Since 2008, every chance I’ve gotten I’ve written about one of my favorite characters, Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy (see “Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--I Blame Myself”), every chance I can. However, every time I write about Astro Boy, I second-guess myself. I ask myself, “Is this something that anyone other than myself would be interested in?” Well, this time I think I’ve really got something of interest.
As you might well imagine, like most Comic Book Guys, I’m not what you would call a “fashionista.” Hence, this is why I completely missed the news that on February 16, 2023 the Big Red Boot went on sale. Inspired “by the boots worn by Astro Boy” (except he doesn’t wear boots; those red things at the ends of his legs are jet boosters) and measuring 16" tall, these oversized red leather boots were a collaboration between Tezuka Publications and MSHF (“Mischief”), a New York-based art collective.
Costing $350, the Big Red Boot made headlines and was an almost instant sellout; a video featuring the boots “garnered more than 3 million views and over half a million likes in just 24 hours.” Celebrities like Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne, and Lil Nas X (I’m overly proud of myself for knowing who all these people are) started wearing them and naturally knockoffs made of rubber and plastic started appearing. Just put “Big Red Boot” in your search bar and see for yourself.
I like to fancy myself the biggest Astro Boy fan in North America, so I have to confess to feeling a certain amount of smug satisfaction knowing that Astro Boy has inexplicably become high fashion. There are nifty-looking comics- or movie-accurate Superman boots, Captain America boots, etc., available, but we’ve never seen any famous folks rocking them like with the Big Red Boots.
But that being said, I have no plans of getting my own pair of Big Red Boots. They do look cool, but there’s the cost and the fact that my feet are hard to fit, but ultimately, I just know I don’t have the style to pull those boots off. However, I do wish there had been kid versions of them back when I was in grade school.
And for those who’ve never watched Svengoolie, or haven’t seen it in a while, starting in January his show has been running a half hour longer. The show is now airing from 8 pm to 10:30 pm, with an added extra 30 minutes will allow for longer run times of classic movies and more Sven content. This is, of course, good news for genre movie aficionados such as myself.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
