Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters from IDW publishing is a classic take on the character Godzilla. One day the God lizard emerges from the water and lays waste to Japan, and no matter how hard they try to stop the monster all attempts are meek.
Godzilla is written by Eric Powell and Tracy Marsh, and illustrated by Phil Hester. The writing is just spectacular it is simple yet defined. Short quips of fear from the onlookers, coupled with the fast pace thinking of the Japanese government work astonishingly well with the art, building off each other, a concept that is rarely seen in comics these days.
The art of Phil Hester has such a classic feel to it, really fitting well into the time period, and capturing a kind of traditional Japanese style which is needed when you are writing a book about the country and its people, even if its about a giant monster destroying everything. One of the things that is most noticeable about his work is that on his splash pages he does not just depict one scene, but uses the space to depict a fluid motion, using two or three pictures in order to create a stunning storyboard showing exactly what is happening in the story. All in all, the art is just beautiful and fits the story type perfectly, strongly enhancing the book.
One of the interesting aspects about this issue, and the series, is that the book had many covers. The book had three covers available in all stores, but in addition to that there were over 120 store specific variants across the country that depicted Godzilla crushing the store with one swift blow. One of the regular covers is done by writer Eric Powell, and is a fold out cover depicting Godzilla fighting a couple of his adversaries.
Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters is a very well rounded comic. It keeps the reader attentive with both its great art and writing and does not miss a beat when it comes to perfection. It has the classic Godzilla feel to it, combining destruction and humor to create a nice piece of work.
10 out of 10
Of all the covers I thought B was the best 3 covers in 1 and the art was phenomenal as well
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