Godzilla movie coming our way real soon.  I wouldn’t blame you for not knowing, the last one was only a couple of years ago and even though sequels come out quick these days there’s usually more of a gap than that, especially given all the production shenanigans now plaguing Legendary studios.  However, this new Godzilla film isn’t a sequel to the 2014 formula snore-fest with a better than expected ending, it’s a whole new Godzilla movie produced by Toho, the Japanese studio that invented the king of the monsters.  While none of the Godzilla films are objectively great movies the very achievement of Godzilla himself is pretty impressive, one of the truly modern pop icons that comes exclusively from the world of film. 

The entire genre of “giant monster movie” was more or less defined by Toho and it was Godzilla that helmed that flagship.  What’s more, a lot of now common ideas like broader, inter-movie continuity originated in the Toho Kaiju franchise as well as the Universal monster movies.  As such, the launch of a new Godzilla film from the people who created him is a big deal and now we have our first images and they’re absolutely terrifying. 

Independence Day: Resurgence Trailer

The odd thing about movies being something that’s enjoyed by a wide age group is that while some trends represent genuine progress forward and new tastes nostalgia from the recently moneyed ends up an equally if not more powerful market force.  That particular truth is why the 2010s have ended up such a breeding ground for ‘90s nostalgia, or ‘90stalgia as I lovingly call it.  X-Files is back, Jurassic Park is back, Godzilla is back, Power Rangers is on the way, and now we’ve got the first trailer for the triumphant return of possibly the most important ‘90s blockbuster ever made Independence Day. 

Kaijumax #6 Review

Kaijumax proves that cartoony and quirky visual aesthetics and dark social commentary go together perfectly, check it out over on All-Comic:

http://all-comic.com/2015/kaijumax-6/

Godzilla In Hell #3 Review

I breakdown the literary allusions endemic to Godzilla in Hell and how the creators have set out to recreate the Divine Comedy through the lens of Toho Kaiju iconography, check it out over on Front Towards Gamer:

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/10/01/godzilla-in-hell-3-review-comics/

Panel Vision - Top 10 Godzilla Covers

Edited by Robert Beach

Welcome back to my bi-weekly Saturday cover showcase. We’ll see if I’m committed enough to eventually give it less of a mouthful of a name. Sorry, September has been such a sketchy month for blog posts; hopefully, that will turn around in the latter half of the month, but I make no promises. You can still find my weekly work on All-Comic and Front Towards Gamer, and I’ll still be getting pieces out like this one. 

With that little bit of housekeeping out of the way, Godzilla, where to begin?  In case you’ve somehow avoided one of the largest figures in nerd culture, Godzilla is a giant monster lizard who birthed the Kaiju subgenre of Sci-Fi/Horror films. He’s been around for over 50 years, is the King of the Monsters, and is incredibly awesome. Godzilla’s also appeared on numerous comic covers over the years, and this Saturday we honor him.  

Godzilla In Hell #2

If you've ever wanted to see Godzilla stomp his way through the underworld, accompanied by quasi-biblical narration, ladenned with judeo-christian mythological allusions, boy do I have the comic for you, check out my review over on Front Towards Gamer

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/08/28/godzilla-in-hell-2-review-comics/

Kaijumax #5 Review

Kaijumax is one of the best comics of the year, an amazingly imaginative look reworking of a prison drama through the lens of giant monsters.  Issue 5 is a real knockout that brings home the dark and creepy nature of psychological pressure due to imprisonment.  Check out the full review over on Front Towards Gamer:

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/08/14/kaijumax-5-review-comics/

Slasher Reboots & How To Do Them

Edited by Robert Beach 

Recently, it was announced that New Line would be producing a new remake of Nightmare on Elm Street. Hot on the heals of this announcement came the news that CW was developing a Friday the 13^th TV show, most likely in attempt to capitalize on the success of similar horror shows like Bates Motel, Hannibal, and Scream. 

These two announcements represent the latest in the long, rough cycle of slasher film reboots that started in 2003 when Platinum Dunes first resurrected the Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series.  Speaking of which, that series is getting its 5^th reboot attempt next year with Leatherface, another prequel intended to explore the character’s origins. 

Panel Vision - Kaijumax

Kaijumax is a comic about a prison for giant monsters that draws heavy inspiration from the various films of Toho Studio’s Godzilla franchise.  The series itself is a great, a winning combination of clever visual gags an meaningful writing that knows how to get the most out of its characters and ideas.  Being a big fan of the Godzilla franchise I thought I’d talk about the various films that Kaijumax is drawing inspiration from, especially with this week’s issue.  In case you haven’t read my mini-review this latest issue puts the series focus on three quasi-new characters of the series.

 There’s Mecha-Zon, a robot monster built by humans to destroy Kaiju but who has turned against mankind and renounced violence, Whoofy, a the bumbling and comical son of Ape-Whale, one of the resident kings of the Kaijumax, and Jeong, son of Kaijumax’s Warden Kang and one of the facilities most powerful guards, able to transform into a monster-sized superhero.  Each of these characters has a key parallel from the Godzilla franchise and even though Kaijumax and I’m going to talk about them, starting with Mecha-Zon and his counterpart Mechagodzilla.