yea…I was still drunk when I thought of this title card
We’ve got a double trick or treat today. Now I bet you’re wondering why I’m still doing this, Halloween is over. Yes it is, but Day of the Dead is goin on. Are today’s specials day of the dead centric? Well…no.
Today we’re looking at two comic adaptations that never saw the light of TV. Back in the early 2000’s Tokyopop and Manga ruled the comic book shelves (well my shelves at least). But Tokyopop did more than publish manga…
They also created this abomination!
They also published American comics. And they did a lot to promote these comics. And one of my favorites was I Luv Halloween. I Luv Halloween got both an imanga and a computer animated show that tacked a different part from the book every week.
I Luv Halloween is about a group of friends that are celebrating Halloween, but must plan revenge when they become apple jacked by an old lady. There’s also a subplot of the younger sister finding a big bra.
And here’s the freaks that guide us through this mess
It’s raunchy and captures the mood and attitude most kids have for Halloween. The book has 3 volumes, the cartoon has only 4 episodes and the imanga has 7.
The art style of this is really…interesting and so is the voice acting, but the story is solid enough to make up for it I believe.
Next up is Bizenghast. Which only got an imanga promotional show. Bizenghast tells the story of Dinah, a sickly girl who gets roped into freeing the ghosts of a haunted mausoleum. While not Halloween related, Bizenghast does create a creepy, Edward Gorey-esque atmosphere that is both beautiful and spooky. (More so in the first couple of books than the later ones)
And this dress is desperately needed in my closet…NOW!
The imanga is cute and does its job well, but only goes up to the end of book 1.
Now here’s the bad news, first, yes these animated versions of the shows were cut short, and my only thinking behind this is I bet Tokyopop ran out of money before they could air more. Also in the case of Bizenghast, somehow the dubbing track got off with the video and some episodes don’t have the audio match the word bubbles. And both these comic series are out of print due to Tokyopop going belly up last year. Volume 8 of Bizenghast though is available on rightstuff.com.
So yea…buy now
Give these a look. Maybe your local library or second hand bookstore has them.
Oh and Marty LeGrow, the creator of Bizenghast, has a Deviantart. Go check her out!
RT Gomer Productions 