This week marked the very end of what was once known as Geocities, the free webspace provider once popular in the 90’s. My very first website, more than 10 years ago, was on Geocities. It came at a very important time in my life, when I was still in high school and quite directionless. Creating and maintaining that website, as basic as it was, gave me a sense of accomplishment that really helped me out at that time. As years went on I outgrew the limitations of a free website and made a new one here, and eventually Geocities gained the reputation of having really amateur websites. Its loss today isn’t really a big deal, as there are better websites out there these days, and other ways for people to communicate through the net. But still, we’re at the point now where we can say that the Internet has it’s own history and culture, and now a big chunk of that is gone.

I used my old Geocities site to show of my then burgeoning artwork, and the first piece of art I had on there was a Ninja Turtle.

It came as a huge shock last week when it was announced that the rights to the Ninja Turtles were sold to Nickelodeon. It came out of the blue and I don’t think anyone was expecting that. AT least, not now. On one hand, it’s very sad. The TMNT was the little independent property that went big, but the original studio that started it all was still at the heart of it, with many of the same people working on it that were there from the very beginning. I feel bad for the other artists who have given so much of their lives to these characters, and I’m very surprised that Peter Larid would just be so willing to give it all up like that. However, at the same time, it’s been clear for awhile that Mirage Studios was not capable of giving the Turtles their due anymore. They missed out on so many opportunities to give fans some great stuff. It’s like they saw themselves as a small entity and didn’t feel like expanding beyond that. From my perspective as a fan, they got them selves into a rut and had little interest in getting out of it. I’m not a fan of these big corporate buy-outs of intellectual properties, but now that the entire property is in the hands of a bigger, smarter entity, there’s a lot to be excited about. A new movie and TV series will be on the way, and naturally there’s a risk that they might be ridiculous, but at least this company is willing to do something with these characters and perhaps give the entire franchise a new energy.

But even if everything we get from now on is pure gold, it’s still the end of an era and it’s a little melancholy.

However, this era, right here, continues. I’ve resubscribed my website for another 2 years, and hopefully I’ll see to updating things a little.

Sayonara.

With the impending release of the Astro Boy movie next Friday I’ve been quite busy with my other blog, AstroBoy World. So I haven’t much felt like blogging here. However, something related to Astro recently happened to me that was so crazy, I felt that I should share it here too.

Through my deviantArt account, someone alerted me to this interesting piece of merchandise found on eBay.

It’s a one-of-a-kind custom made Astro Boy bookmark, which was available for sale on eBay for about $4.

Isn’t that artwork something else? There is something familiar about it! Let’s take a closer look.

Hmmmmm!

Yeah, I drew that. My artwork got stolen and used without my permission by someone looking to profit from it. The fact that it was only $4 doesn’t matter. I wasn’t going to see a single penny of it, and I didn’t draw that just so someone else could use it to make money.

But, honestly, I was pretty flattered by it. I’ve had all these idiots, like that Stupid Samurai wanker, show up here to insult me and my artwork, and yet someone thought my work was good enough to steal and and try to sell. Granted, that person is also an idiot for breaking copyright laws and spitting in the face of common decency, but hey, I take what I can get. And not only is this stolen artwork mine, it’s artwork of Astro Boy, the original #1 anime superstar of all time. To me, this means that I have made it! This is the big time!

Anyway, despite being flattered, I still got my revenge. I put an end to the auction. With my fists.

Sayonara.

I am totally blown away by the sheer awesomeness of this incredible trailer for “Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend The Movie“. This is some kind of huge Ultraman movie featuring many characters from the entire scope of the 40+ years of the Japanese franchise. Being around for so long, the Ultraman mythology has become quite complex, and much of the information about it hasn’t always been easily accessible in English. I know a fair bit about it from my own reasearch but nowhere close to everything. I don’t really recognize everything going on in this trailer, but I know enough to be able to tell that whatever is going on here, it’s BIG!

WOW!
It’s like they took all the charm and innocence of the classic 60’s Ultraman style, and rather then redesign and try to make it hip, they just let it be what it should be and instead enhanced the presentation with incredible special effects and cinematography. The result is a sumptuous visual feast of Japanese Tokusatsu Superhero excellence!

There’s an Evil Ultraman! Not a clone or a fake, a real new evil Ultra character who controls an army of monsters. All the good Ultras have to stop him! Some of them have capes, because they are awesome! But then some of them go back to their human form! Other humans discover the Ultraman world! That guy at the end is the human form of a 90’s era Ultra from a different continuity! So much Ultra-stuff to digest!

Hopefully, with this level of quality, they can get the ball rolling again on more Ultraman material being released in the English speaking world. I really want to see this! But just from watching this trailer I feel like I will have to watch about a 100 billion Ultraman episodes to really appreciate the whole thing. So I suppose that’s what I’ll have to do.

Sayonara.

It’s been about 2 weeks since I put forth the challenge to the former art student known Stupid Samurai, giving him the perfect opportunity to focus his attacks and insults in a place specially designed for just such a thing. Plenty of time for him to grow some guts, load his ammo, and come at me with his greatest attack yet. I am not at all surprised that he decided to remain a coward, even though it was his idea to sign up for my largely inactive message board in the first place (which he completely failed at, by the way).

Look, I talk a big game, but I’ve got no delusions about who I am or what I do. I am the first to admit that my artwork isn’t perfect, and I have had a number of students who I tried to teach but the lessons just wouldn’t stick. That’s life. If somebody has a problem with that, and they want to confront me about it, fine. Do it! But is it to much to ask those people to do that the right way? To stand up for your own words with an actual name and e-mail address? To say your point without resorting to disgusting insults? To actually make the attempt to use proper spelling and grammar?

Well, what would be the fun in that, right?

But still, why is it that 99% of the people who have a problem with me refuse to do these things? What does that say about them? If they can’t be bothered to put forth the small amount of effort to express themselves properly, why should I be bothered by what they say?

The Stupid Samurai (it is still amuses me how he refers to himself that way) is just another in a long line of these cowards. Even when given the chance to debate with me, to validate what he says, he would rather hide behind a wall and throw rocks. Not a very samurai-like thing to do, leaving the “stupid” as the only accurate part of his name. And because he hides behind that wall, the rocks he throws always miss. He’s got no aim. He’ll never hit me, because not only are the things he says crude and relatively baseless, but also because the content of his character invalidates anything he says.

Oh yeah, plus the fact that he’s saying all these things about me based on what happened 6 years ago as if it’s still relevant. And he calls me pathetic? Ha!

So this is the final word I have on the sad tale of the Stupid Samurai. It’s too bad, because I would really have enjoyed the chance to have a conversation with someone who hates me this much. It could have been an enlightening experience, and perhaps I could have learned something. But hey, if he would like to prove me wrong, then he should know that the offer is still on the table. I’m sure that he finds all this amusing in his twisted, jumbled logic, what with his obnoxious overuse of terms like “lmao“, but I’m serious about it. If he really means what he says, he’ll post on my board and I’ll listen to him.

But he probably won’t. Because he sucks. lmao.

Sayonara.

Today is September 9, 2009.

09/09/09

999

You probably see where I’m going with this. So, let us take this day to celebrate one of the greatest anime series of all time!

Galaxy Express 999 is one of the coolest concepts in all of classic anime. It’s about space ships that look like trains, and one of them can take you away to a place where you will become immortal. However, the immortals are actually robots who lost their humanity in the process.

One day I will have to sit down and start watching all 100+ episodes, but I’ve always loved the idea, as well as the soul-stirring theme song performed by the legendary Isao Sasaki, the Frank Sinatra of Anime music.

This is just one of those endearing songs that everyone knows, and so it’s been covered many times over the years. My favorite version thus far is this awesome heavy rock ballad by Animetal.

You can watch the entire Galaxy Express 999 TV series on Crunchyroll.com, but you probably won’t get through it all in one day!