Superheroes From Around the World.

[Kuuga]

Since this came up in another thread I decided to post a topic on superhero lore from other parts of the globe. Obviously my submission will be Japan via the flm genre called tokusatsu and it's major subgenre of henshin heroes. Henshin meaning to transform which is how 99% of your heroes get into costume. No phone booths or slipping on your tights in dark alleyways with these fellas.

Most notably the three major franchises Ultraman, Kamen (or Masked) Rider and the Super Sentai Series which serve as the fodder (for better or worse) for Power Rangers.

Both Kamen Rider and the Super Sentai series were started by the work of a mangaka by the name of Shotaro Ishinomori who was also the creator of Cyborg 009.

For more info on these heroes check out these sites:

www.japanhero.com --the name says it all.

http://www.igadevil.com/ --For facts on Kamen Rider. Masked bug-eyed cyborg heroes of justice.

http://ultramanlah.com/ --Site of info on Ultraman! The closest thing to Supermans counterpart in Japan and the superhero in can look Godzilla square in the eyes.

[Super Monkey]

some others:

http://incolor.inetnebr.com/stuart/zone/

Zone Fighter, basically another Ultraman clone, but this one gets to actual team up with the real Godzilla and fight some of his villians.

Turning to China...

Behold.. Super Inframan!

This was Shaw Bros clone of Ultraman and Kamen Rider with insane over the top Kung-Fu.

http://www.stomptokyo.com/scott/infra-man/index.htm

Zu Warriors

The story is too complex to dream of recapping here, but basically these guys are true comic book style superheroes with thousands of years of Chinese mythology backing them up. The idea was to create a Star Wars type epic for China, the 1st film even had the same people who did the effects for Star Wars work on the film, the 2nd film has CGI up the Ying Yang to the point of it being more of a cartoon than anything

Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain review:
http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/zu_warriors.htm

The Legend of Zu review:
http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/legend_of_zu.htm

[ShinDangaioh]

Japan is what I know as well.

I've seen a couple Kamen Rider

I've also seen Ultra-7 and a different Ultraman series.

On the animation front: Guyver.  Sho Fukamachi can get away with angst and darkness.  There are definite reasons for his angst.  As to darkness, well it looks like Archanfel is the prime example of a evil overlord done right.  He had his plans in motion and when he gave the word, the entire world fell to his armies in a single day.

Magma Tasai/Ambassador Magma.  This was a Tezuka manga that was translated to live action.  It beat the first Ultraman series by a couple months.  It was brought over here as Space Giants

A show I'd like to see unaltered is Gridman.  It was horribly mutiliated into the show Superhuman Samurai Cyber Squad.

I have seen DaiRanger.  It was the Super Sentai series that followed the show that gave birth to Power Rangers.

I have no idea why Saban merged Kikadier with another show to produce VR Troopers.

I have seen P-Man.  Villians are afraid of his squeaky voice(I'm not making that up.)

[Kuuga]

I have no idea why Saban merged Kikadier with another show to produce VR Troopers.

It was actually not Kikaider but a show that was a homage to it called Chojinki Metalder that footage was ripped from for VR Troopers.

http://incolor.inetnebr.com/stuart/metalder/

[Super Monkey]

How about the true Japanese Superman?

Supergiant aka Starman:

Somewhat inspired by our own 50s "Superman" TV series with George Reeves, Starman is a being from another galaxy who wears tights, a hood, and sports cape wings under his arms, but he is able to transform into your average businessman at a given moment. He has the strength of a 100 mortals, can fly from one planet to the other, and can withstand the explosion of a nuclear bomb. Starman is a confident hero as it seems nothing can defeat him and he often laughs vigorously at his enemies before he afflicts pain on them, "Three Stooges"-style.

read about him here:
http://www.dvddrive-in.com/reviews/n-s/starmanonetwo19645659.htm

[TELLE]

I love Ultraman!

Since I'm sitting up here in the bottle city, I've become quite familiar with Canadian comics...

Although there were earlier versions (like Iron Man), the first superhero that can be said to be distinctly Canadian was Nelvana of the Northern Lights.

Nelvana was also the first female superhero --beating Wonder Woman, et al into print by several months.

Created by cartoonist Adrian Dingle, Nelvana was inspired by actual native myth.  Her magical powers of flight and transformation gave supervillains, spies, and tyrants a hard time during World War II.

The strip also had its share of romance.

John Byrne Alpha Flight heroine Snowbird was supposed to be the daughter of Nelvana.

Other strips like Johnny Canuck and Canada Jack.

Since the war, the most successful superhero has probably been Captain Canuck, but there have been many more.  I'm sure older posters like India Ink might have more to say on the subject.

Genis has already discussed some Italian superheroes here and there.

[Klar Ken T5477]

I wish I could upload directly as the Weekly World News did a story about super heroes aropund the world with Joe Kubert's GREAT WALL of China, Skip Williamson's PINATA MAN and Frank Brunner's SASHIMI LAD.
Have you ever seen such talent in the same place -much less mentioned in the same sentence?

Im a big fan of Supah-Giant aka Starman from way back. Love those Emerald Planet duded and the fire breathing dancing salamander men!

[Super Monkey]

Im a big fan of Supah-Giant aka Starman from way back. Love those Emerald Planet duded and the fire breathing dancing salamander men!

and how can you not? how can you not...


I LOVED Ultraman as a kid, there are a billion different Ultrapeople, Which one is the one I would had seen on US TV during the early 1980's?

I would love to be able to see them again.

http://home.cfl.rr.com/ultrafaq/Ultraman-FAQ.html