patokon blog

 Here is the link for the latest Mangaverse zine, a tribute to Leiji Matsumoto who passed away this year: LINK I'm posting it here for the time being until it can be put up on the N3F website where all the other ishes are here . The cover One of favorite things I did for this ish Please check it out and tell me what you think! On twitter @patokon   or email (patokon(dot)com(at)gmail(dot)com CHEERS!

Hello, friends and manga-philes.      You probably know that my interest in Japan was originally fueled by a combined interest in Japanese animation and martial arts. My interests expanded somewhat over the years, but one big change happened about the age of 15 when I bought my first Japanese collected comic. From that moment on, I became more interested in comics than animation and eventually after moving to Japan, I started to collect the comics of Mr. Leiji Matsumoto .       At first, I was put off by the heavy-lined art and blocky characters, but the more I got into the stories, the less I cared about the style. Eventually, though, I started to appreciate the artistry much in the same way it took me a while to warm to Jack Kirby's art.      Like most Leiji fans, I was heavy into Space Cruiser Yamato , Captain Harlock , Queen Emeraldas , and finally, Galaxy Express 999 . These comics were created in the 70's and are representative of ...

I talk about US ninja comics and Japanese cowboy comics on Tim Young's Deconstructing Comics . Listen to it here ! I based on the lecture I gave last year at the Koshi Manga Museum . First slide from my Ninjas vs Cowboys presentation. Here are my Top 10 Cowboy Manga: 10. Bullet Tommy  『弾丸トミー』by Shige SUGIURA This is a classic, one of the earliest comics. It's a "gag manga" for kids and so pokes fun at the various Western movie tropes. The art resembles Shoney's Big Boy, doesn't it? 9.  The Cactus Kid  『サボテン君』by Osamu TEZUKA This is one of Tezuka's early Western manga when he had only seen a few westerns at the time. I like the idea of a guy who wants to turn his parents' saloon into a milk bar. 8. The Belle Starr Gang  『ベル☆スタア強盗団』by Akihiro ITO Ito is known for his Geobreeders  saga, but this is his take on the real-life outlaw Belle Starr and her gang. I like the art and the attempt to incorporate real-life events into the...

Of the genre combinations, this is not one that readily comes to mind (such as the ever popular Slasher/Romantic Comedy crossover). My favorite crossover might be Horror/Comedy with SF/Horror a close second, but some really great SF just happens to have Western themes. (This is a repost of an old blog post that had somehow gotten corrupted. I actually don't have a whole lot of SF/Western items to add though). Check out my top ten. It was originally five, but then I remembered 5 more:   10. Westworld (movie/tv) - About a theme park that uses A.I. androids to show guests "a good time" in different worlds created to simulate space travel, ancient Rome, the Age of Chivalry, and the wild west. Unfortunately, a good time means being massacred by androids. Some great moments in this flick and Yul Brynner is the baddest android gunslinger badass ever, but takes too long to get going. This could use a remake, but avoid the sequel like the Black Death if you know what's goo...