Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Special

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primortal
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Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Special

Post by primortal »

heh... remember coming across this comic in my childhood.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/ ... 5878ec.jpg

Since I was growing into a HUGE Godzilla fan, and since there were VERY few Godzilla-related things available at the time... I HAD to have it. While there is nothing bad about it, being a VERY serious... dark Godzilla story... was WEIRD for my young mind... seeing as how (at the time) the most Godzilla I had seen was more in the vein of stuff like Godzilla vs. Megalon than say... something like Godzilla 1985.

I enjoy it nowadays, but it was weird seeing people getting bitten by giant worm creatures, purposefully driving helicopters into Godzilla's face, getting crushed by debris and so on... VERY different from what I was used to at the time. It'd be like growing up watching the Adam West Batman... then the first comic you buy is Dark Knight Returns. :P

Still... wish when they 'continued' the story years later, (sorta... kinda) that they would've brought back Soran (that Rodan-like creature) or Inagos (the Mothra/Kamacuras-counterpart). Really dug Soran's design... and would've enjoyed seeing him square off with Godzilla in more of a true fashion.

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Re: Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Specia

Post by Starsteam »

One of the few DH Godzilla comics I don't own...

Wait, was this in a trade-paperback? I might own it... but I don't have a single issue of it.

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Re: Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Specia

Post by Mr. X »

I don't remember being a huge fan of this one.

Now, Art Adams' Color Special on the other hand... :huge:
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Re: Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Specia

Post by primortal »

i liked Art Adams' color special too. :D

But as of right now... I don't know if this comic was ever put into a trade paperback

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Re: Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Specia

Post by Mr. X »

Yes, it was included in the Age of Monsters TPB.
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Re: Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Specia

Post by primortal »

lol, probably a REALLY big case of 'mood whiplash' in that TPB. XD

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Re: Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Specia

Post by Starsteam »

Ah, then I do have it. I guess it didn't stand out very much to me since I couldn't remember. But hey, at least it was the only one that wasn't stripped of its color.

I still want an individual copy though.

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Re: Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Specia

Post by primortal »

had a pretty neat little article covering all the Godzilla movies up till that point in time.

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Re: Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Specia

Post by Pkmatrix »

Ah, I love this one! It was a really awesome comic. ^_^

I actually had a very odd experience with this, since I found it after reading Godzilla #0 and when I read the latter story I had NO idea the extended flashback there was a retelling of the story in the GKOTM Special. It actually blew my mind when I realized that's what it was! :lol:

It's a good story and a great way to kick off Dark Horse's Godzilla universe. It's the very first story in the Age of Monsters TPB, actually.

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Re: Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Specia

Post by primortal »

sadly the only connection between this and the rest of the DH series was issue #0's flashbacks and that crazy scientist lady.

Wish they could've brought back some of the other kaiju. :P

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Re: Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Specia

Post by Starsteam »

Wasn't a few of the Kaiju in the Time-travel arch? (as a one-panel cameo that is)

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Re: Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Specia

Post by Pkmatrix »

primortal wrote:sadly the only connection between this and the rest of the DH series was issue #0's flashbacks and that crazy scientist lady.

Wish they could've brought back some of the other kaiju. :P
And Burton. You know, the American from the Special who came back for the first story arc in Issues #0 - 4 along with the scientist, and who later became a regular character from about #9 forward? :P They even named one of the monsters after him! (Burtannus, from #13.)

I was also a little disappointed that Soran and Inagos never returned, but I feel that if Dark Horse had continued they would've returned eventually. ^_^

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Re: Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Specia

Post by The One and Only »

primortal wrote:had a pretty neat little article covering all the Godzilla movies up till that point in time.
The article was written by Steve Bissette's SWAMP THING collaborator ,Alan Moore. He also drew one of the pin-ups that was featured in the One-Shot as well. The book is an interesting take on the King of the Monsters, and was intended to be the launching point for a series. Either with Bissette on both co-writing, with Randy Stradley assisting, and doing the artwork. But due to one thing or another, those plans never gelled. And it wasn't until about a half decade later that Dark Horse produced another Godzilla book in the form of the Art Adams Color Special.
Published in black and white like the original GOJIRA, the book is dominated by a rather grim vibe throughout it. From the discovery of the Slab, and the worm that chomps down on the archeologist's arm. To the oncoming sense of doom of Noriko's father is saddled with in realizing the prophecy on the Slab with the sightings of the monsters talked about on the inscriptions on the object.
Last edited by The One and Only on Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Dark Horse's Godzilla: King of the Monsters Comic Specia

Post by mikelcho »

Pkmatrix wrote:
primortal wrote:sadly the only connection between this and the rest of the DH series was issue #0's flashbacks and that crazy scientist lady.

Wish they could've brought back some of the other kaiju. :P
And Burton. You know, the American from the Special who came back for the first story arc in Issues #0 - 4 along with the scientist, and who later became a regular character from about #9 forward? :P They even named one of the monsters after him! (Burtannus, from #13.)

I was also a little disappointed that Soran and Inagos never returned, but I feel that if Dark Horse had continued they would've returned eventually. ^_^
Don't forget Kamerus, the turtle kaiju that appeared in two flashbacks. He was named later, in Godzilla, King of the Monsters #0, I think (the color version, not the black and white version in Godzilla: Age of Monsters). These two, btw, are altered versions of the original version of the two-part story "Godzilla: Blast from the Past" from Dark Horse Comics #10-11.
Last edited by mikelcho on Mon May 28, 2018 3:36 am, edited 3 times in total.

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