Last month, the humans learned of the Devonian threat from a sympathetic member of their race. Now they’re racing to drop a nuke right on top of them along with some of Toho’s coolest monsters… including Big G himself. Is it good?
Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #12 (IDW Publishing)
The USS Simon is overrun by the evil crabs that shed off of Destroyah. In what should have been a gut wrenching/epic fight scene, Woods is grievously injured. Unfortunately, he lets everyone know he’s okay (despite being impaled) with the same look a used car salesman gives a customer after convincing them to buy the insurance package.
…or the injury also resulted in brain damage.
When Destroyah himself shows up, all seems lost… until Jet Jaguar appears and begins punching things. When that doesn’t work, he shrinks down enough to get into Mecha Godzilla, using it to freeze Destroyah with the Absolute Zero Weapon.
Meanwhile, Godzilla is holding his own against the three monsters he’s been fighting for two issues, but now he has the added challenge of a nuke about to be dropped on his head.
Jet Jaguar hears about this and rushes off to help him (awwww), but he’s too late. After only a few awesome panels of Matt Frank-penciled monster fighting, a massive explosion takes them out along with the Devonian forces.
This awesome fight scene was yet another casualty of the proliferation of atomic weaponry.
As the book comes to a close, we see that the Devonian who warned the humans was actually a shape shifted purple dude (the race they were at war with). He kills Allison (the scientist who had cared for him), takes his form, and heads off into the world to probably do something very evil.
The rest of the issue’s coda shows Lucy being concerned about Woods (who isn’t giving a cheesy smile anymore) while exuberantly celebrating the chance to study kaijus on monster island… and of course, a hint that Godzilla might not be dead after all (DUN DUN DUN!!!).
Is It Good?
If you read my reviews on this series, then you know exactly where I’m going with this. The plot is tangled, contrived, and oftentimes uninteresting. The meat of this title lies in the monster fights that are so beautifully drawn by Matt Frank and choreographed by Chris Mowry.
We honestly don’t get enough of those this time (especially compared to the bounty of last issue), but there’s enough to make this a fun ride. I also have to admit that the ending with the Devonian was pretty chilling. Mowry is really good at dialogue and giving characters a unique voice; I just wish he would focus it all into a more coherent plot.
It’s also worth noting that the ending didn’t feel very climatic. Anyone who believes that Godzilla actually died in a nuclear blast probably has multiple anxiety attacks on April 1 of every year, as well.
Overall, this was still an enjoyable story, but it feels like this title could be so much more. I know I’m in the minority on that opinion, but I’m also not the typical reader for this book. Let’s hope that more people who come into comic shops after that awesome Godzilla movie from two weeks ago (which I liked much more than my esteemed colleague, David Brooke) find the next arc a bit easier to jump aboard.
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