STEVE OLIFF ON THE EARLY DAYS OF COMICS COLORING

This past weekend in San Francisco was WonderCon, our wetter and more contained version of Comic-Con. I opted this year to skip the main festivities entirely, save for seeing cartoonist friends Lark and Thien; WonderCon is growing, a show that is definitely on the rise in terms of exposure & celebrity appearances, but for a fan like me there was little of specific interest-- give me APE or TCAF any day!

That said, I did make a point of attending the end of WonderCon on Friday to watch a panel titled, "How Computers Took Over Comics." This panel featured Steve Oliff reuniting with a number of artists from his original Olyoptics crew, along with Erik Larsen of Image Comics. In the panel, Steve and the guys talked about their work on the Epic color edition of Akira, which was a major and important step in the transition from flat 64-color to computer full-color.



If you want to read a little deeper into the specifics of computer color and blue-line process, please check out this interview with Steve Oliff conducted by Frank Santoro. For folks that remember, Last Fall I put up a post about the Akira color guides, the
B&W xeroxes of Otomo's line work that Steve hand painted and colored to serve as guides for separations and computer coloring. Steve also mentioned he will again be selling the Akira color guides at APE 2010(!).



I wasn't able to get my hand on an audio recorder to capture the entire panel, but I took a few notes and shot a short video when Steve was discussing Akira. Two asides that really stuck out to me were:

• Working and thinking in CMYK was the way of life for the Olyoptics crew; To this end, they used to play games around the office where someone would point at a color on a wall or sign and folks would try to guess the exact CMYK numbers!
• When asked for his main piece of advice, Steve said to always "Color a comic like you were lighting for a film."
• When asked about his favorite color work he's done, Steve pointed to Issue #32 of Akira as the high point of trying out new techniques with the technology.
• As for current projects, Steve/Olyoptics are now working on doing new coloring for Walter Simonson's entire run on Thor for a re-release Marvel is planning to tie-in to the film next year.

For Akira fans, here is a 4-minute video where Steve Oliff goes into some of the specifics of working on the first few issues for Epic:


I'll add this video to Vimeo soon, but here's another short clip about Oliff working with Otomo on blocking out color themes for the first issues of Akira:

"HOUSE" FINALLY COMING OUT ON DVD

Exciting news for fans of psychedelic horror, one of my alltime favorite Japanese films is finally getting a proper DVD release (with English subtitles). Eureka Video is planning a 2010 release of cult masterpiece, HOUSE (aka HAUSU), directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi (director of the insane film adaptation of Umezu's Drifting Classroom).



It's been a bit of a challenge to track down, but lots of folks including me know this film from torrents that have made the rounds online. More recently, it was shown at a number of film festivals in the Fall of 2009. HOUSE is an insane and retarded piece of perfection- a visual distillation of most everything we at Same Hat hold dear aesthetically. Flying heads a la Bali Mystics? CHECK. Hand-drawn trippy backdrops and bursts of anachronystic, analog color sfx? CHECK. Singing babes and blood-spewing cats? CHECK. Carnivorous piano and Amityville horror? CHECK.



With help from Evan and Ryan G., we actually projected HOUSE on the wall of my apartment at my last birthday party. This article from the Village Voice helps give some context on this 1977 triumph (is that the right word here?). They say:

An uncanny prophecy of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2 a decade later, this exhumed freaker conjoins New Agey schoolgirl farce and the cheesiest then-there-were-none haunted-house dynamic imaginable, while the painted backdrop skies suggest Teletubbies and the special effects run from solarized-video-absurd to cardboard-hilarious. The rum-stumble cast and crew obey no rules—the movie often seems to have two or three conflicting scores running simultaneously, and inappropriate freeze frames and pointless fades to black are the norm. The story isn't a story at all: A gaggle of sailor-uniformed schoolgirls (with names like Gorgeous, Prof, and Fantasy) head to a weird aunt's cheap-set house for spring break, and start getting minced up, one by one, into crude superimpositions, perambulating body parts, and rivers of blood that look like cherry Hi-C.

It's a real treat to finally get a proper DVD release of HOUSE, and it's my most-wanted film release of 2010. The Eureka Video catalogue doesn't give a specific release date, but I'll be keeping my eyes peeled.

Here's the Japanese trailer for HOUSE, followed by some stills. Enjoy!



UPDATE: As commenter Stephen mentioned, there are rumors that Janus/Criterion are going to be releasing HOUSE in the US as a Criterion DVD/Blu-Ray, as Janus was responsible for organizing the showings of the film at festivals last fall. The just posted this Q&A article on their blog too. That said, it's still sorta unofficial 'til they confirm or put it on their release schedule. Has anyone heard more specifics? (thanks, Stephen!) In the meantime, as Matt points out, Janus is taking HOUSE to independent movie theaters around the US in the Spring and Summer. More information is online here. I'll be at the April 17 show in San Francisco!

"GWASHI! KAZUO UMEZU DESU"

Other sites have already reported this news, but I wanted to post it here for folks that haven't heard yet. A new documentary about the life & work of Kazuo Umezu is coming out very soon! The film is titled "Gwashi! Kazuo Umezu Desu".



I read that the footage was filmed over the course of 3 years by Koji Ito, one of Umezu's staff/webmasters, and shows us Kazuo Umezu's daily life (including his lawsuit over the Makoto-chan house), creating manga and art, in addition to "exploring Japan's issues with creativity and art appreciation." From the trailer it looks like the doc also features interviews with other manga artists, authors, and pop culture talking heads.

GWASHI! KAZUO UMEZU DESU debuts properly on 11/23 in Tokyo's Tollywood Theatre, and plays through December. Umezz and company have created a new site just for news about the film, so check it out! The boys from Tokyo Scum were able to see an advance screening of the film and say it's rad... and will be interviewing Uncle Kaz very soon in person!

CYBER BLUE = AMAZING

This weekend, I stopped by the Cafe Mika manga sale. Cafe Mika was San Francisco's first (and only) manga cafe, which seemed to be on shaky financial footing for a while and finally had to close their doors this month. As a final going-out-of-business sale, they were selling all their original manga series (that is, in Japanese) at DEEP discounts.

We're talking the entire original Ranma 1/2 series for $12, all ten volumes of Dragon Head for $3 (snagged those, worth it for the covers alone) and other, more obscure and forgettable series. I found something absolutely incredible in the stacks... all 4 volumes of CYBER BLUE (ＣＹＢＥＲブルー), a late-80s cyberpunk/fantasy battle manga for a dollar a book!



I had heard of CYBER BLUE but never seen it... until now. The series was written by "BOB" and Ryuichi Mitsui, and (most importantly) features art by Tetsuo Hara! This short series (4 volumes in total) was the manga Hara worked on right after Fist of the Northstar in 1988.

Let me tell you, this is one of the most hilarious and badass books I've read in a long, long time. It's like if Boris Vallejo had sex with the film Commando and then strapped that baby to the demon offspring of gay Mad Max and Lando Calrissian's mustache. Basically, it's unadultered Hara goodness.

Please enjoy this photo-heavy showcase:

This is the first spread of the book, introducing our protagonist, Blue. He has a gun and puts it in people's faces. And also shoots them in the head.









Oh yeah, all of the above panels are just from Volume 1. Here's from the other three book:




Did I mention that the villain in Volume 3 looks exactly like Prince?


I mean, except if Prince was humongously muscle-bound and banged mermaids!


In addition to guns, Blue is sorta good with his hands. I wouldn't recommend messing with him.







In volume 4, we find out the full extent of what can happen when you tussle with Blue:




I hope you enjoyed this collection of beautiful insanity. Please pass this post on to friends who dig extreme violence and/or pulsating pecs!

[For large versions of all the photos in this post, please see the Flickr set.]

SHORT SUEHIRO MARUO ANIMATION FROM LE LEZARD

Noticed this video on the Le Lezard Noir blog featuring the works of Suehiro Maruo. Le Lezard Noir is one of the French publishers of the works of Same Hat, and a good friend of Same Hat.

Le Lezard Noir publishes the French editions of Maruo titles such as Lunatic Lover's, The Laughing Vampire, and Yume no Q-saku.

Midori the Camellia Girl by Suehiro Maruo is published by Editions IMHO. Le Lezard worked with animator Florian Martine to create this ad promoting their sites. Nifty stuff, huh?

SUEHIRO MARUO-LE LÉZARD NOIR
Uploaded by lezardnoir.

HUMPDAY UMEZU MAGIC

In California, it's lunchtime on Wednesday. That means we've made it just 1/2 the way through the work week. It's the midway hump, a high time for exhaustion and weekend yearnings to set in...

Here is your treatment for the Humpday blues: Umezu posing for a photo shoot alongside his figurine at a Kichijoji park:



In other Umezu news, I received word from reader Eliza that the Makoto-chan tape measure and keitai charms I posted about last Fall are available now to English-speakers via the import toy/accessory site, Strapya World.

Sorry for all the short posts lately, will work on some quality content in the next few days :)

UNRELATED QUESTION: Do any of you guys regularly read any Japanese indies/webcomics online? I'm curious to hear if their are any serial strips out of Japan that you know of (like xkcd, Kate Beaton's history comics, or whatever). I'm looking for recommendations, thanks!

UMEZZTUBE DESERVES SOME LOVE

After all the KagoTube posts, I wanted to revisit Kazuo Umezu's own YouTube channel. Umezz (with Demerin's help, naturally) has continued to post goofy and interesting clips.

Here is his most recent clip, featuring a bevy of paper masks, GWASHI hands and a strange giant-sized naked Umezu cut-out! (The cut-out feature Umezu's face on a big reproduction of a naked figurine. YES). Enjoy:

JANKEN ON KAGOTUBE

I'm a day late in posting, so many of you probably have already seen this... Shintaro Kago added a new short to his YouTube channel, じゃんけん/Rock, Paper, Scissors. Enjoy!



PS: In related news, Nate brought me some Kago goodies I'll post about soon: A DVD of animated shorts, Kago postcards for a contest, and... a signed print!

MAGNIFYING GLASS ON KAGOTUBE

Happy weekend to everyone! Shintaro Kago has added another animated short to his YouTube channel. Please enjoy 虫めがね/Magnifying glass:

REVENGE OF THE CLOCK ON KAGOTUBE

I swear, sometime soon I'll post something other than Umezu's house or Shintaro Kago news... But you're not complaining, right? Here is the latest short clip from KagoTube, 時計の復讐 / "Revenge of the clock":

"MOBILE PHONE" VIDEO ADDED TO KAGOTUBE

When it rains, it pours. Shintaro Kago has added another clip to his growing YouTube Channel (now lovingly referred to as KagoTube). This one is a live action gag, titled "携帯電話/Mobile phone". Check it our here, then click through and leave a comment!



All previous videos (and the extensive Kago coverage) can be seen by following the shintaro kago label.

UPDATE: Looks like Kago-san is getting tons of hits to his videos in the last few days... I think I've seen a bunch of you guys over there, whic is awesome! But he's also getting a handful of really racist, bullshit comments on his main page. Go over and show him some love!

KAGO ON G4'S ATTACK OF THE SHOW?

Apparently they mentioned Shintaro Kago on Monday's episode Attack of the Show? Did anyone see it (or have a clip?)

UPDATE!: SH reader Dan is awesome and hooked us all up with the clip from the G4 site. THANKS DUDE! The Kago part starts around 2:32.

NEW ADDITIONS TO KAGO'S YOUTUBE (+VICE)

Hot off the iMovie presses! Our patron saint Shintaro Kago has added two additional animated shorts to his YouTube channel. It's fair to say they have been a mixed bag to date, and these are no different-- I'll let you guys fight it out in the comments! For the previous three videos, check here.

マーメイド / Mermaid


アリクイ舌の襲撃 / Attack of the anteater's tongue


UPDATE: Also added the new Kago stuff from VICE that I forgot to post originally. But are a little underwhelming visually, but I liked how the first illustration suited the article.

+ Spot illustration for an interesting article on Manga Kissa homelessness.


+ This month's KAGOMANIACS:

WTFUCK (UPDATE: YES!!!!)

The previously posted video of Kazuo Umezu rocking "You Are My Destiny" by Paul Anka was... removed by the user? GODDAMMIT! That breaks my heart. Did anyone happen to rip or save a copy?



UPDATE! A glorious and wonderful anonymous poster has re-uploaded the video to a Japanese blog site! YES YES YES. This is most righteous of you, mysterious hero. I tried to steal the .swf or embed here, but couldn't get it to work. That said, click to CHECK OUT THE VIDEO. The site was super slow to load, but the payoff is so worth it.

SHINTARO KAGO JOINS YOUTUBE

Oh shit, you guys. It happened, finally. This week, Shintaro Kago launched his own YouTube channel! So far, he has posted 3 of the short movies that he's shown at recent gallery events and are available on his DVDs (scroll down the page). The first two shorts are animated (very wacky a la 4chan gif madness) and the last one is a live-action clip.

Definitely go rate these videos and leave comment if you enjoy them!

恐怖のオリンピック競技/Terror of olympic game - animated


恐怖のゴルフ場/Terror of golf course - animated


穴/Hole - live action

(Context for "Hole" joke here)

FANTASTIC INTERVIEW WITH JUNJI ITO

My new friend Bharath Murthy emailed me this morning to inform me he's posted a 20 minute video interview with Junji Ito on his site! As mentioned in an earlier post, Bharath and his partner Alka Singh are documentarians (and comics nerds!) living in Tamil Nadu, and run the indian comics and film site, NUMBER21PIX.

CLICK TO WATCH:


This interview was filmed in September 2007, in the top-floor studio of Junji Ito's home in Gifu Prefecture. Like me, Bharath holds Ito-san as one of his all-time favorite mangaka, and took the time to visit him and conduct this interview while filming for he & Alka's forthcoming manga documentary.



Highlights from this fantastic and casual look into Junji Ito's life & work include:

• Ito-san showing off his original script outlines and rough panel layouts, with descriptions of his process when creating manga.


• A long discussion of the influence of urban legends on Ito's manga, how he got the idea and visual inspiration for Tomie, and how he became a manga artist.


• A tour of Junji Ito's studio and art desk, process using mirrors and photo-references in his work, and much more!

After watching the video, please head over to NUMBER21PIX, and say thanks to Bharath for sharing this interview with us!

OMG RUN... IT'S CHICKEN GEORGE!

Latest video from the UMEZZ YouTube channel features Kazuo Umezu rocking a Chicken George mask:



Chicken George is the sentient lump of flesh that grows into a mad scientist rapist bent on destroying mankind in Umezu's masterpiece, Fourteen.

HAPPY NEW YEARS FROM KAZUO UMEZU

In his latest video clip, Umezz wishes his fans a Happy New Year 2009. He also mentions that his appearance on the end of year special from comedy/variety mainstay DOWNTOWN no Gaki no Tsukai ya arahende!! was delayed, and showing on January 11 in Japan. I'll post clips of that if/when they get put online.



Check out the UMEZZCOM YouTube channel for more interviews, appearances and clips:

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!

Hope everyone's year is off to a good start! I've been away for a while- first visiting family at Christmas, then spending the past week enjoying San Francisco with my GF back in town from grad school. New Year's Eve was great, a night out with friends, a bottle of Green Label, and Womanizer by Britney Spears; New Year's Day was low key, spent in pajamas watching the best mall brawl ever:



I'm working on my best of 2008 posts (manga, comics, blogs) and a most anticipated books of 2009 list. The blogging vacation is over and it's time for me to get back to work!

SHARING THE WEALTH

The weather is absolute crap out here in San Francisco, and I'm fighting off the beginnings of a cold. Here are some goodies from Same Hat friends that I think you'll all enjoy!

BRILLIANT MARUO POSTER FROM SAME HAT FRIEND, SEGMORIA:


UMEZU SNAKE GIRL SONG FROM AICN COLUMNIST, SCOTT GREEN: