Issue #13 brings us into a whole new era of Godzilla: Rulers of Earth. Is It Good?
Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #13 (IDW Publishing)
That opening teaser wasn’t hyperbole, by the way. After having a weird dream about being a roller derby girl and getting killed by Godzilla, Lucy Casprell awakens on well-monitored and fully functioning Monster Island… four years after the events of issue #12.
After exchanging some barbs with her team (including some great lines about the infamous Zilla), we shift over to Washington D.C. Woods is desperately trying to get Congress to continue funding research and defense against possible attacks from Godzilla.
The committee chair of course dismisses this or any other threat of monsters attacking (even with a GIANT FREAKING ISLAND FULL OF THEM) because the plot needed it they apparently found someone else to do it.
After a very cool reveal that Godzilla is in Antarctica and very much alive (GASP!), we see a shady businessman (i.e. the ‘someone else’ who had a way to beat Big G) pitching his new Mecha Godzilla unit. This all seems like much ado about nothing until it’s revealed just how brutal and ruthless both he and the machine truly are. By the issue’s end, even the most hard-hearted kaiju haters will be rooting for the poor beasts to survive.
Is It Good?
Okay, I’m in.
There wasn’t anything too spectacular about this one, but it was nice to read an issue of the series where it felt like I had a firm grasp of what was going on…although some of it was a bit contrived (like the committee head dismissing the possibility of Godzilla still being alive).
“I just had a hit movie come out! They have to include me!”
It all worked, however, to help set things up in a much more organized fashion than the way the last story played out.
In addition to the ‘clean slate’ feel that the jump in time created, Chris Mowry does a fantastic job making us truly want to root for the monsters after watching Mecha Godzilla brutalize poor Anguris. Jeff Zornow compliments the script with some pages that are both kinetically beautifully and heart breaking.
This looks like an excellent start to a brand new story for Godzilla: Rulers of Earth. Let’s just hope it stays on the rails this time.
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