Last issue…TRILOPODS! This issue…TRILOPODS ATTACK! Is it good?
Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #20 Review (IDW Publishing)
Ahem…sorry about that. I just think trilopods are really cool. Unfortunately, this issue starts off with more Cryog stuff (ugh). To my surprise, however, it’s actually kind of intriguing. Our main purple baddie, Rhizon, gets a visit from the boss man (Karkaro).
Matt Frank draws the alien leader in a deliciously menacing style, adding greatly to what might be the first scene involving the alien race that I’ve cared about for the entire series. Instead of rubbing their hands/tentacles together and discussing how evil their plans are, the pair exchange passive aggressive threats and jabs. There’s tension, conflict, and even a little fear for poor Rhizon’s safety. Considering what an evil being he is, that’s a pretty good testament to the job writer Chris Mowry does during the opening scene.
We also find out that Karkaro is the one who sent the trilopods to earth…
“We’re gonna need a bigger rolled up newspaper…”
…who are currently laying down a liberally sprayed can of whoop ass on Godzilla and Megagurius. It’s a glorious fight scene, rivaled a few pages later when Battra visits Monster Island and begins laying waste to it.
Karkaro decides to kick things up a notch by dropping Space Godzilla (?) on top of them, giving the trilopods an even better power source to draw from and putting Big G in much greater danger. When Rhizon freaks out and asks why he’s going all Watchmen on his precious earth, his leader gives an answer that will warm your heart with apocalyptic fire.
Is It Good?
Of course the series gets canceled as soon as I start enjoying it.
But aside from Murphy’s Law, my shifting opinion on Godzilla: Rulers of Earth can be a attributed to a couple of things.
First of all, Chris Mowry has recently stayed away from the Saturday morning cartoon Cryog villains. When he finally came back to them this month, though, it was by far the best they’ve ever been written. I’m still not a fan of the purple dudes by any stretch, but I actually found myself caring about their portion of the story for once.
And then you have the fights. THE FIGHTS! It’s like Matt Frank and colorist Priscilla Tramontano are bleeding actual kaiju blood onto the page.
There are still a few elements of the book I’m not very fond of—I have no idea what the hell Space Godzilla has to do with anything and Woods occasionally sounds a bit Shatner-esque. But the book’s recent performance has turned the title’s impending conclusion from something I previously wouldn’t have thought much about into an unexpected source of disappointment. Luckily, we’ve still got five more issues of Mowry, Frank, Tramontano, and a dash of Zornow to (hopefully) keep blowing the roof of this thing till the very end.
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