IDW's Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters General Discussion

[cloverfan98]

The new GODZILLA cover art is awesome. I always love these things that show the monster from a new imposing perspective. As for the story it sounds very outlandish with kaiju bounty hunters, but it reminds me of the 3 hunters from GTS and I love when the comics (Marvel, DK, and IDW) do these kind of outlandish stories. You'll never see them in a movie so why not try it in a comic? By the way does anyone know when the TPB for Legends comes out?

[ゴジラ]

Having a series revolving around G-Hunters would be an interesting experience, just make sure that the main character is well developed and that there's ton of monster action, and of course, a nicely developed plot.

I have no problems with a revenge seeking character, I just hope the character himself has more personality. Unlike some characters...-Looks at the female Kiryu pilot from GXMG-

[starsteam]

He reminds me of the guy who captains the Atragon in Godzilla Unleashed. He either end up dying or making peace with Godzilla. I could easily see Godzilla saving his life towards the end of the ongoing.

Wait, I have no idea what this guy looks like or what he'll be like.

[cloverfan98]

Having a series revolving around G-Hunters would be an interesting experience, just make sure that the main character is well developed and that there's ton of monster action, and of course, a nicely developed plot.

I have no problems with a revenge seeking character, I just hope the character himself has more personality. Unlike some characters...-Looks at the female Kiryu pilot from GXMG-

I. HATE. HER.

[kaiju115]

May Solicitations plus Godzilla cards!


Godzilla #1
Duane Swierczynski (w) • Simon Gane (a) • Art Adams, Tony Harris (c)
Godzilla is back... in an all-new ongoing series! Duane Swierczynski and Simon Gane launch this ultimate action-movie blockbuster, ushering in a new era of monster battles. Ex-special forces tough-guy Boxer is a man with a grudge and vows to end the terror of Godzilla, no matter what. He assembles a top notch team to take down monster-sized threats... at $7 billion a bounty. What starts as a vendetta could become a lucrative business for Boxer... if he can live past day one!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant Covers:
Ryan Kelly movie-tribute cover!
Art Adams gatefold cover!

Bullet Points:
¥ The new ongoing Godzilla series STARTS HERE!
¥ Bigger, badder and more radioactive... this is the ultimate Godzilla tale!
¥ Every issue contains a random Art Adams monster trading card! 9 different cards available, collect the whole set! Also, look for randomly inserted unique sketch cards from Matt Frank!


Godzilla: Kingdom Of Monsters, Vol. 3
Jason Ciaramella (w) • Victor Santos (a) • David Messina (c)
As the dust settles on another epic monster battle, humanity has finally found a way to beat back the relentless assault of giants. But in this brief moment of respite, new threats arise, and mankind finds itself on the losing end again. Plus, the twins are back, and they are after the King of Monsters himself! Battra, Rodan, Godzilla! Get ready for a battle of titans.
TPB • FC • $17.99 • 104 pages • ISBN 978-1-61377-205-8

Bullet points:

¥ “Why is this so much fun? Godzilla: KOM gives American G-Fans what they always wanted: Godzilla on American soil.” –ComicBastards.blogspot.com
¥ Collects Issues #7-12!

I just saw this, this morning, and I'm pumped up for it, & I do like the whole idea of trading cards, that would be cool. I'm also excited for the upcoming TMNT comic coming in MAY featuring the Shredder. So yeah, Godzilla, & TMNT, thank you IDW.

[KaijuX]

Unlike some characters...-Looks at the female Kiryu pilot from GXMG-

Still cute, though. In my own opinion, of course. Then again, that's really the only reason for her to be in the film. Who sees an Arnold Schwarzenegger film to see him act? But hopefully Boxer and his G-Hunting buds make for some interesting characters. "Intelligent action movie." Yeah, this should work out.

[ZillaMaster91]

I can see myself getting on board with the whole monster bounty hunter concept. It's definitely creative! Hopefully the story itself will be clever enough to make it work.

Even though I stopped reading KOM after Issue #6, I will be subscribing into GODZILLA. Let's hope IDW learned their lessons and get it right this time and finally make a readable comic about the Big G this time around.

[Primevalgodzilla V2]

Wow, they did trace the cover. But this time, its from a toy. The pastel coloring style is interesting and appealing but my liking of this cover is dimiished by the fact the artist is so bloody lazy.

[ZillaMaster91]

Despite the Godzilla being - I wouldn't necessarily say traced - but inspired by the pose of the MonsterArts prototype, I find nothing absolutely wrong with the cover for GODZILLA #1, personally I like it and is one of the better covers I've seen from IDW (that are not from Matt Frank or Jeff Zornow). For me cover art doesn't really matter. It's the interior art that I'm very judgmental on.

[xenotactics]

I'm not familiar with the MonsterArts prototype, but the cover reminds me very much of both Godzilla '64 (from Mothra vs.) and the cover for Criterion's new release of Godzilla '54.

[Primevalgodzilla V2]

Despite the Godzilla being - I wouldn't necessarily say traced - but inspired by the pose of the MonsterArts prototype, I find nothing absolutely wrong with the cover for GODZILLA #1, personally I like it and is one of the better covers I've seen from IDW (that are not from Matt Frank or Jeff Zornow). For me cover art doesn't really matter. It's the interior art that I'm very judgmental on.

Traced is a very nice way to put it- the persepctive, shape of the head, wideness of the mouth, arm posture, position on the tail- if this isn't tracing I don't know what is. 'Inspired' means portions of it harken to the source. This is just ridiculous.

[Legion1979]

What's with those people too? Looks like some sort of traced photograph. What's with those outlines?

[Kaijusamurai]

Hey kids, your kindly Uncle Matt Frank here!

There definitely seems to have been a mix-up - while the trading cards were indeed planned at one point, those were nixed some time ago (not part of the agreement with Toho) so sadly, Art and I won't be lining your plastic card-holders with extra goodies

Nevertheless, expect some REALLY cool stuff this year. Everything I've seen for the new series is gonna' knock your socks off, not to mention the new mini-series. If all goes well, there may be even MORE later in the year...so keep those wallets limbered up!

[RedZillaKing]

Goddammit Matt! Your very existence trolls Godzilla fandom! Why you no have regular Godzilla comic series???

[KaijuX]

Hey kids, your kindly Uncle Matt Frank here!

I thought it would be Doctor, since we are your monkies and Zornow's fiends.

There definitely seems to have been a mix-up - while the trading cards were indeed planned at one point, those were nixed some time ago (not part of the agreement with Toho) so sadly, Art and I won't be lining your plastic card-holders with extra goodies

Oh darn. That's too bad.

Nevertheless, expect some REALLY cool stuff this year. Everything I've seen for the new series is gonna' knock your socks off, not to mention the new mini-series. If all goes well, there may be even MORE later in the year...so keep those wallets limbered up!

This better make up for them cards.

[kaiju115]

I can see myself getting on board with the whole monster bounty hunter concept. It's definitely creative! Hopefully the story itself will be clever enough to make it work.

Even though I stopped reading KOM after Issue #6, I will be subscribing into GODZILLA. Let's hope IDW learned their lessons and get it right this time and finally make a readable comic about the Big G this time around.

Same here, I'm all for the idea of there being a monster bounty hunter, it sound very interesting, and hopefully this new ongoing series will turn out to be what Kingdom of Monsters should have been. I also look forward to seeing more monster appearances (especially Mothra, Rodan, Anguirus, King Ghidorah, Gigan, & Mechagodzilla) as well as decent monster action. But for now all we can do is wait, and see what IDW has in store for us in this new series.

[Captain Aktion]

Despite the Godzilla being - I wouldn't necessarily say traced - but inspired by the pose of the MonsterArts prototype, I find nothing absolutely wrong with the cover for GODZILLA #1, personally I like it and is one of the better covers I've seen from IDW (that are not from Matt Frank or Jeff Zornow). For me cover art doesn't really matter. It's the interior art that I'm very judgmental on.

Traced is a very nice way to put it- the persepctive, shape of the head, wideness of the mouth, arm posture, position on the tail- if this isn't tracing I don't know what is. 'Inspired' means portions of it harken to the source. This is just ridiculous.

But if Godzilla isn't as photo/suit/film-accurate as humanly possible then won't everybody get up in a tizzy about that?

"Boo-hoo, his face looks a little different on this page. This art is Sh**!"

There are apparently no winners when it comes to a Godzilla comic, me am starting to thinks.

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

Despite the Godzilla being - I wouldn't necessarily say traced - but inspired by the pose of the MonsterArts prototype, I find nothing absolutely wrong with the cover for GODZILLA #1, personally I like it and is one of the better covers I've seen from IDW (that are not from Matt Frank or Jeff Zornow). For me cover art doesn't really matter. It's the interior art that I'm very judgmental on.

Traced is a very nice way to put it- the persepctive, shape of the head, wideness of the mouth, arm posture, position on the tail- if this isn't tracing I don't know what is. 'Inspired' means portions of it harken to the source. This is just ridiculous.

But if Godzilla isn't as photo/suit/film-accurate as humanly possible then won't everybody get up in a tizzy about that?

"Boo-hoo, his face looks a little different on this page. This art is Sh**!"

There are apparently no winners when it comes to a Godzilla comic, me am starting to thinks.

\

Or they need to hire better artists. I've not qualms if Godzilla doesn't look like the suits (I love Frank's Neo series)...But sometimes the art just isn't good.

[Kaijusamurai]

Goddammit Matt! Your very existence trolls Godzilla fandom! Why you no have regular Godzilla comic series???

I am an anomaly, no question about that
But seriously, to answer your question as directly as I can, it's a matter of one's resume. You can't just jump from a one-shot to an ongoing series, for example. You have to prove you can work on a monthly schedule, otherwise you're a liability. Hester, Santos and Gane all have consistent, monthly work under their belts, whereas I'm a relative newcomer.

Of course, the next step after a one-shot is a mini-series...which isn't COMPLETELY off the table...

One of the other road bumps is the question of name recognition - Godzilla fans may know who I am, but comic store owners are more likely to recognize a name like Eric Powell or John Layman, and that's what they base their orders on.

I thought it would be Doctor, since we are your monkies and Zornow's fiends.

I can be both! What, you think doctors can't ALSO has nieces and nephews! That's profiling! SHENANIGANS.

[Captain Aktion]

Not saying I like the cover, 'cause I kinda don't but it has more to do with the palette than the "swipe".

You guys do realize that a half-way decent artist doesn't have to trace, and more often than not the majority of these "swipes" are not traced.

Look, if I had a Polaroid photo of the toy, and was using that as reference ('cause, y'know, I may not have grown up drawing Goji in the margins of all of my homework) do you call that tracing...or is it reference?

Going along with that idea, if I'm a capable artist that never really had an interest in Goji but have been given a mandate from the higher ups that my Goji has to be as absolutely accurate as possible to satisfy them and the fans, well, I dunno but I'd probably lean heavily on reference as well.

Oh, and there's one thing none of us know: How long is the deadline for these artists? If, say, Messina gets the nod to turn in a cover but has a deadline of a couple of days? How fast can you bang one out?

I'm not saying that I like this instance, or any instance of "swiping" but if you don't know any of the valid reasons for it happening (and it's happening all over comics) then you can't judge the artist. I hate Greg Land's artwork, but I know why he does it and if the editor's aren't going to do anything about it then I've got to admit to myself the man is making a living. At a job. Sometimes it's not all high-art and not all comic artists want to be the next Alex Toth. Sad, but too true.