Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

Well, nobody else started it, & I just finished reading it. I liked it. The writing, while not perfect, is much more in line with what I would like for it to be (and feels more like a Godzilla story than all the ridiculously heavy-handed commentary we'd been getting). It touches on current social issues, but leaves it pretty light & generic, much like most social commentary in actual Godzilla films, so I felt it fit right in.

I also really like how the story is playing out. The post-apocalyptic survival, the refuges fleeing to the deep south (where I originally hail from), the governments trying & failing to stop the monsters with numerous hair-brained ideas (again, just like the films). It's getting pretty good now. And if you read the letter/previews at the end, it sounds like it's about to get a whole lot more exciting next issue...!

Sgt. Woods just gets more & more like Clint Eastwood in his heyday, which is great!

If I had one complaint, it's the art. It's not terrible, but not one single panel really stood out as above avg. to me. I don't think I can say that about any of the previous issues. Even though the art as a whole has been uneven, I seem to remember at least one or two stand out panels that struck me as pretty cool in each issue up to this one...

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I LOVED the idea of MG being built in Detroit both as a way to counter the monsters and also boost the failing economy at the same time. Again, the way it was handled in reference to current social issues in the real world felt very much the way that some of the better Godzilla films handled current events (for example, KKvsG or GvsM'64*). It was a little disappointing to see almost a direct rehash of GxMG with MG going berserk & attacking Atlanta as it was just so unoriginal feeling. But then, seeing MG destroy Atlanta was pretty awesome. And I kind of expected to see some ideas from the films rehashed in the comic anyway, so it wasn't TOO disappointing. Just a little.



*Please note, I'm in no way saying these comics are as good as King Kong vs Godzilla or Godzilla vs Mothra '64. I'm merely saying that the way this (& the previous) issue handles social commentary (& hair brained schemes to beat the monsters) is much more in line with the likes of those films than much of the stuff I complained about in earlier issues was.

I got such a kick out of seeing Atlanta trashed by Mechagodzilla, if only for the one panel! And I'm thankful that Santos drew it instead of Hester because it is recognizably Atlanta!

Well, I've avoided reviewing this one for over a month, I may as well bite the bullet and do so. ^_^()

- I picked up Powell cover (the one with the footprint) and the Frank cover with Kumonga. I would've at least considered buying Zornow's cover, but my comic shop didn't carry it in September. ^_^() I also bought the 100 Cover charity spectacular, which was a fun little book.

- Issue #6 opens with Sgt. Woods and the little girl walkign down a street. They come across a bunch of dead spiders, and Woods realizes another monster may have emerged. He doesn't tell the girl, though, and after they rush off Kumonga bursts from the ground.

- Cut to the White House. President Ogden (looking...WEIRD...) holds a press conference announcing a new plan to get rid of Godzilla, the rather stupidly named "Operation Two Birds One Stone" which will stimulate the American auto industry and destroy the monsters at the same time. Of course, he's talking about Mechagodzilla...and EVERYONE calls the plan idiotic. And I can't blame them, 'cause it's at this point IMO the series has dropped any pretensions of taking place in an anywhere near realistic universe and waltzes into full...I don't know what, but it's full of it!

- Cut to Mt. Rushmore for a page. Godzilla walks up and destroys it. Why? Not bothered to be explained.

- Back to the main plot. A reporter goes around interviewing people asking on their thoughts about Operation Two Bird One stone, showing people angry that the government is spending money on a giant robot and not helping the displaced. It turns out the whole thing is being broadcast on the radio, and just as they start discussing Kumonga Woods shuts it off. He and the little girl are sitting around a campfire discussing what to do: that food is scarce, that they need to avoid others, and where they're going. It turns out Woods has some sort of satellite radar thing that's tracking the monsters so he can avoid them. Huh. As they try to fall asleep, eyes are watching them...

- In Detroit, at a ridiculously over-patriotic event, Mechagodzila is unveiled (specifically, the Super-Mechagodzilla design with the addition of some "MG" and star decals) after a month of construction. Let me repeat: ONE. MONTH. Mechagodzilla is launched and, with Ogden and military leaders watching from a Heisei-style control room, an attack is launched on Godzilla in South Dakota. The fight isn't bad, but not particularly remarkable either. This is the first time I really didn't like Victor Santos' artwork for the monsters, as here it just looks awful. Anyway, Godzilla blasts Mechagodzilla with his atomic ray, damaging the control unit and sending it on a rampage (for whatever reason, in Atlanta...why they hell did it fly all the way there?). The storyline ends with a bit of a joke with a family interested in buying a house in Detroit when news hits of Mechagodzilla's rampage, and the buyer offers $20. Ha, ha.

- Finally, back to Woods and the girl. It turns out those eyes were a group of thugs planning to rob the pair. She shuts her eyes and Woods kills them.

Overall: I'm giving this a 1.5 out of 5 (D), but I want it made clear I'm being VERY VERY generous. This was BAD. The worst issue of the series, easily. If it wasn't clear in the rest of the review (or the fact that I waited a month to write this up), I've lost my patience with this series. I really honestly thought they were going somewhere with all of this, as disjointed as it was, but this issue proved me wrong...and that makes me both angry and disappointed. Angry, 'cause I fought so DAMN HARD to defend this thing, and disappointed 'cause where I thought they were going was SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING. UGH!

The artwork wasn't really much off from Santos' previous work, though I didn't like the way Godzilla came out this issue. The plot is was really burns me up, though! Woods and the girl (I apologize, I can't remember her name and can't be bothered to check) have a decent storyline, pretty much what I expected following Issue #5. What pissed me off was the direction they took Ogden's character, throwing him the idiot ball, and how sloppily they introduced Mechagodzilla. It was stupid to an incredible degree. Really, after all that's happened, a GIANT ROBOT is the government's next idea? Ogden has no problem with that, not questioning it? For once, the idiot gallery the series has made the American public into is right, and it's made MORE absurd by the idea it takes only a month to build the damn thing! Don't get me started on Mt. Rushmore or the attack on Atlanta. Just don't.

I'm going to continue to buy the series, at least hoping things pick up after this story arc ends. But, God, was that BAD.