Redman is a 2018 comic book created by Matt Frank (creator of
Godzilla Neo) and based off of
the TV series of the same name.The comic takes place on an alien planet, where Redman partakes in a brutal, endless Red Hunt against various monsters, taken from the original Redman and other beasts from Tsubaraya Productions history, the new ones beings limited to original Kaiju or ones from the rest of the
Ultra Series. However, things do not seem to be as they seem and there are many mysteries lurking behind the savage battles...Thus far, 2 volumes have been released, each containing 5 "episodes" where (usually) Redman fights whatever new foe(s) he is hunting.
Redman provides examples of:
- A Day in the Limelight: Episodes 2, 3 and 4 take place from the perspective of Ikarus, Kanegon and Zaurs respectively.
- Affably Evil: In Episode 10, the narrator merrily welcomes in Redman, tells him how much they and the Cicada People love his work and generally acting like a good-natured interviewer, despite eventually calling in Redman Dark to kill Redman when a strange thooming sound starts playing in the latter’s head.
- All There in the Manual: Prior to Episode 10, the name of Red Fight, the planet the comic is set on, was revealed through the blurb only. We also never get Redman Dark’s name in the comic, it only being revealed through an action figure of him which came with certain copies of Volume 2.
- Anti-Hero / Villain Protagonist: Redman falls into either one of these. Just which depends on your interpretation as we have very little to go on as to why he's hunting the Kaiju, though his brutal, violent actions and the sympathetic portrayal of some of his quarry makes it impossible for him to be a complete hero.
- Art Shift: Ikarus’ Nightmare Sequence in Episode 2 depicts a far more monstrous, realistic, skeletal Redman that looks like a monster from Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero. The fight between Redman and Redman Dark in Episode 10 employs a different art style as well, this time blacking out the two Redmen so they look the same and we can’t tell whose winning and making the background a weird churning rainbow.
- Back from the Dead: The Kaiju apparently come back to life after they are killed, at least on Red Fight.
- Behemoth Battle: Redman does this constantly. We also get brief glimpses at fights between Ghostron and Gronken and Nokogilin and Zagoras in Episode 3.
- Benevolent Monsters: Though a number of Kaiju (IE Arstron, Birdon) are actively violent and malicious, a lot of them are just trying to survive on Red Fight. We see them eating, sleeping and even just watching a sunset through-out the story. Heck, a lot of Kaiju who attack Redman (most notably Gudon and Stegon) could be interpreted as just trying to kill him for their own survival. That said, whether or not the Kaiju would be actively kind and helpful to others is unknown as of yet.
- Big Bad: The apparent "narrator" of the whole thing is shaping up to be this.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Ultra Series Kaiju King Maimai and Nokogilin return from the Redman TV show, the Cicada Humans from Ultra Q make an appearance and there are also the Big Ligers, who are a cancelled Kaiju from the original Redman TV series.
- Blood Is Squicker in Water: All we see of Gesubira’s death is a cloud of blood appearing in the sea which Redman promptly jumps out of.
- Breather Episode: Episode 4, taking place between the Wham Episode of Episode 3 and Episode 5, Volume 1’s finale, focuses on a romp rife with Black Comedy where Black King and Dorako attempt to convince Zaurs to their side to fight Redman and Zaurs ultimately not helping (and in fact hindering) them. Even Black King and Dorako’s deaths are rendered hilarious by their expressions!
- Calling Your Attacks: Redman's only dialogue, like in the TV series, is doing this!
- Came Back Wrong: In Episode 3, after being killed by Redman an innumerable amount of times, Kanegon comes back as a hideous, shambling shell of his old self. However, he also Came Back Strong, as he is able to finally catch Redman’s Red Arrow and thus stop dying, with Redman actually retreating as a result.
- Comic-Book Adaptation: Of the Redman TV series, though this has a lot more story.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Redman takes down Gudon very quickly in Episode 2, and is able to ambush Jirass in Episode 5, felling him with a single blow from the Red Knife. Redman later ends up on the receiving end of this trope in Episode 6, when he is pummelled by Stegon whilst depowered, though he returns the favour when his powers return.
- Disney Villain Death: How Redman kills Stegon in Episode 6.
- Enemy Mine: Redman is forced to team up with Telesdon and Beacon to defeat Birdon in Episode 7. It ends badly for the latter two.
- Evil Knockoff: Redman Dark looks exactly like Redman apart from his black colouration and is apparently “security” for the place where the Cicada People and the TV are located. However, it’s unknown at this point if the narrator created him.
- Fusion Dance: Gubira and King Gesura do this in Episode 8 to become Gesubira, specifically with the goal to defeat Redman in mind. Even then, Redman still kills them fairly quickly.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Redman kills many of his foes this way with the Red Arrow, a long spear. In Episode 8, he improvises and impales King Gesura with Gubira’s tusk.
- Literally Shattered Lives: Stegon breaks into pieces upon landing from Redman’s Red Fall in Episode 6.
- Mirror Match: Redman’s fight against Redman Dark plays this trope very effectively, blacking out the two opponents so we can’t tell who wins. It’s ultimately Redman.
- Monster of the Week: Each episode sees Redman facing off against a new monster or multiple new monsters that at least the audience hasn’t seen him fight before, with Jirass and the Big Ligers being the only ones to appear in multiple episodes thus far. This even factors into the plot, as part of the narrator’s motivations seems to be constantly finding something new for Redman to face to keep people watching.
- Mook Horror Show: Oh so very much.
- Mythology Gag: Quite a few...
- Most of the Kaiju Redman fights are from the original TV series, and the original Kaiju Redmon and Big Liger are both based on elements of the show too (Redmon is based on the show's unrecognisable Pigmon/Garamon suit and Big Liger is a cancelled Kaiju who was intended to appear in the series).
- Redman jumping on Stegon's back in Episode 6 whilst not having his powers has been confirmed to be a reference to Return of Ultraman. Stegon's death, being thrown off a high area, is also how he died in the Redman TV series.
- Kanegon’s mutated form in Episode 3 is directly based on his design from the Redman TV series.
- The flashing blue lights on Redman’s head seen in Episodes 2 and 5 appear to function similarly to the original Ultraman’s colour timer, warning him of when his power is low. However, Redman transforms into a blue version of himself rather than a human.
- The pictures of the series’ Kaiju on Matt Frank’s DeviantArt also include lots of references to past Ultra Series content, such as mentioning Birdon’s clash with Ultraman Taro or stating that Gudon is the natural predator of the Twintail species.
- Nightmare Sequence: Ikarus has one in Episode 2 where he is pursued by a demonic Redman.
- Playing with Fire: Birdon uses its fire Breath Weapon very effectively in Episode 7, igniting everything around it and forcing Redman to ally with Telesdon and Beacon to kill it. Redman ultimately gains his own fire-based power, the Red Fire, after Birdon’s defeat, which is basically the ability to lob balls of fire at his foes. He’s implied to have used it to kill Telesdon and Beacon.
- Red Herring: At first, one might think the Cicada People are going to be major players in the plot, as they are watching Redman’s adventures on an old TV. However, in Episode 10 they are revealed to be either dead or just models.
- Resurrective Immortality: All of the Kaiju on Red Fight have it.
- "Truman Show" Plot: Seems to be the case, as the Cicada People are watching Redman’s exploits through an old TV and the narrator speaks like an overexcited TV show host, everything seemingly happening on their whim.
- The Voice: We have yet to see the narrator’s body, if he has one at all.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: In Episode 3, all Gokinezula does is just stare sadly into the sky. This and other things imply that the Kaiju are not native to Red Fight...
- Villain Team-Up: Multiple Kaiju team up to take on Redman, specifically Black King and Dorako in Episode 4, Gubira and King Gesura in Episode 8 and King Maimai and the Big Ligers in Episode 9.
- Wham Episode:
- Episode 3 is where it’s revealed that the Kaiju come back to life after dying and, if killed enough, mutate into horrid, but stronger, forms, as is the case with poor Kanegon.
- Episode 10. The Cicada People are revealed to either be dead or models, we get our first real interaction between Redman and the narrator, Redman ends up fighting another one of himself called Redman Dark and, after he kills Dark, is teleported away with his foe’s corpse as a monstrous, scaly fist smashes out of the ground.
