This time, I’m reviewing the IDW Godzilla comics that aren’t part of their main series, this includes Legends, as well as Half Century War.
Anyone familiar with IDW will know that Godzilla: Legends is the same formula as Transformers Spotlight or any other single issue comics that focus on one character in a series. Each issue of Godzilla’s spotlight series features a different kaiju and a different artist. Given the dates and story lines that are never mentioned in later comics, I’m pretty sure this doesn’t fit into the main series, that being Kingdom of Monsters, the ongoing series, and Rulers of Earth.
Anyway, issue 1 was very good. It was an underdog story about Anguirus. The poor thing was trying to fight DESTOROYAH!!!!! He put a few bruises on him with the help of actually likeable human characters. The art by Matt Frank is amazing, and I honestly wouldn’t mind if a later comic featured the people in this one.
Issue 2 features Rodan… kind of. It’s more about this scientist guy who steals Rodan’s egg from a research facility to stop the government from killing it. He’s not the idiot of the issue though. It’s his kid. The kid has some bullying problem, so what does he do? He takes the egg to the school to lure Rodan there so he kills the bullies! But that’s not the extent of it. When the egg hatches, Rodan grabs his baby, and right when he flies off, the kid latches onto him and flies away!
The kid does not make any sense. I would think sending an entire school to its doom would rank him more homicidally insane than any playground menace he will ever encounter in his life. Even weirder, is when all the action is going down, and the kid calls the military ‘bullies’ for shooting at Rodan. In case a kaiju ever attacks in real life, we better not shoot at it, because we’ll be just as evil as a jerk who steals lunch money from mentally unstable kids who bring kaiju eggs to school to kill everyone. That would definitely be our lowest point in existence.
I… don’t get this one. At all. The kid is unbelievably stupid, and the father is only slightly less stupid. It’s here where I started questioning if this was the same continuity as the main series. At the start of the issue, it’s set in 2007. Why 2007? I thought that Kingdom of Monsters took place in 2011, the year it was released. I guess I was wrong to assume that. I’m glad we wasted this issue setting up this plot point that isn’t even relevant to anything.
Issue 3 features Titanosaurus. This has to be my favorite issues of the series. Even though Titanosaurus doesn’t show up until the end, the story with the kid in the training program to psychically connect with the kaiju was great! I actually liked this kid! The artwork by Tony Parker is very well done, and the twist at the end with aliens really does set up an interesting storyline… but since it turns out this is a stand alone issue, we just wasted another issue for a storyline with a lot of potential. No, these aren’t the same aliens as in Rulers of Earth. These are the simians from Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, not the squid things.
Issue 4 features Hedorah, as well as some of the best art I’ve ever seen in a comic, done by E.J. Su. Then again, I haven’t read many comics…. but it’s still good!
Anyway, this issue doesn’t set up any interesting plot, it just goes right into the action! This might actually be one of two issues in this series that could actually fit into the main series. up the continuity. It introduces Hedorah, who does appear in the ongoing series. The Mechagodzilla here is possibly the same one as in Kingdom of Monsters, but this time operated manually by a crew, rather than computers, and without the wings. I can’t say much about this one. It’s good.
The final issue features Kumonga… about as much as the Transformers movies featured Jolt. This is the other issue that might be part of the main canon. It has this old daredevil guy actually climb up Godzilla’s body to collect research samples. That’s awesome! Climbing Godzilla is one heck of an achievement! It took a few days, but he eventually got to the top. This is one of the better issues of Godzilla: Legends. My only complaint is how bad Godzilla is drawn most of the time. It looks like the artist, Dean Haspiel, was trying to combine Godzilla’s 1985 design with one of his 60’s designs. After seeing the result in this issue, I can safely say that those aren’t two things that go well together.
Godzilla: Legends might have been filler until the next big story arc, but it’s decent filler. I would love to see a continuation of the Titanosaurus story in another series some time later. If anyone from IDW reads this review, then I hope you take that into consideration.
I give Godzilla: Legends 3 / 5.
The next series, Half Century War, is one that I am 100% positive is its own thing. This time, it’s a guy’s life story in a 5 issue miniseries. The interesting part is that the guy’s entire life was spent fighting Godzilla and other world destroying kaiju.
I really enjoyed this one. Imagine Forrest Gump, but with Godzilla… okay, maybe that’s exaggerating how good it is. But you hopefully get the point. There really hasn’t been a story like this in anything Godzilla related. This time, it’s just one guy trying to kill the unkillable King for nearly 50 years, and we see all the major moments.
It starts out in 1954, Godzilla’s first appearance. The destruction of the city is done pretty well, and it does a good job at showing people’s shock at how strong Godzilla is. Eventually, he’s killed the same way as in the original film, with the Oxygen Destroyer. Unfortunately for the main characters, there’s either another one, or he just got better. So, the Anti Megalosaurus Force is formed.
For the next decade or so, it’s just Godzilla they have to deal with, but soon, other kaiju start appearing. Anguirus, Mothra, Ebirah, Hedorah, and a few others make brief cameos in issue 3. The plot thickens when the main characters discover a monster signaler machine being used by a former AMF agent. They keep trying to track down this guy over the course of about 20 or 30 years, and he eventually makes a signaler so strong that it brings kaiju from outer space! We all knew they were coming at some point, but how and why was the question.
The final issue felt a little rushed, but I still enjoyed it. It was the end of the 50 year conflict. The world had been torn apart, and this was their last chance of victory. One of my favorite quote of all of IDW’s Godzilla comics is in this issue as well.
“If shooting those monsters with a miniaturized black hole isn’t enough to get them off our planet, then they can have the damn place.”
The final fight between Godzilla, Kiryu, Gigan, and King Ghidorah was a good one, and the big finish was kind of emotional. This guy spent his whole life chasing this lizard. He didn’t have any family, friends, or life outside the AMF, so he’s really got nothing else to do. All he wants by this point is to get Godzilla to notice him. He wants Godzilla to know that he’s been trying to kill him for the last 50 years. For not having much detail or buildup to this moment, the comic still does a good job at getting a little emotions going.
If there’s one problem I have with this series, it’s how short it is. I know IDW had their main series going on, but this one had a lot of potential to be an ongoing series, possibly for more than 12 issues. I would love to see more details of this guy’s struggle with killing Godzilla, and it would have been cool to have better build up and a better payoff for the main villain. Heck, not just for the main villain, for the whole finale! There’s a lot of monsters they only show in brief cameos. I’d like to see the AMF deal with them! Speaking of the AMF, there’s a lot of characters that would have been cool to see more of. This is the Godzilla series that didn’t have too many characters that were unlikeable. I liked pretty much all of them. My favorite is obviously the main character, Ota. The series may be short, but it still shows what he’s going through rather well. It would have been astronomically better if it was shown in more detail.
But, for what we got, it’s not too bad. I will say it takes a more serious approach than the main series, but I guess that’s why I like it so much. It’s the closest thing to a serious Godzilla series, whether it’s in movie, cartoon, or comic form, since the original film, and until the new movie. There are some humorous moments, but it’s not on the border of comedy, like Kingdom of Monsters and the ongoing series were. I will say again that I do like to have fun with Godzilla, but a serious version is something I’ve been waiting for. This comic is as close as it gets… until the new film.
In conclusion, I enjoyed Half Century War. The artwork is great. I like how smoke and fire billow from the ground wherever the kaiju walk, I like the explosions, the humans don’t look that bad, and the kaiju themselves look fantastic. It fits the tone they were trying to go for very well, so congrats to James Stokoe and Heather Breckel for the art and colors. I would liked it to have been longer, but as it stands, it’s still pretty good. I recommend this series as well as the ongoing and Rulers of Earth. I give Half Century War:
4 / 5.
Unfortunately, I do not have Gangsters and Goliaths in my possession, mostly because I honestly wasn’t interested. But, for what I have reviewed so far, I hope you liked it. Be sure to check out more of my reviews, as well as my review of the main IDW series. On that note, I highly suggest checking out other works by IDW. They’re a great publishing company.
Next review on the Countdown to Godzilla’s Return is going to be the second to last review until Godzilla hits theaters on May 16th. It’s a surprise. Don’t know why it’s a surprise, but it is. I don’t think most of you will see it coming. It’s a film that’s not a Godzilla film in any way, shape, or form, but it is related to the upcoming release. Maybe that will narrow it down for you. But until then, I’m going to get the Amazing Spider-Man out of the way, and hopefully, the Amazing Spider-Man 2 this Friday. Stay frosty.
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