Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

After two issues that brought the story to a climactic head and delivered a lot of good monster action, this issue falls pretty flat. The plot barely progresses forward, and what does happen is very predictable.

Monster X transforms into Kaiser Ghidorah. Gasp!

Claire is revealed to still be alive. What a twist! And she's arrived just in time for the final issue armed with "the weapon that's going to end this nightmare once and for all." That's great.

Seriously, this story is just rolling on fumes now. This should have been the issue that wrapped things up and put it to bed, because what little happens here does not justify stretching this ending out even longer to a thirteenth issue. It's like the folks at IDW think every potential moment for a dramatic cliffhanger needs to be the ending of an individual issue, as if anything about this cliche-ridden story is suspenseful or surprising.

I kind of regret having bought every issue of this current ongoing. I'm not worried about Rulers of Earth being bad, but if it gets four issues in and hasn't shaped into a dramatic improvement over this in terms of story structure, I think I'm going to switch to waiting for the trade paperbacks, or just pass on IDW's ongoing Godzilla series altogether. After Kingdom of Monsters and the current ongoing, I'm convinced that the suits in charge at IDW are so concerned about filling a year's worth of issues that they have no concept of story pacing.

I did have an issue with the concept on a philosophical level.

[rant]
They took these insurmountable forces of nature and subjugated them to an individual human. It was bad enough when Gino ran away from helicopters, but i think this takes that same conceit, (that man can easily conquer these creatures,) and escalates it by putting it in a convenient hand held package.

Now i realize that not everybody has the same philosophy on the power of kaiju, so maybe i would have been more accepting of the concepts if the story or characters had been better, but as it was i felt like they missed the point.

The pheromone thing could have been fine (like DAM) but the execution (use on the SWAT guys and playing it up as a love potion) was eye roll inducing to me.. but the head ache guns definitely hit me the same vein as GINO, these monsters are supposed to not be swayed by the might of armies, yet now a weapon that can carried by any old mercenary can bring one to his knees..

Now Anguirus can add the embarrassment of being beaten by Boxer to his resume... ughh

[/rant]