Marvel Godzilla Reprinted

[Aaron Smith]

[Xenorama]

Red Ronin showed up again in Avengers 197-199? maybe? somewhere in that area. ran amok until the Beast (a true Avenger) stopped him using his brain, not mutant angst.

worth a look because George Perez drew it!

David

[Garasharp K7]

I've seen him in a Wolverine special as well, but I can't remember which one. As for other appearances, I can't remember exactly when and where he's shown up, but I have seen him in other comics from time to time.
Those one shots are excellent! I'm really enjoying these, the best one so far has to be Fin Fang Four, with four classic monsters (lead by Foom himself) fighting another classic creature whose very name inspires sheer terror! (I'll leave you to guess who it is! )

[lhb412]

^I'm loving the new Marvel Monsters series. The format is great; new stories of old marvel monsters and then old Jack Kirby tales as back-up stories!

I just read the original Fin Fang Foom (back-up in "Fin Fang Four") and anyone who doubts the awesomeness of Jack Kirby should see that page of Fin destroying the Great Wall of China!

I would love for this to become an on-going series



Anyway, I suppose the cover of Essential Godzilla will be the cover of Godzilla issue #1, as it's the most famous image from that comic.

[ZoneFighter]

It shipped this week. I picked mine up last night. Hope they do a Essential Shogun Warriors collection one of these days...

[CousinOfGodzilla]

[mr.negativity]

[metal_bryan]

[mr.negativity]

[Mac]

[Pkmatrix]

[Benjamin Haines]

Marvel Godzilla full-color omnibus coming in October 2024!

https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/godzilla-omnibus-original-marvel-comic-series

I have almost everything that Dark Horse and IDW have published but Marvel's take is still a big gap in my Godzilla comics collection, so this is welcome news!

[lhb412]

Very happy to finally read the entire series in color!

[lhb412]

In addition to the hardcover, Marvel also released a facsimile edition of the original issue #1 with all the ads and editorial stuff intact. Pretty cool!

[lhb412]

Really recommend ordering either of the three covers from instocktrades.com - some of the sturdiest packaging I've ever seen a book packed in! I just received the version with the issue #1 cover. The actual cover underneath the dust jacket is super cool. Reproduction is really sharp, original colors are retained, and the whole thing just pops. Sadly, the letter columns aren't retained, but the editorial from issue #1 is.

[Benjamin Haines]

Damn, I already got this from Amazon just in case it sold out quickly. I'll definitely order future IDW Godzilla trade paperbacks from InStockTrades with prices that low.

I got the standard edition cover by Jung-Geun Yoon, which looks really cool, and I like the collage of covers from every issue on the back. Teenage me would have bitched about this version of Godzilla looking so much like a T-rex but now I'm really interested to check out this late-'70s Marvel Comics take on the character. I'll probably start reading this next after I finish Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong.

[lhb412]

[quote="Benjamin Haines"]Damn, I already got this from Amazon just in case it sold out quickly. I'll definitely order future IDW Godzilla trade paperbacks from InStockTrades with prices that low.
[/quote]

They've become my go-to for ordering comics online. Ordering from Amazon is a crapshoot in terms of getting your book in pristine condition.

[lhb412]

Just finished my Godzilla omnibus!

This series has kinda been there for me my entire life. I first grabbed a few back issues at age ten, and Marvel's b&w phone book reprint came out when I was in my late teens. The reputation this comic has is that of a campy curiosity - Godzilla fighting Marvel heroes, after all! - but, coming at it now with some experience and knowledge of comics and comic history I gotta say; it's a really solid little comic! They do a better job than I remember of attempting to capture the Japanese style in the book, albeit with the handicap of not being able to include other Toho monsters. We start out with a nuclear origin, and a vaguely Showa-esque backstory located in Japan before Godzilla makes landfall in America in issue #1. The first few issues are all about SHIELD countering the Godzilla threat, we gradually introduce enemy monsters for Godzilla to fight, we understand him more as a misunderstood anti hero, and then the comic's biggest stroke of genius: Red Ronin! Recognizing the Japanese super robot trend (I suppose via Shogun Warriors) and having a Godzilla loving kid (ala Gamera and '70s Godzilla) be the pilot? You can't say Doug Monech wasn't trying his damndest to capture the Japanese flare. Sure, the final arc of the comic where they chunk the whole Marvel Universe at Godzilla is the most famous because of the novelty, but this read really has my appreciating the earlier issues.

This reprint really has me appreciating Trimpe's art; clean, classic comic-booky stuff, and it flows, you know? You can tell how much he loves to draw machinery and whatnot; those Kirbyesque vehicles, uniforms, and especially Red Ronin! Too bad he rarely got to ink his own pencils. I think the inkers are a bit hit-and-miss at bringing out the best in his work. Speaking of inkers; I never ver noticed Klaus Janson's inking on one of those fill-in issues! It's amazing how much we think of as Frank Miller's style comes from Janson's inks. Those big, chunky brushstrokes are right here in this Godzilla issue.

As for complaints? The three issue Mega Monsters story is in many ways the highlight of the series. It's almost the finale of the first 2/3rd of the book and their attempt to do a version of the Astro-Monster/DAM/vs.Gigan style monster tag-team match alien invasion story, but I do feel it needs to be an issue longer. Trimpe's art and storytelling feels a bit cramped as it has to cover so much story. Compare thus to the two-issue cowboy story that immediately follows: not a whole lot of incident, so Trimpe luxuriates in wonderful splash pages and panels, lots of great desert backgrounds. Feels like Trimpe delights at drawing Western elements, and (the test of any cartoonist) he draws good horses!