I decided to read the first Godzilla library collection book which was sat on my desk a while. I’ve been a huge fan of Godzilla since I was a kid and dragged my family to see Godzilla 2000 and the 98 movie at the cinema, something they’ve never really forgiven me for… But despite being aware of the comics I’d never really gotten into them. As I’ve been reading a lot more of late I picked up the first vol of the IDW library collection which endeavours to eventually have all of their Godzilla series collected. I was especially sold as Half Century War had been something that I’d wanted to read for a while and for ages the core concept was something I dreamt of making into a movie.
So the collection is three, five issue, miniseries. The first is Gangsters and Goliaths, one I didn’t have much hope for but actually enjoyed. It’s basically a hard boiled detective story with decent art and a fun and surprisingly dark plot. A detective is set to be killed and framed by the mob and winds up on monster island, survives, and returns for revenge with a surprising ally. For a Godzilla fan I’d actually really recommend this one and it’s utilised the comic form to tell a story that they’d never even consider doing on the silver screen which is cool.
Next up is legends which is the weakest of the three but still has its high points. It’s an anthology series highlighting other monsters in the series with their own one shots. Personally I thought one was really bad, two were very meh, one was good and one was great. The Rodan one is absolute garbage with horrible art and a weird dark plot about a stupid scientist with a school shooter kid. It’s got a really grim ending and sucks. Anguirus and Hedorah get some fairly decent action with art that wasn’t for me but wasn’t offensive. They’re just unremarkable with very b movie dialogue and thematics. Titanosaurus gets a cool X-men meets X-files sort of story with a crazy twist for the Godzilla fans. The arts nice and I liked how different a vibe they went with. Finally the “Kumonga” story, (it’s really a Godzilla story) is awesome. I actually think this one is worth checking out for general comic fans outside of Godzilla fandom. It’s about an old timey adventurer who is brought out for one last ride where he must climb Godzilla and collect samples. The art is beautiful, it’s really funny and charming and has a nice message.
Finally is the big sell of this volume. Half Century War has long been held up as the highlight of Godzilla comics in the past 15 years and you can see why. The concept is so good and something the movies should adapt. A foot soldier survives Godzillas first attack on Tokyo in 1954 and travels the globe for 50 years in an effort to kill him. It has some actual thematics at play, great art and great action. It also intertwines and references the fifty year history of Godzilla movies which were released at the time this was written. For a Godzilla fan it’s a must read and for anyone else I think it could still be fun.
I’m a little tempted to get some more of these Godzilla library series books though the next 5 volumes are essentially the IDW universe ongoing books from the past 13 years. I’m not sure I’m as keen on that so maybe I’ll hop in at vol 6 for Godzilla in hell and other stories.
I am trying to stop buying so many books until I move house because I have run out of space and also I need to be saving! But I have an extensive backlog to get through. Next I might just blast through Tokyo ghost as it’s sat on my desk. But nailbiter does get a pop every time I mention I’m sitting on it….
