IDW's new Godzilla comic!

[jellydonut25]

[Amankhan]

n/m

[lhb412]

I'd just like to reiterate that I think Hester's art is terrific. He seems like a good cartoonist, not just a comic book illustrator. His Godzilla may not be 100% consistant in visuals, but it always so expressive - that's what counts in my book.

[kidnicky]

[jellydonut25]

[kidnicky]

[JordanGLC]

I usually go to WonderCon on Saturday but since WB/DC did their Green Lantern stuff Friday I had to change things this year. Unfortunately, that means I had to miss IDW's panel for Godzilla. Did anyone here make the panel?

Player Affinity did a write up of the panel that you can read .

[king_ghidorah]

[franzilla]

[kiryugoji04]

[MouthForWar]

[ryuuseipro]

I saw the comic a couple of days ago. (WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!)

I'm not as impressed as I'd like to be. It seems even lower than Dark Horse standards, only it has the advantage of actually using other Toho Monsters! But none appear in this first issue.

THE GOOD: Godzilla, of course! The artist actually did a decent-enough job of drawing Godzilla here. He looks like an amalgam of the VS Series Godzilla (which Toho seems to loooooove, from 1992 onward) and the Millennium Godzilla (which I would've been down with, if they went just with that design).

THE BAD: This is the most American Japan I've ever seen. After a lifetime of exposure to Japanese culture, I just can't call it Japan. This looks more to me like LA or Little Tokyo than Japan. Also, no main character is established. None. None we can actually feel for. Just ridiculous, generic throwaway characters who are in awe of, or cannon fodder for, Godzilla. The two kids at the beginning are like weak substitutes for the main characters from Ben 10. So I'm glad, in a way, that Godzilla almost ate them, even if the scene was mean-spirited and tasteless. And the writers don't seem too pleased with President Obama, as he makes a rather unflattering cameo here! The references to his administration are a bit too on-the-nose. But, they had guts!

But another big problem is that there's no buildup, intrigue, or spectacle surrounding Godzilla's appearance. There should at least be a moment where people would care to find out more about Godzilla, where he came from, why did he come back, etc. Even if he just popped up for the first time or whatever. Godzilla was rather unremarkable here. Even Marvel and Dark Horse did better in that department.

THE UGLY: "You've got to be ******* kidding me!" (yes, it's censored, of course!) was used thrice in the comic to a gross campy effect. I like a bit of comedy relief, but this was so over-the-top that it really snapped the camel in half. In fact, the comic feels like it has very forced bits of campiness in a supposedly "grimdark" comic. (Apparently, Godzilla equals "camp" to the American mainstream.) If I want a comical Godzilla comic, I'd rather have John Kricfalusi as the writer/artist, and have Godzilla portrayed like Ren Höek (slapping other monsters and saying "You EEDIOT!!!"), or, at the most extreme, Dirty Dog (psychotically hunting down other monsters, and shouting "IIII'LL FIIIIIND YOOOOUUUUU!!!!!" at the top of his lungs)! That would be far more entertaining!

In summary, while I am looking forward to future issues (hoping they can do better in the future), it could've been a lot better. There is faaaaar more potential than is realized. Maybe when Matt Frank (one of the most qualified artists for Godzilla) takes on the comic...

[planetxleader]

[ebirahsmeg1]

[king_ghidorah]

[kidnicky]

[lhb412]

[jellydonut25]

[jellydonut25]

[kiryugoji04]

[MekaGojira3k]

[jellydonut25]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Kaiju Nexus]

[kiryugoji04]