When I say, “I really love Godzilla”, I feel like the first thing I need to do is be more specific. After all, even if we narrow it down specifically to comics, Godzilla is one of those iconic characters that will pretty much always have a chance at a comic book, because there’s just something in all of us that sees a giant dinosaur on the cover, smashing up a city, and says “WANT.” But in this case, I’m talking specifically about the 1977-1979 run that Marvel did, the one they later collected in ‘Essential Godzilla’. Because not only does this one feature the giant lizard we all know and love, it’s actually set in the Marvel Universe.
Why is this important? Because I love superheroes even more than I love giant monsters, and a comic that combines both of them is just sheer, undiluted joy from beginning to end. The premise involves Godzilla heading to America, so you get SHIELD hunting the beast in their helicarrier (I’ve described the series in the past as “like ‘The Fugitive’, with Godzilla as Richard Kimble and Dum-Dum Dugan in the Inspector Gerard role.” If you don’t see this as instantly awesome, I feel a little bit sad for you.) Doctor Demonicus, in his first appearance, takes on the role of primary villain…and frankly, Doctor Demonicus is the world’s best at being the world’s worst evil super-genius. How can you not love a mad scientist who exposed himself to exotic radiation, only to get a painful skin disease instead of super-powers?
The first half of the book (and this, more than most series of the time, really reads like one 24-chapter story, albeit slightly shaggy-dog in form) involves Godzilla stumbling across various other monsters, usually ones created by Doctor Demonicus, and fighting them while SHIELD tries to figure out which monster is the bigger threat. SHIELD, in turn, creates a giant robot to fight Godzilla called Red Ronin…like you do…only to have it stolen from them and used for other purposes. This is the merely entertaining chunk of the book…
But it’s the last half where things really get nuts, as creators Doug Moench and Herb Trimpe really go all-out in showing the war against Godzilla. The Fantastic Four and Hank Pym get enlisted, using Pym particles to shrink Godzilla down to a size where he can be managed easily. But a rat-sized Godzilla escapes into the sewers of New York…and Pym’s research reveals that he’s already developing a tolerance to the gas. With time running out, the FF go on a desperate lizard hunt…which leads to a fight between the Thing and a human-sized Godzilla…which leads to the team banishing Godzilla into prehistory using Doom’s time machine…which leads to the inevitable Godzilla/Devil Dinosaur team-up…which finally leads back to the present and an all-out gigantic battle between the Avengers and Godzilla that absolutely has to be seen to be believed. The last issues move at a ferocious pace, each time upping the stakes and presenting Godzilla’s rampage as something that really is a crisis-level threat to the Marvel Universe, and while some might call the ending a cop-out, really, I feel like it’s the only way the series could end. (No spoilers, of course, but does anyone really think it ends with Godzilla dying?)
On the whole, this is the kind of series that could only be made in a big, sprawling shared universe like Marvel and DC, and it’s genuinely thrilling to see such an iconic monster being let loose into that universe…and then treated with considerable respect, albeit in a goofy sort of way. You will finish this book smiling, and there’s nothing wrong with that in my book.
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OH MY GOD I HAVE TO GET THE TRADE BECAUSE THAT SOUNDS SO AWESOME I’M STARTING TO BLACK OUT JUST THINKING ABOUT IT AAAAAAAAAA
See, while I agree on almost all the points, to me it kinda felt like there was a major shift with the Cowboy issue. Up to there, it felt like Marvel was trying to make it work as an ongoing. After, it felt like they were, for one reason or another, working with a deadline in mind.
I liked when Godzilla played basketball against Charles Barkley.
@Greg: “I liked when Godzilla played basketball against Charles Barkley.”
Flapjacks: What size was he then?
MGK: Godzilla was human-sized.
Flapjacks: No, I meant Barkley!
As far as I can remember, both were the size of skyscrapers.
“But Charles, only you can stop Godzilla… Because you’re Earth’s greatest warrior!”
When you say that SHIELD is hunting Godzilla, do you mean hunting as in chasing, or hunting as in trying to find him in the wilderness? Because if the latter, I would like to see how the writers manage to keep a giant lizard hidden from a flying battleship.
I remember picking up a few issues back when they first came out. My tiny child brain was annoyed Godzilla didn’t really look like himself.
The new IDW series features a thinly-veiled Jason Statham hunting monsters.
Love it. I remember hopping on the Godzilla Essential the day it came out, since I was worried Marvel would only have the rights to reprint it for twenty minutes or something. Luckily, they seem to have run a big batch; but it should be sold out, it’s a lot of fun.
The day that they finally re-secure the rights to Fu Manchu for like an hour, and print “The Essential Master of Kung Fu,” I WILL BUY THE HELL OUT OF IT. As will others.
Hint hint, Marvel. Hint hint.
@Soulless Merchant of Fear: I hear ya. For that matter, what kind of a fucked up universe do we live in that Marvel can successfully negotiate with Toho to reprint the Godzilla series, but can’t secure the rights to ROM? I mean, is Mattel sitting on those rights, rubbing their hands, knowing that any day now a wave of ROM nostalgia is going to sweep the country and they’ll be able to name their price with any comics company you care to name? Are they refusing to give up even a fraction of that ROM goldmine unless Marvel gives in to their exorbitant demands? I’ll admit, I’m stumped.
i believe the ROM rights also involve the guy who invented ROM and brought it to Mattel – corporations will take the buyout – individuals have emotional connections to things they invent.
Fu Manchu, at least in his first novel, should be hitting public domain soon, I would think. it would depend on if the elements they used were introduced in later novels or not.
I liked Godzilla and Shogun Warriors at the time. I can remember Fred Hembeck having a strip where he talked about trying to impress a girl in the drugstore, and then realizing that not only was he carrying a stack of “funny books,” but the top one was Godzilla with a big purple logo. Oh the days when one had to be embarassed to be a comics fan…
Funny, I was just rereading the Avengers’ battle with Red Ronin, wherein SHIELD’s anti-Godzilla flying battleship Behemoth participates. I can imagine someone flipping through the issue and assuming it’s some kind of in-joke to reference Godzilla.