GFANTIS VS GUEST MONSTER BOOK 1
All of the characters presented here are copyrighted and owned by their creators. The Guest Monsters and their accompanying characters appear with the permission of the authors/creators
Cover Art by Frank Parr
Contents
Forewords
Gfantis vs Nemesis
Gfantis, the Duke, Zargatron: POWER STRUGGLE
Gfantis vs Dorugan
Gfantis vs The Zombie Kaiju
Gfantis vs Durontus
Gfantis and Talos: The Arrival of Araddon
Gfantis vs Irokus
Gfantis vs King Komodo
Gfantis vs Raiju
Gfantis vs Chimera
Gfantis vs Legendary Beast Werewolf: In the Shadow of the ROCS
Gfantis, Kodoja, Atomic Rex: At World’s End
Gfantis vs Marugrah
The Squash in Odaiba (Gfantis vs Itara)
The References: Wrath of Gfantis
The Intruder (Gfantis vs Megachiradon)
Gfantis vs Bubbles vs Sade Dawn of Pity
Gfantis vs Guest Monsters Foreword
If you are a fan of Japanese monster movies, odds are collecting Bandai toys is not enough. These movies have inspired your creative impulse whether it be drawing illustrations and comics or assembling dioramas for kaiju model kits. For some of us, our impulse is to write stories. Back in the 90s, fans like myself submitted Godzilla stories to G-Fan magazine where we could see our work in print. G-Fan published some of the best writers like Skip Peel, George Thomas, and Jay Grymyr. What made their work special was that they tackled their subject matter in the same manner as a professional writer. They set the gold standard. However, all good things come to an end. In 2002, Toho asked JD Lees, the editor of G-Fan, to cease publishing fan fiction using their characters. Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, many of the fans’ favorite kaiju became off limits. Fan writers had a choice. They could either use a non-Toho kaiju like Gappa or Gamera, or invent your own. Many fans chose to invent your own. That brings us to the anthology you have before you—Gfantis vs Guest Monsters.
Gfantis—also known as Gfantis, Prince of the Monsters—is a creation of Daikaiju Enterprises, the publisher of G-Fan. He is a bipedal dinosaur with one crescent horn set between his eyes and four swept-back horns at the back of his head. His body has a passing resemblance to Titanosaurus (the kaiju from Terror of Mechagodzilla) with the elongated neck, orange hide, and black scales. He thrives on sunlight for energy and like all good kaiju, he gets into scrapes with other monsters.
Matthew Dennion has been chronicling Gfantis’ battles for the pages of G-Fan. Matt has an impressive body of work behind his name. His novels include Chimera: Scourge of the Gods, Operation R.O.C., Atomic Rex, Polar Yeti, and Atomic Rex: Wrath of the Polar Yeti. He co-created the Watchtower Universe with illustrator John Opal. For the past three years he has been writing kaiju fiction for G-Fan, including the Gfantis vs Guest Monster stories. Matt has lived up to the same gold standard set by Skip, George and Jay back in the 90s. Check out the opening paragraph to Gfantis, Kodoja, Atomic Rex: At World’s End:
Juliet sat alone on the Jersey shore as waves lolled peacefully onto an empty beach. Decades ago, the beach would have been full of teenagers like her swimming in the surf and basking in the sun, but that was before the end of the world. That was before the coming of the kaiju. Juliet coughed and a mouthful of blood shot out onto the sand. Juliet looked at the blood as she contemplated the events from the three years prior that had brought both her and the rest of mankind to this point.
Matt tells you the impact the kaiju has had on the world with one cough. Don’t you want to find out what happened to Juliet? I sure did.
The Guest Monsters are kaiju created by other writers. The designs for these monsters are on par with the monsters one would see in the films. King Komodo, created by Mike Bogue and Todd Tennant, is a Komodo dragon mutated by radiation. His forelegs have morphed into arms. He has three rows of spikes running down the entire length of his spine. He can spit out his mucus as atomic fireballs. Zargatron, from Tim Price’s novel Big In Japan, is the demon servant of the Yokai witch Oko Rikoku. He has a pair of wings, four arms, and the face of a bull. The witch uses him in her schemes for world domination. Raiju, from K.H. Koehler’s Raiju: A Kaiju Hunter Novel, is a kami, an ancient god (or in this case a goddess) of incredible power. She can take on human form when she speaks with her keeper, Kevin Takashi. In battle she reveals her true form, a kaiju that looks like a cross between a dragon and a lion.
So this is what is in store for you. Original kaiju, new adventures in whole new worlds created by your fellow fans. What’s special about this book is that it’s a milestone. Kaiju fiction has come a long ways from the fan stories about Godzilla. Matt, Tim, Mike, Todd, K. H. Koehler, and their peers have pushed this form of storytelling to a point where it is field in its own right. It is as much a part of fantasy & science fiction as alternate history, space opera, and sword & sorcery, and they did it without the help of the big-name publishers or recognition from the fantasy & science fiction establishment. But don’t be surprised if Baen or Ace picks up one of their books. Don’t be surprised if one of their kaiju makes it to the big screen. These writers are not done. They are working on new stories as you read this foreword. That’s why I say this book is a milestone. The best is yet to come. As someone who has written his share of Godzilla fan fiction, I am amazed and proud of their accomplishments. Who knows? Maybe King Komodo or Zargatron, or Gfantis, the Prince of Monsters, will unseat Godzilla as the King of the Monsters.
Neil Riebe
May 2016