Billy Tan came to Tokyo was one of an ever growing list of non-Japanese comic professinals to attend the International Manga Festival (Kaigai Manga Festa), and it was my honor to help him out a bit during his stay here. The night before the festival, I assisted him at a drink and draw event at a little cafe with a lot of very keen American comic book fans. Though he was asked to draw his share of Green Lanterns and Avengers and the like, he also got some unique requests that got him a bit excited, including Jimmy Olsen as Elastic Lad and Beast Boy. I asked him what Japanese characters he loved as a kid and found out we shared a mutual love of the original Ultraman.
The Ultra Series was started back in 1966 by the special effects studio, Tsuburaya Productions, and had sfx by Eiji Tsuburaya, the man who brought the Godzilla movies to life. I first saw it when I was in junior high school back in the mid-70's while Billy came upon it a few years later back in his home country before he and his family moved to the USA. With that bit of shared info, the original Ultraman became the perfect character to have him draw into the little red sketchbook that I've been carrying to Tokyo since the first festival.
Now, believe me, I have many more things than this, none of which I will mention here, to thank Billy for greatly, but, nevertheless, I must thank him again for providing me with this sketch and one of the better memories that I will get to carry around with me from this year's convention. Suwachi!!
