Anatomy of Kaiju

No, not Steve (god, Steve!).  The other kaiju. Mythic fiction author and editor Midori Snyder posted an article on her blog this morning about Yōkai Daizukai, an illustrated encyclopedia of Japanese monsters. Intrigued, I checked out her source, (pinktentacle.com):

authored by manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, [it] features a collection of cutaway diagrams showing the anatomy of 85 traditional monsters from Japanese folklore (which also appear in Mizuki’s GeGeGe no Kitarō anime/manga). 

I'm incredibly amused by the preview entries. But it only makes sense ... the only thing that rivals the Japanese aesthetic for bizarre creatures is the old D&D Monster Manual. I wonder if there's a correlation there ... perhaps Gygax and crew consumed too much wasabi at some point, and it pickled their brains. That would explain the Rust Monster, wouldn't it?

For the record, the Kijimunaa is much cuter in Devil Survivor. (Really, what would a Shin Megami game be without fairy-demons?)

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Grammar geekery

It's all worth it for the last panel. (Click to embiggen.)

(Bitches!)

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Randomosity: The Line

Klint over at Renegade Futurist or Mutate! or whatever he's calling his blog these days posted a link to Subnormality, which has now fascinated me for hours as I've backtracked through the archives. The site is subtitled, "Comix with too many words" for a reason, but his musings on what makes someone "weird" made for a good read. Every middle school student should be made to read it at least once in their alienated, fraught little lives.

Likewise, The Line ought to be mandatory reading for every high school student. Didn't read it? Do not collect diploma. Do not pass Go. That is all.

The creator is a mad genius. The comic is like some sort of fucked up love-child of Tatsuya Ishida, Grant Morrison, and Warren Ellis, with occasional guest art by R. Crumb.

And now that I've planted that mental seed, it's off to bed. Sweet dreams!

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