Godzilla vs America - IDW 4 Issue Mini-series

[ebirahsmeg1]

Post your thoughts. Issue #1, Godzilla vs Chicago, is out Feb 26th. Below are 3 scanned images from Wikizilla:






Honestly, my initial impressions are the same as G: Heist in that these preview pages and just the general concept/premise behind GvsAmerica as a whole just doesn't appear particularly riveting nor exciting. Also, we just had two full one shots with Godzilla fighting Heisei MG (Valentine's Special & MG 50th Anniversary issue). Granted, there will apparently be a collection of other stories included in this issue, so we'll see what the issue offers as a whole. To be honest though, I'm actually more intrigued by the upcoming Mothra mini. And while I'm no fan of cross overs (JLvsGvsK was a bore, and GvsMMPRII was an utter abortion of the terrific first series), I'm also more excited about GvsMarvel as well than either GvsAmerica or G: Heist.

Of course, I'll wait until GvsAmerica and G: Heist are released before making any judgements...hope they both prove me wrong and end up be a blast.

[JAGzilla]

Are those images all from the same issue? The art style is all over the place. Godzilla looks totally different from one panel to the next. The last image of Mechagodzilla firing his mega-buster ray is pretty cool, though.

[daveblackeye15]

"Heh Heh big robot vs big dinosaur fun!" Is my reaction as simple as it is.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Are those images all from the same issue? The art style is all over the place. Godzilla looks totally different from one panel to the next. The last image of Mechagodzilla firing his mega-buster ray is pretty cool, though.

If I’m understanding these correctly, they’re an anthology series. Hence all the different art styles. I wonder if each part will be telling a smaller story within a bigger one?

Anyways, it’s not surprising that MG2 is continuing to be overused, but I still wish we had wilder combatants. It’s a bizarre time to play things safe, when a lot of other comics (both IDW and otherwise) have been offering a lot more crazy and outlandish issues. Still, a conservative take isn’t always a bad one.

And then there’s still Mothra, which will contain completely new ideas.

[ebirahsmeg1]

Are those images all from the same issue? The art style is all over the place.

It may be from different stories as this is supposedly a collection (ala the 70th Anniversary issue from last year). But since MG is in several panels, it's most likely from the same story, and if that's case, the artwork style does indeed seem to be all over the place. One on hand, the artwork in the panels containing Godzilla battling MechaGodzilla look pretty good for the most part...in contrast, the panel with Godzilla standing over the L train looks really terrible with Godzilla having a severe underbite.

Below is some more artwork from GvsChicago (from kaijubattle.net). Not sure if it's another RI cover or from actual artwork from inside the issue...

[ebirahsmeg1]

GvsChicago is out tomorrow. Below is a preview:

[daveblackeye15]

My that is certainly the start of a Godzilla plot you wouldn't see in a movie! I think I like it.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Read Godzilla vs. America: Chicago

Mixed feelings, but a good representation of the concept overall. I’m not from Chicago, but this definitely felt like a nice selection of one-shots and short stories that really showcase local artists and creatives ideas

I think the first story, the one with Fangoolie, was perfect. Great art, a fun concept and character, good action, and a dark insanely funny ending.

The second story wasn’t as ambitious, but a simple story about two people trying to control a train while Godzilla rampages is intriguing enough. Art was good, and surprisingly violent in one moment. Good.

The third and fourth comics are where things take a dive. Chi Godzilla is really simple: it’s a tale about real estate scams/gentrification, and the title I believe is a reference to Spike Lee’s Chiraq (which I haven’t seen!). It feels very personal, but I don’t understand Chicago, it’s neighborhoods, or political climate, so a lot of it don’t click with me. The radical leftists line was amusing at least. I appreciated the “space amoeba joke” though. Strange how Godzilla is powered up by electricity.

Fourth comic was a trip, and not a great one. I like the green and black color choices, but Godzilla looked atrocious. That being said, some of the visual humor in the comic worked well, with Godzilla being picked up and placed on the otherwise of the river. I can’t say I hated it, because it’s clearly again showcasing Chicago. But at the same time, it feels a bit too long for its simple concept.

Basically, the first two stories are great, and the latter two will be decisive. At the very least, I commend the issue for actually being about Chicago. It’s not like those rivals issues where an enemy monster only appeared for a couple of pages. Also, this reminds me a lot of the Japanese “Godzilla Comic” which contained a lot of fun and wildly varying one shots.

Excited to see what’s next!

[ebirahsmeg1]

Finally got around to reading this...and very underwhelming/lacluster issue overall. For every HTBD/SOG, IDW without fail seems to produce about 3-4 G titles that are serious misses...and sadly this "vs America" series appears to be headed in that direction, if GvsChicago is any indication. However, there were a few positives to be found as well.

Things I liked:

- The first story Godzilla Does Chicago was very solid and enjoyable. The main character Fangolie was very unique and despite bascially being a moron as well a pretty shitty person on top of that, he is still a very entertaining individual to follow. Overall, I really liked this story and found it to be a very pleasant surprise, and this would have made a great full-length issue of Rivals VS: MG.

- The second Story Blue Line Sign was fairly pedestrian and one note, but nevertheless a cute little love story with a similar vibe/atmosphere to the Godzilla Valentine's Day Special from last year. The art work was solid overall, although Godzilla sports an obnoxious underbite in several frames.

- Nice nod to Yog/Space Ameoba in the opening panel of Chi Godzilla (and in the panel, the Space Amoeba shown also looks a bit like Dogora to boot. I would love to see kaiju such as Dogora, Maguma, Ganime, Matango, Showa Mogera, etc. (And the whole Yog trio, who haven't been seen all that often beyond ROE).

Things I didn't like:

- A whole issue dedicated to Chicago...and not a single scene or panel with Godzilla and the Sear's Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the US....Are you kidding me???? Utterly ridiculous.

- In Chi Godzilla, the story begins with Godzilla randomly appearing floating in space fighting a "Space Amoeba" before falling to earth....WTF

- Ezra Daniels seems to be trying to do his best Tom Scioli impersonation in terms of artwork...and this definitely is *NOT* a compliment.

- Ezra's forced political commentary is almost as bad and poorly written as Powell/Marsh's slop from KOM. Amateurish and sloppy writing all around..

- The Final Story, Godzilla vs Chicago, makes a case that IDW should drug-test some of these authors. The storyline is: Woman drinks an energy drink that makes her grow to the size of Godzilla....women then drinks it again to grow even bigger...woman then picks up Godzilla and places him in Indiana and says "Screw Indiana"....seriously, what is this crap, and why is subpar junk like this even seeing publication???

Overall, I already mentioned that the concept of "stories dedicated to Godzilla attacking <insert American City> risked being a bit derivative and one note...and this first issue seems to have re-enforced this. The first two stories were good, while the last two stories represent the absolute worst aspects of IDW's Godzilla output over the last 3-4 years.

Bring on GvsLA....I guess?

[LSD Jellyfish]

^I didn’t like Caroline Cash’s story, but I recommend looking into their portfolio. Tonally it’s about the same as the included comic, but I actually felt their other artwork was better. I don’t think it’s a good fit, but simultaneous I have a respect for giving people big chances.

Also fyi, I don’t think most cartoonists and comic writers would pass a drug test.

[LSD Jellyfish]

- A whole issue dedicated to Chicago...and not a single scene or panel with Godzilla and the Sear's Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the US....Are you kidding me???? Utterly ridiculous.

I’d just like to put out there that this wasn’t a big deal for me. To explain why I’m not as critical of Cash’s story, despite not liking it, is that I got a sense that it really is about a specific thing from Chicago. The fact that I don’t “get” it is okay, and I assumed that a lot of the “in-jokes” (like Indiana and the big wavy guy, as well as the specific bodega) are hyper focused and based around personal experiences. I’d rather have the issues have a mix of “what you’d expect” plus very personal driven comics, even if they don’t always land.

To give a very clear hypothetical; I’m originally from Brooklyn. While a Godzilla vs NY is likely, I wouldn’t be so impressed if there was an issue where Godzilla destroyed the Statue of Liberty or Coney Island. If I was an Brooklyn Godzilla comic creator that was given the opportunity, I might choose to do something like watching Godzilla destroy Manhattan from the distance of an elevated platform of Midwood, or Hedorah growing in the Gowanus Canal.

Check this article out about a whale that swam into the gowanus canal and then died:
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/19/nyre ... whale.html

I didn’t like the latter two comics in the Chicago issue so much, but I suppose I have a lot of respect for the authors sort of putting their own spin on something so personal; that’s not always what everyone wants, and it’s not always great, but it actually has a distinctive voice, and feels like it’s fulfilling the “mission” of these comics.

Anyone, regardless of where they are from, can do “Godzilla destroys famous landmark”, but these issues feel very local, even the funny one with the Fangoolie character. I heard the name “Svengoolie” once, on this forum, but I guarantee most people reading the comic won’t pick up on the fact that it’s a reference within itself.

For non Chicago natives, I found this review/interview of the comic rather insightful, and I got a lot of explanations about various choices:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/ ... omic-book/