Godzilla (23/54) - All Monsters Attack Soundtrack CD by Kunio Miyauchi [Godzilla 40th Anniversary Complete Works Collection] (1993)

All Monsters Attack. Aka Godzilla's Revenge. The most reviled Godzilla film of the Show era, and yet it's a personal favorite. To me, I have never understood the outright hatred for this film. Sure, it recycles monster footage from a number of earlier films. But as a kid growing up in the pre-home video days, (a) you appreciated what you got when you got it, and (b) it plays like a Godzilla's Greatest Hits — a little bit of Son of Godzilla, a splash of Godzilla vs the Sea Monster (aka Ebirah, Horror of the Deep)... and a brand new Kaiju in Gabara, who's got a killer hyena-like laugh/roar.

The soundtrack is not by master composer Akira Ifukube, whose scores/themes elevate every Godzilla film they appear in, up to and including Godzilla -1.0, 17 years after his death!

No, this comical score is by Kunio Miyauchi, but it fits the film's theme perfectly. A latchkey kid dreams of hanging out with Godzilla and Minya (Godzilla's son) on Monster Island, and basically learns how to deal with the bullies that he faces every day.

Here's a small tase of Miyauchi's score:

This is one Godzilla film I will always prefer in its dubbed American version. Primarily because Minya speaks to the kid! So his English voice is forever engrained in my head. But the English version (Godzilla's Revenge) also has a different title track! 

Thankfully, I was able to track down a CD with the library cue used for the American opening. 

The track is called "Crime Fiction," and it's composed by Ervin Jereb. And man is it cool.

You can give it a listen here. You sadly won't find this in the Criterion Godzilla Showa Blu Ray set — but the English language version exists on the Classic Media DVD release, which is obviously worth hanging on to!

Be here next week for something else from my Godzilla collection!

I Am Legend (23/54) - Patrick Jones remarqued Easton Press Edition art print and original concept sketches (2009)

Last week I featured the Easton Press edition of I Am Legend. When a new edition (particularly a domestic release) of I Am Legend is published, I often check on the availability of the cover artwork. So in 2009, I tracked down artist Patrick Jones, who had provided frontispiece illustrations for each volume in the Easton Press "Day After Doomsday" series.

Patrick confirmed that his I Am Legend artwork was in fact digital (as is often required given the timing and multiple changes publishers might request), but that he had a preliminary pencil sketch, and he could also make me a giclee print of his artwork. Needless to say, I took him up on both options. 

I also got the following digital thumbnails from him, which show off the evolution of his artwork. I love his first concept, of Neville burying his wife while the fiery pit rages in the background.

His alternate concept is the one that was ultimately selected (and continued to evolve). 

Here is his pencil sketch with his notes. In it, you can see the alternative placement of the rifle in Neville's right hand, which is how it would be rendered in the final illustration of Neville with an empty cityscape behind him.

Fortunately, because I was so quick to contact him, I was able to get the first out of the maximum 100 prints that he would make of the artwork. Patrick also offered to add a remarque to the print — a small pencil sketch of Neville.

Considering what a finished painting might have cost, I'm fortunate that I was able to get a high quality print of the artwork for the Archive, not to mention the first in a limited run with an original remarque, along with his original pencil sketch. 

Check back next week for another item from the I Am Legend Archive!

Creature from the Black Lagoon (23/54) - Monster High Skullector Series Doll (2024)

I won't pretend to know the first thing about Mattel's Monster High Dolls, but when I saw the announcement for a limited edition Creature from the Black Lagoon, I was intrigued.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but to my knowledge, this is the first-ever licensed female representation of The Creature (I don't think the variant AHI sculpts, which we'll eventually address, count).

They did a nice job with the packaging, which slides open on each side to reveal her in all her glory. 

Here are her full specifications:

• 10.5 inches tall with 11 points of articulation  
• New face sculpt (made specifically for this doll) on our original scaly body with fin and gill details 
• Wears a scaly swimsuit with pearlescent amphibious body armor 
• Accessorized with anchor-accented fin headpiece and webbed harpoon heel boots 
• Includes custom lagoon-inspired doll stand and premium packaging 

Check back next week for another item from my Creature collection!

Godzilla (22/54) - S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla -1.0 (2024)

This isn't my first (nor will it be the last) of the S.H. Figuarts/S.H. MonsterArts figures I will be showcasing. Known for the amazing detail and extreme articulation, they represent some of the nicest posable Godzilla figures on the market.

Now that everyone who missed it in the theater has probably had a chance to see it on Netflix, I thought I'd showcase the S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla -1.0 figure. 

The -1.0 design is one of my favorites Godzilla's since the Heisei era (particularly his appearance in Godzilla vs Biollante). 

This Godzilla is much more ferocious than his 70s counterparts.

One thing to be aware of with this figure — his spines are extremely sharp. It's akin to picking up a porcupine. 

Be sure to return next week for another item from my Godzilla collection!

I Am Legend (22/54) - Easton Press Leatherbound Collector's Edition (2009)

It only took them 55 years, but the Easton Press finally got around to releasing a deluxe edition of I Am Legend in 2009.

It was part of a five-volume, 'Day After Doomsday" collection, which also included Earth Abides by George R. Stewart, On the Beach by Nevil Shute, Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank, and Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle. I was frankly not excited about having to buy multiple overpriced volumes just to get the one title I needed, and thankfully my pal and fellow Matheson aficionado Matthew R. Bradley was able to hook me up so I was able to order just the one book I needed.

Each book in the series has an original frontispiece by artist Patrick Jones, who (spoiler alert) we'll be talking about soon enough. 

The book block used by the Easton Press edition is identical to the Orb Trade paperback from Tor (albeit on nicer paper with gilded edges and fancy endpapers), which means it also includes a number of Matheson's short stories from that edition. 

A nice looking edition on the shelf, and certainly one the Archive wouldn't be complete without.

Be sure to check back next week to see another item from the I Am Legend Archive!

Creature from the Black Lagoon (22/54) - Dark Horse Comic Adaptation by Art Adams (1993)

In the earlier '90s, Dark Horse Comics acquired a license to the classic Universal Monsters. Comic adaptations of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, and our pal, the Creature were offered — each in nice, single-volume, perfect-bound editions. 

Art Adams was responsible for the Creature adaptation, and all things considered, was a good choice for the material. According to Wikipedia, he originally wanted to do a sequel to the film, but Dark Horse (for whom he had previously worked on a Godzilla title) wanted to start with an adaptation. His Creature is spot-on, and though his Kay Lawrence doesn't look exactly like Julia Adams, he does manage to capture her essence. 

As in the film, the Creature is off screen (or the page) for a decent chunk of the story, but when he does appear, Adams always seems to make the most of it.

He also takes some nice artistic license, adding interesting hieroglyphics to the Creature's underground lair, where the takes Kay to.

Unfortunately, low sales prevented Dark Horse from following this up with Adams' sequel idea. 

Image Comics has since acquired the comics license to the Universal Monsters, and I wish they had opted to bring in Adams to do his original Creature sequel idea. I'll withhold judgement until the full series has been completed, but based on the first issue, things aren't looking good.  

 Be sure to check back next week for another item from my Creature collection!

Godzilla (21/54) - Super7 San Diego Comic Con Exclusive Rodan (2023)

In the late '70s, Shogun Warriors were among the coolest Japanese toys to find their way into the American market via Mattel. I still have my 2' tall Great Mazinga with firing rockets. One entry in their large figure line that I didn't have as a kid (but did get later) was Godzilla (with a shooting fist and a — for lack of a better description — flaming tongue). A couple of years later, Mattel surprisingly released a large scale Rodan, with flapping wings, clutching claws, and screeching beak. I did have one of those as a kid (which I loved, and only decided to sell a few years back when someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse).

So when Super7 released a 3-3/4" scale Shogun Rodan (matching the scale of their small-size Shogun Godzilla which they had released a few years earlier), I had to jump on it. It was initially released as a carded figure, and it's impressive how closely it maintains the look (if not the exact functionality) of the original large Mattel figure.  

Last year, as a Comic Con exclusive, Super7 released a limited number in a miniature box designed to look like the original Mattel box from 1979. This version touched a nostalgic nerve even greater than the reproduced figure, which is why I chose to highlight it for this entry. So yes, I have both the carded and boxed variants.

Come back next week to see another item from my Godzilla collection.

I Am Legend (21/54) - UK Record Store Day Exclusive Ron Grainer The Omega Man Soundtrack vinyl (2018)

It was only a matter of time until we arrived at The Omega Man. As an adaptation of Matheson's novel, it's far from faithful, but for fans of similar post-apocalyptic scenarios, it's actually a lot of fun. And one of my favorite things about it is its score by Ron Grainer.

I was familiar with Grainer, as he composed the theme for the British television series, The Prisoner (which was my favorite TV show until Twin Peaks came along to bump it out of the top spot). In fact, if you listen for them, echoes of his Prisoner theme show up in his Omega Man score. (According to the liner notes, the final day of scoring was on Vonna's 10th birthday!)

The movie opens with Robert Neville popping an 8-track into his 1970 Ford XL Convertible. We'll forgive the fact that he pops in a Sinatra 8-track, when the music that plays is in fact Max Steiner's theme from A Summer Place (which I regularly torment Vonna by referring to it as the theme from The Omega Man whenever we hear it), before the film kicks off with Grainer's theme music.

For years I longed for a release of the score, which I assumed would never come. And then in the year 2000, Film Score Monthly released a limited edition CD (which I immediately bought multiple copies of) one to open and listen to, and one to keep sealed. 

And then, out of the blue, in 2018, a vinyl release was announced as part of Record Store Day (RSD). Now, if you're not familiar with it, RSD is a day when numerous exclusive releases are released specifically to support independent record stores. That's the cool part. The bad news is that not all stores get all releases, and what they do get is in limited quantity. So people line up in advance, hoping to get their top picks, should they be available at the shop they went to. Frankly, after several instances of disappointment, I stopped going to the stores on RSD altogether, just to avoid disappointment. Oh, and I forgot to mention, The Omega Man was a UK RSD exclusive... so forget lining up somewhere even if I had wanted to.

As is to be expected, copies do turn up online (stores can sell them after some waiting period, plus there are plenty that surface on eBay — often before they have officially gone on sale!). I sourced and purchased two copies of the limited, UK exclusive Record Store Day vinyl soundtrack from two different retailers. I picked up the first on eBay, and then bought an affordable second copy to leave sealed from a store that still had a copy a week later when they could offer them online. 

The 2-disc set came in an attractive gatefold sleeve, and I was surprised to see that they were individually numbered (out of 1000). 

The specific numbers of limited editions don't really mean a lot to me (sure, it would be cool to get #1, or #1000); I was just happy to get copies without having to pay the premiums that some RSD releases demand. But I was actually shocked when, days apart, my two copies arrived in the mail — from different vendors, mind you — and they were sequentially numbered. 0780 and 0781. Talk about surreal. 

 

In case you've never heard it, here's Grainer's amazing theme for the film.

Come back next week for another item from the I Am Legend Archive!

Creature from the Black Lagoon (21/54) - Aurora Glow-in-the-Dark Model Kit Box (1970)

 
Much like my Aurora Godzilla Glow box, I always had a nostalgic desire to own an original Aurora Creature Glow box. I already owned several Creature reproduction kits in the tall and skinny box variations (like the earlier original Aurora kits), but since they had never reissued the Creature in the square Aurora-style box, the only way to go was to find an original.

Fortunately, like Godzilla, I found a great deal on a Creature box, along with a built-up, painted kit (in pieces). That's his head up in the top photo.

There have been some recent Aurora reissues with square boxes — the Mummy, the Wolfman, the Phantom, the Forgotten Prisoner, King Kong and Godzilla. And should they get around to reissuing a glow creature in a square box, you can rest assured that I'll add that to the collection too, as I've long wanted to rebuild a glow version of the original creature (almost as much as I'd love to build a glow Aurora Monsters of the Movies creature kit)!

Be sure to check back next week for another item from my Creature collection!