And now for something completely different…
IDW, a company that’s fast become a major rival for Image Comics’ long-held position as No. 3 behind the industry’s Big Two, recently unleashed none other than Godzilla on comic book readers. After a seven-year hiatus after the controversial Godzilla: Final Wars film (which sucked, by the way), the Big Guy is back.
I grew up watching the classic Godzilla flicks on late night television. Godzilla VS. Mothra? I was so there. Godzilla VS. Astro Monster? Wouldn’t miss it. King Kong VS. Godzilla? Oh, hell yea!
So, I couldn’t exactly resist at least picking up the first issue.
You talking to me...?
Of course, this isn’t the first time Toho Studios’ fire-breathing titan has graced the pages of comic books. He had a nice run in Dark Horse Comics a while back, and he even went toe-to-toe with some of Marvel’s finest in the 70s.
However, IDW has managed to bring the Big Guy back with a much darker curve. Put simply, this time around, people die. Now granted, violence and mayhem is nothing new to a Godzilla story, but these issues depict people dying as a direct result of his and other monsters’ actions. Believe it or not, that’s quite rare. It’s been implied (sometimes pretty heavily) that people die during a Godzilla attack, but actually seeing it happen is traditionally a rarity.
I don't think they're going to make it to issue #2...
Now, I’m not going to gush over this story. It has its flaws. For instance, until the current issue (No. 5), we’ve yet to see anything in the way of a central human character. While it’s true that Godzilla stories are first and foremost stories of big monsters stomping big cities, the human element is no less important.
Which brings me to the story’s second flaw. Apart from Sgt. Adams and the world leaders depicted, every character is dubiously one-dimensional. Adams almost seems to be like Alice in Wonderland, viewing all the caricatures around him with obvious disdain. Everyone around him is either obnoxiously liberal, obnoxiously conservative, or obnoxiously materialistic.
There is, of course, an argument to be made here. Traditionally, Godzilla characters were pretty one-dimensional. In fact, silly stories, cornball acting, and bad English dubbing kind of became the standard image for the series. Anyone remember Godzilla VS. Megalon, where Godzilla teamed up with a red-and-yellow robot named Jet Jaguar and even shook hands afterward?
You had me at hello, Big Guy!
However, I don’t agree with that notion. The most remarkable Godzilla stories (and to be honest, there aren’t many) actually featured GOOD stories with INTERESTING characters. I’m not suggesting they were Oscar-worthy, but there was a bit more to them than simply serving as monster fodder.
All that aside, though, despite the obvious flaws, I can’t help but enjoy the hell out of this series. I’ve been eager to see Godzilla and his fellow monsters (but mostly Godzilla, let’s be real) stomp the crap out of cities, then duke it out in the rubble. And when he blasted the cast of Jersey Shore to oblivion? That was just awesome. (Have I mentioned I hate Snookie?)
I won’t give this a five-star rating, given the character flaws, but I will give it four. The story is intriguing, the art is top-notch, and the pacing is just as it should be. If you’re a Godzilla fan, this one’s worth it.