Title
 Godzilla #7
Author(s)
 Duane Swierczynski
Pencils: Simon Gane Inks: Simon Gane
Language: English Release: 2012
Publisher: IDW Publishing Pages: 32
Colors: Ronda Pattison Cover: E.J. Su
  Order
Monster Appearances: Aliens, SDF, & Misc Appearances:
Godzilla, Titanosaurus, Battra, Anguirus, Kumonga N/A
Comments
Anthony Romero

Duane Swierczynski is on a roll. After a few ho-hum issues, the writer rebounded with Godzilla #6 and continues with a good follow up issue, while series regular Simon Gane returns to the art duties after taking a one issue break.

The plot begins with Boxer and his crew holding up in British Columbia, predicting this to be Godzilla's next target after decimating Seattle. Boxer plans to make a stand, having his explosive expert, Urv, rig up complicated explosive network through the city to set a trap for the King of the Monsters.

The plot for this issue is actually pretty straightforward, involving them setting up the trap and then dealing with Godzilla when he finally arrives in the city. There is some brief coverage of Monster Island at the start of the issue, to demonstrate that the creatures are getting riled up by something (likely the impending attack foreseen in the last issue), but otherwise the focus is on Boxer and Godzilla. This works well as we get some nice character work, in particular letting Boxer and Claire have some "post relationship" relationship references. The meat of this story is ultimately in the final act. I'm going to half-way spoil things, and would suggest that people actually stop reading the review until they read the book. That said, in the final moments, Godzilla avoids the trap due to interference from Asuka testing her chemical spray on the beast. Consequently, a member of Boxer's crew takes on a heroic turn to try save the city from the trap they had rigged, only to be killed in the process. Their death is poignant and well done. While it's unfortunate they weren't developed more during the comic's run, their death nicely ties in with their introduction and invests the reader on where the group goes from here.

In terms of the art, Simon Gane returns to the series. While Gane isn't the best artist IDW has thrown at the monster King, his return does feel like a homecoming for at least depicting Boxer and his group as the artist has such a distinct style. While the Monster Island stuff isn't particularly great, the segments in Vancouver are very well constructed and are a nice highlight for the artist's work.

As for the covers, the main one is done by E.J. Su, who did the art on Godzilla Legends #4, and depicts Boxer aiming a bazooka at Godzilla. The face on Godzilla looks a little strange from the angle shown, but is otherwise an appealing cover. The alternate is done by Matt Frank, showing Godzilla about to step on Boxer, and is probably the more dynamic of the two.

Overall, Swierczynski is in "pay off" mode, having given us now two issues where it's safe to give the series a definitive recommendation, and will be interesting to see where things go from here, with Boxer's group more or less on the ropes and the main character becoming increasingly over zealous in his mission.

Variant Covers