Comic Book Review – Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #8

As discussed in the review of Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #6 in which Godzilla did battle with Orga and Gigan, the team of Chris Mowry and Matt Frank clearly have a love for all things to do with the King of the Monsters. What has been refreshing about this series has been the duo’s lack of fear in using so-called b-level (or even c-level) characters from the franchise and a quick glance at the cover for Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #9 will attest to this. But as you delve into the comic further, it becomes even more clear.

1989’s Godzilla vs. Biollante is a strange anomaly within the franchise’s history as it’s a movie that has a lot of love from the fanbase, but the titular character itself has been rarely seen outside of it. Save for a couple of comic book or video game appearances, Biollante has become somewhat of a forgotten kaiju with the only knowledge of his existence known by those who have seen the movie. But like they did with Orga back in Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #6 and Jet Jaguar in the following issue, Mowry and Frank have breathed new life into the beast.

His design is much slicker and frankly more terrifying. There’s a big emphasis on his lack of pupils (like The Big G himself in Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack) and this only intensifies his personality and ruthlessness. The fight scene between him and Godzilla is superb with some wonderfully choreographed set pieces that enhance everything that made Biollante an interesting character to begin with. Furthermore, the exclusion of his movie version’s backstory to a much simpler “alien-controlled-kaiju” means we don’t have to spend an entire issue explaining his genesis through exposition. While some of the hardcore fans may be disappointed to read this, it can’t be argued that Godzilla: Rulers of Earth isn’t at its best when kaiju do battle.

This has been a Godzilla series written by Godzilla fans for Godzilla fans. Familiar faces like Mothra and King Ghidorah have taken a backseat to let some of the lesser appreciated kaiju come to the forefront. It has been great to see the likes of Jet Jaguar, Gezora and even Zilla be given a chance to shine and Mowry’s clear love of the franchise has made this possible. He ignores their reputation and just makes them as cool as he can with a huge level of success. The aforementioned cover teases appearances from Giara and Sanda from the Toho produced non-Godzilla flick War of the Gargantuas and the next issue looks to have a showdown between Megalon and King Caesar, two other Godzilla characters who aren’t seen as big players.

It’s becoming repetitive to say review after review, but Mowry and Frank have once again knocked Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #8 out of the park. It’s so much fun to read and if you’re a Godzilla fan then you’ll get a real kick out of it 60s sci-fi vibe. Any duo who can make Jet Jaguar a reputable character should be given huge accolades by the kaiju community as they continue to create what has been one of the most fun Godzilla comic series in recent times.

Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.