From writers Ethan S. Parker & Griffin Sheridan and artist Tristan Jones comes a harrowing new take on cinema’s most legendary monster in the pages of The Horror of Godzilla #1. Featuring colors from Josh Burcham and lettering by Tom Napolitano, this opening issue introduces us to a new brand of scientific disaster – and perhaps the most deadly and destructive version of Godzilla ever conceived. With a tense, foreboding script and excellent monster design, this opening issue is going to be a must-read for fans of IDW’s Kai-Sei era comics and Goji fans as a whole.
“Tokyo, 1954. As the country begins to look toward its postwar future, two scientists start an experiment in the Pacific Ocean. It is meant to change everything…and it will. Come now, reader, and bear witness to the incredible horror of the King of the Monsters. There are no heroes. There are no survivors. There is only the wrath of Godzilla.”
Writing & Plot
Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan pull inspiration from classic Godzilla but fuse it with a more harrowing genre slant for their script for The Horror of Godzilla #1. In the search for a new source of renewable energy, a pair of scientists stumble upon an ancient slumbering organism at the bottom of the sea. The results of their experiments on it bring Japan to its knees, with a version of Godzilla like we’ve never seen before. While many Godzilla films do paint a picture of terror and wonder at the sight of the King of the Monsters, none (save for maybe 2016’s Shin Godzilla, a clear inspiration for this comic) demonstrate the sheer volume of utter horror in the wake of Goji’s presence as this opening issue does. Godzilla has always been an analogue for some sort of human error – nuclear weapons, responses to natural disasters, etc. Parker and Sheridan have crafted a version of this familiar story that works as a sort of offshoot of Ishiro Honda’s original film. Horror’s Godzilla is the result of humanity overstepping their bounds in the search for scientific advancement. The issue is a sort of frame narrative. One of the scientists is on trial as they are being held responsible for the coming of this great monster as it has laid waste to Tokyo. The comic then flashes back to the coming of this new terrifying Godzilla and the unique sort of destruction and terror he brings. There is a specific kind of horror that this Godzilla brings to the table that is unlike any version we have seen before, and one that potentially feels the most like a warning about our ever-ailing environment than any version of Goji we’ve gotten in any medium. Parker and Sheridan seem to be getting the messaging right, and their take on Horror of Godzilla is a take on the character that potentially sits right alongside some of Toho’s most menacing versions of this legendary monster.
Art Direction
Tristan Jones’s design for Goji in the pages of The Horror of Godzilla #1 may be the most striking version of the monster ever presented in a comic book. Using a mixture of traditional pencils and digital art, his art here deftly handles the switches between the tense courtroom setting and the fateful night that Godzilla arrived in Tokyo Bay. The latter of these two is the real gem of the story, with the details of 1954 Tokyo set as the backdrop to the coming of this massive terrifying creature. Jones’s Godzilla is massive and imposing is all the ways we expect, but there’s a certain malice in him as well that we don’t usually see. Horror instills a sense of unease that feels closest to Shin Godzilla in its presentation, but make no mistake: this is a version of Goji that is far more sinister. Jones’s sequential direction takes inspiration from classic Godzilla tropes as well; following the terrified crowds of people as they try to escape the coming behemoth. The transitions between the close-ups of the arguments in the courtroom to the devastation in the flashback are handles expertly, and we’re never pulled away from the action for too long. Josh Burcham’s color art adds all the depth and atmosphere to these comic pages. The oppressive night that starts to glow green with this new, toxic atomic version of Goji is a unique look among Godzilla stories as a whole. The way Burcham shades the King himself makes him feel almost spectral, like a giant nightmare coming out of the ocean to wreak havoc on humanity. Admittedly, there’s a bit of an uncanny valley situation going on with some of the character art in the courtroom. The digital finishes leave a bit of a strange finish on character expressions, akin to some of Larocca’s work on Darth Vader. However, while this effect is distracting in the moment, it doesn’t take away from the brilliance of the Godzilla sequences themselves. The lettering from Tom Napolitano injects a sort of pulpy fun into the pages of The Horror of Godzilla. His digital SFX work is squeezed into the environment, morphing and shifting into the background as the terrain comes apart and as Goji roars into the night. Despite some slight visual hiccups, the visuals for this new Godzilla series nail the tone of this unique version of cinema’s most treasured kaiju.
Verdict
The Horror of Godzilla #1 is a tense and highly intriguing new take on the King of the Monsters. Ethan Parker and Griffin Sheridan’s script maintains the sense of thematic weight Godzilla stories should carry, all while presenting a vision of the monster that is wholly unique. The visuals from Tristan Jones and Josh Burcham have a bit of an uncanny effect to them, but are overall saved by the incredible version of Godzilla they came up with and their sequential direction. Be sure to grab this opening issue to this new series, at your local comic shop now!
