Dark Horse Gamera (1996)

[LSD Jellyfish]

Haven't seen much talk of the Dark Horse Gamera run. It was a four part comic series meant to promote Gamera Guardian of the Universe. I recently read it, and it's easy to find both online and in print. I recommend it to those that haven't. For those curious, it concerns Gamera fighting Viras who is controlling a mad scientist. Gamera fights other monsters too, and it's largely told through the POV of Lutz, a former pilot, who serves as an insert for the audience to experience these events.

https://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/96-436/Gamera-1-of-4


First, I love how this serves as a midquel between Gamera (1995) and Gamera 2 (1996). While it isn't "cannon", it does a relatively good job, save for Freena, at fitting in between the films. It starts out as a continuation of 95, with a Gyaos being cloned by a scientist named Greeta, while Dr. Nagamine searches for Gyaos. While some might feel that re-using Gyaos is a bit lazy or a missed opportunity to include another monster, I feel that it's a great way to keep the connective tissues between the 95 movie and the comic. It also serves to show that the arrival of the Gyaos is a major event that led to much more events, similar to how the rise of the Gyaos in 95 eventually leads to Iris.

Second, I love the re-invention of Viras. While Zigra was a bit of the same, they did a fantastic job of turning a goofy monster like Viras into a threatening force without changing too much. Viras has a more octopus-like appearance with a larger head and more menacing eyes. He gets a new energy beam and telekinetic abilities, which feel like a natural extension of his form. Additionally he has mind control over humans, and uses that to control Gamera through Asagi's amulet. It's a good integration of the Viras Alien ship's powers into the monster itself. We get a semi, less kid friendly, recreation of Gamera vs. Viras, in the same way that Gamera 1995 is a loose retelling of Gamera vs. Gyaos. In addition, it's great how Viras is a creation of human engineering. While Iris would later continue the trend of genetically modified monsters, Viras in this incarnation is unique in that it's created by a modern day mad scientist.

There are some issues however. Freena is a rather awkward insertion to a story that already felt a little crowded with Lutz, Greeta, Nagamine, and others. It's a bit strange for a relatively grounded story that fits in with the Heisei Gamera mythos nicely to suddenly have an alien bounty hunter that's a reference to the space women from vs Guiron and Super Monster. Worse, she talks in this strange manner that's all 1950's slang, which gets really annoying very quickly. She really just serves to allow for a lot of easy moments, like a way to give Gamera extra energy in the finale, and to get the heroes to the topic of the Eiffel Tower.

Next, there are a few dream sequences and things framed out of sequence in the story that don't serve much purpose, other than confusing the reader. For example, Zigra is revealed to be an alien after it's killed off, which really does nothing for the story. In fact, the second part of the Zigra fight is confusingly told after the fact. I also wish that the ending was a little more reflective and shows what happened more. Viras is impaled on the Eiffel Tower and then the comic just sort of ends with only a minor reflection of Lutz returning the amulet to Asagi.

Despite all this, it's a good read and I recommend It to anyone that hasn't read it already.

[mikelcho]

Haven't seen much talk of the Dark Horse Gamera run. It was a four part comic series meant to promote Gamera Guardian of the Universe. I recently read it, and it's easy to find both online and in print. I recommend it to those that haven't. For those curious, it concerns Gamera fighting Viras who is controlling a mad scientist. Gamera fights other monsters too, and it's largely told through the POV of Lutz, a former pilot, who serves as an insert for the audience to experience these events.

https://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/96-436/Gamera-1-of-4


First, I love how this serves as a midquel between Gamera (1995) and Gamera 2 (1996). While it isn't "cannon", it does a relatively good job, save for Freena, at fitting in between the films. It starts out as a continuation of 95, with a Gyaos being cloned by a scientist named Greeta, while Dr. Nagamine searches for Gyaos. While some might feel that re-using Gyaos is a bit lazy or a missed opportunity to include another monster, I feel that it's a great way to keep the connective tissues between the 95 movie and the comic. It also serves to show that the arrival of the Gyaos is a major event that led to much more events, similar to how the rise of the Gyaos in 95 eventually leads to Iris.

Second, I love the re-invention of Viras. While Zigra was a bit of the same, they did a fantastic job of turning a goofy monster like Viras into a threatening force without changing too much. Viras has a more octopus-like appearance with a larger head and more menacing eyes. He gets a new energy beam and telekinetic abilities, which feel like a natural extension of his form. Additionally he has mind control over humans, and uses that to control Gamera through Asagi's amulet. It's a good integration of the Viras Alien ship's powers into the monster itself. We get a semi, less kid friendly, recreation of Gamera vs. Viras, in the same way that Gamera 1995 is a loose retelling of Gamera vs. Gyaos. In addition, it's great how Viras is a creation of human engineering. While Iris would later continue the trend of genetically modified monsters, Viras in this incarnation is unique in that it's created by a modern day mad scientist.

There are some issues however. Freena is a rather awkward insertion to a story that already felt a little crowded with Lutz, Greeta, Nagamine, and others. It's a bit strange for a relatively grounded story that fits in with the Heisei Gamera mythos nicely to suddenly have an alien bounty hunter that's a reference to the space women from vs Guiron and Super Monster. Worse, she talks in this strange manner that's all 1950's slang, which gets really annoying very quickly. She really just serves to allow for a lot of easy moments, like a way to give Gamera extra energy in the finale, and to get the heroes to the topic of the Eiffel Tower.

Next, there are a few dream sequences and things framed out of sequence in the story that don't serve much purpose, other than confusing the reader. For example, Zigra is revealed to be an alien after it's killed off, which really does nothing for the story. In fact, the second part of the Zigra fight is confusingly told after the fact. I also wish that the ending was a little more reflective and shows what happened more. Viras is impaled on the Eiffel Tower and then the comic just sort of ends with only a minor reflection of Lutz returning the amulet to Asagi.

Despite all this, it's a good read and I recommend It to anyone that hasn't read it already.

Actually, Freena's language was 1980s Valley Girl-ese when translated to English. When she first appeared in the storyline, her language was written in code (presumably her written language from her own world) and there was a way to translate it in the letters page of issues #2 and 3, I think. She started talking in English to the humans midway into issue #3, I also think

[Legion1979]

....did you mean to add anything there?

[mikelcho]

....did you mean to add anything there?

Yes, I put in a period at the end of the last sentence that was missing before.

[mikelcho]

Haven't seen much talk of the Dark Horse Gamera run. It was a four part comic series meant to promote Gamera Guardian of the Universe. I recently read it, and it's easy to find both online and in print. I recommend it to those that haven't. For those curious, it concerns Gamera fighting Viras who is controlling a mad scientist. Gamera fights other monsters too, and it's largely told through the POV of Lutz, a former pilot, who serves as an insert for the audience to experience these events.

https://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/96-436/Gamera-1-of-4


First, I love how this serves as a midquel between Gamera (1995) and Gamera 2 (1996). While it isn't "cannon", it does a relatively good job, save for Freena, at fitting in between the films. It starts out as a continuation of 95, with a Gyaos being cloned by a scientist named Greeta, while Dr. Nagamine searches for Gyaos. While some might feel that re-using Gyaos is a bit lazy or a missed opportunity to include another monster, I feel that it's a great way to keep the connective tissues between the 95 movie and the comic. It also serves to show that the arrival of the Gyaos is a major event that led to much more events, similar to how the rise of the Gyaos in 95 eventually leads to Iris.

Second, I love the re-invention of Viras. While Zigra was a bit of the same, they did a fantastic job of turning a goofy monster like Viras into a threatening force without changing too much. Viras has a more octopus-like appearance with a larger head and more menacing eyes. He gets a new energy beam and telekinetic abilities, which feel like a natural extension of his form. Additionally he has mind control over humans, and uses that to control Gamera through Asagi's amulet. It's a good integration of the Viras Alien ship's powers into the monster itself. We get a semi, less kid friendly, recreation of Gamera vs. Viras, in the same way that Gamera 1995 is a loose retelling of Gamera vs. Gyaos. In addition, it's great how Viras is a creation of human engineering. While Iris would later continue the trend of genetically modified monsters, Viras in this incarnation is unique in that it's created by a modern day mad scientist.

There are some issues however. Freena is a rather awkward insertion to a story that already felt a little crowded with Lutz, Greeta, Nagamine, and others. It's a bit strange for a relatively grounded story that fits in with the Heisei Gamera mythos nicely to suddenly have an alien bounty hunter that's a reference to the space women from vs Guiron and Super Monster. Worse, she talks in this strange manner that's all 1950's slang, which gets really annoying very quickly. She really just serves to allow for a lot of easy moments, like a way to give Gamera extra energy in the finale, and to get the heroes to the topic of the Eiffel Tower.

Next, there are a few dream sequences and things framed out of sequence in the story that don't serve much purpose, other than confusing the reader. For example, Zigra is revealed to be an alien after it's killed off, which really does nothing for the story. In fact, the second part of the Zigra fight is confusingly told after the fact. I also wish that the ending was a little more reflective and shows what happened more. Viras is impaled on the Eiffel Tower and then the comic just sort of ends with only a minor reflection of Lutz returning the amulet to Asagi.

Despite all this, it's a good read and I recommend It to anyone that hasn't read it already.

Actually, Freena's language was 1980s Valley Girl-ese when translated to English. When she first appeared in the storyline, her language was written in code (presumably her written language from her own world) and there was a way to translate it in the letters page of issues #2 and 3, I think. She started talking in English to the humans midway into issue #3, I also think.