Very nice entries, everyone. There are great imaginations at work. Whthalo, your painting is impressive- it almost looks like you used torn painted paper for parts of the sky. Lokash - I like your comic- looks like it popped out of Zap Comix. Cool photos and stories, too. Pogue is going to have a tough time choosing, I think.
"Obake Dog!!!??!!" And [pause]. Honey. You have got to come check this out. This tv show is about a bunch of nerdy Japanese toy retailers picking the toys they want to continue to resell for the next year. Look at this double finger-headed guy's face turn green when he is left off the list. Priceless! [Rewind] 30 seconds. And [play]. "Welcome back everyone to the 5th Annual Saint Patrick's Day International Kaiju Resellers Selection Show, where we are witnessing the most exciting final selection phase ever. And now lets send it back down live to our host Lev from Toy Tokyo. Lev, take it away!" "Okay everybody. I want to again thank you all for coming out. And before we reveal our final selection I'd like to reiterate how difficult it was in selecting the toys we want to sell in our stores this year. If we had our way, we would put each and every toy that walks through our doors on our shelves for sale, but alas reality forces us to do otherwise. Take my word for it, cause I've been selling this crap for over 30 years! "Anyhow, where was I? Oh yes, the final selection. I am going to read the number of our final selection in a moment. If your number is not the one selected. Please say your goodbyes. Collect your things. And exit the toy store. The cashier at the front will have some parting gifts for you. Including a very tasty plate of spaghetti fries from our friends next door. "So without further ado. The final number of the toy we want to sell is... "Drumroll please. "#462!!!! "Obake Dog, will you please accept this four leaf clover?" "Of course Lev! I'll be happy to." whispers the skull and dog-faced plushie. "Obake Dog!!!??!! screams the unselected Ghostfighter ackwardly from the back of the room. "Are you (bleep)ing kidding me? "Obake Dog!!!??!! The camera pans then zooms in on the disgruntled toy. A tamborine rolls in the distance. And [pause]. Wow. Look at his left face when they zoom in here. He must be absolutely sick. His skin is turning bright green and his eyes are as big as manhole covers! I cannot believe what people spend their money on these days.
It was a gloomy day, made even darker with the realization that this was our last gig at Super 7. We'd talked with---hell, we practically begged---Flynn about keeping us on the roster, but he refused to listen to our pleas. "Times have changed,” he said, "and people are just not interested in two-headed grapplers any more...I've given you two ample opportunity to make a go of it, and you've let me down time and time again. Sure, you had promise in your youth, but now there are younger, fresher figures out there that only have one mouth to feed. I have to look at the bottom line, guys, and you just don’t have a place in the bright and glorious future of the Super 7 empire.” We knew that he was referring to our less than stellar outings over the past year or so… Some claim that it all started to go downhill when they jokingly stuffed us full of Easter grass back in ’06, but we personally marked the beginning of the end with the Valentine’s day releases earlier that year. We are a ghostly killing machine, and yet they expect us to come rolling out all sweet and smiling for Valentine’s Day? To swallow our pride and show up with candy-pink coating all over our fearsome exterior was a blow that we were completely unprepared to deal with. We were the one that had taken out both the mighty Fink-Shit and Gargamess the Grim in just three rounds! The psychological effect of becoming the token poster-ghost for purchased affection was totally devastating. We hit the skids after that, the drinking and drug use increasing to the point where we could no longer hold up our own gloves without some plushy guts bloating us up to look the part. They even tried to break us out of our downward spiral with some straight-edge intervention, but we remained a hollow shell of the fighting figure we once were. It was like they could see right through us to the emptiness inside. So now we find ourselves at the Super 7 doorstep, one last fight before the bell rings its last. What started out as a brilliantly glowing career now winds down with a brief nod to an Irish heritage to which we have no claim. With a few meager ounces of stout in our belly, we put our on grins and lace up our gloves for one last shot at immortality. Our mold may no longer be filled, but, together, we remain GHOSTFIGHTER.
"Pssssst!" The gesture echoes through the dark toy store sometime after midnight. "Hey you in the green. Come here." "What? Huh? What's going on? What time is it?" "If you wanna live, come with me. We don't have a whole heckuvalotta time." "What are you talking about, pumpkin-face? I'm doing great. There's like 200 of me in this damn store!" "Yeah, that's what I thought two months ago. But before I knew it, they were chopping us all up and putting us in newer toys!" "Calm down guy. I don't know if your parents explained everything correctly to you about the Vinyl and the V-Color, but after every release is sold your toy spirit goes back to Japan for a new body. Believe me buddy, everything is cool. In fact, they're throwing me a Saint Patricks Day party tomorrow." "No. That's what they want you to think. What they really do is sell all of you and then destroy the mold in Japan, so there is no body for your toy spirit to return to. So again, if you wanna live. Come with me now. We don't exactly have the longest legs, so if we're gonna cover much ground we have to start now!" The unwrapped green two-headed plastic figure whose packaging presents himself as the St. Patrick's Day Ghostfighter hops down off of the display shelf and walks with the pumpkin-headed toy towards the back of the shop. "So shouldn't we try to notify some of the other toys of this impending danger? What about the RxH toys? We don't see much demand for those around these parts anymore?" "No. Believe me. They have nothing to worry about." "And what about the cute little Ghostland minis?" "Well... If we have time, we might come back for them later. But first we have to save our own hides!" "Ok, ok. So what's your plan?" ***Author's note: Cue mission impossible track. "Alright. I've already begun work on our escape glider. The shipping girl doesn't work every day, so on her day's off I've been constructing the thing out of those free USPS boxes and packing tape. I've also put aside some bubble wrap that we can wrap ourselves in to protect us when landing." "That sounds awesome." "Now listen up. There's only one way we can get out of this place and its through the front door. So what I've done is I've pre-ordered a pizza to be delivered tomorrow morning at precisely 5 minutes before the store's opening. And when the clueless employee goes to let the guy in, we will already be gliding and on our way to freedom. And depending on which employee answers the door, we might get real lucky as the pizza can double as hypnotic distraction. But if all else fails, we can just hitch aride in some dude's coat pocket. That's what I did last time, and he hasn't been in too big a hurry to bring me back. So lets get cracking. We got alot to do and the morning's gonna come quick!"
There once was a man named Flynn Whose Fighter went East to win Although two heads are better than one Double the whisky gets done Thank you Ghostfighter...it’s been fun.
Sharpie on Bristol board, apologies to Mr. Mignola. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3094/2339893518_e623a306a0.jpg
The hawk winces as it cuts through the wind. It circles the desert arena, whose many inhabitants spoiled the serene landscape earlier in the day. Now there is only stillness. Upon closer inspection, a carcass lay in the center of the abandoned hippodrome. Draped in a dark soupy paint, the reflection of clouds and the flight of the bird in his glassy eyes are the only sign of life from this now retired warrior. Only hours ago on the reverse side of these mirrors, the two headed fighter watched as a kaleidoscopic slideshow ran showcasing his short but hallowed existence in reverse. He watched as the beastly half man half elephant combatant delivered the death knoll. He watched as he saw the throngs of crowds throw roses at his feet after the countless victories of battles past. He cried as he revisited the young girl, who selflessly nursed and cared for him as he neared death after his escape from the laboratory. He remembered the stream and the fleeting hint of freedom. Then he saw the doctor, the white coats, and then the blades. He heard the screams of the others, also part of the experiments, drown out his own. He saw his father. The bird circles the stage a final time before disappearing into the horizon. The canyon gazes disinterested at the insignificant and green figure, the last will and testament of the ghostfighter who was anything but.
I guess this is my slightly less serious take on the defeat of Ghostfighter- inspired by its St. Patrick's Day release. This started as a pencil doodle on Saturday. Six hours and 48 Photoshop layers resulted in the above picture. It was drawn entirely with an optical mouse! I was a little hesitant to enter, since there are so many talented artists (and writers, too, apparently) on this board. Good luck to everyone! Larger image here with more visible text. (but be warned- it's a large file).
...this is definitely not the straight X edge fighter(SDCC x'd hands edition)...too bad cuz i thought the GF was edge...
Happy st pattys day, RIP GF, though how can a ghost die... can dead ghost become zombie ghost??? here's how it really it really went down... at least thats what obake told me...
I made this some time ago and never realized it would come true... Farewell to my first Super7 figure!
