Seeing Jay Gatsby fight Godzilla aboard a yellow submarine before a mechanized Jules Verne lays a trap for Godzilla in Paris wasn’t something I expected to see in Godzilla media before, but here we are. Somehow it all works?
I enjoyed Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theater #1 a lot and was excited to see how Tom Scioli followed up with the second issue of Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theater. Major concerns I had in my review of issue one was that the story of Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theater would be filled with non-stop pop-culture references to icons of a bygone era, becoming crowded and lacking focus. Thankfully, this isn’t the case. In Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theater #2 Tom Scioli continues to impress visually while also understanding that focusing on drama and emotion is important. It feels like a proper advancement of the story, while also giving us reason to care about the characters who face this predicament.
Still, issue two is very different tonally than issue one. While issue one focused mainly on the horror of Godzilla, showcasing elaborate rampages and people cowering in fear before the mighty monster, issue two mainly zeroes in on the G-Force fighting back against Godzilla. It’s much more action-oriented, choosing to focus on elaborate and goofy counter-measures against the beast. Now that readers have overcome the shock and oddity of issue two, this issue establishes a sense of normalcy, before flipping it once again on its head in the finale.
The issue covers two main events; Gatsby and the G-Force encountering Godzilla while undersea in a high-tech submersible, and Godzilla entering a fortified Paris. While the idea of Godzilla fighting a submarine isn’t exactly a new one, Scioli manages to excite by having impressive underwater maneuverability and action. The submarine dogfights and dodges Godzilla underwater, before being backed into a cave by the creature. It’s rather tense.
The second-half of the issue features Godzilla entering Paris, where an elaborate series of traps have been laid out to stop the beast. It’s reminiscent of recent Toho endeavors, such as Operation Yashitori from Shin Godzilla (2016), Operation Wadatsumi from Godzilla: Minus One (2023); Godzilla is lured into position before the final coup de grace is executed. Without spoiling much, what they do with the Arc de Triomphe is both hilarious, and ridiculous, even for a zany comic such as this. Like #1, there continues to be interesting parallels between the imagery Scioli choses to show here, and the original 1954 film. There may also be a reference to H-Man, although that might be a stretch. There’s bound to be dozens of visual references to other classic and retro movies I didn’t get, so once again it’ll be fun as a community to pick through it with a fine-tuned comb.
In between these two events, we get more scenes of Jay Gatsby and Daisy swooning over each other. Drama ensues with Tom becoming keenly aware of this romance. Of course, Godzilla once again interrupts this and the two must put aside their differences during the danger. I’m glad that The Great Gatsby elements continue to be the focal point of the story. I was a bit worried that The Great Gatsby plot-elements would be left ignored, or resolved quickly after Daisy’s reappearance, but thankfully the comic stays focused on this drama. We'll have to wait whether #3 will wrap this up successfully, or re-create a Godzilla-fied version of The Great Gatsby’s original ending. It gives us reason to care about the plight of Gatsby and Daisy while also creating a sense of dread in regards to what might happen. Well-done.
I was also worried based on issue 1, that Monsterpiece Theater would solely be continual additions to the cast, and non-stop references, with little focus. As mentioned above, this isn’t the case—the interpersonal drama continues. And while there are a few throwaway references to other pop-culture moments, #2 actually feels much more reserved in regards to introducing big new gimmicky names and elements. In fact, the reverse happens, many characters are subtracted.
Notably, a few prominent members of Gatsby’s G-Force “exit” before the end of the issue. Their “departures” feel a bit abrupt, with one happening off-screen. Another “departure” which occurs at the end of the issue, is rather dramatic and exciting, but makes their inclusion in the entire story feel pointless. It does however, adeptly set up the final confrontation: Godzilla vs. Dracula vs. Gatsby. Despite throwing a bunch of chess pieces off the board, the cliffhanger does a lot to keep me excited, especially when taken in consideration with the cover of issue three.
I noted in my review for #1 how fun it would be if the comic introduced crazier elements, like the aliens from War of the Worlds, or King Kong from King Kong (1933). Nothing so far like that happens, and while I’m a little disappointed it doesn’t get that insane, I have a lot of respect for Scioli for cutting out the excess in an exciting way. Instead, he chooses to set up drama between Dracula, Godzilla, and Gatsby, and in a bizarre way it all makes sense within its own context.
While this isn’t a complaint, it did feel like this issue had a lot less breathing room and that certain plot elements were compressed. Some events happened with little fanfare, but at the very least it adds to the comic’s pulp nature and keeps things fast paced. None of it feels like filler.
So far, the story is still engaging, and in many ways continuing to mirror Godzilla (1954) in strange ways while putting its own twist on things. I’m curious to see if there’s more payoff with the Time Machinist and Sherlock, but I could also see it all being brushed under the rug. The story is still a lot more engaging than simple “monster versus monster” stories that IDW and other comic book publishers have been pumping out recently.
Art-wise, Scioli’s ability and art is consistent with his endeavors in #1. The characters are expressive, drawn in a very pulpy style reminiscent of the golden age of comics. Characters glare at each other, react in shock and horror, and smile at one another. Very expressive, and it compliments all the drama very well.
Tom Scioli surpasses his efforts with color from issue one. There’s a full-page where Godzilla is chasing the submarine, and it’s colored with shades of green, blue, and yellow, with Godzilla’s monstrous pink maw standing in contrast. Scioli continues to make beautiful compositions with very few colors that compliment his line-art well. Another simplistic, yet remarkable moment is a two-page spread of Godzilla being bombarded by torpedoes. Godzilla, and the ocean around him, are a shade of blue-green, while the explosions are bright pink and illuminate Godzilla’s body. It’s a fantastic sight.
However, the issue does lack color in a lot of places. There are lots of panels and pages where backgrounds are empty, save for a sepia-styled tone. A good example of this is when Godzilla enters Paris and stares down the Eiffel Tower. The sky is oddly blank. It’s clearly an artistic decision, it draws reader’s attention to the primary focus, and also fits in line with old-pulpy print that didn’t always have crowded visuals and left room for blank space. It creates emphasis when Scioli a few panels later fills the “blankness” with a sea of fire. I can see, and sort of understand criticism of this purposeful omission of detail as lazy, but to me it’s a master of his craft understanding the best way to leave an impact by playing around with color, lighting, and space. All of the ways Scioli plans out his panels feels purposeful.
Towards the end of the issue, the color palette once again changes, this time to mostly consisting of red, black, and sepia. While perhaps the most simplistic of any color arrangement so far, it accompanies the introduction of Dracula and changes the tone of the comic from pulp to horror. It’s wonderful, and again Scioli makes another genius choice of having his angelic incarnation of Daisy, with her golden hair, be the only major foil to this darkness.
Like #1, Godzilla is ugly and grotesque—readers will either be fine with it, or not, and it’s up to personal preference. To grossly oversimplify things, even if Scioli wrote a bad story, the comic would still be interesting and worth reading just to look at his art and soak in the bizarreness of it. Thankfully, it’s the best of both worlds with a compelling story and bizarre yet impactful art.
As far as covers go, once again there’s an excellent selection, though it feels slightly lackluster in comparison to the covers for issue 1. Cover A by Tom Scioli, which features Godzilla chasing the submarine, accurately depicts the issue's contents; indeed, Godzilla does give chase to a submarine carrying Gatsby and the others. Godzilla here looks grotesque, but beyond that the cover itself is fairly standard for what it is. While it’s a decent cover, it lacks the flair of issue 1’s Cover A with Gatsby and co facing off against Godzilla in a style reminiscent of Fantastic Four Issue No. 1. The other cover by Scioli, Cover B, is much better, albeit less accurate to the contents of the issue. It is, apparently, a reference to the 1887 cover of Beeton’s Christmas Annual, a magazine that contained the first printing of a Sherlock Holmes novel. With ornate text reading “Godzilla vs. Sherlock Holmes” above, a wonderful illustration of Holmes reacting to Godzilla, and gothic style credits on the right, it’s an eye-catching cover for sure.
My personal favorite is the retail incentive cover by Patrick Horvath. While it lacks the excitement of the promise of pop-culture figures versus Godzilla, it’s a beautiful composition. A rather calm Godzilla faces an illuminated Eiffel tower. Below them, the Nautilus, and behind them a darkened French flag. While it doesn’t capture the insanity of the issue, it’s a wonderful composition nonetheless. Finally, there is Jim Mahfood’s retail incentive cover. Like his cover for #1, it isn’t bad, necessarily, but it’s bizarre and not in a good way. A heavily stylized Godzilla is screaming in front of—something. No relation to any of the contents of the issue, and it's almost impossible to make out what it is.
I liked Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theater #2 a lot, although I can’t say it’s a step-up or step-down in comparison to issue 1. The shock, or appeal of issue 1 has worn off, but it’s supplemented this by being a fairly breezy read featuring pulpy action. It’s definitely the middle-part of a story, where characters undergo further challenges and the stakes are raised in the climax for the final bout. And it still definitely is a Godzilla story; aside for a few small dramatic scenes, Godzilla routinely appears to destroy things and maintains a looming presence in the tale. He is still the star and it's great.
If you enjoyed issue one, then I think it’s safe to say you’ll continue to enjoy issue two. Once again, it’s a worthwhile read for anyone who is a fan of Godzilla and can also appreciate old, yet whacky pulp. Here’s to hoping that Scioli can stick the landing, by wrapping up Godzilla vs Dracula and offering a compelling ending to his version of Great Gatsby.
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