Monday Mecha Madness SHOGUN WARRIORS "Mech-Monster" Part 1

 When Last We Saw Our Mecha...

...they had finally defeated the first creature (which became multiple creatures) the villainous Maur-Kon threw against them!

But Dr Tambura, leader of the alien Followers of the Light who recruited the three human pilots for the mecha is concerned about the fact it took three issues to achieve victory...

The following page shows how each of the Shoguns can transform into another form (as established in their respective Japanese animated series)...

Trivia: Raideen and Dangard Ace are solo pilot mecha in both American and Japanese versions, but Combatra has five pilots in Japan and only one in America!

But both Raideen and Dangard Ace have support teams/aides who assist the pilot!

None of the Japanese characters or plotlines are carried over to the American Shogun Warriors!

To Be Continued Next Monday!

Coming up with Toho-style kaiju/mecha threats to the Shogun Warriors was a trying task to writer Doug Moench and penciler Herb Trimpe!

But, they were chosen for the project due to the success of Marvel's ongoing Godzilla series...which they were responsible for!
Oddly, while the Godzilla series embraced continually-utilizing Marvel characters as guest-stars, Shogun Warriors resisted doing so until the very end of the series!

Monday Mecha Madness WORLDS UNKNOWN "Farewell to the Master" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

Cover art by Rich Buckler & Wayne Howard (with additional art by John Romita Sr)

Reporter Cliff Sutherland and photographer Ann O'Hara may be on to the scoop of the century.

An alien robot, which went inert after Klaatu (the alien humanoid it accompanied) was shot and killed (without provocation) when he tried to initiate contact with people of Earth isn't as unmoving as the US government believes!
The duo conceal themselves nearby, hoping to catch the automaton in motion...which they do!
They witness the robot enter the alien vessel...which sealed up and apparently deactivated after Klaatu was killed.

And now things get really weird...

Cue the Twilight Zone theme...

The original story by Harry Bates appeared in Street and Smith's Astounding Science Fiction V26N2 (1940) with the following illustrations by Frank Kramer...all of which feature Gnut!

"Farewell to the Master" has been reprinted numerous times, usually in anthologies about Astounding Science-Fiction magazine, or compilations of stories which were adapted into films or TV shows.

But the graphic adaptation from Marvel's Worlds Unknown #3 (1973) has never been reprinted, and no other comic book/comic strip version has ever been done!
However, there was another prose adaptation of the short story...

This book, written by Arthur Tofte, published by Scholastic Books in 1976, combined "Farewell to the Master" with the screenplay for the 1951 movie into a new novel which presents Klaatu and a rather verbose Gnut (not "Gort") as a pair of equal partners, representing their respective civilizations within a galactic organization calling themselves "The Watchers"!
Finally, Lux Radio Theatre produced a one-hour radio adaptation in 1954, narrated by Paul Frees and starring Michael Rennie as Klaatu!
Regrettably, it doesn't use Bernard Herrmann's magnificent soundtrack but it's still worth listening to.
You can link to it HERE!

KLATTU BARADA NIKTO!

Which translates to:

Shogun Warriors Return Next Monday!

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Day the Earth Stood Still

3-Disc Blu-Ray Special Edition

(Contains both the 1951 and 2008 versions plus kool extras)

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Monday Mecha Madness WORLDS UNKNOWN "Farewell to the Master" Part 1

You know the story...sorta.

You've seen (and/or heard) the story adapted...sorta.

Now read the most faithful adaptation of the tale...short of the original novelette!

And before you go any further, "Gnut" is pronounced "Nut".

That's one of the reasons it was changed when the story by Harry Bates was adapted in 1951 into a movie...

Aw, you guessed!

As you've surmised, there were quite a few changes made when the silver screen version was created and produced!

And, when writer Roy Thomas, penciler Ross Andru and inker Wayne Howard went back to the source material for the never-reprinted Marvel's Worlds Unknown #3 (1973)...well, let's let Rascally Roy himself tell you about that...

Be here NEXT MONDAY for the ASTOUNDING conclusion...plus some kool extras (which will explain why I capitalized "astounding"!)

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Day the Earth Stood Still

3-Disc Blu-Ray Special Edition

(Contains both the 1951 and 2008 versions plus kool extras)

Paid Link

Monday Mecha Madness MEGAS XLR "LowBrow" (Pilot) & "Test Drive" (Premiere Episode)

Unseen on Free TV for over TWO Decades!

If you haven't seen it, just watch it.

You'll thank me later.

If you have seen it, you might as well watch it again here, since it's not rerunning on cable and isn't available on DVD/BluRay.

It is on AppleTV+...for $1.99 per half-hour episode!

First up, the 7-minute pilot (an intro, not the origin)

Then, the first 23-minute episode of the ongoing series, "Test Drive", which IS an origin episode!

Bonus: the complete theme song...

We will be re-presenting the comics adaptation in the future, but this was so cool I couldn't resist!

Enjoy!