IDW's GODZILLA General Discussion

[darthzilla99]

Well I just read Rivals Battra. Overall it was my least favorite of rivals so far and was just OK.
Pros:
Return of Battra
Return of heroic Godzilla
The human cas was pretty interesting
Good world building
Cons
The robots didn't go anywhere
Battra was stated to be dangerous but he was mostly just minding his own business. Sure we are told he's mad at humanity polluting earth but his actions are mostly just an animal wondering around randomly. This is definitely a bad case of "tell, didn't show"

While I enjoyed the battle, I think I would have preferred a longer more even match with injuries on both kaiju. Like say Godzilla bites off part of Battras leg while Battra destroys one of Godzilla's plates or blinds one of Godzilla's eyes. Raise the stakes such that you feel like they may kill each other and Mothra has to intervene to save both of them.
Given the above mentioned issues, it's hard to know who to route for and not in a questioning each side from a moral standpoint. It's more of "Is Godzilla trying to save humanity or is he just wanting a fight? Why is Battra being provoked when he's hasn't done anything?"

Overall, 5.5/10 for me.

[daveblackeye15]

I've fallen behind which is good due to all the delays and I just read the Mothra one.
I quite liked it. Maybe because I was warned it was weaker than the great Hedorah one. I must admit its kinda weird seeing adult Mothra trapped underwater. I appreciated the military guy was a character and not just a regular angry military guy. Maybe Godzilla vs. Mothra was a bit rushed but it felt like a nice wild melee and I thought the conclusion was cool. Sure sure we've seen Godzilla webbed up and dropped into the ocean before but hey seeing adult Mothra make a cocoon around them was really cool. I mean that was basically a sacrifice play which in itself isn't unusual for Mothra just the notion of trapping herself with Godzilla with her in a cocoon is kind of jarring. This Godzilla made me think of Return of Godzilla and I just realized the year this story is set. I liked the narration of the lead character too. So no nothing great but I was entertained.

[Shenanigans]

Sigh...

More solicits here, including issue #3 of Monsters & Protectors already. Also, Vs. Gigan has been delayed yet again after all. Disappointment all 'round!

https://www.kaijubattle.net/godzilla-id ... icitations

[kaijukurt]

So 3 comics in 1 month! Nice.

Ghidorah looks good, and I’m hoping this is the proper Godzilla vs KG mini-series we’ve been waiting after Oblivion underwhelmed me.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Noooo....nooooo.... not Ghidorah... again!

We just got Rivals 3, and it's clear that King Ghidorah is the "final boss" of the MMPR Crossover. This is what I feared with the sudden overuse of KG and Xilliens. The only saving grace is that this is issue 3, so maybe, just maybe there will be another monster in the end to fight Godzilla. I get that Ghidorah is popular, but hell, I'd prefer Space Godzilla over this even.

@Kaijukurt: have you read Rivals issue 3? While I understand you want a full series, I thought that delivered a nice one on one with Ghidorah.

[GigaBowserG]

We just got Rivals 3, and it's clear that King Ghidorah is the "final boss" of the MMPR Crossover. This is what I feared with the sudden overuse of KG and Xilliens. The only saving grace is that this is issue 3, so maybe, just maybe there will be another monster in the end to fight Godzilla.

It'll probably be Mecha-King Ghidorah The Ghidorah fatigue is real...

[darthzilla99]

Noooo....nooooo.... not Ghidorah... again!

We just got Rivals 3, and it's clear that King Ghidorah is the "final boss" of the MMPR Crossover. This is what I feared with the sudden overuse of KG and Xilliens. The only saving grace is that this is issue 3, so maybe, just maybe there will be another monster in the end to fight Godzilla. I get that Ghidorah is popular, but hell, I'd prefer Space Godzilla over this even.

@Kaijukurt: have you read Rivals issue 3? While I understand you want a full series, I thought that delivered a nice one on one with Ghidorah.

To be fair, the original IDW run of comics overused SpaceGodzilla and Destroyah. I remember people complaining about them being used way too much as big final bosses while Ghidorah was shafted for the most part.

[Mac Daddy MM]

Not at all surprised by Ghidorah, but I will give credit where credit is due. The artists really upped their game up for Ghidorah on that cover. He looks great, especially compared to the lackluster work done on Godzilla, Anguirus and Biollante in the prior series. That cover is easily the best M&P related piece I've seen. The faces are giving me Grand King Ghidorah vibes. And the scales actually look like overlapping scales, so some much needed improvement.

Not at all expecting anything original, but maybe it won't be as bad as the first series.

[daveblackeye15]

The necks seem kinda short which isn't a bad thing per say and I love the malice in the faces.
Hm it'd be kind of neat if for once Mecha King Ghidorah showed up first seemingly is defeated only for Ghidorah to regain consciousness and blasts apart all the mechanical parts. Then regenerates to a full Ghidorah. Y'know the reverse of the movie.

Oh boy more Monsters and Protectors! I didn't mind that mini.

[Shenanigans]

Not gonna lie, while Ghidorah does look pretty good, I'm disappointed they didn't redesign him like they did Mothra. Heisei Ghidorah is pretty much the only Ghidorah they use in these comics, its boring.

It does amuse me that in IDW's comics, Ghidorah has both been overused yet underutilized. He's been in damn-near every series but has been a boring, largely weak villain. I want to see the Showa-era depiction that Godzilla doesn't face alone. I'm so tired of the one-on-one matches. Give me another DAM battle royale with all of Earth's monsters vs. the planet destroyer.

Not counting this series out yet but following some very creative issues of Rivals and the very strong effort all around by the MMPR-crossover, this one ain't quite winning me over.

[mikelcho]

Not gonna lie, while Ghidorah does look pretty good, I'm disappointed they didn't redesign him like they did Mothra. Heisei Ghidorah is pretty much the only Ghidorah they use in these comics, its boring.

It does amuse me that in IDW's comics, Ghidorah has both been overused yet underutilized. He's been in damn-near every series but has been a boring, largely weak villain. I want to see the Showa-era depiction that Godzilla doesn't face alone. I'm so tired of the one-on-one matches. Give me another DAM battle royale with all of Earth's monsters vs. the planet destroyer.

Not counting this series out yet but following some very creative issues of Rivals and the very strong effort all around by the MMPR-crossover, this one ain't quite winning me over.

IIRC, the King Ghidorah in the three-series mainstream IDW story line was supposed to be the Showa version that just looked like the Heisei version and was then reborn as Mecha-King Ghidorah, thus truly combining the two versions in said story line. If I'm wrong, however, please tell me where I'm wrong.

[kaijukurt]

@Kaijukurt: have you read Rivals issue 3? While I understand you want a full series, I thought that delivered a nice one on one with Ghidorah.

Yup, I did that enjoy that one-shot but with that being set on Planet X, I’m still itching for some city-destroying from Ghidorah, Showa style.

IIRC, the King Ghidorah in the three-series mainstream IDW story line was supposed to be the Showa version that just looked like the Heisei version and was then reborn as Mecha-King Ghidorah, thus truly combining the two versions in said story line. If I'm wrong, however, please tell me where I'm wrong.

I think the ongoing KG was more of a GMK (“good guy”, supernatural imagery with the mountain temple, movie-inspired design with curved horns & avian feet in Kingdom of Monsters) style, then adopted a Heisei + MKG design in ROE, an interesting retcon.

A separate, proper Showa-style Ghidorah was shown in a Cryog flashback in ROE #24.

It’s really interesting that there are multiple (well, at least 2) Ghidorahs in the ongoing continuity.

[KingCornetto]

ell me where I'm wrong.

I think the ongoing KG was more of a GMK (“good guy”, supernatural imagery with the mountain temple, movie-inspired design with curved horns & avian feet in Kingdom of Monsters) style, then adopted a Heisei + MKG design in ROE, an interesting retcon.

A separate, proper Showa-style Ghidorah was shown in a Cryog flashback in ROE #24.

It’s really interesting that there are multiple (well, at least 2) Ghidorahs in the ongoing continuity.

In an interview, Chris Mowry and Matt Frank talked about their ideas for “Season 3” if it were to happen, and the concept was Showa Ghidorah lands on Earth, but Godzilla’s still recovering from the final battle. So the other monsters attempt to defend their territory, but Ghidorah trounces them all. The only one who would keep going after them is the new to the series, Minilla, who would keep getting beaten up, but would never stop, always tried his best. Explicitly said in the interview to be based on Marvel Two-In-One Annual 7 where this cosmic Champion beats up every super strong hero and villian on Earth including Thor and Hulk. Even though he’s not as strong as the others, the Thing refuses to give up even when he’s on his hands and knees bleeding out. They wanted to take Minilla from the Scrappy to a character fans would root for just based on his spirit.

[Shenanigans]

^ I remembered reading something like that a while back, thanks for re-posting! Very interesting to hear. I'm not terribly interested in a return to the main IDW continuity, but I'll admit that sounds quite fascinating. Plus, honestly, a break from the big G himself would be welcome.

IIRC, the King Ghidorah in the three-series mainstream IDW story line was supposed to be the Showa version that just looked like the Heisei version and was then reborn as Mecha-King Ghidorah, thus truly combining the two versions in said story line. If I'm wrong, however, please tell me where I'm wrong.

I think the ongoing KG was more of a GMK (“good guy”, supernatural imagery with the mountain temple, movie-inspired design with curved horns & avian feet in Kingdom of Monsters) style, then adopted a Heisei + MKG design in ROE, an interesting retcon.

A separate, proper Showa-style Ghidorah was shown in a Cryog flashback in ROE #24.

It’s really interesting that there are multiple (well, at least 2) Ghidorahs in the ongoing continuity.

Three Ghidorahs if you count Keizer Ghidorah as well. It's a neat idea to treat Ghidorah as a species, and its a good way to feature different ones since there's so many Ghidorah variants in the movies (even though IDW can only use a few of them). Would be even cooler to have some of them meet face-to-face.

Also worth nothing - while Kingdom of Monsters treated Ghidorah like the GMK Earthly guardian, ROE has him (as Mecha-King Ghidorah) retreat into space, suggesting that he may have been an alien the whole time. But yeah, it was pretty rad seeing the proper, planet-decimating Ghidorah finally appear in a comic... less rad was the fact that it was only for one panel/page.

[mikelcho]

So, let me see if I've got this straight.

In the mainstream IDW Godzilla story, there are at least three Ghidorahs:

*one from Earth named King Ghidorah who ultimately became Mecha-King Ghidorah,
*another one from outer space whose name (if any) is unknown and is only briefly shown and just as briefly mentioned,
*another one probably from outer space named Monster X a.k.a. Keiser Ghidorah.

As Charlie Brown once said: "Am I right? I said, am I right?"

[Shenanigans]

So, let me see if I've got this straight.

In the mainstream IDW Godzilla story, there are at least three Ghidorahs:

*one from Earth named King Ghidorah who ultimately became Mecha-King Ghidorah,
*another one from outer space whose name (if any) is unknown and is only briefly shown and just as briefly mentioned,
*another one named Monster X a.k.a. Keiser Ghidorah.

As Charlie Brown once said: "Am I right? I said, am I right?"

You are correct!

I like when they use multiple versions of the same character within one continuity. The mainstream IDW continuity also featured all three Mechagodzillas, plus the two incarnations of Gigan (as the same Gigan who gets upgraded).

[kaijukurt]

In an interview, Chris Mowry and Matt Frank talked about their ideas for “Season 3” if it were to happen, and the concept was Showa Ghidorah lands on Earth, but Godzilla’s still recovering from the final battle. So the other monsters attempt to defend their territory, but Ghidorah trounces them all. The only one who would keep going after them is the new to the series, Minilla, who would keep getting beaten up, but would never stop, always tried his best. Explicitly said in the interview to be based on Marvel Two-In-One Annual 7 where this cosmic Champion beats up every super strong hero and villian on Earth including Thor and Hulk. Even though he’s not as strong as the others, the Thing refuses to give up even when he’s on his hands and knees bleeding out. They wanted to take Minilla from the Scrappy to a character fans would root for just based on his spirit.

Really cool series pitch!

You are correct!

I like when they use multiple versions of the same character within one continuity. The mainstream IDW continuity also featured all three Mechagodzillas, plus the two incarnations of Gigan (as the same Gigan who gets upgraded).

Speaking of MechaGodzilla, I always wanted the Heisei design to come back in the ongoing, given how it was able to KO both Godzilla and King Ghidorah! Would’ve been interesting to see how Godzilla would react to its return.

[daveblackeye15]

Hmm switch out Minya for Godzilla Jr. and I'd be mega into that. With Minya I'm just super into that.

[Shenanigans]

You are correct!

I like when they use multiple versions of the same character within one continuity. The mainstream IDW continuity also featured all three Mechagodzillas, plus the two incarnations of Gigan (as the same Gigan who gets upgraded).

Speaking of MechaGodzilla, I always wanted the Heisei design to come back in the ongoing, given how it was able to KO both Godzilla and King Ghidorah! Would’ve been interesting to see how Godzilla would react to its return.

It is interesting that, while damaged, he was still fully-functional at the end of KOM and then just up and disappeared. If it were up to me, I would've had him pop back up during the Mechagodzilla army arc and have the two man-made Mechagodzillas take on the alien army in an all-out Mechagodzilla war.

Even if that would be a bit too much, I still think it was one of the biggest missed opportunities from ROE to not at least have Kiryu and Showa Mechagodzilla fight properly when both were not only active in the same story arc, but they were literally in the same place at the same time. Yet, this is the sole panel that features the two together:



Oh well.

[TitanoGoji16]

I seem to recall it being said somewhere after Kingdom of Monsters that Super Mechagodzilla was remodeled/upgraded into Kiryu, but I may be misremembering things.

Also the whole Showa Mechagodzilla arc was just a mess in general.