If you told me 6 months ago I would be having this much fun reading Godzilla I’d have called you a liar.
I was never much into the movies and the comics have generally, at least at face value, seemed to be an excuse to see a few cool monsters tear up some buildings and not much else. Call me crazy, but this new series by IDW is just as good to look at as it is to read. It has become one of my most anticipated books to read each month, so how does issue #3 fair…is it good?
Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #3 (IDW Publishing)
Missed our review of the Godzilla Rulers of Earth #2? Check it out here.
One of the major reasons this series has worked for me is because it has introduced a world where a small faction of people actually love these giant monsters. They’re “megazoologists” and they want to understand the creatures as if they were the Dodo.
There’s also a crowd of folks who think they’re just plain cool. The series has revolved around a monster convention, similar to Comic-Con, that’s taking place on Hawaii. It’s made the concept of Godzilla less “Us vs. Them” and more complex because Godzilla isn’t all bad. It’s as if the concept behind the book is to prove Godzilla is just misunderstood. We also learned last issue that aliens were on their way to enslave the human race. Hmm, I wonder if a Godzilla/humanity teamup is in our future?
Tattoo or Mountain Dew ad? You be the judge!
The series has used the character of Lucy to introduce readers to the concepts and world within. This issue she doesn’t even make an appearance and instead follows Commander Woods as he takes on a new threat. Last issue he helped Lucy, so it’s clear writer Chris Mowry has only taken a tangent to later bring them back together. That’s actually helpful to keeping this story fresh as it changes gears a bit, moving from the chaotic nature of being a civilian in the last issue, to being a soldier on the front lines of monster fighting this issue.
Mowry cuts between three different events to mix up the action and exposition: Commander Woods fighting some new crab beasts, the aliens and finally Godzilla. Godzilla actually doesn’t do much in this issue, but what he does do will go long ways to developing his character. That’s right, I just said Godzilla’s character is being developed! How nuts is that?!
Okay…where does that tentacle come from cuz it’s looking a lil…sexual.
A lot was riding on the art last month because most of the issue was Zilla vs. Godzilla. This issue has a great balance of story, character and exposition to go with the a lot of action. The design of the crab creatures is particularly good even if their stomachs look like sphincters. The aliens also have an interesting worm like look with a squishy sort of skin. They’re only about as tall as humans, can shape shift, and should be very nice smashing material for Godzilla if he ever gets around to killing these jerks.
Really cool way, using the silhouette, to introduce characters not in the scene.
9.5
- The art pops
- Great pacing
- Might be a TAD confused going in blind
The first issue of this series got a 9 from me, the second an 8.5 because it was mostly action, but I have to say the creative team outdid themselves on this one. It’s mostly due to a stellar pace that cuts between action and story very nicely. You’re never bored, never confused and always entertained. At the end of the day, isn’t that all you want from a comic to release some steam?
Is It Good?
Yes. This needs to be on your radar. There aren’t too many books that can juggle so many things so well.
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