The Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters series has had its ups and its downs. Thankfully, this issue is actually one of the better ones in the series so far, delivering on the human and monster side while finally paying off in feeling like this is headed toward the post apocalyptic setting Eric Powell and Tracy Marsh have been working toward. The art is, as the issue before, a miss, but at least a more solid effort for a better overall comic.

In terms of the story, Steven Woods has now become the protector of the little girl Allie, saving her from the harsh world that is being created from the monsters continued attacks across the world. Meanwhile, President Ogden commissions the creation of Mechagodzilla from Detroit with the help from Japan. The mech is created and launched, fighting with Godzilla right outside of Atlanta.

First, why couldn't they have introduced Steven Woods earlier? The comic is immensely better for having a focal character, and the hardened Steven is a great choice. The world around the character is getting darker and darker, with humans turning against each other for the remaining resources and Steven is all too ready for that fight. Meanwhile, a Heisei series looking Mechagodzilla gets commissioned and created in the blink of an eye, and its surprising to see the machine actually do battle with Godzilla in this issue... heck, it makes it actually feel like a traditional Godzilla film slightly. As a huge spoiler, which is the cue to stop reading, Godzilla hits it in the back of the head with his atomic ray which causes it to "run wild" and destroy cities ala Kiryu in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002). While an expected twist, it lacks the DNA back story that its Millennium counterpart had which makes the excuse that its artificial intelligence took over pretty odd that it would suddenly revert to sparing Godzilla and destroying cities just like Kiryu did. As a side note, Kumonga makes a brief appearance here, being introduced with a hoard of dead animals, in this case spiders.

Like the issue right before, the low point of this comic is the art by Victor Santos. His overall tone is just way too cartoony for the subject matter and can't really shake off the feeling of a parody, similar to a spoof magazine like Mad which I have pointed out before but bares repeating. On the plus side, he's a little better this issue, despite drawing an awful Kumonga, although its not so much that the art deserves praise that it becomes more tolerable this go around and his Mechagodzilla is decent, which is the best praise that can be given here.

In regards to the covers, color me surprised to actually see Kumonga here, as Mothra and King Ghidorah had already led the way in false hopes from their covers. Of the three covers, the one by Matt Frank of Kumonga is the best, with a great shot of the creature with an excellent sense of detail. The Jeff Zornow cover, which at this point I'm convinced he basically has free reign to draw whatever the heck he likes, is the most dynamic if once more misleading. The Eric Powell one, while tied to the subject matter the most, is a little on the dull side even if its an interesting concept.

Overall, this is a good issue in the run and makes me hopeful that the series will continue to focus on Steven Wood and benefit from that focal point and development that has sometimes been lacking. The issue doesn't really end with any particular cliff hanger, but I'm looking forward to the next issue if for nothing more in hope that this is the start of another high point in the run.