Mechagodzilla units have arrived to bring the pain to a newly returned Godzilla. Is it good?
Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #15 (IDW Publishing)
After a bunch of hippie stuff about trying to save Anguirus, the issue drops us into the middle of a huge smack down between big G and the mechs. The fight is a little disjointed at times, but the artwork by Matt Frank is gorgeous.
Pictured: Godzilla in the moments after releasing a particularly heinous fart.
For a few pages, it’s a whole bunch of glorious fun… and then the plot shows up. The Cryog (purple alien) posing as an old man totally has Godzilla on the ropes. He then decides to go full on supervillain, refusing to kill the beast right then and there so that he can watch it happen later in person.
As if that wasn’t stupid enough, he proceeds to monologue a bit about his master plan… which consists of giving the people of earth super powerful weapons which they will hopefully use to eventually destroy each other.
Yeah…
Thankfully, we are soon taken back to the fight between Godzilla and the mechs (there was also a helicopter crash involving a main character, but who honestly cares at this point?). In a twist that no one saw coming, the Cryog’s decision to leave Godzilla alive backfires, giving G-zizzle the opportunity to get back up and kick some ass.
But just as it looks like he’s won the day, the issue’s last page reveals an old monster with a new look that is pure nightmare fuel.
Is It Good?
What really frustrates me about this book is that Chris Mowry isn’t a bad writer. He’s done some splendid issues for this franchise during his career and is great about giving us lots of kaiju to action to enjoy.
Unfortunately, the major subplot in this new chapter for IDW’s Godzilla series is so bad that it detracts from all of the good stuff. The problem isn’t the story being too complicated or the characters’ action not making sense anymore… it’s just the story that frames the monster stuff has become completely absurd.
Matt Frank’s art and some great fight scenes save this one from being a complete clunker, but with a wonderful Godzilla book like Cataclysm on the stands, the unrealized potential of this title is even more glaring.
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