When I was looking forward to kaiju in 2021 I had somehow completely left off IDW’s new ongoing comic book written by Erik Burnham, Art by Dan Schoening, and colours by Luis Antonio Delgado. IDW was putting out a lot of Godzilla content a few years back but this is their first comic after a four year break. This time around they appear to be tackling the subject for a much younger demographic which is a great way to extend the history of Godzilla and bring him to the next generation.
The story opens with our pre-teen protagonist Cedric Nishimura doing a live stream about how he saved the world from Godzilla. This opening is mainly setup as we will see the exact particulars over the next five issues but it instantly brings us into the world of the younger generation. Yes, there is a really bad fake YouTube parallel but we are getting into the world of youth, which has been missing a bit in terms of Godzilla. The rest of the plot involves a company claiming to have discovered a new form of energy that is completely safe, only to have Godzilla show up and destroy it. We see this all through the perspective of the children with our other two lead characters being a bit more detached from the plot as it plays out; they are normal kids, and as such they have other interests. The issue ends with an idea that really settles on the current inherent allegory of Godzilla, a creature focused on ensuring a natural balance. They introduce the idea through a Godzilla documentary which is a clever bit of world building. Much like in other IDW comics, Godzilla in this universe has been absent for a long time.
Growing up there seemed to be an unending supply of Godzilla content focused on a younger target demographic: 70s Showa films, Godzilla cartoons, Godzilla children books, Godzilla young adult novels, and a deluge of toys. Lately it seems like children are more of an afterthought in the kaiju landscape. When the dubbed versions of classic Godzilla films have seemingly disappeared and most of the American films are full of super serious adults it makes it difficult to bring new blood in. Hopefully we are on the verge of a change; regardless of your opinions on Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) it is definitely easily consumed by folks of all ages with multiple young people in the lead roles. There were some children’s tie-in books for Godzilla vs. Kong as well that seem incredibly charming. Hopefully the new anime Godzilla: Singular Point (2021) receives a dub so even more people can be brought in. Needless to say this comic deserves to be celebrated and shared with the kids in your life.
One of the most fascinating things to be addressed here is that Godzilla’s new designation as savior is yet again hammered home. In the realm of undeniable climate change Godzilla has taken a new role, especially in American media – he exists to save us from our impending doom, rather than being a warning of our own abilities of destruction. This comic is written from the perspective of industrial harm, written in an age where corporations are the ones truly destroying our planet. In the face of climate change we are sitting here wondering what we can do to stop these monolithic entities and with few clear options ourselves we imagine heroes like Godzilla to come and save us. It is fascinating to watch how Godzilla has grown and shifted throughout his history. His legacy is one of constant adaptation. We will always be facing some kind of a disaster.
Godzilla will adapt to meet those disasters whether it be in a heroic context or as a villain embodying said disaster.
The art by Schoening and Delgado is very vibrant; bringing you into the world of the comic excellently. The colours especially pop out really well. The art resembles the classic Showa era especially in the design of Godzilla. When we get brief snippets of other battles Godzilla has been in throughout history they wisely chose Kumonga, one of Godzilla’s most visually compelling foes. It brought me back to the reasons I fell in love with Godzilla: Son of Godzilla (1967) made me a Godzilla fan and thankfully it is one of the few English dubs available with Criterion which is where Kumonga, the giant spider, originates from.
If we want to create a legion of Godzilla fans for the future we need to have avenues to introduce them to the character. A property will eventually die if we don’t fight for the inclusion of new blood. Together with comics like this we can build the next generation of Godzilla fans. It helps that the book itself is immensely entertaining in its own right. Pick it up!
