Comic Book Review – Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #1

In the wake of the climactic conclusion of Godzilla #13 comes a brand new series! Dozens of new monsters have risen from the depth and are staking out their own territory, regardless of humanity’s political borders! A war of dominance beings… will Godzilla end up on top? First he’ll have to beat a new upstart… Zilla!

There is an unwritten code amongst Godzilla fans – the 1998 American remake isn’t really part of Godzilla cannon, nor is the titular character really Godzilla. Which I have always found weird seen as though the Roland Emmerich directed train wreck is poked fun at in 2001’s Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack and the two monsters have a brief brawl in the 2004 epic Godzilla: Final Wars. But outside of Toho making fun of the monster for being a failure, the newly named Zilla has been treated like the ginger headed step child of the Godzilla universe – to be left on the side lines in every other medium.

That is until this new series, Godzillla: Rulers of Earth written by Chris Mowry with Godzilla-fan favourite Matt Frank providing the artwork. This introduction issue sets up the arrival of a newly seen monster to the world which has managed to avoid further attacks from the likes of Mothra, Anguirus and Titanosauras – a monster they are calling Zilla (in a very cute joke). But as the monster is about to wreck havoc, who should show up but The King of the Monsters…

When Mowry and Frank announced they were brining in Zilla to the storyline it was met with a very tepid reaction. It wasn’t exactly “negative” but it wasn’t overly positive either. A lot of fans felt that there were better characters from the Godzilla universe to choose from. I actually disagree on the basis that, outside of them bringing Biollante out of retirement, Zilla at least feels like something new. We’ve seen Godzilla take on Spacegodzilla, Gigan, Hedorah, Rodan, Mothra, Mechagodzilla etc in the on-going Godzilla series as well as Godzilla: The Half-Century War this year alone, so it’s nice to see him take on someone new – even if it is a lesser quality character. But even those who are upset at the use of Zilla are sure to be pleased that Destroyah is getting an appearance at some point.

Regardless of fan’s opinions before the comic is even released, I am happy to report that this is a really great first issue. Mowry’s dialogue and human characters are all very well defined and he’s done a fantastic job of setting up their world without it feeling like 20-odd pages of Basil Exposition. In many ways, this continuation of the ongoing series makes Rulers of Earth feel like the Showa series of movies.

But a lot of the credit of this comic’s success has to go to Matt Frank’s superb artwork. Many of you will know that I’ve been unsatisfied with the artwork in the on-going series but praised the brilliance of James Stokoe’s work in Godzilla: The Half-Century War. Rulers of the Earth feels like the perfect balance of the two – keeping that light-hearted cartoony/comic book tone while maintaining a sense of realism and appreciation for the monster’s designs.

Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #1 has been wildly anticipated by the kaiju community and it has not disappointed. It has a superb set-up, fantastic artwork and an engaging cliffhanger that leads nicely into the monster action for issue two. Zilla may not be everyones favourite kaiju, but this comic is sure to please all fans alike.

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