This issue of CMI came along with Mad Scientist #8 in the eBay auction I won. I had no idea what kind of fanzine it would be, save for the great artwork I had glimpsed in G-FAN and Mad Scientist. I can happily report that Calling Monster Island is a treat, carving out its own unique niche in monster fandom. Ted Seko and Mark Jiro Okui are responsible for all the content, art and articles. The style is informal yet informative, with a focus on individual remembrance of sci-fi, horror, and fantasy media.
The graphic article "A Toy Store Story" is an excellent example. In it, Ted Seko artistically takes us back to great toy stores of his youth, "even though," he writes, "they're just memories."
Seko's "1975" centerspread is a wonderful idea elegantly rendered. In a pen and ink style that almost looks like woodcut, Seko integrates Mazinger, Mechagodzilla, Rollerball, Linda Carter as Wonder Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Go Ranger and Deathlok into a sci-fi stew that was being served all at once in 1975.
Mark Jiro Okui's "What Scared Me As A Kid" will bring a knowing smile to any "monster kid's" face, and his memories of meeting Robert Quarry (Count Yorga) and Forrest J Ackerman (Famous Monsters of Filmland) are detailed and entertaining.
Okui writes of Forrest J Ackerman, "He has taken something he loves and kept his sense of wonder alive for himself and others." The same could be said for the authors and illustrators of Calling Monster Island. Warm and personal in tone, CMI is like spending time with a good friend.
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