This is the final issue of Kingdom of Monsters. However, this is NOT the end of the story. There had been a lot of confusion over the past month over what was happening with this series, now it's settled. Now, this is a review, not a news article, so let's talk about the issue. Kingdom of Monsters might just be the most mixed series I've ever read. At first, Eric Powell wanted to portray a very gritty 'real world' with monster Armageddon. Eventually it proved too much with the pop-culture references, and soon Jason Ciaramella was hired. Now he knew what the fans wanted: kaiju action. So we got that, but at the same time, a lot of the plots established in Powell's run was lost. So yeah, it has been a mixed series. This issue is an epilogue of sorts, with the only highlight being the amazing ending.
Official description from IDW:
The evil twins are gone. Godzilla lies dormant. The monsters that roam the earth are wounded, battered, exhausted… if mankind has any chance of recovering from this disaster, now is the moment. But with the world in ruin and civilization in total disarray, can anything still be salvaged? The fate of humanity is determined in Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #12!
It's not really a spoiler to talk about the ending since it was basically confirmed in the last issue's letters page. So without further ado, SPACEGODZILLA has arrived. I must say, this really made the comic for me. He's watching earth like an evil mastermind, it's good stuff. Now bringing logic back, how exactly is SpaceGodzilla there? How did G-Cells get into space? How was Godzilla cloned? How is any of this possible? Besides logic, it's still a pretty amazing scene. Now, the other 31 pages are nothing but an epilogue. In a nutshell, it's basically impossible to spoil the issue, because there's nothing to spoil. There is no dialogue, only those thought boxes. It does a nice job being realistic about the whole thing and has solid writing, but it just doesn't warrant the $4.
Well, this will be the last time we have Santos doing the art. I've gotten use to it over the past couple of issues, it fits the gritty story it was telling. Some pages really stood out this time around, namely the Mechagodzilla one. SpaceGodzilla also looked fantastic. Regarding the covers, both are dynamic. The main one is pretty nice, aside from the obvious trace drawing of the Rodan. (Google Rodan, first row second image.) Matt Frank does a very dynamic job once again, SpaceGodzilla looks fantastic.
Overall, Kingdom of Monsters #12 is exactly what you expect: an epilogue to the story. It did a great job of that, but felt underwhelming. Granted, it is an epilogue, but didn't feel worth the $4. The final page made the comic, however, it gives the reader (if you're a Godzilla fan of course) chills. So in closing, I look forward to the upcoming sequel in May. This series has been mixed, but overall a good read with some great kaiju action in the later issues. So I look forward to May, but until then, we have Legends #4 next week.
6/10.
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