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This the Giant Madalla figure from Shikaruna Koubo, made in Japan. He’s larger than a standard size kaiju figure which is normally 8-9 inches…he’s almost 12 inches tall. This is a small edition, beautifully painted on glow vinyl, and I love the baroque pose! I’m not a fan of all the Shikaruna Koubo sculpts, but this one I really gravitated towards because it reminded me of “S’pell Sejin” (see below), the famous alien from the 1960s Ultraseven, episode 12, “From Another Planet With Love” in which Ultraseven, in order to ultimately defeat the alien villain, zings his helmet blade and cuts him in half! My son and I were floored! That scene was so crazy and outrageous!

The episode was also never shown again after it’s initial broadcast in Japan because many survivors of the Atomic bombings during WWII in Japan were offended by the portrayal of the alien villain. The alien race was poisoned by nuclear or “S’pellium bombs” on their own planet and in order to continue living, they needed to feed on the blood of human children, so they invade Earth. This negative depiction of radiation victims turning into alien vampires caused the uproar and Tsuburaya Productions pulled the episode. More detail on it at  August Ragone’s excellent Japanese film, pop culture blog that’s also up for a “Rondo Hatton” award. Go vote (category 15)!

Spell Sejin

Ultraseven

Here’s a wonderful article I found on Ping-Mag about the origins of manga and a lost art in Japan known as Kamishibai. Kamishibai was live storytelling on the streets of Japan for children and adults. Kamishibai included the showing of fantastic illustrations as the narrator sometimes performed his stories. Sometimes those illustrations were even original pieces of art. It’s one of these wonderful lost arts that has diminished due to our modern age of entertainment thru tvs, computers etc… wonderful article but at the same time somewhat sad…Of course I would be in quite a state of bliss to be able to hear him tell/show an Ogon Bat story…live.

Fortress of Solitude illustration from my new Superman picture book

Sketch

Richard Donner Superman movie 1978

The original fortress from the silver age was built into the side of an artic mountain and Superman (or another kryptonite) could only lift the gigantic golden key to unlock the equally huge door to get in. I opted to stay true to the version of the fortress that Richard Donner created in the 1978 Superman movie and the one which Bryan Singer stayed pretty true to in Superman Returns. Smallville also depicts that version so I wanted to stay close to what fans recognized including adding the aurora borealis.

Here’s the art for some 12″ x 12″ pillows my wife and I are creating for our new upcoming “Jumbee” shop. I drew the illustrations with a black pencil, scanned them and added color in illustrator. Printed here in the good ol’ USA on a really nice quality linen cotton fabric and all hand sewn, not by me because I’d be all thumbs and get BLOOOOD al over them! AGHHHH! But my wife Lisa is doing a freaking fantastic job on them and adding some really nice stitching details to the sewn edges. They’re 2-sided, the backs have a graphic pattern that consists of the monster heads and some funny quips. I’ll post pics of actual samples soon. SAY WHAAAT?!

An inexpensive little model kit that put a huge smile on me and my son’s faces.
Based on the legendary, larger, plastic remote control Redking kit from the 60s, this little gem
was quick and easy to snap together. The figure itself has a dash of paint on him adding a little more of a nostalgic feel to him.
More info on the history of Marusan model kits here.

Box art is fantastic!

Even includes the battery operated remote control! Siiick!

Giant B-Club RedKing playing.

I’m finally getting around to posting sneak peeks of my Superman picture book being released April 1st 2010, available in bookstores everywhere and amazon. Check the blog for sketches and doodles that lead to the final illustrations. Here’s the cover art. You can also check out more of my books here.

Click on the image above for a quick animated intro to Honk & friends.

Here I’ll be sharing everything that is my pillow headed pal Honk-Honk-Ashoo.
Animated digital book, cartoon shorts, toy designs, and news on upcoming Honk projects.

I’m finally getting around to posting sneak peeks of my Superman picture book being released April 1st 2010, available in bookstores everywhere and amazon. Check the blog for sketches and doodles that lead to the final illustrations. Here’s the cover art. You can also check out more of my books here.

Checkout my Wicket & Chewie short along with other animations and animatics including Honk-Honk-Ashoo, Kaiju Patrol and a a whacky character influenced by Eric Roberts!

A category dedicated to all things Fun-boy, including an up coming interactive digtal book, toys concepts, and more.