Ōgon Bat

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Ōgon Bat (黄金 バット Ōgon Batto?) (lit. "Golden Bat"), also known as Phantaman or Phantoma, is a seminal Japanese superhero created by writer Ichiro Suzuki and illustrator Takeo Nagamatsu in 1930. Ōgon Bat is probably the first Japanese superhero. Some sources say that the character first appeared in a pulp novel, while others say that he debuted in Kamishibai, a traveling show in which a sequence of pictures is narated by a storyteller.[citation needed] He was popular enough to survive the decline of kamishibai following World War 2, being translated into manga and anime form.

A live action movie was filmed in 1966, starring Sonny Chiba. A 52 episode anime series was produced a year later.

Ōgon Bat was golden, had a skeletal face and muscular body. He wore a high collared black and red cape and carried a pointed scepter that was able to conjure lightning and cause minor earthquakes. His appearance would be heralded by a little golden bat flying in, followed by a spooky, reverberating laughter that seemed to come from everywhere.

Ōgon Bat was actually a protector from Ancient Atlantis, who was put into suspended animation in an Egyptian-like sarcophagus (probably hinting at the pseudoscientific rumor that Atlanteans were the originators of Egyptian civilization), to be awakened in the future to fight the forces of evil.

In modern times, Ōgon Bat had been discovered by Prof. Yamatone's family and a little orphan girl called Marie in a tomb in modern Egypt. The tomb's inscription described him as a “god of justice and protector of the weak”. When Yamatone's family was threatened by Gorgo (Dr. Zero's main henchman) Marie started to cry and beg for help. Her tears fell on Ōgon Bat's body and re-animated him. From then on, he would come whenever Marie would ask for his help.

His main antagonist was Dr. Zero, the leader of a crime syndicate bent on world domination. Dr. Zero wore a black mask with Batman-like ears and had 4 different colored cat eyes which could fire deadly beams. He also had no lower body, and hovered around atop a mini-flying saucer. Dr. Zero also had a metal pincer in place of his right hand and had a habit of booming his name “ZEEEEEEEEEEEERO”.

Ōgon Bat's other great villain was Dr. Death, a somewhat darker version of himself who he was supposedly created to fight.

Ōgon Bat was known as Fantasmagórico in most of Latin America, Fantomas in Brazil, Fantaman in the Italian dub and Phantoma in Australia.

In Brazil, the series arrived without an intro and one was quickly spliced together by Cinecastro using scenes from an episode and the theme from another cartoon, Journey to the Center of the Earth. This was also the case for at least 2 other anime series: Shadow Boy and Paaman (Super Dinamo).

Contents

[edit] Inspiration

In their anime iteration, both Ōgon Bat and his dark counterpart Dr.Death bear a striking resemblance to "Skull-Head" Kathulos, an Atlantean sorcerer that is awakened from a state of suspended animation within a case in Egypt during modern times in a tale writen by Conan's creator Robert E. Howard.The story was first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales, October-December 1929. [1]

"– but, oh God, the face! A skull to which no vestige of flesh seemed to remain but on which taut brownish-yellow skin grew fast, etching out every detail of that terrible death's head. The forehead was high and in a way magnificent, but the head was curiously narrow through the temples, and from under penthouse brows great eyes glimmered like pools of yellow fire."

  1. The Secret of Atlantis

[edit] List of Episodes:

  1. Ice Terror
  2. Slavery
  3. The Giant Robot
  4. Man Eating Plants
  5. Mysterious Melons
  6. The African Mystery
  7. The Space Monster
  8. The Golden Worm
  9. The Battle of Uranus Island
  10. The Egptian Treasure
  11. The Mystery of the Exhilarating Mushrooms
  12. The Snow Woman
  13. The Black Cat
  14. The Flying Saucer
  15. Ghilton, The Man of Stone
  16. Galgar the Monster
  17. Titan the Terrible
  18. Doctor Death
  19. The Magic Pearl
  20. The Blue Flame
  21. The Dragon Stone
  22. The Black Mask
  23. The Atomic Pearl
  24. Invasion of Robots
  25. The Deadly Rays
  26. The Trap
  27. The Ghost Woman
  28. The Space Bat
  29. The Robot Olympics
  30. The Ghost
  31. Desert of Death
  32. The Invisible Monster
  33. The Hands of Death
  34. The Monster of the Volcano
  35. The Factory of Volcanoes
  36. The Sea Monster
  37. Island of Terror
  38. The Deadly Jungle
  39. The Cursed Cloud
  40. The Secret of Diamond
  41. The Witch
  42. The Cyclops
  43. The Lion Man
  44. The Trainer of Monsters
  45. The Witch and The Monster
  46. The Ambush
  47. The Society of Assassins
  48. Mysterious Vampire Men
  49. The Circus of Monsters
  50. The Kidnapping of Terry
  51. The End of Dr. Zero

[edit] Notes and references

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2007)
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[edit] External links