PopCultHQ received advance review copy of GODZILLA: History’s Greatest Monster TPB from IDW Publishing. Available January 27th, the creative team for this book features writing by Duane Swierczynski, art from Simon Gane w/ Dave Wachter, colors by Ronda Pattison, and letters from Chris Mowry.
Here is PopCultHQ’s Spoiler-Free Review of…
GODZILLA: History’s Greatest Monster TPB
Story: Duane Swierczynski
Art: Simon Gane w/ Dave Wachter
Colors: Ronda Pattison
Letters: Chris Mowry
Cover Art: Bob Eggleton
Collects the complete 13-issue series.
Cities, special forces teams, and a legion of Kaiju are no match for… History’s Greatest Monster!
Godzilla continues to destroy cities and lives all over the world and ex-special forces tough guy Boxer is a man with a grudge who vows to end the terror of Godzilla—no matter what! He assembles a topnotch team to take him and the other monsters down at $7 billion a bounty.
PopCultHQ’s Comic Book Review:
GODZILLA: History’s Greatest Monster TPB
Beware the mighty Godzilla, King of Monsters! For when it and its monster king come unto the world of man, what else can mankind do but fight back? Come alongside an unlikely band of comrades as they battle to keep the world safe before the whole Earth is trod under the heel of the killer Kaiju.
Writing: Duane handles the world-building for this Godzilla series spectacularly. There is an even balance within the script of focusing on the human element, the people trying to survive and fight back against the Kaiju, and the focus on Godzilla and the various giant monsters that show up throughout the book. Duane clearly has a passion for the King of Monsters and its various counterparts, because he manages to throw all the major players into his series, with a few surprises along the way. Top-notch story from a top-notch writer.
Art: Simon and Dave tag-team to deliver stellar artwork. While the world itself is very real and solid, as are the human heroes/villains, the thing that stood out the most was their renderings of Godzilla and the different beasts that permeate throughout. These terrifying titans of movie fame are glorious to look at and their various showdowns honestly feel like they could leap out of the book at any given moment and onto a giant movie screen. Cheers to this totally terrific twosome.
Colors: Ronda really gave the world of Godzilla a gorgeous color palette. Everything looks so life-like and believable thanks to her choices. Every single monster’s hide looks tangible under her artistic ministrations. And the colors are more muted, not overly garish as one would expect from a comic about great movie monsters duking it out. By taking the more grounded approach, she gives them a solidity that is often lost when adapting Godzilla, Rodan, and the other classic creatures into a print medium. Major kudos on a spectacular job well done.
Letters: Chris nailed it with the lettering. Especially with the various noises, screeches, and other words that one always expects when Godzilla and the big dogs of monster fame throw down. Not a single moment of lettering falls flat. If anything it soars high, higher than even King Ghidorah could fly. Reading the letters for every brawl, they translated into this reviewer’s mind and stayed there, like when a person sits down to watch one of the monster movies. A terrific achievement on Chris’s part to accomplish that with his lettering.
PopCultHQ’s overall assessment:
For all those who have always thrilled to the earth-shattering exploits of Godzilla over the years, this TPB is one that needs to belong in every movie monster fan’s collection. It is the sort of series that will have fans/readers talking for years to come. With twists and turns and terrible creatures on every page! All thanks to the amazing creative team that tackled the book, what is laid out in fantastic word, pictures, color, and letters is a hair-raising, mind-blowing adventure.
PopCultHQ’s Rating:
5 out of 5 Stars
Purchase GODZILLA: History’s Greatest Monster TPB online:
Publisher – IDW Publishing
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