IDW G:KOM Issue 2 Review

By Donny Winter

IDW Publishing’s next issue of GODZILLA: KINGDOM OF MONSTERS is definitely a step up from its first installment. While one of my main complaints during the first issue was the apparent instability in the characters not to mention some inconsistencies with art, Issue 2 definitely improves in both regards.

Immediately the second issue starts out with a Godzilla attack on Japan interweaved with various appearances in different settings--the main focus a man who is searching for his missing children. This man is actually one of the more interesting characters who’s appeared in the series up to date, and he’s seen all the way through the end of the issue. Secondly, not only do more fascinating human characters surface, but both Rodan and Anguirus appear in the story introduced by the death of animals and pestilence--providing a better sense of that apocalyptic feeling that really wasn’t evident in the first issue.

Issue 2 is not perfect, it does have its faults. At times the artistic impressions of the kaiju, most notably Anguirus seem a bit off. There are instances where he seems to look like he does in the movies, and there are other scenes where he seems to look more like a dog than a reptile. Other than that, both Rodan and Godzilla have very detailed representations.

Much like the previous issue, Issue 2 contains a significant amount of political nuance and we get to see frequent appearances from President Obama and the Governor of Texas. Naturally there is a bit of humor accompanied by these political figures, mainly the Texan Governor state wild radical notions toward the monster threat occurring in his state. Hopefully these political threads will continue to flow into future issues. Overall, while Issue 2 seemed a bit rushed when introducing the secondary kaiju characters and the inconsistent artistic impressions of Anguirus, it is quite superior to the introduction to this comic book series. The human characters are much more developed, and the build up toward the climatic monster appearances, while fast-paced, are pretty epic.

Definitely a worthy second installment to this series.

Japan's Celebration of MOTHRA's 50th Anniversary

With Mothra’s 50th anniversary coming up soon (July 30th), the Queen of the Monsters (an official title used on the deluxe laserdisc set for 1996’s REBIRTH OF MOTHRA) is enjoying some recognition of the occasion. First to mention is that the Humax Cinema theatre in Japan is hosting a triple feature of Mothra films. The first is the original MOTHRA, which not only was one of the biggest hits Toho had for a monster film but would have the basic formula rehashed in Mothra’s 1964 (Mvs.G) and 1992 outings. Next would be GODZILLA, MOTHRA, EBIRAH: BIG DUEL IN THE SOUTH SEA, a film which focused more on the natives of Infant Island and their being enslaved. Then we have Mothra’s 1996 trilogy-starter REBIRTH OF MOTHRA, which took Mothra’s nature loving attitude to a new level and was one of Koichi Kawakita’s final feature length films in which he was the director of special effects. This triple feature shall be showing on July 30th. For more information, check out the links below.


http://www.humax-cinema.co.jp/cinema/special/meigaza/img/mothra.pdf
http://www.humax-cinema.co.jp/index.html

Coming to us sooner is a new book on Mothra entitled "Mothra Eiga Great Collection" (rough translation), which is most likely a look over the films Mothra has been in.


http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%88%A5%E5%86%8A%E6%98%A0%E7%94%BB%E7%A7%98%E5%AE%9D-%E3%83%A2%E3%82%B9%E3%83%A9%E6%98%A0%E7%94%BB%E5%A4%A7%E5%85%A8-%E6%B4%8B%E6%B3%89%E7%A4%BE%EF%BC%AD%EF%BC%AF%EF%BC%AF%EF%BC%AB/dp/4862487610/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1309828373&sr=8-2

We here at the KG community wish Mothra a happy 50th anniversary. Don’t forget that the Starz channels are showing the Mothra trilogy along with GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL OUT ATTACK.