| Issue six in Godzilla: Rulers of Earth and the tradition of offbeat battles with good actions continues, carried along thanks to great art by Matt Frank, although this issue also continues the trend of being light on plot, especially for the human cast which isn't given much to do.
For the story the comic picks up with Godzilla approaching the new Gigan in Las Vegas, who earlier had freed the Millennian UFO that is flying nearby. The cyborg monster proves quite formidable, easily defeating Godzilla and allowing the UFO to absorb his genetic makeup. However, the humans send in backup for the King of the Monsters as Moguera arrives to wage a war with Gigan.
The pacing in this issue is pretty good, thanks to the abundant supply of action, although it makes for a relatively quick read. Steven Woods does appear, helping in the evacuation of Las Vegas, but otherwise just provides brief scenes of commentary and interaction with the Moguera crew, who oddly enough hardly even speak at all. Lucy Casprell and her coworkers, who featured so prominently in Godzilla Rulers of Earth #5, are nowhere to be found here as the story now seems to be rotating between the human cast without really developing either side of the coin.
Looking past complaints with the human side of things, the comic does deliver with the battles. I'm a big fan of the new mix of combatants the comics keep using, with this one having a nice tussle between Gigan and Moguera. The two are pretty evenly matched, making for an interesting fight and despite what many assume for the mech, since it waged mostly long distance strikes in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994), the machine goes mostly for melee range attacks. The art by Matt Frank is spot on here as well, and great to have him back after an issue vacation. All four of the main monsters look stellar, with Matt infusing a bit of personality in each like the priceless expression Gigan has when accidentally hitting the UFO; however, sadly Matt seems to draw Gigan's beam weapon as a single ray rather than the unique cluster blast he had in Godzilla Final Wars (2004). Small complaints aside, the art is definitely the highlight of the issue.
Now I have avoided spoilers so far, and would recommend reading the issue first before completing the review. That out of the way, its no shocker that Orga does appear in this comic given the cover, but he is presented as an out of control big bad, which is rather unexpected. I'll save full spoilers, but this is probably the best Orga has ever been represented. Sadly, the issue ends on an overly long cliffhanger with Jet Jaguar, as the comic spends just enough time showing him off that it kind of overshadows the more interesting conflict with the four monsters while at the same time transitioning away from it to stifle a sense of satisfying closure.
In terms of the covers, there are two solid ones to pick from for this issue. The main one is done by interior artist Matt Frank and features a close up, split view of Gigan and Orga as Moguera and Godzilla sit below. The alternate cover is done by Jeff Zornow and is a little more dynamic, having Gigan and Orga attacking Moguera. While both covers are great, in this instance I would give the edge to the Frank version as all of the monsters look spot on while Godzilla looks little strange in the Zornow cover.
Overall, an okay issue, with energetic battles and great art saving what is a quick read otherwise. The plot being light and the lack of progress in the arching story, with the Devonian aliens feeling more like TV show villains who just move from one failed plan to the next without building toward an ultimate goal, make these books fun for the popcorn entertainment but don't feel like they are firing on all cylinders.
As a side note, there seems to be a conflict in who did the coloring for this issue. The front cover credits long time colorist Ronda Pattison, while the interior credits Priscilla Tramontano, who started doing the colors with Godzilla Rulers of Earth #3. |
