Luke Owen looks at Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #4…
While the CKR forces won the battle in San Diego, the war has just begun! When new forces pit their ultimate weapon against a weakened Godzilla, help from unexpected allies will be needed! The action hits a fever-pitch in an event that fans will be talking about for ages to come!
It may become tiresome to read – but Chris Mowry has once again knocked it out of the park with Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #4. It’s not an issue with all-out brawling, nor is it a comic that is bogged down by endless scenes of exposition – it’s the perfect balance.
Godzilla has collapsed on the shores of San Diego while the CKR forces try to work out what happened to their aircraft carrier. However, the Big G doesn’t stay down for long as the devil-looking Destroyah comes rising from the ocean for a brutal showdown.
Much like Erik Burnham and Ghostbusters, Chris Mowry gets the Godzilla franchise. He understands what fans love and hate about the series and he accentuates the positives. But unlike Burnham, Mowry’s work is less self-referential and “in-jokey” and creates a serious enough tale without going down the arthouse route that James Stokoe took with Half-Century War. Reading Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #4 (or any other issue from the series) and it makes you wonder just where Duane Swierczynski went wrong with his run with the character.
With that in mind, you have to wonder just what Mowry has planned for keeping this kind of pace up without running out of steam. For all the criticisms that Swierczynski received for his run on the series, we forget that his earlier issues were a lot like Godzilla: Rulers of Earth. Each issue saw The King of the Monsters take down a new foe and it wasn’t until the likes of Gigan and Monster X showed up that the series slowed down. Mowry on the other hand does seem to have something up his sleeve. Interviews in the lead up to the series release indicated that Godzilla fans were in for a treat so it is entirely likely that he won’t drop the ball in terms of pacing.
But while the balance of the issue in terms of story and action is great, the fight scene between Godzilla and Destroyah is by far the highlight. This is hands down one of the best fights in a Godzilla comic – and it’s not even that long. This is partly down to Mowry’s scripting but is 70% down to the phenomenal artwork from Godzilla fan-favourite Matt Frank. If you follow the man on Twitter, you’ll know that he is a Godzilla obsessive and his art in this series shows that. The level of detail he captures in every single panel is a sight to behold and it really adds to the brilliance of the fight.
With the team yet to produce a bad issue, Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #4 is once again a fantastic comic to read. In fact, they’ve yet to release a book that was average. If Mowry can keep up this kind of pace for any length of time, this could challenge Godzilla: The Half-Century War for the greatest Godzilla comic series of all-time.
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.
Originally published September 25, 2013. Updated November 7, 2019.
