It's International Godzilla Day!

 There's a new Godzilla film premiering today (the 30th from Japanese production company Toho), and people are rejoicing and partying around the world!

Then there's that time...

... when four Japanese high school girls saved the shopping mall by defeating a giant monster with a chemistry set, a pineapple, and pure spunk 'n' funk!

Atarashii Gakko! is a girl band out of Japan that has been working their toward international fame with their catchy songs, energetic dancing, and more-than-a-little crazy music videos. After five years, it appears they have arrived, managing to even do some U.S. concert dates  during 2021.

This music video, which features an abbreviated version of their first international hit "Pineapple Kryptonite", is a great introduction to the group and their musical antics (as well as being a fabulous spoof of Godzilla and other Kaiju movies.

This is Atarashii Gakko!'s second appearance here at Shades of Gray. Click here to see that other post, along with a look at how wide their musical range is. And if you aren't afraid of having your senses overwhelmed by lots of color and the full-length version of "Pineapple Kryptonite" (performed against the backdrop of the girls taking on a monster at Area 51 in Nevada), click here.

Proof Smoking Will Stunt Your Growth

Gadzoopie, the delinquent son that the very mention of causes Godzilla to level not only Tokyo but also Osaka, took up smoking shortly after he hatched. Now 35, he's barely taller than Tom Cruise.

(Gadzoopie is seen here with his wife Flo, arriving at my house last month for the July 4 BBQ. He may not be big enough to trash cities, but he sure did a number on my downstairs bathroom. The plumbing still isn't working right.)

Godzilla rampages through the Marvel Universe!

Essential Godzilla, King of Monsters (Marvel Comics, 2006)
Writer: Doug Moench
Aritst: Herb Trimpe, Tom Sutton, Tony DeZuniga, Fred Kida, Dan Green, and Jim Mooney
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Here's one entry in the "Essential" giant black-and-white reprint from Marvel that I've picked up is another one that doesn't really seem all that essential. It collects the 24 issues of "Godzilla, King of Monsters", dating from the late 1970s. It might not be an essential bit of comics story-telling, but it's a fun read.

The volume chronicles the adventures of Godzilla in the Marvel Universe. He emerges from the ocean off Alaska and fights a wide range of giant monsters and trashes several Amercian cities as he makes his way across the United States, until finally squaring off against the Avengers and the Fantastic Four in New York City. Every giant step of the, he is dogged by the Agents of SHIELD in their helicarrier, along with a a Japanese scientist and his grandson, Lttle Rob, who doesn't believe Godzilla is evil, and is constatly trying to convince others of that fact. He's also fights all manner of giant monsters and a cybernetic battle-machine nicknamed Red Ronin.


For those who are familiar with the broader Marvel Universe (or even parts of like, like SHIELD or the Fantastic Four) there are some major plot-holes here and there, but the wildness of Godzilla's adventures more or less make up fot those. (For example, he gets abducted by space aliens in one issue, and gets sent back in time to his "native place" in another.)

Nonetheless, the book is a fun enough read as brainless comics go. The material here will never make anyone's list of "The Greatest Comics EVer Published", but if you like Godzilla movies, I think you'll enjoy the material here. (For the record, when Godzilla trashes Salt Lake City, artist Herbe Trimbe actually drew the city skyline exactly as it appeared in the 70s! He even got the state capitol building in the place! On the downside, the writer and/or editor seemed to think SLC is in Nevada!) This series also has the benefit of being able to make Godzilla look like a genuine, giant radioactivity-breathing monster, as opposed to a guy in a rubber suit.