This one goes out to Apollo Z. Hack/Matt Burkett, a Saturday Night Showcase member and a big Ultraman fan. (Not the DC character, the Japanese hero.) In fact he’s preparing a documentary on his introduction to the franchise, Ultraman: Towards the Future (aka “Ultraman Great), another Saturday Night Showcasee. He’s been curious about Harvey’s Ultraman comic so I thought I’d use the occasion of the Friday Night Fights to give him an example. Also I needed a fight for this week.

I chose tonight’s entry for one reason. Not because it’s an adaptation of the first battle with the Gudis we see in episode 1, but because it was written by the late Dwayne McDuffie, and I didn’t know he wrote for this comic. (He wasn’t that big a name to me at the time.) He wrote the three-part miniseries, although not the ongoing that came later and gave Ultraman a new partner. This is how he met his last partner, Jack Shindo.

Smokin’ Joe Round 6

The Battlefield: Ultraman #1 (Harvey Comics/Ultracomics; July,1992) “Genesis”

The Promoters: Dwayne McDuffie (writer), Ernie Colon (penciler), Alfredo Alcala (inker), Dan Nakrosis (letterer), and Clydene Nee In Color (guess)

McDuffie adds an extra scene as Ultraman catches up to Guidis’ space ship and they have a battle on the ship.

This could have worked for the Feet of Fury championship.

Apparently Ultraman’s been hunting him for a while and plans to bring him to justice. (This version has him locking up monsters he’s not forced to destroy, kind of like Green Lanterns rather than your usual monster-fighter.)

There goes Gudis' insurance premiums.

The Gudis’ ship crashlands on Mars, where some of the planet’s neighbors have also popped in for a visit.

"And get me some popcorn!"

Long story short (although timing is slightly different from the episode), Jack’s partner is killed (he would later return in the show itself as a form for Gudis much as Jack is for Ultraman) and Jack tries to distract the monster from Ultraman so he can recover for another attack.

"Hey, you cured my indigestion. Thanks, I'll kill you last."

With this extra time, Ultraman gives Guids a beating.

"Never mind, my stomach's feeling funky again."

However, Gudis turns into space dust or something, and makes his way to Earth, kicking off a great TV series, which you can find (as of this writing) on Hulu, and if its available in your country I recommend it.

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