- Published on
Godzilla King of the Monsters #23
Writer: Doug Moench
Artist: Herb Trimpe, Dan Green
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Release: 1979
Marvel gets ready to take their Godzilla King of the Monsters series out with a bang, as this issue before the last in the comic's run continues Godzilla's rampage through New York, this time to his full size after previously being shrunk by Henry "Yellowjacket" Pym's "pym particles". With the Fantastic Four having already gone toe-to-toe with the behemoth when he was human size, and SHIELD unable to thwart the nuclear menace, the Avengers kick into action and their exploits against Godzilla are covered in this issue. To Marvel's credit, Godzilla is mostly unparalleled by his adversaries, shrugging off the Avengers' respective strikes, although panels alert the reader that the King of the Monsters is often under tremendous pain by attacks such as a blow from Thor's Mjolnir despite that he retaliates in short order. As it turns out, and the cover of the title suggests, only Wasp and the Yellowjacket are able to make any sort of successful attack against the creature, although even this is a fairly minor victory that Godzilla still manages to come back from and leave this issue on sort of a cliffhanger.
In regards to how this comic fares, it's a decent read. Anyone who is both a fan of Godzilla and Marvel Comics will likely get a kick out of the huge melding of the two properties, though, and all of the cameo's within, such as one from J. Jonah Jameson. The art by Herb Trimpe, however, is a bit mixed. He does a very good job rendering the Avengers and other iconic Marvel characters, which should come as no surprise since he had previously worked on other series such as Captain America and Iron Man, but falters a little in regards to the title character who looks uneven from panel to panel. This is a stable complaint of the series as a whole, though, so nothing new or particularly noteworthy about it in regards to this particular issue. Overall, it's an enjoyable read and probably the best showcase of Godzilla against the Marvel Universe that the series has to offer.
Writer: Doug Moench
Artist: Herb Trimpe, Dan Green
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Release: 1979
Marvel gets ready to take their Godzilla King of the Monsters series out with a bang, as this issue before the last in the comic's run continues Godzilla's rampage through New York, this time to his full size after previously being shrunk by Henry "Yellowjacket" Pym's "pym particles". With the Fantastic Four having already gone toe-to-toe with the behemoth when he was human size, and SHIELD unable to thwart the nuclear menace, the Avengers kick into action and their exploits against Godzilla are covered in this issue. To Marvel's credit, Godzilla is mostly unparalleled by his adversaries, shrugging off the Avengers' respective strikes, although panels alert the reader that the King of the Monsters is often under tremendous pain by attacks such as a blow from Thor's Mjolnir despite that he retaliates in short order. As it turns out, and the cover of the title suggests, only Wasp and the Yellowjacket are able to make any sort of successful attack against the creature, although even this is a fairly minor victory that Godzilla still manages to come back from and leave this issue on sort of a cliffhanger.
In regards to how this comic fares, it's a decent read. Anyone who is both a fan of Godzilla and Marvel Comics will likely get a kick out of the huge melding of the two properties, though, and all of the cameo's within, such as one from J. Jonah Jameson. The art by Herb Trimpe, however, is a bit mixed. He does a very good job rendering the Avengers and other iconic Marvel characters, which should come as no surprise since he had previously worked on other series such as Captain America and Iron Man, but falters a little in regards to the title character who looks uneven from panel to panel. This is a stable complaint of the series as a whole, though, so nothing new or particularly noteworthy about it in regards to this particular issue. Overall, it's an enjoyable read and probably the best showcase of Godzilla against the Marvel Universe that the series has to offer.
- Published on
Godzilla King of the Monsters Special #1
Story & Script: Randy Stadley and Steve Bissetts
Artist(s): Steve Bissette and Ron Randall
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: 1987
Cover: Steve Bissette
Without a doubt, the darkest of the US Godzilla comics. There's no mention of Godzilla's past at all here, except for the fact that he is millions of years old and is full of displeasure of the world he once knew being changed into a bustling metropolis. The only mention of radioactivity pertains to a mysterious stone slab which attracts not only Godzilla to wake up every 3000-4000 years, but two other monsters (and one Anguirus rip-off, not named) called Soran the thunderbird and Inagos the locus king. Godzilla is the "Fire Monster". Basically the monsters show up after the slab is discovered and proceed to make their way to Tokyo where it is. Godzilla lands in the city first and begins his path of destruction. The scientist who discovered the secret behind the slab, along with a friend of his, load the slab onto a helicopter in an attempt to get it out of the city and out into the ocean. The scientist takes one helicopter to buy time for his friend to get away and ultimately ends up ramming his helicopter into Godzilla's head as a distraction in order to keep his wife and daughter out of Godzilla's path. The other helicopter pilot takes the slab out to sea and drops it into the ocean. Godzilla and the other monsters follow the slab into the watery depths, never to be seen again.
To put it bluntly, this is one dark comic from the artwork to the storyline. Godzilla really doesn't belong in this story, as his part could have been played by ANY monster. The story seemed very thrown together and the other monsters in the story were just knock offs of other Toho monsters (Kamacuras and Rodan). The cover artwork is especially ugly. Godzilla's slug-like appearance with the evil grin is a far cry from what, in my opinion, the true king of the monsters should look like. The supplemental artwork, found at the end of the comic, ranges from artistic to disturbing, you can finally see what happens when Godzilla steps on someone. When I got this comic as a kid, I had never seen Godzilla in this light before. I had seen the original film and knew that Godzilla was a force of destruction, but with this comic, it was as if all involved in it just wanted to make him into something he wasn't.
Story & Script: Randy Stadley and Steve Bissetts
Artist(s): Steve Bissette and Ron Randall
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: 1987
Cover: Steve Bissette
Without a doubt, the darkest of the US Godzilla comics. There's no mention of Godzilla's past at all here, except for the fact that he is millions of years old and is full of displeasure of the world he once knew being changed into a bustling metropolis. The only mention of radioactivity pertains to a mysterious stone slab which attracts not only Godzilla to wake up every 3000-4000 years, but two other monsters (and one Anguirus rip-off, not named) called Soran the thunderbird and Inagos the locus king. Godzilla is the "Fire Monster". Basically the monsters show up after the slab is discovered and proceed to make their way to Tokyo where it is. Godzilla lands in the city first and begins his path of destruction. The scientist who discovered the secret behind the slab, along with a friend of his, load the slab onto a helicopter in an attempt to get it out of the city and out into the ocean. The scientist takes one helicopter to buy time for his friend to get away and ultimately ends up ramming his helicopter into Godzilla's head as a distraction in order to keep his wife and daughter out of Godzilla's path. The other helicopter pilot takes the slab out to sea and drops it into the ocean. Godzilla and the other monsters follow the slab into the watery depths, never to be seen again.
To put it bluntly, this is one dark comic from the artwork to the storyline. Godzilla really doesn't belong in this story, as his part could have been played by ANY monster. The story seemed very thrown together and the other monsters in the story were just knock offs of other Toho monsters (Kamacuras and Rodan). The cover artwork is especially ugly. Godzilla's slug-like appearance with the evil grin is a far cry from what, in my opinion, the true king of the monsters should look like. The supplemental artwork, found at the end of the comic, ranges from artistic to disturbing, you can finally see what happens when Godzilla steps on someone. When I got this comic as a kid, I had never seen Godzilla in this light before. I had seen the original film and knew that Godzilla was a force of destruction, but with this comic, it was as if all involved in it just wanted to make him into something he wasn't.