Tsuburaya Invades New York Comic Con!

If you had told 13-year-old me that Godzilla and Ultraman would one day have a huge presence in New York, I wouldn’t have believed it… yet here we are! I went from watching 480p episodes of Ultraman on YouTube to standing right beside Ultraman & Zero! I’m so thankful to have celebrated the franchise legacy alongside the beloved actors from the franchise right here at New York Comic Con. Thanks to the Kaiju United crew, I had the incredible opportunity to attend this year’s event as a member of the press, and I’m forever grateful.

Let’s dive into what happened at the Ultraman Panel!

The panel kicked off similarly to the Godzilla one the day before, with a tribute video celebrating Ultraman’s long-lasting legacy and future. However, things took an unexpected turn, when none other than Ultraman Belial stormed the stage, terrorizing the audience. Thankfully, Ultraman Zero swopped in to save the day! The two battled it out, with Zero nearly knocked out, but managing to power up just in time to defeat Belial, who ran away backstage in defeat.

After the excitement, Christopher Sean, the voice of Ken Sato from Ultraman: Rising, joined Zero on stage to officially start the panel. He welcomed the artist Arthur Adams, who introduced a brand-new Ultraman trading card game, releasing this week on October 25th. The fun doesn’t stop there -January 2025 will bring several English exclusive booster packs with variant cards of various Ultra Heroes. The card art, featuring artists like Klenda-V, Davide Tinto, Sean Chen, Kevin Kobasic, and Matt Frank, will undoubtedly impress collectors and fans alike. Arthur Adams himself created a Gomora card, and fittingly, Gomora joined him and Christopher on stage!

The game will launch with two starter decks: Heroes of Hyperspace and The Bonds of Zero. These decks will soon be followed by the Guardians of the Earth booster packs, with over 110 cards featuring beloved Ultra Heroes and Kaiju. It’s going to be an exciting new way to engage with the Ultraman universe! Just as Gomora and Arthur left, the panel was interrupted once again-this time by Alien Zarab, soon joined by Mephilas. The two villain monologued the events of the ongoing comic series Ultraman x Avengers. They were finally stopped by Ultraman himself, bringing some much-needed peace to the stage.

Christopher Sean returned to introduce Ultraman x Avengers comic writers Kyle Higgins and Matt Groom, as well as Shigenobu Matsumoto, the scriptwriter of the ongoing manga series Ultraman: Along Came a Spider-Man. Each person shared insights about their projects, which did include heavy spoilers. So, for the
sake of those who didn’t read these, we won’t spoil… so go read them now! The 10th chapter of Along Came a Spider-Man will be released on the 23rd of October, while the third issue of Ultraman x Avengers is slated for release on December 25, 2024.

After that, the excitement just kept on coming. Emi, the infant kaiju from Rising, joined Christopher on stage! Sadly, they were interrupted by Baltan. Despite Chris’s best efforts to protect Emi, Baltan was too strong – until Ultraman Arc showed up to save the day! After defeating Baltan, Arc was joined by Paul Castro Jr., the English dub voice for Yuma Hize, who shared some teases about the upcoming adventures to come in the show

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As the panel came to a close, everyone who participated – including Zero, Ultraman, Arc, and Emi – gathered for a final farewell, plus special giveaways! Congrats to all of the winners who went home with prizes. The room was filled with excitement, joy, and celebration, with fans briefly staying to take photos with the actors and Ultras. Jugglus Juggler actor Takaya Aoyagi was in also attendance! How cool! The Tsuburaya panel was a fun, action-packed showcase of the amazing things ahead for Ultraman. Thanks to the brilliant efforts of Ultraman Connection, Tsuburaya Fields & Media, Starlight Runner Entertainment, and everyone involved, the Ultraman brand has had a stronger presence than never before.

Here’s to Ultraman’s continued growth and success!