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Anonymous asked:
Hi Zander! I've been a fan since the days of REPLACEMENT GOD but have basically enjoyed all the various projects of yours I've seen. Here's my question: any word on when we might see the Kaijumax DELUXE for Seasons 5&6? I can't wait, for that and whatever comes next! Thanks for all you do!
Next fall (Oct. 2023) is the plan. I’m writing a lot of character design notes and annotations, transcribing a wide-ranging exit interview, and drawing a wild-looking cover. And after all that, the book market is also slower than Christmas, so I guess we’ll all just have to wait a little bit.
Anonymous asked:
hi there, I have just read the first season of Kaijumax. I just wanted to share my thoughts. I was not expecting it to be what it was. I wanted to read it cause of your colorful art, and the giant space monsters. Your story holds a raw, emotional reality I was not prepared for. I was disgusted by your story, despite desperately hoping that it somehow wraps up happy. I wish I could be angry with you for it. I feel that was your intention, in a way. its art. It moved me but its too much for me
I… don’t think I was trying to make anyone angry, but this ask made me get a little bit introspective. I think I was trying to be transgressive in terms of the premise of the book, and in terms of the “gags” (that is, the mashups of prison and kaiju tropes), but I quickly* realized that that unrelenting cruelty was not something that I liked making.
I appreciate that you feel like it made you feel something, and that was certainly my intention. I think the book made a barely-perceptible shift after the first book, when the prison-drama tropes were exhausted for the most part. It became, hopefully, a very slow story of personal triumph in the face of awful circumstances, and I was conscious of riding the line between dramatic and needlessly cruel with a bit more care.
I don’t blame you if you don’t care to read any more. It certainly is not what the funny monsters on the cover promise. I guess I will just say that I agree with you and leave it at that.
A review of Kaijumax and its themes
(trigger warning for mention of dark topics. Also Kaijumax spoilers)
Something that continues to amaze me about the kaiju genre is just how versatile it is. Its ability to mesh with just about any genre is no doubt a reason why it has persisted for what is gradually creeping closer to a century. And of course the best kaiju media always has something important to say sociopolitically, and indeed that commentary is part of its dna. From warnings of nuclear weapons, to failings of a current government, to nationalism and even the state of the economy. But these are usually topics that affect pretty much everyone. Very rarely do you see a piece of kaiju media that says something about topics more personal or about the people in society who have the least power.
Kaijumax is one of those few.
Come for the thoughtful review, stay for the UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME fan art.
Anonymous asked:
Hi Zander! My name is Duy Tano and for the past 10 years I've maintained a small comics commentary website called The Comics Cube. I've recently opened a YouTube channel and am hoping to interview creators for it. My most recent episode is with Gene Ha and I thought I could ask you if you would be game to sit down for an interview? I would love to ask you about your career, including Top 10, Smax, and Heck and Kaijumax! Please let me know! Thanks!
I’d love to. I’m sorry this has taken so long to get back to you. If you’d like to talk more, please email me at zandercannon@gmail.com. Thanks!
solidstrider asked:
A big fan of Kaijumax and Smax, Mr. Cannon! I have a 100% nerdy question: How do the "beings of Light" feel when their merged human counterparts like Dr. Zhang and Jin-Wook do less than heroic things in their giant forms?
Okay, so I’ve established that there is a Land of Light-like place where the Ultraman-like beings come from, but also that, essentially, when humans size up into space superheroes or whatever that they are still their exact selves. In my internal logic of the story – which is gleefully inconsistent, of course – the ultra-forms are really more like uniforms, or even riot gear that are handed out at orientation, and that any backstory for a particular ultra-character is awkwardly shoehorned in on a case-by-case basis (e.g. the Robinsons).
That was the 100% nerdy response, and now my glib and dismissive response: Oh, they’re horrified.
zuckyd1 asked:
Has the map of the female prison in Kaijumax Deluxe Edition #2 appeared anywhere else?
Not yet. I was too slow to get it into the Season 4 trade paperback, but I’m hoping to make a print of it for the day when we can go to comic conventions again.