G-Fan
G-Fan, usually typeset as G-FAN, is a magazine dedicated to the Japanese kaiju film genre. It is published quarterly and long-running (the fall 2012 issue is #100). It was created by J. D. Lees. G-Fan serves as the official magazine of the Godzilla Society of North America, but it also has subscribers and retailers in Europe and Asia. G-Fan was named in The Chicago Tribune's 2008 "Our Fifty Favorite Magazines" list. It is also the sponsor of the annual G-Fest convention. It follows in the tradition of Godzilla fanzines of the 1970s, such as Japanese Fantasy Film Journal (by Greg Shoemaker) and The Godzilla Fan News Letter (by Richard H. Campbell).
Content
G-Fan contains interviews with actors, producers, directors, and special effects technicians associated with the Japanese giant monster (daikaiju) genre. G-Fan also covers giant monster movies produced outside of Japan, such as King Kong, Them!, and Gorgo.
Regular features include interviews with actors and staff of kaiju eiga, movie reviews, toy reviews, information on new products, DVD reviews, dealer spotlights, guides to Japanese locations, fan profiles, and kaiju-related activities.
Contributors
Some of the regular writers include J.D. Lees, Steve Agin, Mike Bogue, Jeff Taylor, Brett Homenick, Allen Debus, Lyle Huckins, and Skip Peel.
Fan-produced content
Much of what is shown in G-Fan was created by fans of the magazine.
Art created by the fans is sometimes used as cover art for the magazine.
Fan fiction has long been a part of G-Fan. Among the most notable pieces of fan-fiction features are The Journals of Dr Rex Summeral, a fictional kaiju biologist.
Fan-produced content including trademarked kaiju was formerly accepted, but Toho Productions, the company that owns the rights to several kaiju, asked G-FAN to stop using their copyrighted monsters. Since then, only fan-produced content that uses non-Toho or fan-created kaiju is accepted.
Associated merchandise and symbols
G-Fan also has offered its own brand of merchandise including hats, t-shirts, calendars, and keyrings.
G-Fan has a mascot named Gfantis, a large dinosaur with solar-based powers, including regeneration and an energy beam fired from his horn. G-Fan's editor has given artists and fan fiction writers permission to use him in art and story submissions to the magazine.
G-Fest convention
The magazine sponsors the annual G-Fest convention in Chicago. Each year, an award called the Mangled Skyscraper is presented to someone who has made an important contribution to the kaiju genre. Awardees have included Forrest J Ackerman, Haruo Nakajima, Koichi Kawakita, Shinji Higucki, Noriaki Yuasa, and Akira Takarada.