On GODZILLA #3

You notice how each issue goes, less and less people are talking about the series? I am astonished of the lack of talk for the latest issue in this series. As you know, my reviews for said comic has migrated to Unleash the Fanboy, check out my review of Issue #3 here. Get ready for heavy spoilers in the coming paragraphs. This issue has opened up some new plot developments. One of them is my worst fear coming to life: these 'Monster Hunters' are taking down whole monsters! Yes, it's true. As I mentioned in my review, none of this stuff is really possible unless you have a Mechagodzilla. The worst part? Some of these guys don't even get to have to have a struggle shown on page!

Okay, I can buy how they took out Anguirus. They managed to lure him into an erupting volcano, that's fine. But then they took out Kumonga AND Battra! See, this is not a very good thing by having these monsters losing so easily. The thing about Godzilla monsters is they are above military threat. They can't defeat them. The monsters (well, most of them anyway, sorry Ebirah) are like storms, you can try and battle them, but it's futile, you just have to let them pass. By having a bunch of hunters defeat them, they lose their magic. The biggest offender is having Kumonga offed in just a few panels! The whole battle happened off panel and we're left with the monster that almost killed Godzilla in his debut film getting buried by a mountain like a total weakling. It's just very, very sad. Battra is taken out by an electric net. Amazing how he used to be the tough monster in Kingdom of Monsters but now has ended up like this. However, I do applaud them making my main man Rodan not get defeated. You see, Rodan hasn't been a big hitter at all these comics, sadly enough. He had a pretty impressive first appearance way back in Kingdom of Monsters #2, but after that he became a mindless slave for the twins, then lost in ONE HIT to Godzilla, while Battra went toe-to-toe with the big G. So I'm happy to see him getting some respect and a big fight coming up...

Godzilla himself barely does anything in this issue. My main problem is that he's mimicking his Heisei incarnation, which isn't bad, but he has even less personality than that version. Is it really so hard to give personality to these guys? Dark Horse did it. It could be done here too. If these Monster Hunters were actually pretty engaging characters, them defeating the monsters wouldn't be as bad, but they've been pretty cardboard, Boxer is becoming a really unlikable character, Steven Woods from Kingdom of Monsters was someone you could root for, with this guy you're slowly wanting Godzilla to stomp on him. With Kumonga, Anguirus, and Battra defeated, all there's left at the moment is Godzilla, Rodan, Titanosaurus, and SpaceGodzilla who's roaming around on the moon. Though after reading the comic again, I noticed something interesting in the dialogue, that the Monster Hunters 'get paid to take the monsters down, not store them.' That could be a foreshadow of what's to come. This issue wasn't all that bad, it's really only hardcore Godzilla fans that will be a disappointed at how cannon fodder they made some of the monsters. But the next issue looks to be the payoff....RODAN VS. TITANOSAURUS! I gotta say I haven't been this excited for a comic since Kingdom of Monsters #1. Well, let's see if it will actually be a payoff.

Monster of the Week: Battra

There's a dark side to every character. Someone or something that if you let yourself be consumed with dark emotions, you turn into it. Spider-Man has his Venom, Batman has his Joker, Godzilla has his SpaceGodzilla, and finally Mothra has her Battra. Battra is one of the coolest looking monsters in all of existence. If that horned look doesn't scream "I'm going to kill you seven times over," I don't know what does. Battra has a rather interesting, unexplored origin. Apparently, as hard as it is to picture, 12,000 years ago the earth was in complete harmony. The Cosmos with their guardian Mothra kept everything happy. Then we came along and disturbed the balance. Did you know that the earth has feelings like us? We pretty much completely angered her to a crisp. To retaliate, she decided to make her own monster, the 'Black Mothra' Battra. See, Battra is an earth defender, his goal in in life is to destroy anything that harms the earth.....and guess who the main culprits are? Battra was going to kill all the humans for endangering mother nature. This put him and Mothra at odds. These two are mortal enemies, they share a bond like no other. After a great battle, Mothra eventually defeated Battra and sealed him in the depths of the ocean. 12,000 years later, a meteorite struck, and guess who it awoke besides Godzilla? That's where the events of Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth take place.

Battra is a monster of honor...but he won't hesitate to act cool. Right when he's crawling out from his icy prison, he's roaring (Rodan is so cool that Battra borrowed some of his roar) like a true boss, letting whoever's listening know that he's back. You see, Battra was destined to be awakened in the year 1999 to stop a meteorite from colliding with earth. But thanks to unfortunate events, he was back. Battra is a deadly serious opponent, he doesn't take joy in fighting, he just does what needs to be done. When he's in the water heading for land, he didn't bother destroying the helicopters shooting at thim, they weren't worth it. Battra, like Baragon, can burrow underground. Battra may be ultra serious....but he's also one of the more brutal opponents. As he's getting through town, the little tanks were attacking him. He originally wasn't going to bother, but as they kept on and on, he just turned around and blasted them to smithereens. See, Battra wasn't there to destroy the humans this time around, he was heading through the city to sea, where he sensed Mothra. But it wasn't really Mothra that he was after, he was after the bigger threat, Godzilla.

Battra is a monster that will always go after the bigger threat, in that way he and Godzilla are similar. When Battra arrived on the scene, he slapped Mothra Larva to the side, or rather picked her up with his horn and threw her away. Godzilla is a beam spammer here, only that's a problem for him here....Batrra Larva is apparently impervious to it. Ater Godzilla unleashes his beam, Battra showed some of his. Eventually the battle took to the ocean. These two don't know the meaning of the term 'back down.' See, Battra is not a coward like Gigan and will keep going no matter what. Godzilla eventually grabbed hold of Battra and repeatedly slammed him into the ground, which then in turn opened up a crater that let into a volcano. Both monsters fell into it, and were presumed dead. (Yeah right,)

Now here's the deal, Battra Larva is one of the most durable monsters ever. He survived being in a volcano for awhile. At that time Mothra had transformed into her lovely Imago form. Battra had apparently been separated with Godzilla in the volcano, they both appeared at different areas. While Battra could of course sense G, his main priority was Mothra, cause he sensed that she had transformed into the form he despised. Now here's the cool part, Battra doesn't need all that emotional mumbo jumbo and time it takes to transform, he just does it by will. Now he really looked like a goth/emo Mothra. Now he had one mission: exact revenge on Mothra, his mortal foe. The two eventually met at Yokahama for an epic showdo-slaughter. Battra easily defeated Mothra. She was down on the ground with Battra blasting her to death, when Godzilla arrived. Now here's the interesting part....Battra is weaker in Imago form. While he was impervious to Godzilla's atomic blast, here it's fatal. He managed to bury G under some building rubble, but was soon after blasted. That's when he was defeated, until Mothra came to his aid. You see, while Battra hates Mothra, they share a connection, brother and sister as you would. Mothra had special dialogue with him, probably explaining to him they that they should unite against the bigger threat. At this time she was giving Battra some of her energy. Sadly Godzilla was back in action at this time, and had blasted her. She was now down and was about to be crushed by a Ferris wheel, but at the last few seconds, Battra caught it. With a roar of saying they're partners, he dropped the Ferris wheel on a surprised Godzilla. As stated before, Battra is an honorable monster, no double crossing. Basically he could be your worst enemy or your best partner. While G was on the ground, Mothra had told Battra her plan of transporting G back to the ocean. Battra, a monster of immediate action, quickly latched onto G. This it where it gets messy, as Godzila fiercely bites at Battra, which caused his yellow blood to spew out. But that didn't stop him. By this time Mothra had grabbed Godzilla. Now the two moths were flying while holding the King of Monsters. With his blood pouring, Battra still kept going....until Godzilla had enough of the predicament and blasted Battra point blank. That was it for the black moth, as his red eyes went dead. Mothra let them go, and they plunged into the sea. That was the end for our black moth friend.

Battra would sadly never see the light of day again in future films. He had served his purpose for that one story. Still, there's no denying that this neo-Mothra is one awesome monster. Even though it's unexplored, he still has one of the more interesting backstories. Battra is not evil, he is an earth defender, but a human hater. He's the most deadly serious of all Godzilla's opponents. In Larva form, he proved to all people that just cause you're a larva, it doesn't mean you're weak. In Imago form, he was....less impressive. Still, Battra has a sense of honor, he doesn't give up, even when he's bleeding to death. He could be your greatest enemy, or your greatest ally. Either way, Battra proved to be one of the greatest monsters from the Heisei era.

GODZILLA #1 Review

If you asked me what was my most anticipated thing this year, I would have said THE AVENGERS....or not. I've been waiting for GODZILLA #1. After the realization that Kingdom of Monsters would be ending, I thought that was it for G's comic career. For awhile it was in limbo, until we got word from IDW that they would be doing a brand new, 'fresh' series. While it's in the same continuity as Kingdom of Monsters, their words for it are 'soft reboot.' Whatever you want to call it, GODZILLA is a new start for the big lizard. Kingdom of Monsters was a very mixed series, as you know if you've followed my coverage of it in the past. In the end, it was a fun story that brought back all my favorite characters from hibernation. With the film seemingly in development hell, I have the comic to look forward to. Like with Kingdom of Monsters #1, I wasn't overly impressed with this issue. By no means bad, but it's lacking the punch I was expecting.

Here's the official description IDW themselves:

Godzilla is back... in an all-new ongoing series! Duane Swierczynski and Simon Gane launch this ultimate action-movie blockbuster, ushering in a new era of monster battles. Ex-special forces tough-guy Boxer is a man with a grudge and vows to end the terror of Godzilla, no matter what. He assembles a top notch team to take down monster-sized threats... at $7 billion a bounty. What starts as a vendetta could become a lucrative business for Boxer... if he can live past day one!

The very first two pages were so amazing. It's shows the TOHO logo and then on the other page it shows Godzilla in Japanese writing. Just looking at those two things made me feel like a kid on Christmas morning. I then turned to the next page to find Kumonga crashing a wedding. Gotta give props to that, no wedding had ever been crashed before in G history. It's good to see unique concepts such as that. Then we are given scenes with Rodan and Battra attacking cities with the tagline: "The giant monsters are rising once again." So yes, this is a direct followup to Kingdom of Monsters, there's nothing being ignored here. First off, I like that they're giving back to the fans. Kumonga had a one panel appearance in the whole Kingdom of Monsters series, so it's good to him here. It wasn't really explained how Godzilla, Rodan, and Battra had thawed out. Not a true big deal, I guess it makes sense for new readers. This series looks to be just a tad bit more character driven than Kingdom of Monsters.

For some reason, I don't like the narration boxes. They ruin the mood and atmosphere. Our main character is Boxer, kind of a slight opposite to Steven Woods from Kingdom of Monsters. While definitely not a bad focus, I think he could have been established better. He doesn't have that likable exterior Steven had when he first appeared. I must give props to the fact about a plot twist I didn't see coming. Let's just say that this series looks to keep the no holds-barred dark tone of Kingdom of Monsters. Characters die when you least expect it, as seen here. Writing isn't particularly strong. Not as bad as some of the cringe worthy writing from some of the earlier issues of Kingdom of Monsters, but nothing too great either. I'm not really sure where this bounty hunter angle is going to go, it's totally unnecessary. What the heck are they going to do to any of these monsters?

The art is in mixed territory. While slightly better than Victor Santos from Kingdom of Monsters, the humans look way too sketchy. However, the monsters, namely Godzilla, look great. G is in his complete Heisei look here, some great panels with him. (The double page spread is fantastic.) It even rivals Arthur Adams's work with G back in the Dark Horse days. In Rodan's brief panel appearance, he actually looks like Rodan instead of Gyaos. I hope he actually looks impressive in this series. Kumonga looks like Kumonga rather than just a giant brown spider. I would have preferred the eyes to have more of a purple look, but it's a minor thing. There are three covers this time around. Cover A is a wraparound featuring a stylized GMK Godzilla, very dynamic. Cover B shows G's foot with a puddle showcasing him, great perspective. The variant cover shows Boxer standing in front of Godzilla, the perspective here is fantastic. Really good covers. Regarding the monsters, sadly once again they're portrayed as walking events. I want to see some personality displayed in these guys, we've only seen that in Gangsters and Goliaths and Legends.

Overall, not the awesome start I was hoping for. It's still not a bad beginning, just like with Kingdom of Monsters #1. It may seem like a continuation of the whole 'monsters appearing and attacking' thing, but I have faith that as the issues go on, we'll be getting some pleasant surprises. I'm happy to see these characters back in media, I'll be reading further.

7/10.

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters Look-Back

I remember last year back in December the announcement of this series. I usually don't get hyperactive over announcements, but some things I do. This was one of them. I remember the headline over at ComicBookResources: "Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Returns at IDW." That was the biggest announcement of the decade besides the upcoming film being confirmed. I was extremely impatient with waiting for this series, then it got pushed back from March to April. Wow, I thought they were just messing with me. Anyways, when that April 27th came, I found Issue One and had two options. Go with the Godzilla solo cover, or go with the cover showcasing some of the monsters. Usually I would have gone with the latter, but the first had such great detail when compared to the other. So I bought it, then I went home to feast my eyes on my most anticipated comic ever. I'll repeat that, most anticipated comic ever.

I read, or should I say, blasted through it. It was probably the fastest comic I've ever read. It showcased Godzilla attacking Tokyo, and the President. (Who bares a striking resemblance to Obama.) Pretty much a normal, generic Godzilla story. Was I disappointed? A bit, but it wasn't a bad first start. It was Godzilla destroying things, alright in my book. Of course, even that would get a bit boring after awhile, like the films, it's always more exciting when there's another monster. So with the debut of supersonic horror Rodan and spiky armadillo Anguirus next issue, it would get better. And it did......for a bit.

The second issue floored me, I had the impression that this would be a very good series. It was a combination of Godzilla, 2012, and The Walking Dead. As the issues went on, something happened. Each month it seemed that the issues had lost focus. It seemed hell-bent on poking at today's culture rather than focusing on the monsters. I gave Issues Four and Five pretty harsh reviews, the first got a 4/10 while the latter got a 3/10. At that point, my enthusiasm went dry, I was then only collecting this series just cause I'm a Godzilla fan. Personal honor you could say. My past two reviews of Issues Seven and Eight were good, the series was on the right track. Now that Eric Powell is out, I decided to revisit the series, read all all eight issues back-to-back. Reading them again made me realize something.....they are much better read that way.

Re-reading Issue One made me realize that it was a perfect start. The reason why I found the first issue disappointing back months ago was that I felt so excited having the first issue in my hands to read. I was expecting something big, I just gazed over the issue, and finished it within five minutes. Now that I was more relaxed, I took my time with the issue. It was actually a lot better than I remember. Godzilla's emergence was great, and it a very good issue now that I've re-read it. Godzilla's portrayal was spot-on, and the humor, (at that point, remember that) was actually funny. I especially liked the scene where they nuked him and their reaction to his having the ability to shoot an atomic beam because of it. So I'm glad I re-read this issue, I've gained a better appreciation for it.

It's really the other monsters and confrontations I was looking forward to. I have the same opinion as before, Anguirus and Rodan make fine intros. I don't think the writers like Rodan all that much. I mean, he appears the least, (not counting Kumonga, will address that soon) and when he finally is in a fight, he gets mind controlled. I wasn't expecting the monsters to be portrayed 100% accurately, but they were. Both Godzilla and Rodan are aggressive and attack anything that moves. Anguirus isn't as aggressive, more like minding his own business as he intends to cope with the situation. Beautiful. However, Godzilla's portrayal turns into something of a mindless monster. In the films, he always had a distinctive character, (villain against Japan, hero of Japan, anti-hero, etc) here he's becoming just a raging beast. By issue eight, he's more of a walking event than an actual character. The thing that separates Godzilla from other giant monsters is his character. He isn't some raging one-shot Tyrannosaurus, he has character, and I hope this series will give him that soon.

It's hard to surprise people today, mainly cause every time type of surprise has been done already. Issue Three back when I read it had the perfect cliffhanger: the surprise arrival of Battra. Of course, re-reading it didn't have that same effect, but it's still such an amazing appearance. Battra so far is lacking his character from the film. There he was not truly evil, he was the protector of earth. He just couldn't stand humanity, and wanted to purge the earth of all humans. That's what puts him at odds with Mothra. In this series so far, he seems to be a mindless slave for the Twins. Speaking of them.....

Who are these strange twin girls? Despite all these monster appearances, they are the main antagonists. I don't mind new characters, but using them over established monsters is almost a crime. They can control monsters such as Battra and Rodan? That's sure to get on some fans' nerves. (I still cannot get over Rodan being controlled.) We get introduced to two monsters in Issue Six: Mechagodzilla and Kumonga. The ladder gets ONE scene and hasn't appeared since. I mean, it seems like he was just thrown in just to have another monster appearance. Take out that appearance, it doesn't effect anything. Mechagodzilla gets a pretty good and accurate portrayal, based solely on his look from Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II. However, as stated in my review, the part where he goes haywire doesn't make sense. It's a homage to when Kiryu (Mechagodzilla III) went haywire, but here it happens all too quick. There isn't any reference to him having DNA from Godzilla, so it makes zero sense. He reappears in the latest issue, but goes dead for no apparent reason.

KING GHIDORAH. Now there's a name every Godzilla fan knows. Universally accepted as Godzilla's greatest opponent, his appearance in Kingdom of Monsters was inevitable. Even after re-reading issue seven, I STILL think that was a great issue, unlike in most of the reviews. Ghidorah's build-up was perfect, but is thrown away in the next issue. The battle was of epic proportions, but once he lost, he felt like a throwaway character. I mean, it seems the writers are more bent on making the Twins the menacing force rather than King Ghidorah himself. If he doesn't come back anytime soon, there will be trouble. I hope the same doesn't happen to Destroyah.......

I actually really like the art back in Issue One. It wasn't Jim Lee, but it was good. The splash pages are nice, and the monsters look great. There are some amazing shots of them. However, starting at issue three, the art falters. The humans look odd and just plain bad. I don't know what happened, one issue the President looks fine, the next he looks like he needs a face transplant. I don't want to say this, but the art is making the humans look slapstick. The covers themselves are always something I look forward to. Powel's covers are mixed. His cover for issue one stands out as the best. Matt Frank's covers are truly phenonminal. My only problem is that sometimes it gives you the illusion of what's going to happen. I mean, one of the covers for issue three showcased Godzilla, Anguruis, and Roan battling it out. Did we get? Nope. Not even a meeting between the three. What's worst is that in the actual comic, they say "Next Issue!" Which features Godzilla shooting at Mothra. She didn't even appear in the following issue, that was false advertisement right there. (Where is she anyway? She's only been hinted at, her appearance is overdue.)

Overall, re-reading the first eight issues of Kingdom of Monsters back-to-back made me realize something. It's a solid tale when read like that. I actually enjoyed it better than when I bought the issues every month. The real-world references are more durable when read like this, the story has MUCH better pacing. The first fight, Godzilla vs. Anguirus, was disappointing when I first read it. Now that I've re-read, I appreciate the detail put into it, the monster fights are great, they just need to be a bit longer sometimes. Steven Woods and Allie's plot felt like it was going nowhere each month, but when read back-to-back, it feels a lot better paced. I wrote in to IDW and got my letter published in the letter column of Issue Three. I said it had potential to be the greatest comic book series ever. After reading the issues that came after, I revoked that claim. Now that I've re-read the first eight issues, I don't think the series is a disgrace to the Godzilla name anymore. It has a long way to go before being "great" however. It's a fun story, go check out the trades.

Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths #5 Review

Gangsters and Goliaths has been a very good Godzilla story, and just as a story itself. It has a real plot with established characters, (something Kingdom of Monsters doesn't have) very good, intelligent writing, (another thing Kingdom of Monsters doesn't have) and EPIC MONSTER SCENES. Indeed, I've given each issue an above eight, it's that's good.So now we enter the final issue, and oh man, was it big.

The story continues with Detective Sato unleashing his plan: MECHAGODZILLA. He plans to get the Elies from crime lord Tekahashi. Of course, he'll have to get through all-powerful beasts to restore order......namely Godzilla.

When these issues go together in trade, it's going to be an awesome read for those that are waiting for it. This mini-series felt like a Heisei film. Mix the Return of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, and the mafia, you have this.

Detective Sato once again proves to be a character the reader can root for and like. I like how he fully understands the mistake, and seeks to fix it. Tekahashi comes off a good antagonist for this type of series. The Cosmos again looks pretty weak and just pitiful. Then again, they never did look that tough in the films, have they?

Of course, we want to see some monster action, and it delivers. I was smiling the whole time, seeing the likes of Rodan and Titanosaurus destroying things. Naturally, it's Godzilla who gets the most page of them. What I like about this series, is that he has some character, whereas in Kingdom of Monsters, he seems to be nothing than a mindless beast. I LOVE his appearences in this issue, he looks nothing but AWESOME. Mechagodzilla fans might be disappointed at how weak it looks, displaying really no strength whatsoever. I did find this piece of dialogue funny and cool.

"That's not going to stop Godzilla. In fact, that's not even going to slow him down." Classic. Of course, you have to be a longtime fan to see the humor in it.

The art is really the only downside of this series. The humans look way too sketchy, and just plain bad. The monsters look great for the most part. Godzilla especially looks amazing, sporting a look akin to his Heisei incarnation. Mechagodzilla looks amazing....well, the headshot scene in the building. It's lacking sufficient detail. There are two covers, the main one with Godzilla towering over some buildings with airplanes, and one with Detective Sato, his son, and Mechagodzilla. I liked Cover A more, it has really good detail and the perspective makes Godzilla look even more imposing.

Overall, this issue was the best in this mini-series. Gangsters and Goliaths has been a great read, it has set the standard that hopefully Kingdom of Monsters will follow. I'm sad to see it go, but it had its run. Next month we'll have another mini-series, Godzilla: Legends, which I hope will be as good, if not better. With its great story, excellent pacing, interesting characters, and awesome monster destruction, you'll want to check out Gangsters and Goliaths, Godzilla fan or not.

10/10. PERFECT score.

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #7 Review

It feels like forever since the last issue. Kingdom of Monsters has been a very uneven series, here's the stats so far.

Issue 1: Good
Issue 2: Excellent
Issue 3: Alright
Issue 4: Bad
Issue 5: Bad
Issue 6: Good

As you can see, I haven't been too fond of this series. Why? This series is being used to poke at today's culture, with some monsters thrown in. I've said this before and I'll say it again. We're not here to watch parodies of culture, (like Jersey Shore? There was a group called "Jerseyfied" a few issues ago) we're here to see monsters beat the heck out of each other. Last issue was an improvement, sending the series in the right direction. Does this issue continue to go that route? Or does it turn back to no-man's land? Read on.

I am very happy to say that this issue was the best in awhile, second to issue two. The monsters are back to being more of the focus, with some very interesting plot twists.

The plot continues with Steven Woods and Allie surviving the impending "armageddon" as the monsters continue their destruction. The government has gone underground claiming that "they are still helping the people." Right. The plot deepens when the ancient "dragon" is unleashed. And.....Battra is back!

So we have a new plotline when the dragon, (KING GHIDORAH!) is awakened. I find it intriguing, it appears  that they are going the GMK route. I'm very surprised with this, will he really be a good guy? I doubt it, but it appears they want to give you that impression. Though I would have rather they go the classic Showa route, with him being a destroyer of worlds, this is fine.

After awhile of being on hold, Batrra transforms into his awesome Imago form.....and Rodan pays a visit. The inner Godzilla geek within me was wide-eyed as Rodan and Battra went in for the battle. Just....wow. The true highlight of the issue, I can picture the roars and sounds in my head as they fought. (It's ironic these two fought, cause Battra's roar is Rodan's in the film.) This is semi-ruined by the two strange Battra twins. They apparently can control beasts as powerful as Rodan! As a fan of the flying monster of the sky, I was truly disappointed after some issues of no status, he's back to be controlled by inferior beings. It makes an interesting plotline.....but I don't like Rodan being controlled.

At least we have a human character to root for now. Steven Woods seems to be the ongoing main character, and that's a good thing. The first couple of issues were lacking someone to actually care about. The other humans are still painted as "monsters" themselves. Humans are greedy, yes, but c'mon, they need to showcase some good people for once.

The art is more of a miss. Battra looks amazing, (he always does) but Rodan still doesn't look like Rodan. King Ghidorah looks nice, resembling more of his GMK counterpart. Godzilla looks good in his small screen time. The cover is very dramatic, but the big G himself isn't drawn properly. Still, it's dramatic. The alternate cover, (why does my comic place never have them?) is a very cool, detailed image of both Battra forms.

Of course, this series is still far from great. The Mechagodzilla side-plot from last issue isn't touched upon at all in this issue, and where the heck is Mothra? She's only been hinted at once, way back in issue three. The final scene with Godzilla and King Ghidorah was just plain amazing, one of the greatest cliffhangers I've ever seen. I like Godzilla's look when he sees this foe. He's like, "Who in the heck is that?" Awesome.

In closing, this issue was very good, I have new faith in this series. With a titanic battle for next issue, this series might just honor the Godzilla name after all. (We'll see soon enough.)

8/10.