Meditation on the Monster: Godzilla Dominion

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Allen Passalaqua, book review, Dominion, Drew Edward Johnson, Godzilla, Greg Keyes, indie box, Indie Comics, legendary

The Dominion graphic novel takes place prior to the recent Godzilla Vs. Kong movie, and it earns a place in my pantheon of all-time favorite Godzilla stories for not only leaving out all the stupid human stuff, but for its poetic treatment of the radioactive reptile, and for its ass-kicking artwork by Drew Edward Johnson, with colors by Allen Passalaqua.

The author, Greg Keyes, wrote the novelizations for the two most recent Godzilla movies. He’s also written novels based on Pacific Rim, Star Wars, Planet of the Apes, Avengers, and other licensed properties. His written versions of Godzilla movies have received mixed reviews on Amazon: People either love them or hate them, without much middle ground.

But if you use Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature to read the prologue of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, then you’ll get a sense of the prose treatment Keyes uses to describe Godzilla. Dominion is like that gorgeous prologue sustained for an entire book.

Keyes tells a relatable tale of the monster’s search for a new home. Godzilla wants a place to settle down, somewhere he can chill out while rejuvenating his body and mind. But everywhere he goes, creepy weirdos get all up in his business. Flesh-eating vermin invade his old pad. He goes hungry for far too long. Despite winning his battles, he might be doomed to never know peace.

Keyes offers an unusual take on my favorite city-stomping hell-beast. In Dominion, Godzilla is more than a mindless force of destruction. He is in tune with the Earth and is a protector of the planet he calls home, waging war on other kaiju who would ignite global catastrophe by munching on nukes or destroying the ecological balance in the settings they invade.

Dominion paints an oddly heroic portrait that lends more depth to Godzilla than you might be accustomed to, but don’t expect Godzilla to be some peaceful, Earth-loving hippie. The monster’s battles in service of the big, ecological picture also wreak total havoc on ships, surfers, and off-shore drilling stations. Eco-sensitive Godzilla is the poster child for “collateral damage”.

As for the artwork, I absolutely love it. It looks a bit better in the digital version than the paperback, because many of the underwater pages are so dark that it helps to have your device backlighting them. And some of the glorious two-page panel layouts lose parts of images in the “gutter” of the paperback, while you can easily appreciate the entire page in digital format.

Although Dominion is a serious treatment of the king of monsters, the creators can’t resist sneaking in at least one comedic sound effect: HHGGIMPAAAK! I didn’t get the joke until my second read.

At times a thoughtful meditation on the monster and his life, Dominion still has plenty of awesomely rendered kaiju battles, explosions, and the larger-than-life chaos we expect from Godzilla. My favorite line? “They thought they could challenge him. They were wrong.”

Collector’s Guide: You can find either the paperback edition or the Kindle/Comixology edition on Amazon for less than $20.

Skreeeeonk! Godzilla in Hell!

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book review, Godzilla, godzilla in hell, gojira, IDW Publishing, indie box, Indie Comics

In 2016, IDW answered my long-unheard prayers for a Godzilla story that cut out all the stupid human parts, made my favorite radioactive lizard the main character, and gave him the task for which he above all other creatures is best-suited: destroying the ever-loving shit out of everything in his path! The five issues of Godzilla in Hell are my favorite Godzilla story so far, beating the original 1970s Marvel stories I loved as a kid and topping the monumental, manga-style Dark Horse mini-series from 1988. Let’s take a look inside.

The first issue begins with Godzilla falling through a hole into the wastelands of Hell. It offers zero explanation about how or why this fate befell our hero, and that is a solid artistic choice. You are either all-aboard with this insane premise or not, and no amount of pseudoscience, mysticism, or tedious exposition will sway your opinion. So, why bother?

Each issue has its own creative team with its own visual style, and issue #2 is the only one that has narrative captions. Otherwise, the series has little use for text beyond monstrous screaming. I get the impression that each team received minimal instructions, something along the lines of “Godzilla encounters various horrors and monsters on his way to the end of the issue, where he will descend into the next level of Hell.” The plot is as simple and direct as Godzilla himself, who meets each foe head-on with primal ferocity and unbridled rage.

This is what Godzilla is all about to me. He’s a force of nature like a waterfall or a late-period John Coltrane improvisation. It never occurs to him to slow down, run away, or give up. And when he meets, in the third issue, a weird entity that attempts to convince him to join the forces of peace and submit to its will, Godzilla ain’t tryna to hear any of that bullshit. Peace is for beings of lesser fury.

Godzilla’s path, as he demonstrates with unrivaled brutality, is one of pure destruction. In some ways, his portrayal in this series reminds me of the unstoppable Itto Ogami in Lone Wolf and Cub. No matter what you throw at him, he’s on a mission of annihilation. Skreeeonnnnnkk!

Along the way, Godzilla murders every freakish monstrosity and classic kaiju Hell can throw at him. Yet his triumphs are short-lived. He is doomed at the end of each issue to go to another hellish level, like Dante’s Inferno but with way more ass-kicking.

In the final issue, the king of all monsters is eaten alive and completely destroyed by a swarm of flying scumbags who are little more than mouths and wings and hate. I won’t spoil the ending for you, but it is a pitch-perfect finale that expresses Godzilla’s true essence in a way no movie or comic book ever has, before or since. If you want the best Godzilla story ever, then the solution is simple: Go to Hell!

Collectors’ Guide: It’s hard to find the original single issues in print or TPB, but this five-issue series was collected along with two other mini-series in Godzilla: Unnatural Disasters, which is easy to find for about $20 on Amazon in TPB format or Kindle/Comixology format, and also at MyComicShop in TPB format.

random godzilla post

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action figure, auctions, bandai, figure, figurine, Godzilla, gojira

Alright, so it’s not really random. Being random is just cool these days, and you know we try very, very hard to fit in and be normal.

We sacrificed a Bandai Godzilla figure to the gods of shipping this week, part of our project to preserve our glorious eBay Top Rated Seller Status. Hey, we had to go through hell to earn it, so why not try to meet the minimum sales goals one more year? Why not stuff the radioactive lizard overlord right into the sacred eBay fires? Godzilla always rises again from the monstrous depths that spawned him (or her, as the case may be.) GOJIRA! It turned out to be a good move. Gojira sold in 48 hours, edging us ever closer to our 100th sale in 12 months.

 

 

hot enough for you?

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Godzilla, hot enough for you

What Phoenix, AZ is like for the next two months:

Godzilla 1977 Toho Shogun Warrior

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Godzilla

Toho’s highly collectible, vintage Godzilla towers over other toys and fires his radioactive fist at the touch of a button! This rare Godzilla model, part of Toho/Mattel’s 1977 ‘Shogun Warriors’ series, is just as much fun now as the year he awoke from his atomic slumber to destroy a city near you!

Godzilla’s shooting fist doesn’t just ‘work.’ It powerfully fires into the air and lands nearly four feet away, consistently! Godzilla’s arms are firmly in place and can easily hold a ‘raised arms’ pose. His tail rotates firmly but freely, as do both his hands.

I sold this Godzilla on eBay for just a little less than my purchase price four years ago – a small price to pay to own my favorite childhood toy for a few years more. You might like to see the pictures I took of Godzilla for my eBay listing.

Four feet! Can easily wipe out other toys from a distance.

The Glorious Ascension of Godzilla!

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Beta-Beast, Doug Moench, Essential Godzilla, Godzilla, Herb Trimpe, Star Sinister

Doug Moench and Herb Trimpe present a Godzilla tale that involves not one but TWO scenes of glorious ascension for our beloved mutant reptile. Yes, they involve spaceships and aliens. But, surely no religious zealot ever thrilled to the Ascension of their icons any more than we thrilled to see Godzilla lifted into the psychedelic skies. No heaven awaits our fire-breathing hero — only giant monster battles in space, fueled by rage and an animalistic need for territorial dominion. Now unleash the Beta Beast!

Collector’s Guide: From Godzilla #12; Marvel, 1978. Reprinted in black and white in Essential Godzilla TPB #1

Godzilla Meets Devil Dinosaur!

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Devil Dinosaur, dinosaur, Doug Moench, Godzilla, Herb Trimpe, Jack Abel, Jack Kirby, Moon Boy, Rob Takiguchi, time travel

In Godzilla #22, Godzilla joins forces with Jack Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur and his pal Moon Boy. In the previous issue, Devil and Godzilla met, tussled, and became friends. This issue, dated May 1979, hit the stands five months after the end of Devil Dinosaur’s short-lived series. Author Doug Moench clearly needed more Devil Dinosaur – and who doesn’t?

Collector’s Guide: From Godzilla #22; Marvel, 1979. Reprinted in black and white in Essential Godzilla TPB #1

You might ask, “How are Godzilla and Devil Dinosaur the same size? Isn’t Godzilla ‘up from the depths, thirty stories high’ as the cartoon theme song says?” Right you are! This story takes place during a plotline where the King of the Monsters got hit with a shrinker-izer to whittle him down to more manageable size. At one point, he was small enough to go toe-to-toe with a vicious sewer rat!

You’ll notice the effects begin to wear off in this tale. There go the property values! Plus, the device which threw Godzilla back in time to meet Devil begins to backfire. You no doubt recognize that glowing white square… It’s Dr. Doom’s time machine! What would the Bronze Age be without that thing?

Artists Herb Trimpe and Jack Abel craft a double-splash for pages two and three that echoes Jack Kirby. Moench also throws in some lesser-known parts of Devil’s world, like the old hag and the pits from Devil Dinosaur #9. These are the same pits that took Devil through time in his own final issue!

For escapist fiction, it just doesn’t get any cooler than seeing Devil Dinosaur and Godzilla cutting loose in a whirlwind of dinosaur battles. On a more analytical note, Moench contrasts the worlds of two boys. Rob Takiguchi, in 1979, has a soft spot for Godzilla. The boy always takes the monster’s side. He feels we haven’t taken the time to really understand Godzilla. But, the adults in Rob’s life constantly undermine this potential friendship. They trap Godzilla, shoot him, send him back in time – always some sinister grown-up plan! Rob lives in a state of sadness and rebellion as he struggles to build a rapport with Godzilla. The adults treat Rob like a schmuck, perpetually disregarding his feelings.

Moon Boy has everything Takiguchi could wish for. Although he and Devil often battle nasty adults, Moon Boy’s bond with his reptilian ally is firmly established. The adults may be adversaries, but they have absolutely no authority over him – big difference! Moon Boy knows complete freedom to make his own decisions. Plus, Devil Dinosaur embodies all the good that Rob seeks in Godzilla: strength, loyalty, protection, power, and friendship.

Yes, if we had written our own ending to this tale, it would have been a happy one. Rob would go back in time with Godzilla. Godzilla would stay Devil-sized. The two boys and their reptiles would become fast friends, roaming the Late Cretaceous as they pleased. And, everything would be drenched in rampaging dinosaurs and Kirby Krackle.

A boy can dream, can’t he?

A Monster Only the City Could Spawn!

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Doug Moench, Godzilla, Herb Trimpe, rat, sewer

Of all the battles Doug Moench dreamed up for Godzilla, this vicious struggle with a sewer rat remains our favorite. What’s that? Godzilla’s bigger than a rat? Yes, he is, Martian! But check it out: the super-duper grown-ups nailed the King of the Monsters with a shrinker-izer that made him easier to handle. Doesn’t that sound like the kind of messed-up thing an adult would do to your huge green buddy? How is he supposed to annihilate civilization at that size?!?

But we digress… Suffice to say, Godzilla doesn’t take any crap from this rat — although there’s plenty of it floating in the water! Yuck! Let’s check out the way Herb Trimpe draws this slimy saga of savage sewage supremacy.

Collector’s Guide: From Godzilla #18; Marvel, 1979. Reprinted in Essential Godzilla TPB #1.

For a review of Marvel’s Godzilla series, visit Longbox Graveyard!

Godzilla: King of the Monsters – First Issue!

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Doug Moench, Essential Godzilla, first issue, Godzilla, Godzilla King of the Monsters, Herb Trimpe, marvel godzilla, monsters

The slumbering leviathan known as Godzilla awakes and rises from the sea off the shores of Alaska. This reptilian titan left Japan devastated and now makes his way to America. Godzilla swings a tail that can smash mountains to dust. He breathes fires born of the Atomic Age. Is there anything that can stop the monster’s rampage?

Collector’s Guide: From Godzilla #1; Marvel, 1977. Reprinted in Essential Godzilla TPB #1. Story by Doug Moench. Art by Herb Trimpe and Jim Mooney.

For a review of Marvel’s Godzilla series, visit Longbox Graveyard!

I Don’t Believe We Should Be Eating the Goddamn Things!

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Ghidora, Godzilla, Indie Comics, John Cassaday, monsters, Mothra, Planetary, planetary omnibus, Rodan, Warren Ellis, Wildstorm

In Planetary #2 we travel to Island Zero. Here we find corpses of famous Japanese movie monsters: Godzilla, Mothra, and Ghidora. As fun as that sounds, things take a turn for the worse when our clinically insane leader forces us at gun-point to snack on the rotting flesh of Godzilla. Barf!

Only Warren Ellis would come up with such a sick idea. His heroes remain bystanders, baffled by the madness. Artists John Cassaday and Laura Martin take us now to the scene of the chow…

Collector’s Guide:
– From Planetary #2; Wildstorm, 1999.
– Reprinted in Planetary TPB #1
– Reprinted in Planetary Hard Cover #1

Update: As of 2014, the entire series is collected in a single Planetary Omnibus!

Godzilla Gallery 2

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Dark Horse Comics, Godzilla, Indie Comics

Get ready for more city-smashing artwork from Dark Horse’s six-issue Godzilla series of 1988. The artwork has a crisp, dynamic manga feel to it. And the Godzilla carnage is relentless. Also, it has the giant creepy bugs that infested the Godzilla 1985 movie. It is, without a doubt, our favorite Godzilla comic-book series published so far. Nothing like the fresh taste of a nuclear reactor for breakfast!

Collector’s Guide: From Godzilla; Dark Horse, 1988.

Godzilla Gallery 1

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Dark Horse Comics, dinosaur, Godzilla, Indie Comics

Someday, they’ll make a Godzilla comic where Godzilla actually wins. Put the right art team on that bad boy, and we’ll buy two copies! Rock these samples of city-smashing artwork from Dark Horse’s six-issue Godzilla series in 1988.

Collector’s Guide: From Godzilla; Dark Horse, 1988.