I saw this exchange and the discussion of the Showa Box-set in the Gamera thread and just wanted to comment on something. For context, some users (MM, Godzilla21, and a few others), were discussing the artwork on the Criterion set:
Mac Daddy MM wrote: ↑Tue Jul 12, 2022 2:30 am
Chrispy_G wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 10:26 pm
I mean, is anyone looking at the Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster Criterion artwork and saying "What, Godzilla doesn't look like THAT in the movie, that kind of art-style isn't in the movie! 0/10!
I DO hate how almost all of the artwork is obviously just work for hire and not done by true fans, going as far as traces (or VERY SIMILAR poses) for kaiju from other media AND use the complete wrong versions (again). IIRC, GvMZ uses Heisei Rodan, MvG has 02 and Heisei, etc. The package itself has skreeonking BIO-GOJI.
0/10? Nah, that's some Daizula DA caliber scoring. But definitely less than a 5.
While I think the choice of Heisei Rodan is strange for IOTAM, and it is likely that a few of the posters were "work for hire", I wanted to personally provide some key background info about the main cover and it's illustrator Shimizu Yuko. Shimizu Yuko is a very well known Japanese illustrator from NYC, and works as an instructor at the School of Visual Art (SVA). My ex-girlfriend was a protege/student under her and everything I've heard about her is pretty positive.
I suggest listening to this, because it provides insight, and you see sketches and rough drafts of the cover, that were then submitted before she did the actual work. She pretty explicitly states that it's her own version of Godzilla. There's also a story to it as well, and she has a very interesting insight into it all.
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts ... onic-beast
I'm paraphrasing her words here but she essentially says, "Godzilla was my childhood. It's interesting because what you think it was when you were a kid and what you know it as an adult is completely different. It is a lot darker...As a kid we just didn't think of these."
In other words, even if it strikes a resemblance to Bio Goji, it's her own version of her character, and it's likely that a multitude of sources, including her own memory of what she thought Godzilla was, played a part in the creation of that design.
This is all to say while perhaps some of the illustrations have strange choices (Heisei Rodan), it wasn't some slapdashed effort, and I think the fact that they got a really welll respected artist to do it means a lot. And it's not just her. Pretty much everyone else is a well-respected illustrator. Also worth noting that some of the illustrations appear to be partially edited by Criterion to fit a theme/specifc version. Angela Rizza's Mothra vs. Godzilla's illustration looks a little weird and an overload of yellow, until you see the original version has a bright blue sky, and the entire thing melds together with this sort of cosmic and fantastical energy. I'm still not sure what exactly Benjamin Marra was going for, on the IOTAM, but it's worth noting he's an award winning cult artist known for weird stunts. It's possible he was intentionally making a bizarre cover, that wouldn't feel out of place amongst older VHS covers, complete with the wrong monster. Many of the other artists, such as Art Adams, Simon Gane, are Godzilla comic artists, or well respected mangakas, comic book artists etc...
Honestly the full page spread of Godzilla destroying Tokyo Tower by Shimizu Yuko with the pink sky is one of the best pieces of Godzilla art I've ever seen, and I think a lot of the art in the collection is full of wild and ecclectic energy.
Sorry for the rambling, I just really enjoyed looking at the art, then at the illustrators portfolios, and seeing what I think they are attempting to do with their own style.