GODZILLA: RULERS OF EARTH #23 - REACTION THREAD

[Mr. X]

I'm trying to piece together where this event falls on the timeline. Wouldn't this have to take place before KOM? You know, before all the monsters rise up?

[LSD Jellyfish]

I'm trying to piece together where this event falls on the timeline. Wouldn't this have to take place before KOM? You know, before all the monsters rise up?

I think it occurs before KOM. Keep in mind Mothra is not in the same category of monster as the others meaning that she didn't have to awaken. The shojibin appeared in issue 3 of KOM so it can be inferred that Mothra and the island have been hidden away all along. Kamacuras was up to no good so Mothra left the island to settle this shit. Keep in mind Kamacuras is not an ancient monster so it's entirely possible it's just some random island and is not a prelude to the alien invasion. All of this begs the question,"Where is Mothra during KOM, THE WORLD COULD USE YOUR HELP" but again this is more of KOM's problem, not ROE.

Of course it could occur many other places. For instance during the time skip in ROE or after KOM. However because it references "this is where our worlds ended" than it probably happened before KOM, or at least

Honestly since I don't give a shit about KOM, it's fine if that panel just flat out retcons a bunch of stuff.
Here's how I see it:
-Twins are on remote island with rich mom. Mom is killed by mothra.
-They grow up in that fancy rich school, isolated and due to a combination of losing their mom and psychic powers turn sadistic.
-The monsters all over the world begin to awaken. The twins with their telepathy befriend Battra.
-Battra loses to godzilla, twins connection with Battra is severed.
-Battra goes on rampage in HGM and fights Spacegodzilla, loses.
-Rhizon finds out about them, they want revenge on Godzilla for seperating them from Battra. They control MKG but their powers are somehow blown out yet jumpstarted.
-Battra senses their powers after MKG incident, goes after Mothra and the island. Mothra is killed!
-Battra attacks monster island, presumably fights Kumonga. Trilopods land, Battra is knocked out and a hybrid is made.
-Twins save Battra. Battra keeps on fighting: TBC...

The main problem with all this is simple: the three series do not synch up well at all. KOM did not have mothra, HGM had Battra and no twins, ROE is trying to clean up and take some interesting ideas from KOM and make them work but for obvious reasons none of it will be super cohesive.

[daveblackeye15]

For some reason I figured the big time skip for Ashely to grow up was between Ongoing and Rulers but I'd think it came between Kingdom and Ongoing.

So yeah I'm okay with stuff retconning Kingdom, that name was so cool. It just fills you with dread, a kingdom of monsters removing humanity from its top of the food chain. We got a different kind of dread with the name now.

[ebirahsmeg1]

I think some of you are bemoaning the supposed "lack of continuity" between the 3 series waaaaaaayyyyy too much. KOM was atrocious in all areas. I said it from the beginning of the second ongoing HGM: DITCH THE KOM CONTINUITY AND START HGM/ROE FROM SCRATCH. Sadly, that didn't happen (which was a *BIG* mistake on IDW's part), forcing HGM and ROE to be shackled to the steaming pile of goat shit left over by Powell/Marsh. When trying to clean up such a big mess, there were obviously going to be some continuity issues that pop up now and again....so is it really that big of a deal that the past events or the back story of the Battra twins/Woods/*insert any element from KOM* stories may not exactly align all that well? Meh, not really. Getting hung up on this is taking continuity between all 3 ongoings far too seriously.

Honestly, I would have much preferred to see some of the characters from HGM make a return as opposed to KOM's characters (all of which were barely developed) as I'm not a big fan the Woods character in general (As for the Battra twins, they're ok....probably the only halfway interesting thing that came out of KOM).

Again, this could have all easily been avoided by simply ditching the awful KOM timeline and simply allow Frank/Zornow/Mowry/Swierczynski/Gane all just do their own thing, but kudos to all of them for making the best of an unenviable position, and ROE has turned out very well. As much as I've enjoyed the latter half of HGW and most of ROE, I can't help but imagine "what if" had they been allowed to establish their own world.

As far as a possible future "on-going" series....to be honest, I would be perfectly fine with just seeing 2 or 3 minis a year as opposed to another ongoing, as they've all been very solid for the most part....

[Mr. X]

Oh, don't get me wrong; KOM was an abomination, and I would have much rather see the characters from the previous ongoing again. I was hoping we would after their cameo in ROE #3, but that unfortunately never panned out.

I hate that this is a continuation of KOM. ROE could've been even better if it started from scratch, and that goes for HGM as well. Unfortunately, that is not the case. All I'm saying is, since they've made a point to connect it to previous ongoings by going as far as bringing most of the main characters back (from KOM, anyways), why not follow the story they were in?

Honestly, I don't really care if it doesn't line up exactly with the previous ongoings. I'm fine with them retconning stuff; but for the most part they've been in line with what was given to us in the previous books, so its weird to see them break that now for such a minor scene.

[antovald20]

^ I still think this series is just a bunch of stuff happening, without a real story to connect it all. ROE introduced a lot of ideas, but never followed through on almost all of them. If they were allowed to make there own universe, then it would have been quite good. To me it would have been boring to re-introduce all the previous monsters again.

[LSD Jellyfish]

^ I still think this series is just a bunch of stuff happening, without a real story to connect it all. ROE introduced a lot of ideas, but never followed through on almost all of them. If they were allowed to make there own universe, then it would have been quite good. To me it would have been boring to re-introduce all the previous monsters again.

I could see the "random stuff happening" as something indicative of the first few issues. However after issue 12 I think things have been pretty consistent. Issues 13-16 are all about Mechagodzilla and MKG with consistent monsters and characters. After that things did float around a bit but it was introducing more monsters and setting up for the trilopod arc with the main villains being the trilopods and being fought at the end. Seemingly random things like finding Ceaser will be relevant down the line as presumably he will help fight the Trilopods. Also the fight with Gorosaurus might seem random but it still helps boost the the Trilopods as villains and adds immersion to the plot of this being a global conflict. The most random thing I would agree is the twins backstory but again it's just building.

[RaymondBurr]

The main problem with all this is simple: the three series do not synch up well at all. KOM did not have mothra, HGM had Battra and no twins, ROE is trying to clean up and take some interesting ideas from KOM and make them work but for obvious reasons none of it will be super cohesive.

Thankfully, I believe that the Cryogs explain everything. The Cryogs have been on earth for an unknown amount of time planning their invasion, infiltrating Earth's governments, etc., and positioning themselves to exploit whatever advantages that they could. We know that they were on earth during Kingdom of Monsters and took advantage of the destruction seen in KOM to take control of King Ghidorah. It's not unreasonable to assume that they captured the Twins at that time too. If they were keeping tabs on Ghidorah, they were keeping tabs on Godzilla too. And he ended KOM splayed out next to Battra, Rodan, and two powerful human "anomalies." The Cryog had eyes on all of this.

History's Greatest Monsters shows us the Human response to the great awakening of monsters. During this time, the Twins are captives of the Cryog. Battra is presumably operating on his own monster will.

Rulers of Earth shows us the Cryog response to the great awakening of Monsters. After allowing the monsters to flatten earths defenses and then allowing the humans to corral most of the dangerous monsters into a central location, the Cryog launch their attack on the weakened parties of earth.

There is a story structure. It makes sense. Shapshifting aliens provide our Godzilla Comic Continuity with Perfect Peace.

[antovald20]

^^ Yeah issue 13-16 are my favorite arc, because it actually feels like a story arc. There's still bull that happens in that story arc, but still it was better then most arcs. If you can even call them story arcs. This series is so rushed and just feels like stuff is just happening. I know the reason why this series was rushed, but still. They should have done there research and connect everything in a good way.

[g2vd]

Review is up.
http://www.tohokingdom.com/comics/idw_g ... th_23.html

[attilagodzilla]

Just got the issue it was really good.

Spoiler:

the fight between ceasar and battra was awesome. What imdomwonder is, are the twins dead now? I mean king ceasar slams down on them which is probably supposed to kill them. And why did battra suddenly leave the twins?

[LSD Jellyfish]

Completely avoiding reading others remarks as I have not read the issue yet but I have one big question:
Why isn't the comic on iBooks? All the others issues were!

[B34sT]

Just finished the issue. Pretty good fight between Battra and King Caesar. There were a few things that bothered me in this issue both storywise and artwise. I remember the twins being mute from KOM and I thought they spoke to the Cryog through telepathy. This makes me wonder why they all of a sudden are able to speak this issue. I also question why they are trying to kill Lucy's team. I mean they should only hate Mothra and that might give a small justification as to why they want to kill the fairies (although I have to read back a bit to see how they would know the connection between them and Mothra) I see no reason for them hating Lucy's team.

The art is pretty good with the exception of the twins. One panel in particular on page nine is especially jarring with one twin having a head almost as large as her torso.

All in all I can't wait to see our favorite golem take on the Trilopods

[g2vd]

I see no reason for them hating Lucy's team.

I guess since they're allys to them, in the Twins minds anybody that helps them or is allys with them deserve to die.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Great issue: way better than the last. Cool how powerful King Caeser was. Loved the sense of scale and how you could see the Lucy and crew in the shadow of the alpha trilopod. Also loved how things are seemed to wrap up getting us ready for the big final battles in 24&25.

[Mr. X]

SPOILERS!

This was a very good issue, we focused tightly on one scene and stuck with it. As already said, the backstory to the Battra twins was neat even if it might create some continuity issues. It is nice to get an explanation on why they were so merciless on the Infant Island attack.

I really liked the King Caesar awakening scene, especially with the Shobijin there. And the following battle was very well done. Its not hard to see why King Caesar was the original King of the Monsters - good lord, I almost feel bad for that Trilopod. And his intelligence as well - this is a very good portrayal of him. And the artwork was great as always, but once again especially so with KC. There were some great expressions in there.

A solid issue. Its starting to feel like the end is upon us. Pretty much everybody is at or is headed to the hive at this point, humans and monsters. There is still a lot to get done, but it looks like the most of that is going to go down at the hive. The twins' story was intriguing but I'm happy we're turning almost all our attention to the Trilopods now. As usual I'm excited for the next issue, but in this case I'm really excited for the next one. The climax is almost here.

[LSD Jellyfish]

We also got confirmation that Rhizon will be the emperors enemy. Like the emperor says he's gonna kill Rhizon once he crushes the humans. That's a pretty good reason to rebel.

Also an interesting note is the reference to Godzillas DNA and the trilopods absorbing it and possibly not being able to. I wonder what this means, will they just become deformed? Maybe Orga 2.0? That would be funny.


Mr. X the whole thing about the entire issue being a single scene couldn't be more on point. One of my favorite issues in the series (#5) is similar in execution. It's issues like these that make me sad ROE is ending soon.

[GreenScar1990]

Great issue: way better than the last. Cool how powerful King Caeser was. Loved the sense of scale and how you could see the Lucy and crew in the shadow of the alpha trilopod. Also loved how things are seemed to wrap up getting us ready for the big final battles in 24&25.

SPOILERS!

This was a very good issue, we focused tightly on one scene and stuck with it. As already said, the backstory to the Battra twins was neat even if it might create some continuity issues. It is nice to get an explanation on why they were so merciless on the Infant Island attack.

I really liked the King Caesar awakening scene, especially with the Shobijin there. And the following battle was very well done. Its not hard to see why King Caesar was the original King of the Monsters - good lord, I almost feel bad for that Trilopod. And his intelligence as well - this is a very good portrayal of him. And the artwork was great as always, but once again especially so with KC. There were some great expressions in there.

A solid issue. Its starting to feel like the end is upon us. Pretty much everybody is at or is headed to the hive at this point, humans and monsters. There is still a lot to get done, but it looks like the most of that is going to go down at the hive. The twins' story was intriguing but I'm happy we're turning almost all our attention to the Trilopods now. As usual I'm excited for the next issue, but in this case I'm really excited for the next one. The climax is almost here.

I agree with both of you. Loved this issue! King Caesar was not only powerful, but incredibly agile. It isn't hard to see why he's the Original King of the Monsters! But of course I would expect King Caesar to be one of the few daikaiju who is equal in might to Godzilla. It is as it should be.

Plus, it would appear that King Caesar is superior in intellect to most kaiju, rivaling Kong & the Gargantuas. It could even be argued that his intellect is close to human levels. I mean, protecting Lucy and the others while allowing the Trilopods to capture him so that he could enter their main hive and save Godzilla? Brilliant!

I hope we get to see King Caesar crush some more Trilopods! I have a feeling if that pod didn't crash that Battra may have suffered a similar fate to the Trilopod. Wow! Lucy wasn't kidding in her remark about King Caesar's power/strength. I can't wait until the next issue.

I'm just sad that Rulers of Earth is ending. It's really going off an a high-note with this last arch. If only it were coming to an end at issue 28-30 instead of 25. I just hope that IDW plans to return to this universe for another ongoing. Or at least structure another continuity where all the kaiju have already surfaced and a portion of them exist of the Monster Islands.

Anyway, this was a superb issue. I can't wait until the next one, which will hopefully have tons of action involving King Caesar and other daikaiju.

[Lain Of The Wired]

I love King Caesar so much! From what I understand, he's so badass in this comic, and they call him the original "King of the Monsters"? That's cool.
For those who've read it, how exactly is King Caesar wake up? Like, what happens to him after the preview we got? And how exactly does he fight Battra?
I wish I could pick up this comic, but being stuck in the Boonies leaves me without a good comic book store

[LSD Jellyfish]

I love King Caesar so much! From what I understand, he's so badass in this comic, and they call him the original "King of the Monsters"? That's cool.
For those who've read it, how exactly is King Caesar wake up? Like, what happens to him after the preview we got? And how exactly does he fight Battra?
I wish I could pick up this comic, but being stuck in the Boonies leaves me without a good comic book store

King Caeser is asleep and Lucy tries to wake him up by yelling insults. He doesn't wake up. Battra lands and is about to kill Lucy and co. King Caeser wakes up and the fight begins. King Caeser fights similarly to how he did in GVMG and GFW: a lot of jumping and running around. He's pretty aggressive. Order the trade on amazon when it comes out!