Meet August Ragone at A-Kon 24

December 27th, 2012 by Mike

As the Rondo Award-winning author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master Of Monsters (Chronicle Books, 2007), August has commented on Japanese film and popular culture on radio, television, in print, online, and at conventions and film festivals (on both sides of the Pacific) for more than thirty years. He has been called a “Walking Encyclopedia” of tokusatsu and anime.

A Ragone Photo 2 While still a teen, he severed as Horror Host Bob Wilkins’ “Japanese Film” & “Godzilla Expert” at KTVU TV-2 (Oakland/San Francisco), he introduced Star Blazers to television viewers, and hosted the first anime event outside of Japan, “The Japanese Fantasy Film Faire” in 1979 (as recognized by Fred Patten’s Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews, Stone Bridge Press).

Growing up surrounded by anime and manga (as a self-professed fan of Old Skool Anime), August was one of the first national members of the C/FO. Dragging his VCR from home, he screened anime at conventions around the San Francisco Bay Area during the early 1980s, and became active corresponding and trading with fans in Japan. With a local anime group, August and his friends were first to cosplay the Lupin Gang at Comic-Con 1981 — and were asked to meet Monkey Punch after they left the stage.

Following his contributions to Uchusen Quarterly (Asahi Sonorama), August moved to Tokyo in the mid-1980s, where he was able to visit movie and television studios, and met many of the people who created the films and television series he had loved since childhood, including mangaka Shotaro Ishinomori. Upon returning to San Francisco, he began work on what was to become the short-lived Markalite magazine (later becoming Henshin! Online).

Over the last decade, August has contributed liner notes for numerous DVD releases, edited and authored over 100 subtitle scripts (and served as a Special Features Producer and audio commentator), for numerous titles, including Kikaida, Kamen Rider V3, Super Robot: Red Baron, Iron King, Inazuman, Gamera, Ultra Seven, and Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot, with more to come in the near future.

As a writer, August has contributed to zines and periodicals such as The Japanese Fantasy Film Journal, Filmfax, Video Watchdog, Asian Cult Cinema, Oriental Cinema, G-Fan, Super7, and Otaku USA. He has recently edited the annual “Kaiju” issues of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, for which he is also a regular contributor. With the launch of Monster Attack Team (under the Famous Monsters banner), August adds another title to his resume: Managing Editor.

The San Francisco native has also been a music and events promoter, producing live music shows, and special multi-media events, such as The Sleazefest, Incredibly Strange Wrestling, The Greaseball, Godzillafest, and Shock It To Me!. This is August’s first appearance at A-Kon.

Visit August at his blog, The Good, The Bad, and Godzilla @ http://augustragone.blogspot.com