Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Yasuhiro Imagawa's "Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still"

Giant Robo assists
the warriors of Mount Liang
This retro-futuristic anime, inspired by Mitsuteru Yokoyama's manga of the same title, is set largely in a 2039 China that is simultaneously medieval, modern, and futuristic, where dirigibles, skyscrapers and trains co-exist with Taoist sorcerers and warriors on horseback.

A Japanese child Daisaku Kusama, recruited into the International Police Organization for his unique ability to command a powerful robot, goes to China to support the Beijing/Peking branch of the IPO. There he meets a colorful team of colleagues, many of them based on well-known characters from the Chinese classical novels Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin (aka Outlaws of the Marsh).

Monday, April 8, 2013

John Jude Palencar's cover art for Octavia Butler's Patternist series

Mass market paperback covers:
Wild Seed (1999) and Mind of my Mind (1994). (click thumbnails to view larger images on on artist's site)
Wild Seed cover art Mind of my Mind cover art
Clay's Ark (1996) and Patternmaster (1995), Click thumbnails to view larger images on on ifsdb.com.
Clay's Ark cover art Patternmaster cover art

Friday, March 8, 2013

Michel Ocelot's "Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest"

In this animated feature directed by Michel Ocelot, a sojourning Saracen widow is employed as a nanny by a European nobleman. The widow Jenane treats her young charge Azur with the same love that she gives her biological son, Asmar. Both boys grow up listening to Jenane sing about the Djinn Fairy who awaits a rescuer to break her curse.

The two boys are close as brothers until Azur's father, annoyed by the rough horseplay between the children, and uncomfortable with the bilingual upbringing that Azur is receiving from Jenane,  expels the nanny and her son.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Leo and Diane Dillon's African American folkltale illustrations

Three illustrations from supernatural tales in Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales, a beautifully illustrated collection of stories:


Click on thumbnail to visit "The Art of Leo and Diane Dillon" blog for a larger view of these illustrations and other fantastical illustrations from the same book.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo's "Trese"

Trese is a graphic novel series by writer Budjette Tan and artist Kajo Baldisimo. Contemporary crime intersects with supernatural world in present day Manila, where mythical creatures of Filipino folklore, such as the dreaded aswang,  manifest in modern forms.

When the police are stumped by mysteries of preternatural cause, they rely on Alexandra Trese, a private investigator with unique connections to the Underworld...
Click thumbnail to visit the official Trese blog. For more information, see Trese on Wikipedia.

Suggested by jnguyễn.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues

Animator/cartoonist Nina Paley's interpretation of the Ramayana utilizes diverse styles and novel approaches in the retelling of a traditional epic as an animated feature film.

Click left thumbnail to learn more about the film on the Sita Sings the Blue site.