[Ultraman painting by Alex Ross]
Like most boys growing up in the 80′s, I was fascinated with ninjas and the martial arts. These sleek warriors wrapped in black from head to toe were one of the “coolest” things I had ever stumbled upon and I spent countless hours outside trying to become on of them through my own strict regiment of tree climbing, jumping, rolling, kicking and plastic sword…ahem…kata (and yes, Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow are my two favorite G.I. Joe characters so we’ll get that out of the way right quick). Neighborhood evildoers beware! Anyway, it was about this time that I found out that these ancient warriors hailed from Japan, and thus my life-long fascination with the “land of the rising sun” was born.
Now, in setting this up you’ve likely already figured out that I love the American super-hero as well, so imagine what it must have been like for a 6-7 year old boy to stumble upon the closest thing Japan has to a Superman and a ninja combined, the man known as ウルトラマン or “Ultraman.” Hoo-boy — what a fantastic world in which I lived! When trouble reared it’s head, Shin Hayata of the Science Patrol would call forth Ultraman to fight, wherein he’d transform into a 40 meter high goliath donned in red & silver armor and combat the threat (which was usually a monster or “kaiju” ~ 40-50 meters tall themselves) until he had won the day. Sadly, I only had a few years to really enjoy the show before it was gone, but the character carved a fond place in my memory where he’s been ever since.
Now, when I stumble upon something related to good ‘ol Ultraman, I smile fondly, and remember that kid inside. And funny enough, it appears that both of my older nieces have a little of their uncle inside and are huge Power Ranger fans (admittedly, I’ve never been much of a fan myself) so you can reckon I’ve taken the occasion to tell them about The Power Rangers granddaddy, Ultraman. And now that the original series is available in America on DVD, and I have their attention, I think its probably high time to introduce them to the original.
That, and It’ll be great to see an old friend again!
Haha! As another child of the…well, it was more late 70′s and early 80′s, I too was a big fan of the ninja. Snake-eyes was the man( especially that silent issue!) Sho Kosagi(sp?) ninja movies were pretty popular and Frak Miller’s Daredevil had more than you could shake a…uh…billy-club, at!
As for Ultraman, I had never heard of him as a kid. In the small Va. town I grew up in we had Spectra-man. From what I’ve seen and remember he’s pretty much a poor man’s version of Ultraman; he had the ability to grow in size and fight the monster of the week wrecking some poor miniature town. It was good fun and I wish I still had the drawings I made of him as a kid. I would have him fighting Sho-gun Warriors( another late 70′s comic/ toy line) or Godzilla or even Apache Chief from Superfriends. Sometimes I would team them against the Gargantuans….but I digress..:)
Ha, digress all you’d like. And no worries, it was the late 70′s and early 80′s for me as well, just more the early 80′s when I found myself knee deep in ninjas!
And thanks for mentioning Sho Kosugi, his series, “The Master” starring Lee Van Cleef as John McAllister (a ninja with my last name no less!) and “Revenge of the Ninja” were two of my favorites, though I certainly wasn’t supposed to watch the latter…great memories there!
I’m afraid I’ve never seen Spectra-man, though after a quick google search I can certainly see the similarities. Then again, there would come a number of these coming out so I’m not surprised. Still, if you ever get a chance to check out the original Ultraman on DVD, I highly recommend it. As for the other 70′s comic/toy line you mention, I remember the Sho-gun Warriors well. Mecha is still a fascination of mine and so many of the greats in that genre were Americanized in the Sho-gun warrior comics & toy line. I believe I even had one of the giant versions of Gaiking. Wish I still did!