Luke Owen reviews Godzilla #11…

Boxer and his team are beyond working for money… now they just want to save their planet! In order to do so, they must support and cover Godzilla and other monsters from Earth in their savage battle against Space Godzilla, Gigan and others! Prepare for the final, unthinkable battle!

It seems like I’ve been repeating myself over and over again these part few months asking one simple question – when is this comic series finally going to get going? Well I am happy to report that Godzilla #11 does see the series get to the action. And… it’s alright.

Now that all the story set-up is complete, Duane Swierczynski and his team can finally get down to some cool monster action. And Godzilla #11 has that but the bucket load and never holds back. We get fights between Godzilla and Hedorah, Battra and Spacegodzilla, Anguirus and Gigan with Mechagodzilla, Kumonga, Mothra and Monster X in the mix – it’s everything we’ve been waiting for. You’d think that this would be the perfect Godzilla comic.

So why do I still feel so dissatisfied by the series? Part of me feels that because we’ve been waiting for this moment for so long that the pay off was never going to live up to the expectations – the Chinese Democracy/Duke Nukem Forever syndrome. It’s not that the fights or story are inherently bad or anything, it just didn’t blow me away. However, even with a story that took so long to get going, the comic failed at one of its most basic levels – which has been a major contributor to my lack of enjoyment of the series.

I am really not on board with Simon Gane’s artwork. It’s far too cartoony for its own good and it just makes all the battles and destruction feel like a joke. Godzilla #11 is so blocky with lifeless colours and, aside from the two-page splash at the start, it’s really boring to look at. When you have all these battles and you don’t care about any of them, you’re doing something wrong. However, I will give some credit to the Godzilla and Hedorah fight which played a nice homage to the Godzilla vs. Hedorah movie – even if it did focus on the more sillier parts of that film. It was a nice bit of fan service, but with all the monsters to choose from, you’ve got to question why they picked the most mocked of all the Godzilla movies to tribute.

Perhaps I’ve been spoilt by James Stokoe’s Godzilla: Half Century War and nothing Swierczynski can do will ever step up to that level. Godzilla #11 has some fun monster action in there, but overall it feels a little lifeless and bland. A real shame.

Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editor and the host of the Month in Review show for Flickering Myth’s Podcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.