Luke Owen reviews Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #10…
With many monsters now inhabiting a new home, peace seemingly descends on Earth. Little does humanity realize that the greatest danger now lurks under the waves! Lucy and the Kaiju Watchers will have to act fast to determine the nature of the new threat!
The War of the Gargantuas is a bit of a cult favourite among an already niche genre. And while it will never be as recognised as its Godzilla contemporaries, it’s fair to say that it is a decent little movie that has two interesting kaiju – the siblings Gaira and Sanda. They may not be “officially” part of Godzilla cannon, but Chris Mowry and Matt Frank have once again delved deep into the Toho back catalogue of characters to give them a chance to shine. And guess what? They nailed it.
Godzilla seems a bit bruised and battered after his encounters with Manda and Titanosaurus, but he isn’t going to rest for too long as he follows Sanda and Gaira, who are having a sibling-tiff, to Brisbane for a monster rumble. Meanwhile in the human portion of our story, the decision to build Monster Island and house all of these kaiju is given the go ahead – and Sanda and Gaira will be its first inhabitants.
Returning to the fight after a one-issue hiatus is Matt Frank whose artwork is again at a high level and his attention to detail on monster fights is impeccable. Sanda and Gaira are hardly the most intricate of designs, but somehow Frank makes them look really imposing. The true highlight of the issue is the fight in Brisbane and this is mostly down to Frank’s art. It’s been a while since Godzilla: Rulers of Earth has had a fight in a city landscape and I think this change in scenery really brings this comic (and the three-way battle) to life. There is something about buildings crumbling around giant monsters that really brings a smile to a kaiju fans face, and this is an issue that has that in spades.
The comic also does a good job of setting up future plot threads with a good final panel return which will tie us back to the original alien invasion (who have been missing since being taken out by Jet Jaguar), and there is a very subtle hint of an appearance from Spacegodzilla. If you’re up on your Heisei knowledge and storylines, you should be able to spot this.
Enough good things cannot be said about Godzilla: Rulers of Earth. Mowry’s script is great, Frank’s art is brilliant and the whole comic is a joy to read. It manages to balance the story and monster action so each issue feels new and fresh and it’s a series that has yet to have a dud issue. Next issue we should be seeing the return of Destroyah, so you can expect to see more of the same in Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #11.
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.
