| Thus far, in the history of Godzilla comics under the stewardship of IDW publishing, the miniseries category has often proved to be consistently excellent. “Godzilla Cataclysm” continues that trend. Previously published in five individual issues, the miniseries appeared in trade paperback form in March of 2015.
The story takes place many years after an all-out war between humanity and the kaiju that devastated the entire world. Among the hardest hit locations is Tokyo, where the story takes place. As humanity struggles desperately to rebuild, the kaiju have receded into myth and legend. They have become, in a sense, the equivalent of gods. However, for some, the nightmare of that war and the fear of the kaiju returning are never far away. There are those who remember, though. Those who played god, only to have things crash down around them...
For this miniseries, Cullen Bunn handled writing duties while Dave Wachter handled the art duties. As usual for the Godzilla comics, Bobby Curnow served as the editor of the series. In the case of the trade paperback, Chris Mowry handled the collection design as well as lettering for the individual issues. Finally, Justin Eisinger and Alonzo Simon handled edits to the collection edition.
On the issue of art, Wachter’s artwork sells the sadness, pain and hopelessness that the world endured at the hands of the monsters. Wachter’s drawings of the human characters illustrate very well the physical details that show the years of despair that they have had to endure in the aftermath. As for the monsters, Wachter does an excellent job with the designs. At times, with the red sky behind them, the kaiju truly elevate to the level of demons in their depiction. The best examples are the monsters featured in the past as well as some panels of Godzilla and Destoroyah that convey this demonic presence.
On the issue of the story line, Godzilla Cataclysm brings into mind the situation one would find in the aftermath of the apocalypse. For most of the humans, the portrayal at times might not be out of place for the middle ages, which shows the damage done in the all-out war of man and kaiju. As for the main character Arata, the author portrays him at times seeming to take too much guilt for his actions. Thankfully, most of the time; his portrayal is excellent in showing the scars of the past war and his pivotal part in that conflict.
After the conclusion of the main story, the remaining pages of the trade paperback contained various covers that graced the individual issues of the miniseries. Bob Eggleton’s are superb as always, but Dave Watchter’s covers do a better job in displaying a sense of the scale of the story.
Overall, Godzilla Cataclysm does an excellent job in displaying the aftermath of an all-out monster assault on humanity and the scars that it left behind on the survivors. After comparing to the experience of the individual issues of this comic miniseries, it is best to get the trade paperback. It helps to gain an overall viewing of the story, as this is one of those comic runs that was written with a trade in mind. One that all the pieces should be together for full enjoyment. |
