IDW's GODZILLA General Discussion

[Shenanigans]

GMK > Heisei any day of the week. Always felt Heisei was generic and painfully overused for the three-headed menace across all media. Though naturally more Showa would be the most preferable; Showa > GMK > Heisei.

Though I will agree that the title "Best of Ghidorah" is a bit misleading anyways; Ghidorah hasn't gotten the best rep in these comics, as has been discussed at length. I'm fairly positive one of the issues included here is from Kingdom of Monsters as well, so...

Anyways, preview for Mothra vs. Titanosaurus is up! Art style looks cute so far (some of the expressions are a bit manga-esque), I like our protagonist already. This is also the first issue of Rivals set in the present year, interestingly.

https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2023/03/ ... anosaurus/

[ebirahsmeg1]

Godzilla Rivals: Round Two

Step into the arena as Godzilla’s most dangerous allies and scariest nemeses square off in a series of sense-shattering showdowns!

The world is pretty big. You’d think there’d be enough room for all the kaiju to claim their stomping grounds, but even giant monsters aren’t above needing to protect their territory.

Godzilla has friends and foes, and in turn, they vie against each other for dominance. In this quartet of standalone stories, different denizens of Monster Island go claw-to-claw for exciting, earth-shaking matchups. Marvel as Biollante throws down with Destroyah! Cheer on Mothra tussling with Titanosaurus! Gasp when Rodan tries to knock out Ebirah! And of course, make some noise for the one true King of Monsters as Godzilla goes after Gigan!

October release. Lovely art from E.J. Su once again, eager to see the whole thing.

His covers for both Round 1 and now Round 2 have been great. Interested to see how Titanosaurus & Ebirah look on the back of this cover (I'm sure they're there ala KG and Battra on the Round 1 cover).

GMK > Heisei any day of the week.

Whatever...

Hate to be a Debbie Downer, the art is objectively good but it’s a weird call to utilize the least popular (and arguably worst overall) representation of Ghidorah on the cover of a collection entitled “best of King Ghidorah.”

You're not alone with those sentiments...IDW's history of depicting KG has been very inconsistent (and that's putting it kindly). Thankfully, KG has been handled *much better* lately in Rivals & GvsMMPR. But as far as the older IDW comics go, other than Half Century War (his best depiction imho) & Godzilla in Hell #2, Ghidorah's appearances have pretty much sucked for the most part (and in Godzilla Oblivion, the artwork and writing were so piss poor that it greatly offset any attempt on that comic's part to portray KG in a proper light). Rivals & GvsMMPR have gone a long ways to rectify this wrong, so gotta give props to IDW.

However, it's just an alternate cover for a supposedly "Best Of" compilation (which includes one of the Powell/Marsh bowel movements from the very first IDW G series....God, did those days suck! Girly YaYa & President Odgen....good lord ), so it's not the end of the world.

[LSD Jellyfish]

However, it's just an alternate cover for a supposedly "Best Of" compilation (which includes one of the Powell/Marsh bowel movements from the very first IDW G series....God, did those days suck! Girly YaYa & President Odgen....good lord ), so it's not the end of the world.

Don't remind me of Girly Yaga, the Jersey Shore Crew, and President Ogden. It's so bizarre and revealing of the shifts in attitude and culture, of how we went from mid 2000's/early 2010's joyless misanthropy, to more relatively light hearted and creative endeavors.

Added in 7 minutes 36 seconds:
Here's Matt Frank's old KOM cover that could just be the cover for Best of, although clearly he's gotten better (along with the colorist) at drawing:


I have a feeling that this exact cover was why they decided to switch it up for the Best of Ghidorah reprint-compilation.

Here's some fantastic Ghidorah Covers with definitively the Heisei Ghidorah:

Spoiler:

There's a lot more good Ghidorah Covers btw, so this list isn't exhausitve.

Hell, the best of Mothra doesn't even have a MF cover. It just has the graphic designy cover like this:


In other words, the Matt Frank cover is more bonusy than anything.

[LSD Jellyfish]

So Mothra vs. Titanosaurus.

This reminded me a lot of issue four, Godzilla vs. Battra. I foresee this as a complaint from many, but the actual fight between Mothra and Titanosaurus was really only two pages, one of them being a big reaction spread. The fight can be summed up as: Mothra lunges at Titanosaurus, catching him off guard (cool visual). Titanosaurus swipes Mothra away with his tail. Mothra blasts Titanosaurus with one blast of her antenna beams...and that's it. Titanosaurus is crispy, disgruntled, and goes away.

The best I can say is that there's some great stuff with Titanosaurus, I'm glad this issue seemed to heavily focus on him. Titanosaurus rising out of the water, destroying the freeway is a spectacle to behold. Likewise, there's panels where you get to see the scope of Titanosaurus's destruction, destroying planes and buildings in his way, with the military being completely ineffective against his rampage. I also like horrific and panic inducing it is when Luna realizes Titanosaurus is coming. It's a good moment with the red swirls. However, despite this great portrayal, Titanosaurus doesn't do anything unique to him. You could've very easily swapped Titanosaurus out with Godzilla and nothing would have changed. I was hyping up how cool it would be to see Titanosaurus and Mothra making huge tornadoes against each other, or Titanosurus jumping into the air to catch Mothra, but there's none of that. So while Titanosaurus gets some love, more love than the other series, he's handled pretty poorly. It's a shame because I really like him, and it's bizarre how many chances he's gotten to shine being around since HGM, Legends 3, Rulers of Earth, and now this, but has never really been able to do much. This feels like the most he's had his own agency, and it still feels like they came up short.

This is a Mothra comic, and she's barely in it if you discount the egg. That being said, as cliche as the egg thing is in the movies, I've just realized none of the other comics have really focused on the egg as a plot device. Sure larva hatch from eggs, but it's brief and not built up. I guess in some ways this comic really does be faithful in that regard.

In terms of characters, story, and plot, it's fine. I like the main trio of Luna, Roubin, and the military chick. I like some of the visuals in the story (racing down the highway in a go-kart). There's some very nice inversions of things that happened in Mothra vs. Godzilla, like convincing fishermen to help return Mothra's egg to the sea. But still it feels like it borrows a bit too much from what is already established, especially in contrast to the standout Rodan vs. Ebirah comic from last month. This might be depressing to say, but simple well grounded stories like this, even if executed well, are always going to be a bit of a let-down after all the high concept craziness we've gotten with other Rivals issues, Godzilla Rage Across Time, and Godzilla in Hell.

The art is good, if only for me wanting more details. Everyone is expressive, and I like how Titanosaurus gets to emote a little bit too.

All in all, this was okay. It's yet another issue of the rivals series that's not bad, but also not great, and feels like it needed to just lean in slightly more into monster action to live up to the hype. I do appreciate how it feels like a complete story, and not like some of the other ones with cliff hangers with no payoff. The ending was cute and tranquil, with the leads embracing, Titanosaurus chilling out, and the Mothra egg hatching.

I'm really hoping Destoroyah vs. Biollante lives up to the craziness of the concept and set up.

[ebirahsmeg1]

Just read Mothra vs Titanosaurus and just very brief first reaction and thoughts.

Overall, it was pretty good. This was a much more grounded, straightforward and linear storyline and wasn't near as wild/out there as recent entries of this series (Rodan vs Ebirah, vs King Ghidorah, vs Gigan). This is both a good and bad thing. Fans of the more balls to the wall, fast paced style of story might not care for this one (I personally like both styles as long as it's executed well).


Things I liked:

- Artwork overall was terrific. Both Titanosaurus and Mothra look fantastic and are drawn in great detail.

- The main scientist characters were much more likable than Mima (a very weirdly written character...I actually rooted for the military characters over her) in the vs Mothra story, and not as obnoxious/pretentious as the scientists in Rodan vs Ebirah.

Some things I had some qualms with:

- The storyline was a bit too similar to vs Mothra plot, with the main character(s) trying to escape the military to "release" Mothra (in this case, trying to move the egg).

- Mothra and Titanosaurus' fight, while nice, was way too short. Also, it would have been nice to see Mothra Larva more and join its imago counterpart in battle.

Overall, a nice change of pace from the very recent crazy stories we've had. I like the variety we're getting with this series, and IDW has a good thing going and needs to keep it going (Round 3 please!).

[LSD Jellyfish]

Just read Mothra vs Titanosaurus and just very brief first reaction and thoughts.

Overall, it was pretty good. This was a much more grounded, straightforward and linear storyline and wasn't near as wild/out there as recent entries of this series (Rodan vs Ebirah, vs King Ghidorah, vs Gigan). This is both a good and bad thing. Fans of the more balls to the wall, fast paced style of story might not care for this one (I personally like both styles as long as it's executed well).

...a nice change of pace from the very recent crazy stories we've had. I like the variety we're getting with this series, and IDW has a good thing going and needs to keep it going (Round 3 please!).

You're definitely right, and I regret sort of feeling mid on this issue, despite it being a well-crafted story. There is a place for stories like this in comics, not everything needs to be crazy, and in many ways it's a nice change of pace compared to most recent wild-romps.

A part of the problem with these comics is expectations. Going in with Rivals, we are constantly expecting big monster brawls as the title would suggest. Instead, it seems that really, it's just an excuse to do a series of one-shot comics with different ideas, and not being constrained to try to lead readers into the next issue, or drag things out too much.

[Shenanigans]

Mothra vs. Titanosaurus was nice, but the best way I can describe it is a long build-up for something that never comes. Feeling lukewarm about this one.

Such a stark contrast to the chaotic energy of the last issue, which in and of itself is not a bad thing at all and may be welcome, but I don't know if this was the best way to execute it. But as far as positives go, I like a lot of the ideas present here, including the characters and their focus on studying the kaiju's territorial behavior; my favorite giant monster stories are the ones that don't just feature characters trying to "understand" the kaiju, but also show just how they plan on doing that, to which this issue excelled. And even though Titanosaurus was wreaking lots of havoc, the stakes felt significantly smaller than they have in the vast majority of these comics, which is a very welcome feeling; not everything needs to be about saving the world. And one more note - I love the portrayal of the military here. While I appreciate Vs. Mothra depicting a military that deems all kaiju, including the benevolent Mothra, to inherently be a threat to humanity, seeing the military actively protecting Mothra (well, later on, at least) was cool. Always glad to see a level of nuance to militaries.

In spite of all of that good, there was also a fair bit of "meh". Fully agree with LSD in that Titanosaurus could have been substituted for almost literally any other monster and nothing would have changed, so as much as I love seeing Titanosaurus in the spotlight (and he did get a lot of panel-time, unlike Legends #3), it felt like a wasted opportunity to do more with this specific character, even if the story being told made it difficult to put a lot of emphasis on those elements. This issue also suffered an issue similar to Vs. Battra, in that our characters don't do quite as much as the story makes it seem; every time Luna discovers something with his device, the military already confirms it at the same time (but at least here some of his info was important, such as realizing Titanosaurus was going after the egg and that they had to move it). But my main gripe is that it felt like the whole issue was trying to prevent, while inevitably building towards, Titanosaurus getting to that egg - so when it finally does happen, you're expecting... something. Anything. But all we get was a very anti-climactic finale that struggles to have any suspense. In hindsight, a lot of the build-up could've been condensed considerably to make way for more of a fight, but here's the thing - the lack of brawling action wasn't even the main problem, at least in my opinion - it was the lack of action and suspense in general. At the very least, they could've spent more time building up Titanosaurus getting to the aircraft carrier, like having him circle it and engage in a desperately futile military battle to try to keep him away. Or show the egg actively hatching during Titanosaurus' assault. We needed more energy, one way or another; it just sort of petered out by the end.

The ending was very sweet though. From the sunset-laden visuals to seeing our leads share such an intimate moment (I was waiting for a kiss), I really enjoyed it. Absolute perfect ending for a story about trying to coexist alongside the monsters. Feriowind's art was gorgeous too. Nicely detailed, expressive characters, amazingly consistent, and easy on the eyes; I don't think you'd be able to find an off-looking panel. There's some particularly lovely panels in there too, like the one posted earlier of Titanosaurus' silhouette in the dust cloud, or when Titanosaurus first appears. Lovely work.

In no way was this issue bad, but it just needed... more. Not all of these comics need to just be "Action! Action! Action!", and an issue that doesn't prioritize chaos is a nice change of pace, but I want to see a bit more if we're going to do that. I like seeing issues that focus on atmosphere (like Vs. Hedorah did), or give us character-driven stories/character development, or just give us something with more depth in general. Something weighty/meaningful. This issue had a little bit of that, just not enough to fully satisfy me. But I feel like this is an issue that will grow on me, so who knows.

[Ryu]

ABOUT GODZILLA BY JAMES STOKOE DELUXE EDITION
See the King of the Monsters from the unique mind and pen of talented writer-artist James Stokoe!

James Stokoe’s The Half-Century War is a critical and fan favorite Godzilla tale that follows one man’s journey for the most famous monster out there! The year is 1954 and Lieutenant Ota Murakami is on hand when Godzilla makes first landfall in Japan. Along with his pal, Kentaro, Ota makes a desperate gamble to save lives…and in the process begins an obsession with the King of the Monsters that lasts 50 years.

Then, from Stokoe’s amazingly illustrated issue of the series Godzilla in Hell, Godzilla battles through the first layer of Hell! This collection also includes select development, penciled, and inked art, as well as all of his comic covers!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BX9 ... inc7986-20
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/book ... es-stokoe/

[ebirahsmeg1]

Mothra vs. Titanosaurus was nice, but the best way I can describe it is a long build-up for something that never comes. Feeling lukewarm about this one.

The brevity of the battle between Mothra and Titanosaurus was really inexcusable, especially from the precedent set by most issues of this series when it pertains to battles.

However, despite this great portrayal, Titanosaurus doesn't do anything unique to him. You could've very easily swapped Titanosaurus out with Godzilla and nothing would have changed.

Titanosaurus is a very unique kaiju in terms of being "a gentle dinosaur" who constantly is used against his will as a pawn (though he definitely doesn't seem to "hate" wrecking destruction either and is a super aggressive, ferocious fighter when threatened)....this interesting duality has never really been shown or explored in his IDW appearances (Nothing in regard to this aspect in HGM or ROE, and GLegends barely touched on it). It's the same problem that's plagued Biollante as well (ignoring its tragic "humanity" by not just merely being spliced with G cells, but also containing some DNA of Dr. Shiragami's deceased daughter...in these comics, however, it's always just a dumb overgrown monster plant...I'm suspecting more of the same with Biollante vs Destoroyah to be honest).

ABOUT GODZILLA BY JAMES STOKOE DELUXE EDITION
See the King of the Monsters from the unique mind and pen of talented writer-artist James Stokoe!

James Stokoe’s The Half-Century War is a critical and fan favorite Godzilla tale that follows one man’s journey for the most famous monster out there! The year is 1954 and Lieutenant Ota Murakami is on hand when Godzilla makes first landfall in Japan. Along with his pal, Kentaro, Ota makes a desperate gamble to save lives…and in the process begins an obsession with the King of the Monsters that lasts 50 years.

Then, from Stokoe’s amazingly illustrated issue of the series Godzilla in Hell, Godzilla battles through the first layer of Hell! This collection also includes select development, penciled, and inked art, as well as all of his comic covers!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BX9 ... inc7986-20
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/book ... es-stokoe/

Damn, at first, I thought it was a new Godzilla book from Stokoe...yet another IDW compilation Awesome cover though. If there's some extra sketches we haven't seen yet or additional thoughts/comments from Stokoe himself beyond what he wrote in the hardcover Half Century trade back released awhile back, then this might be worth picking up.

IDW really has been all about the trades the last two years. Here's yet another one being released at the end of this year:

ABOUT BEST OF GODZILLA, VOL. 1
All the best monster stories that can fit in one book, with features on Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Mothra, and Rodan!

Find out why Godzilla is the undisputed King of the Monsters with these specially picked comic issues from series such as Godzilla: Legends, Godzilla in Hell, Godzilla: Rage Across Time, Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths, Godzilla: Cataclysm, and more!

By a variety of talented writers and artists such as John Layman, Cullen Bunn, Chris Mowry, Dave Wachter, Simon Gane, Dean Haspiel, James Stokoe, and more!

[Shenanigans]

I must admit Mothra vs. Titanosaurus is already growing on me with a reread, as I suspected. Its just such an intimate little story, and I really admire the whole angle of actively trying to protect a giant monster (well, egg). Its been done before, sure, but there was something so fresh about the way it was done in this issue, what with scientists, the military, and even civilians joining in the effort... it was very sweet to see what felt like everybody trying to contribute to a world where the kaiju aren't just a menace to the world, but beings we can coexist with. I maintain my critiques on the lack of suspense/action, but I certainly appreciate the rare Godzilla comic that doesn't prioritize chaos and destruction. The comic was too cute to be terribly upset about it. I've come around on it.

Also forgot to mention that the Pacific Rim influence on the issue is not lost on me. Feriowind is a big PR fan (and, if it wasn't already glaringly obvious from this comic, a supporter of Newt x Hermann to boot!), and it was lovely to see elements of a franchise I love dearly incorporated into my favorite franchise. Not going to lie, I was almost expecting them to whip out a second headset to help "bear the load" of the mental duress Andy was undergoing alone, but I'm very glad they didn't go that route, firstly because it would've been aping PR way too much, but also because the mental duress in question comes from connecting with the minds of monsters. Always smart to depict such a thing as being too much for normal humans to bear, regardless of how many are involved. Still... this comic makes me want to see a proper Godzilla x Pacific Rim crossover.

[Ryu]

https://twitter.com/spankzilla85/status ... 9037900802

An idea by Matt Frank, to try to continue the Heisei period. It was rejected by Toho. One of the reasons was actors' image rights, as well as Toho doesn't want comics to be direct sequels whatever the period of films.

[GigaBowserG]

An idea by Matt Frank, to try to continue the Heisei period. It was rejected by Toho. One of the reasons was actors' image rights, as well as Toho doesn't want comics to be direct sequels whatever the period of films.

Very cool, though Matt mentioned it was something brought up to Phase 6 in Japan and never IDW.

[Ryu]

An idea by Matt Frank, to try to continue the Heisei period. It was rejected by Toho. One of the reasons was actors' image rights, as well as Toho doesn't want comics to be direct sequels whatever the period of films.

Very cool, though Matt mentioned it was something brought up to Phase 6 in Japan and never IDW.

I did not know. Trying to talk Matt is an impossible mission, when more than 40 fans ask questions of all kinds.

[LSD Jellyfish]

https://twitter.com/spankzilla85/status ... 9037900802

An idea by Matt Frank, to try to continue the Heisei period. It was rejected by Toho. One of the reasons was actors' image rights, as well as Toho doesn't want comics to be direct sequels whatever the period of films.

I really like the Angurius design. It feels appropriately bulky, and fits along with the spikier thornier designs of the heisei series. It looks like a nice half-way point between the classic Angurius and the SP Angurius. I'm bleh on the Godzilla design. Looks far too dinosaurian. From what I can see of the Gigan design, it's cool. As for the rest...the idea of what looks to be a Katsura-type Android coming back would be cool. But the human designs beyond that personally have a lot of qualities that I really dislike. The "G-Cell Mutation", just reeks of edgy energy I'm not particularly fond of.

I'm happy the Heisei Series got a continuation in the form of Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex. It's a completely skippable thing, but a fun easter egg if you want to truly believe it's cannon to the Heisei series.

It honestly wouldn't surprise me if someday we see a new, seperate line, of comics from Toho-subsidaries in Japan. The part about appealing to Phase 6, a Japanese company, clearly means that original comics in Japan are still a possibility, which is awesome. They've been rapidly releasing pretty much all the IDW stuff in Japan for the past few years+even releasing all the Dark Horse stuff. Wouldn't surprise me if that once the well begins to dry up, they start making more stuff directly, either with Matt Frank, or Japanese artists. Not to dunk on MF, but I'd honestly be more excited for a "Godzilla Comics All Out Attack", where it's a continuation of The Godzilla Comic and The Godzilla Comic Raids Again. Maybe Matt Frank could contribute his own story to it or something to satisfy everyone. I just view the comics as a great place for a lot of creative liberty, and I want to see a variety of artists, styles, and flares.

[UltramanGoji]

https://collider.com/godzilla-here-ther ... ok-images/

New miniseries announced: Here There Be Dragons

It's pirate time!



Art looks awesome, very much looking forward to this.

[_JNavs_]

Oh wow that's epic, the title equally so

[kaijukurt]

The premise sounds good & art looks very solid.

Can't believe it's been this long for Godzilla-pirate story to happen, can't wait!

[LSD Jellyfish]

Oh wow! Not really into pirates, but cool! This is exactly what I was hoping for, doing comics that wouldn’t exactly be great/expected from films. Comics have always felt like to me to do the crazy stuff that wouldn’t ordinarily be greenlit (but who knows).

Godzilla Rage Against Time, had a really great issue 3, that managed to take full advantage of its setting, and incorporate Mothra and Megagurius into another cultural lexicon in a compelling fashion.

The Godzilla franchise obviously has a lot of great sea monsters to choose from. Ebirah is on one of the preview pages, and I’ll be surprised if Gezora/a giant octopus doesn’t make an appearance in some fashion. Island hopping and having weird monsters is also a given! Would be cool to see some original creations as well, like some horrific mermaid monstrosity.

[Shenanigans]

Cannot tell you how relieved I am to see IDW still going strong! After the latest wave of trade solicits I thought we were doomed to another month of nothing.

This series already has a different "feel" to me compared to their latest titles, like something IDW would've done back in the day. IDW's most recent series since their big 2021 return have consisted of a couple series aimed at children, a crossover series, and a collection of one-shots. Here we finally have something that feels like a good ole' fashioned IDW Godzilla miniseries, if that makes sense.

Really exciting premise. I recently began looking into King Kong comics and was surprised to find so many of them set in the past, but I hadn't even thought about if they did more period-piece Godzilla comics beyond Rage Across Time. Absolutely thrilled for this one!

[Mac Daddy MM]

I am LOVING this idea and the art.

Added in 7 minutes 59 seconds:

https://twitter.com/spankzilla85/status ... 9037900802

An idea by Matt Frank, to try to continue the Heisei period. It was rejected by Toho. One of the reasons was actors' image rights, as well as Toho doesn't want comics to be direct sequels whatever the period of films.

Good, because I REALLY despise that design for Godzilla. Too much like his old Neo stuff.