BETWEEN THE PANELS: THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST

One of the best stories Marvel Comics has ever produced began back in 2006. Not only were the writers faithful to the history of the character, but they acknowledged all the previous continuity and expanded the character in ways no one ever dreamed of, keeping it all within the aesthetic of the character and themes (meaning they didn't do anything crazy or out of left field with the character, you know, like turning the Punisher into a Frankenstein Monster or sending Jonah Hex into space... yeah, those actually happened). THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST represents one of the finest examples of what great writers can do, the potential lying in wait for all comic book heroes, and what great comic books are all about.

If you like Hong Kong martial arts action, Chinese mysticism and mythology, badass characters and some of the best action in all comicdom then this book was made for you. Like all great stories it starts off small, draws you into the plot and the title character and then expands to something larger and magnificent. The writers are aware of the history and continuity of the character as well as the practically unknown status of the character to most of the world at large. They take both the character's history and relative obscurity and use it to their advantage, retelling his origin accurately while simultaneously building upon it. The result is masterful. If you've never read an Iron Fist story before you will be brought up to speed and if you are very familiar with him you will feel gratified by the experience. The story makes you feel like you haven't missed anything and you don't have to read anything prior to this yet drawing you in so deeply you want to read more.

Iron Fist is quickly rising in relevance and popularity. NETFLIX has set the stage for an upcoming big budget Iron Fist original tv series with the success of their DAREDEVIL series. They've announced that this year (more likely 2016) that there will be an Iron Fist series. This series will take place in the same world as their Daredevil series as well as the same world of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Avengers franchise). Marvel has been pushing him in comic books too fairly heavily since 2006 in an attempt to familiarize readers with the character. Iron Fist is a regular supporting character in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon series as well as a playable character in the Disney/Marvel Infinity video game. Soon we will all know who this great character is if we don't know already.

What really establishes a character and gives them longevity is a defining story. Nostalgia can take a character to a point but it can't make the character legendary. Iron Fist has had hundreds of stories prior to 2006, some better than others. Nostalgia carried him quite a distance. The early stories by Roy Thomas, Len Wein, Doug Moench, Chris Claremont, and John Byrne from the 1970's are wonderful and the character couldn't be what he is today without them. But the real defining story for Iron Fist wouldn't happen until more recently.

THE PLOT SYNOPSIS BEGINS (SPOILERS)
The Immortal Iron Fist volume 1 begins with a six issue story arc titled ominously: THE LAST IRON FIST STORY. The landscape of the Marvel Universe had recently been changed by the events of the super hero civil war. Heroes now have to register with the government and SHIELD before they go about heroics or they go to prison as per the Super Hero Registration Act. As a result many heroes have gone underground, still fighting the badguys but now also on the run from the goodguys, men and women who were once their friends now charged with hunting down unregistered heroes. Iron Fist is one such unregistered hero.

We find Iron Fist in the first issue fighting against a HYDRA cell. The fight occurs at the famous New York Rand Tower, the headquarters of the RAND MEACHUM corporation. The Hydra agents are after the plans for a new experimental magnetic train system being developed by the Rand Corp. Iron Fist's real name is Danny Rand. It's his own company Hydra is attempting to break into. Danny successfully repels the invaders, but Hydra doesn't give up so easily. They make another attempt at the company and on Iron Fist's life. Everything goes smoothly until Danny suddenly loses the power of the Iron Fist...

Meanwhile halfway across the world a man comes out of hiding to join the fray. Being pursued by deadly assassins and martial arts experts, the man named Orson Randall bring his $#!+ storm to the party. Danny watches in awe as Orson's fists light up with mystical chi energy, the same energy that should be flowing through himself. Orson and Danny escape the fracas barely keeping their lives. Orson says he's the immortal Iron Fist... If he's the Iron Fist, then what is Danny?

Orson Randall

Orson reveals to Danny a secret history that Danny was never told, a history he needed to know, the history of the Iron Fists. There have been 64 Iron Fists in the past. Only ever one Iron Fist alive at one time. Orson was Danny's predecessor, the 65th Iron Fist, making Danny the 66th and current Iron Fist. He tells Danny of a book which holds every secret and history of every Iron Fist to come before him, everything they've learned and every ability they've uncovered. This book can only be read by the Iron Fist. Orson had been in hiding, diluting his mystical chi so thinly it could not be detected. It was believed he had perished. Now there are two Iron Fists and Orson comes bearing a warning.

Two Iron Fists

The Hydra cell and the assassins after Orson come together under the command of Danny's arch rival, Davos ~ The Steel Serpent. The assassins with him are all women wielding a mystical power, different but not unlike the power flowing through the Iron Fist. Danny has defeated Davos many times in the past but the Steel Serpent has access to a new power. The women under his command offer up their lives, transferring their lifeforce and power unto him. Davos overflows with deadly power, stronger than he has ever been before.

Davos ~ The Steel Serpent

Orson and Danny travel deep beneath the streets of New York. Orson tells Danny it was the Randall family fortune that built the Rand Corporation. Orson's father had ties to the mystical city K'un Lun, the heavenly city where the power of the Iron Fist comes from, and was working on a secret railway station for them. Orson takes Danny to the railway station, but they are not alone. Davos, his assassins, and Hydra storm the station. The final showdown begins. Danny gets his power back. The two Iron Fists stand back to back ready to fight. Danny's friends from the Heroes For Hire arrive, Luke Cage, Misty Knight, and Colleen Wing. The five of them make a last stand.

The Hydra agents fall to Danny's friends while the Iron Fists battle the Steel Serpent. Davos's power proves too great. He defeats Danny. Orson, with his long years of experience, puts up a good fight, but even he isn't strong enough to defeat Davos. The Steel Serpent kills Orson right in front of Danny's eyes and then moves to finish off Danny himself. A blinding flash of light stops everyone. The lords of K'un Lun emerge from the light, "Daniel Rand-Kai, your city needs you. The time of the Tournament of the Seven Heavens is upon us." The battle is interrupted. The remaining Hydra agents flee and Danny is taken back into the light, back to K'un Lun.

The Death of Orson Randall

THE SEVEN CAPITOL CITIES OF HEAVEN: the title of the next story arc. K'un Lun is mystical city from Chinese myth, a land of immortals rumored to appear on our plain of existence only once every ten tears. A great dragon god named Shou Lao the Undying resides in K'un Lun and it is the power of this ancient and immortal dragon that flows through the Iron Fist. The Iron Fist is K'un Lun's champion, their immortal weapon. But K'un Lun isn't the only heavenly city. Six other such mystical cities orbit the heavens, each with their own immortal weapon, the cities intersecting once every 88 years. The cities literally and metaphysically spiral together, the point at which they meet creating a new landmass. It is on this neutral landmass that the Tournament of the Seven Heavens takes place.

The tournament pits each of the seven Immortal Weapons against each other, not to the death, but until the opponent yields. Death can result from the fighting however. Each of the Immortal Weapons is a master of their own unique style of martial arts, equip with special abilities granted to them by great deities that reside in their cities. The weapons are Fat Cobra, Tiger's Beautiful Daughter, Dog Brother #1, The Prince of Orphans, The Bride of Nine Spiders, and the Iron Fist. And the seventh immortal weapon reveals themselves: Davos, changing his name from the Steel Serpent to the Steel Phoenix.

The Immortal Weapons ~ Fat Cobra, Bride of Nine Spiders, Dog Brother #1, Tiger's Beautiful Daughter, Prince of Orphans, and Davos the Steel Phoenix.

As the tournament commences the Hydra cell after Iron Fist continues to plot how to reach him and how to breach the barrier that separates the heavens and the earth. Meanwhile on K'un Lun another plot is brewing with the citizenry of the heavenly city, one that could change K'un Lun forever. All this is occurring while Danny secretly travels back to Earth between matches, learning more about the other Iron Fists before him and how to unlock more hidden powers. And sure enough everything comes to a head in one massive climax! At the very end however just before the final enemy is vanquished they reveal one huge secret... SPOILER ALERT!!! "There is an eighth city..."

The Immortals Weapons united against Hydra

Next, after being victorious, the Immortal Weapons minus Davos, set about tracking down the location of the eighth city. As they proceed with their investigation Danny has his 33rd birthday. While researching more of the Book of the Iron Fist Danny notices something strange. Every Iron Fist either died after living 33 years or less. It was on Orson's 33rd birthday that he went into hiding and disappeared until recently. That night a powerful demon disguised as a man appears. He nearly kills Danny if not for the intervention of Luke Cage.

This demon has killed many Iron Fists in the past. It is the strongest opponent Danny has ever faced and he hasn't the strength to beat this demon alone. Good thing he's not alone... His fellow immortal weapons come to his aid along with the Heroes For Hire. Together they are able stave off the demon's onslaught. During the events leading up to the battle they learn that the demon is only a slave to higher power, a darker power, one that leads directly to the eighth city. They also learn the location of the eighth city... and it's not a heavenly city. A pit of monsters and demons and an untold number of innocent souls sent there only because of a corrupt ruler in heaven. The Immortal Weapons set out for the hidden city intent on rescuing all the innocents therein. As they stand before the gates none of them realize that inside will be the most difficult challenge any of them has ever faced.
THE PLOT SYNOPSIS ENDS

One of my favorite video game genres is Fighting Games. Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Soul Calibur, Guilty Gear, and many others. I like the world warrior aspect of them, masters of their own specific fighting styles coming together to prove who among them is the best. I also love kickass action movies. Gun fights are cool but hand to hand combat seems way more intense and brutal. That's what led me to martial arts films and the 1970's kung fu boom. And then there's my love of Asian culture, the honor among Samurai, Bushido, Ninjas, Shaolin Monks, and more. If you like any of these things then you need to check this book out. Naturally I fell in love with this comic. I fell hard.

From beginning to end the story is compelling and exciting. Once the writing switches hands from issue #16 to #17 you notice only slightly. Each story arc flows together naturally and with fluidity. Unfortunately the art is rather inconsistent. This is a common problem with Marvel Comics as a company as they often give less attractive art to books they either don't believe in or books with low sales. As a result of this some stories which could have been legendary become merely cult classics. Such is the case here. David Aja's unique style of art works well for the most part but even within his art alone there are varying degrees of quality ranging from gorgeous to lack luster. But the art never gets to an unbearable level.

The storytelling alone is magnificent. After reading this volume Iron Fist feels like a truly wonderful character as amazing as any wall-crawler or as uncanny as any Westchester student or teacher. What's even more amazing is how well the supporting cast is depicted too. You really come to care for Orson Randall and want to know more about him. But for me it was the Immortal Weapons. These characters, including Davos, were so unique, so full of character, and so damn cool I would follow each of them into their own books if Marvel gave them the chance. The Bride of Nine Spiders and the Prince of Orphans are especially remarkable. In fact, there is a five issue mini series of the Immortal Weapons that for me is a part of this volume even though technically it is it's own. The volume is simply titled The Immortal Weapons.

The covers for the 5 Immortal Weapons issues

After reading all 27 regular issues, the annual, two special one-shots, and the five issue Immortal Weapons mini series, you truly look at all these characters as something special and unique in a medium flooded by derivatives and mirrored storylines. And it's completely accessible to any reader who wants in. Accessible in a good way, not like so many of Marvel's "superstar" writers current works that barely acknowledge the decades of history and continuity and character depictions that vaguely resemble what came before. There's a place for comics like that, "gateway comics" that get you into this amazing world. And then there are comics like this which transcend the medium.

Jim Starlin said it best, the comic book industry piles book after book after book on the market. Some of it is alright, there's a lot of garbage too, but every now and then you find a diamond amid all that crap. The Immortal Iron Fist is one of those diamonds. When I first read it I had zero interest in the character of Iron Fist, hell I even used to make fun of him (only because I was ignorant and dumb). But a friend of mine talked it up so well he convinced me to give it a try. Now I will sing this book's praise until the day I die.

All comic book writers in the business currently should read this volume and learn from it. The Immortal Iron Fist by Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, David Aja and continued by Duane Swierczynski is one of the standards that I now judge all other modern comics by (one of the standards... there are others and I will eventually let them be known ;)

 Overall Ranking: 9 out of 10

Nigh perfect

THE METAL WILL LIVE ON: THIRD EYE BLIND ~ DOPAMINE

Album cover art

I've been a fan of the band THIRD EYE BLIND for nearly two decades now. I've enjoyed their music since first hearing it while watching the movie CAN'T HARDLY WAIT (1998). Then of course the endless radio play of songs that have since becomes true classics like JUMPER, SEMI-CHARMED LIFE, and many many more. I didn't actively seek out their work until 2003's release of the album OUT OF THE VEIN, when I was with my buddy Ross and he bought the album (because he too loved them and also had their previous two albums). We went back to my place and gave the new CD a spin. Today I'm doing the same thing.

12 years later saw the release of the band's 5th album titled DOPAMINE. In the last twelve years the band has gone through several changes, including losing nearly every member save lead singer Stephen Jenkins and drummer Brad Hargreaves. Not to mention making us wait six years between albums (a seemingly new trend since their fourth album was released back in 2009). I remember going crazy with excitement when URSA MAJOR (album #4) came out. That album had several songs that completely blew me away. Overall the album wasn't as good as the previous three albums, but the six year wait was worth it. Another six years have passed and we now have album #5. Was it worth the wait?

The Track list:

Tracks 1 through 6 maintain an energetic pace. The opening track Everything Is Easy is catchy and a little poppy. It sets the mood and tells us that this is going to be a fun listen. In typical Third Eye Blind fashion the opening track is just a taste and the music only gets better from here on in.  Shipboard Cook was the first song I found myself humming at random. All The Souls has a very unique sound that I haven't heard from them before. The song reminds me of something Ben Folds might do. The song is refreshing and a highlight of the album.

The title track Dopamine is another standout song on the album and another song I find myself singing to myself here and there. I must admit that the following song Rites Of Passage and Dopamine have similar sounds (not a bad thing) and blend together during a continuous play. Both songs compliment each other well. And that brings us to track 6, Back To Zero, perhaps my favorite song on the album. By this point half the album has passed and it's been nothing but excellence. I don't know if it's a Euro rock feel and sound that they've channeled for this album but whatever it is it's good.

Something In You takes the mood down a little bit but slyly brings it back to a head by the end of the song upping the tempo. It's a great transition to the slower half of the album, the more broody aspects of Jenkins. Get Me Out Of Here continues the drop, still a fun song but moving towards more serious territory, a foreshadowing of the next song. Blade is one seriously dark song in the tradition of BLUE's DARKNESS or album #1's GOD OF WINE or dare I say the legendary SLOW MOTION. Jenkins is known for powerful and striking lyrics and Blade is another dark feather in his cap (well done, sir).

All These Things brings the mood back up from its somber musings resembling the fun we were having at the onset of the album. Exiles is the band's fanfare for the freaks. Over the years and listenings to the music I get the feeling that Stephen Jenkins considers himself an outcast in constant search of his people. Songs like MISFITS and MONOTOV'S PRIVATE OPERA reinforce this message. And finally the album wraps up with the song Say It, another lyrically and emotionally load track with a seemingly large amount of personal insight into his life. There's a hint of a hidden track there at the end but then it's cut off right when you're salivating for more (they did this once before on the last album with the final track CARNIVAL BARKER. At least that track was released online in it's entirety. Where's the rest of this song, huh 3Eb?).

Click below to get a free song!

Third Eye Blind Official Website

 

They did however give us an exclusive B-Side available on their website for free download, a cover of BEYONCE's song MINE. It's a cool way to do your exclusive tracks so that everybody can get them without having to purchase the album at a particular vendor. The song itself is interesting. I've never been much of a Beyonce' fan so maybe I'm not the best judge of its character. It does have a universal message to it that I'm sure we've all felt or will feel at some point in our lives. Meh, I would've preferred something off of 3Eb's mythic lost album SYMPHONY OF DECAY, but I'm greedy like that I suppose.

Overall I feel the album is the most balanced of all their work. Albums #1-3 have since passed into myth as legendary and untouchable musical works so it is unfair to compare this latest album to them. Ursa Major had magnificent peaks and incredible valleys (whether that's good or bad I'll leave up to you). Upon the initial listen I was looking for songs with the power and vitality of CAN YOU TAKE ME and DON'T BELIEVE A WORD. I didn't find songs that quite lived up to those standards, but neither did I find songs with such a low pulse like ONE IN TEN or WHY CAN'T YOU BE.

All in all they made us wait six years (again!) for their next album. And a quality album it is. I've seen them live in concert, I've purchased all their albums, and I've downloaded the exclusive tracks, I'm also a member of their fan club. It's safe to say I'm going to be a life long fan and I will wait however long it takes until the next album. Was it worth the wait? This latest album delivered more quality tracks than the previous album. The songs themselves might not quite reach the level of the highlights of Ursa Major but in terms of shear numbers of good tracks Dopamine exceeds its predecessor.

Keep it up guys. If you make more music I'll buy it. See you on the summer tour!

Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10

SILVER TONGUED SILVER SCREEN: IT FOLLOWS

It seems like we are still in a drought for horror films. We had a few good ones last year like Annabelle, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, and few others here and there but nothing like 2013 with The Conjuring, Insidious Chapter II, Evil Dead, You're Next, and Mama among others. That was a damn good year for horror. I was spoiled I think by how awesome 2013's horror output was. So spoiled that when a horror film comes out nowadays with any sorta positive hype surrounding it I get really excited!

I first saw a trailer for IT FOLLOWS way back in February and I have been looking forward to it ever since. It looked original or at least an original take on a tried and true formula. The trailer was well done with an ominous soundtrack, frightening imagery with haunting simplicity. Reviews were starting to roll in and people were saying good things. It started out with a limited theatrical release on Friday the 13th February 2015 and started getting a wider and wider distribution until finally reaching my little town. I finally had my opportunity... I apologize because this review was a long time coming.

Jay is a high school student looking for the right guy. She finds a guy who she thinks just might be the love of her life. She gives her virginity to him in the back of his car and everything changes forever. She's lying along the back seat, her world still spinning from the experience. He's fishing around in the trunk of the car for something while she waits. Suddenly a rag drenched in chloroform is shoved in her face. After a brief struggle everything goes black.

She wakes up in her underwear tied to a wheelchair in the middle of a dilapidated building. Her boyfriend is standing behind her. A figure emerges from the shadows across the room. It moves slowly. Its eyes never blink. Its expression is vacant. And it keeps coming. Jay doesn't know the figure approaching, but it terrifies her. Her boyfriend begins telling her a strange story as he wheels her further away from the ghoulish being advancing upon them.

It can look like anyone. No one can see it except for you. It won't stop coming until it has you. It was after him before. Now he has passed it on to her. It won't stop until it reaches her. If it gets her it will kill her. Then it will come for him. If it gets him it will come after the one who gave it to him and so on down the line. No one knows what it is or where it came from or where it started. All they know is what will happen when it gets you and how to pass it on to someone new. Sleep with someone and it shifts focus onto them. That's your only chance... give it to someone else.

Jay tries to fight it. She enlists the help of her friends. Not all of them make it out alive. The others can't see it but that doesn't stop it from killing them. Single minded. Unkillable. Unstoppable. Everything they try ends in failure. Jay has to decide whether to keep running or damn someone else to this unrelenting torment. And if it gets her everyone before her will die. No matter what choice she makes death will be on her hands.

This movie has a freaky premise, unique yet familiar, like a rethinking of Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers. Cinematography is excellent, reminiscent of early John Carpenter (my favorite! Dean Cundy is the best DP there is!). The soundtrack is weird too. I talked with some fellow horror fans and they said the music kinda ruined it for them. For me it worked. It was so bizarre and it translated through to me giving me an unhinged feeling. The distance shots of the thing approaching were unnerving and very creepy. The acting was a little sub par but that's no shocker for a horror film. I loved a many number of things in this film.

...So why did it fall flat?

All build up but no punch. The movie is masterful at setting the mood and ratcheting up the tension. And when that tension comes to a head the results aren't as exciting as the journey. The death scenes should have been spectacular. The sights of the bodies should have been horrifying. The climax should have been grotesque and bloody marvelous. Shoulda... Coulda... Woulda... but no.

That's my only complaint. I can sit through slow moments if the setup is done well and this film was set up very well. You can forgive a lot if the payoff is gory and fantastic. What's unforgivable is if you spend all that time building something and instead of bloody disturbing horrific sky-skull-scraper you get a shitty work shed. And not the cool kinda work shed with a chainsaw arm, sawed off double barrel, and a machete, but some dusty moldy practically empty- hasn't been used in 6 years- work shed.

Okay, that's way harsh, but I doubt I'll watch this movie again despite all the good things in it. I really wanted to like this movie. I was all for a twisted new take on my favorite horror sub-genre. It had a ton of potential. The only parts I'd change would be the climactic moments. Otherwise this movie is a well done, dare I say artistic, horror film. I want to recommend it but just know you do a lot of work for a little payoff.

One last thing before we go that kind of left a sour taste in my mouth... Allegories in horror films, especially slasher films, are usually if you sin (like premarital sex, imbibing, injecting, and all other manner of drug use) some big bad man is going to come punish you. Whether intentional or not, subtle or loud, these allegories are present. Here in this film it feels thrust right in your face. Don't have sex! The real badguy here is V.D. Now I'm not saying little kids should be having sex and normally this wouldn't bother me because these kinds of allegories come with the territory. But with the absent graphic violence and climactic horrific moments it comes across as if this message "Beware Sexual Intercourse" was the director's real agenda. Does he expect them to play this movie in schools? C'mon.

Overall Ranking: 5 out of 10

Nude-O-Meter: 3 out of 10

 

KAIJUOLOGY: DESGHIDORAH

Subject: Desgisdora a.k.a. Death Ghidorah

Documentation: Mothra (1996) a.k.a. Rebirth of Mothra

History: In 1996 after Godzilla's final fight with the monster Destoroyah, a battle which nearly destroyed all of Japan, the great kaiju plaguing the land of the rising sun was seemingly over. Japan looked forward with high hopes. The Japanese put into affect a large scale plan to rebuild since fear of the kaiju attacking was now a worry of the past.

The Houkoku Corporation, who owned several acres of the Hokkaido wilderness and forests began excavating and developing the land for construction. Digging deep into the mountain side of the Monbetsu region the construction crew unearthed what looked to be an ancient ruin covered in runes of an unknown language. The construction crew chief, a man by the name of Yuichi Goto, examined the strange rock-like structure discovering what appeared to be a jeweled artifact. Thoughtlessly he removed the artifact, a seemingly insignificant event that would precede a series of apocalyptic-like catastrophes.

Half of the following accounts are fact, witnessed by the entire world. The other half cannot be proven and therefore have been relegated as myth and legend. The artifact that Mr. Goto had removed from the ruin was a mystical seal, the Seal of Elias. According to the Elias (the twin fairies known as the Shobijin, envoys to the kaiju Mothra) the seal was set in place 65 million years ago before the rise of mankind. What the Japanese believed to be the mountain landscape of Hokkaido was in actuality the prison of a dark malevolent kaiju named Death Ghidorah.

According to the Shobijin several species of Ghidorah have plagued Earth since the dawn of time. A species of kaiju of unknown origin coming to our planet from outer space, in the last 70 years alone mankind has seen at least 5 different types of Ghidorah. Death Ghidorah, according to the Shobijin, was the most powerful due to its unique ability to siphon off the life energies of an entire planet and turning that energy into its own power.

The Shobijin spoke of a time more than 65 million years ago when Desghidorah (as the devil kaiju is sometimes referred to) first entered our solar system. At this time Mars was rich with life and thriving. The dark kaiju entered Mars's atmosphere, decimating the civilizations of Mars and slaying the Martian kaiju before draining the planet of all its energies leaving it a barren wasteland. Immediately after the conquest of Mars, Death Ghidorah turned its sights toward Earth.

Earth at that time was ruled by the great beasts, the legendary kaiju of myth, chief among them were the colonies of Mothras. When Death Ghidorah attacked it had the power of dozens of planets at its disposal. The wild gods of Earth (as the native kaiju were believed to be) united to combat this dire threat. Thousands of kaiju were killed including all but one of the swarms of Mothras. In the end the dark space kaiju was defeated and imprisoned underneath what is now present day Hokkaido. The temple was sealed away by the mystical energies of Earth, channeled through the Seal of Elias.

Death Ghidorah's powers and abilities rely heavily upon the stolen life energies of others. Its ability to breath fire, project energy beams from its mouth, fly, and many other devastating powers are subject to the amount of energy it has consumed. After Mr. Goto removed the seal the mountain shifted and the beast was set free. Having laid dormant for 65 million years Death Ghidorah's array of powers were minimal. It couldn't even fly. Immediately it set about absorbing the life energies around it. With Godzilla gone only Mothra was left to defend Earth.

Mothra was severely weakened after returning from space, having stopped a rogue planet from destroying Earth. Mothra also expended much of its life force bearing an egg. Still the majestic kaiju rose to defend us. Even in its weakened form, Death Ghidorah proved too powerful for Mothra alone. Mothra channeled more of its energies to the egg forcing it to hatch prematurely. The adult Mothra and the larvae Mothra attacked the dark kaiju together. After the initial battle the older Mothra was killed and the larvae had to retreat, taking the last vestiges of the older Mothra's life force within itself forcing the metamorphosis into adulthood.

During the interim Death Ghidorah gained enough power to fly and expel energy beams from its three mouths. Mothra, taking a page from its enemy, drew upon the life force of the Earth for extra power. It returned to do battle with the outer space kaiju, narrowly defeating the dreaded beast. If not for Death Ghidorah's still severely weakened form the Earth and everything in our galaxy may have ended. Much of this report is based on the word of the Shobijin and therefore cannot be substantiated. However, the world was witness to Death Ghidorah's horrific power that day and hopes it will remain vanquished and never again return.

Review: Ghidorah is one of the classic kaiju and fan favorite among all the kaiju in existence. Every kaiju fan (well, most of them) loves Ghidorah. Several times Toho has brought this kaiju back and more than once have they tried to redesign it. My favorite of all the redesigns and re-imaginings of its story is this one, Death Ghidorah!

Sadly Godzilla and Death Ghidorah have never fought each other. The Mothra trilogy was aimed at a younger audience often featuring children as the central protagonists. As a result of this the films are harder to watch as adults. Their kaiju designs however remain Godzilla worthy, exceeding several kaiju designs from Godzilla's own films. Its such a shame that Toho hasn't resurrected Death Ghidorah or Dagahra. The concept of multiple species of Ghidorah is also very cool and very interesting, something I wished they'd continue to explore.

All in all Death Ghidorah is one of the best kaiju to come from the 1990's stable. From the moment I first saw the images of it in the pages of G-Fan I was hooked. I thought this was hands down the coolest look Ghidorah has ever had. And Toho cleverly played the redesign off as a new kaiju and not the old Ghidorah transformed (which means they left room for a potential classic Ghidorah and Desghidorah team-up!). Koichi Kawakita once again delivers outstanding special effects and solidifies himself as the modern kaiju master!

Threat Level: 10 out 10

Universal Extinction