New York Comic Con 2024 was a massive, sprawling affair that saw the Ultraman Series making appearances all over New York City and the surrounding area. Battles in Times Square, Brooklyn, and even New Jersey made it clear that Ultraman was not only here to stay, but that the heroes (including Ultraman Zero, celebrating his 15th Anniversary) were still eager to protect humanity.
Those clashes and meetings culminated back at the Javits Center on Sunday, at 2 PM, where Christopher Sean greeted fans and welcomed them to the Ultraman’s New Universe panel, promising them a show they’d never forget!
Before Christopher could even get on stage, however, an invasion by Ultraman Belial threatened to end the festivities before they could even begin! Belial had been causing trouble everywhere for the past several days, but this seemed to be his masterstroke, as his nemesis Ultraman Zero emerged to battle him. Belial had spent the previous three fights in New York getting a feel for how to beat Zero, and this time, he almost succeeded, beating him into the ground. Were it not for some unexpected aid, Zero might have breathed his last — but unexpected aid he did receive, as Christopher sent him power in the form of a card, letting the Son of Seven rise again and drive Belial away from New York for the last time… for now.
No longer needing to be afraid of Dark Giants, Christopher finally got onto the stage and got the party started, greeting fans and attendees, and explaining that the card the audience had seen came from the Ultraman Card Game, available now! What Christopher really wanted to talk about, however, was a new scoop — Western artists providing special artwork for the game! The news had been broken a short while back at San Diego Comic Con, but this time, further details were provided, along with one of the artists making an appearance, that being the legendary Arthur Adams!
Adams was happy to talk about the Gomora card he had created, but things went off the rails when the real Gomora showed up to get a look at its depiction! Adams, a longtime fan of the Ancient Monster, produced a truly incredible image that did the real thing justice. You’ll be able to see the art yourself, alongside over a dozen others, when the Ultraman Card Game BP02 Vortex of Crimson and Azure comes out on January 26th, 2025.
That’s not the only card game announcement, though — Chris was practically buzzing to announce that a special EX Deck for the movie Ultraman: Rising was in production to come out around the same period! Christopher had been trying the game all weekend (Including a close game with fellow Ultraman Series star Takaya Aoyagi), and the prospect at getting to play with the character he played (as well as his beloved Emi!) had him so excited that he ran off stage with Arthur and Gomora… leaving it open for yet another invasion.
This incursion started curiously, with Alien Zarab stumbling out, groggy and amnesiac, as though he’d suffered a terrible tragedy. Offering clarification was Alien Mefilas, fresh from his journey between universes. You see, these aliens had come from very specific alternate universes… Zarab from one where Ultraman and the Avengers were fighting Galactus, and Mefilas from one where he was tormenting Spider-Man and the SSSP with Doctor Doom… That’s right, these were the iterations from the recent comics!
Both were confronted by the appearance of the original Ultraman — Who can say which universe he came from, but all that mattered was that he was here to protect the con. Mefilas and Zarab engaged, Mefilas in particular interested in seeing if Ultraman’s defeat, as an anchor being, would herald the end of the Ultras as a whole. Of course, the aliens would have had to beat Ultraman for that to happen, and Ultraman easily manhandled both of them. Mefilas and Zarab escaped to their worlds of page and ink, but not before leaving some cryptic warnings about the future of their respective stories.
With the coast now clear, Christopher returned, bringing up Kyle Higgins and Mat Groom, the writers of Marvel’s Ultraman series, the latest of which is Ultraman X Avengers, as well as Shigenobu Matsumoto, the mangaka responsible for Ultraman: Along Came A Spider-Man. The two teams from different sides of the world were able to come together to discuss their respective creations, as well as appreciate the other’s work — remember, folks, you can pick up Ultraman X Avengers in your local comic shop, and Ultraman: Along Came A Spider-Man is readable on the Viz Manga app on iOS and Android!
As the comic creators returned to their seat, a certain curious tot couldn’t help but poke her oversized head in curiously — It was Emi, the baby Kaiju! Ever the proud papa, Christopher welcomed his monster daughter on stage, but Emi was followed by Alien Baltan, seeking to make use of the young Kaiju for their own purposes! Unable to transform without the power of animation, Christopher did whatever he could to protect Emi, but he was only human…
Thankfully, there was one more Ultraman in the area, and the dulcet tones of the English version of Yuma Hize rang out as Ultraman Arc appeared to battle Baltan! Emi and Christopher supported Arc with their imagination, Emi’s fond memory of baseball giving the hero of imagination a “creative” solution to Baltan’s strength and speed — Smashing the Arc Eye Sword into his face like a baseball bat, sending him flying with a home run! After a hit like that, Baltan fell behind in battle, and was driven to defeat!
His foe vanquished, Ultraman Arc flew away, and voice actor Paul Castro Jr., voice of Yuma in the dub of Ultraman Arc, arrived to chat with his fellow VA! Both Christopher and Paul happily discussed their respective projects — Remember, folks, you can watch Ultraman: Rising on Netflix now, and Ultraman Arc on Youtube every Friday at 8:30 EST!
After that, the panel began to finally wind down — but not before a variety of wonderful gifts were given out to fans! Pictured here is the grand prize winner, who got to walk away with the utterly titanic, limited edition Ultraman Jumbo Chan from Funko, next to Kyle, Mat, and Christopher, with Ultraman and Zero on standby to protect the prize and winner from thieving aliens!
It was an incredible panel, stuffed to the gills with larger-than-life heroism and exciting news, but the future of Ultraman is just getting started! Come back soon to learn about even more of the Ultraman Series experiences that happened in NYC, and check out our twitter to see all sorts of pictures! And for YOUR future with the Ultraman Series, stay close to Ultraman Connection!
