Something
weird happened in 2016. No, besides that. I meant on Tsuburaya Productions’
YouTube channel. Ultraman’s 50th anniversary was on its way, but all they
seemed to post was this weirdo in a cheap-looking superhero costume fighting
even cheaper-looking kaiju. After a few terrific pieces of fanart crossed my
Tumblr dashboard, I decided to give it a watch.
That was all it took. From April to October, Redman had me -- and
many other tokusatsu fans -- in his grip. Like the kaiju who kept coming back
no matter how many times he stabbed them, his show had found new life 44 years
after it ended. We gifed, drew, theorized, roleplayed, cosplayed, filmed. Though the whole series had been released on LaserDisc in
1996, it felt like it had been discovered in someone’s attic after they
mysteriously vanished. There was no context for anything that was happening,
just endless brawls in the middle of nowhere, set to music that oscillated
between chipper and eerie and approximately five sound effects. The idea that
this originally aired as part of a “children’s variety show” was as
unbelievable as Tsuburaya’s claims that Redman was a hero. To any clear-eyed
viewer, he was nothing less than a kaiju slasher… except he always won.
Tsuburaya has yet to launch any live-action projects with Redman
in the wake of his unexpected resurgence, despite
having a new suit ready to go.
Fortunately, they’ve joined with Phase Six and Night Shining to publish
something even better: a graphic novel written and illustrated by Matt Frank
and colored by Goncalo Lopes. With Volume 1 of Redman: The Kaiju Hunter,
they’ve unlocked the character’s hidden potential, while teasing even stranger
stories to come.
