It’s been two years since we’ve seen Godzilla last. And where we left off was from a helicopter aerial view witnessing kaiju history. The entire world and all the Titans bowing at the feet of the one true King of the monsters. With the help of his lovely lady Mothra, and an entire nuke to the face, Godzilla in expert fashion became the walking Christmas tree that we all knew he could be and laid a merciless, uncomfortable beatdown on his legendary golden god rival with three heads. Luckily for us, Legendary Comics has been gracious enough to come out with two prequel graphic novels detailing us on what we’ve missed since the G-Man chewed through Monster Zero’s third head like a goddamn chicken wing. And you fans of the Lizard King will want to get your scaly fingers on Godzilla: Dominion.
Fast forward one earth-stopping pandemic later. The world rumbles beneath our feet and calls for a legendary clash once more. But times are different. We’ve never been more divided as a country so it only makes sense in these trying times for this movie to shatter the Monsterverse fanbase into two as well. It’s Team Edward vs. Team Jacob once more except with way more scales and way more Florida.
Godzilla versus King Kong. Place your bets.
One. Will. Fall.
But enough about marketing, Two years is a long long time.
So this graphic novel has a lot of time to play with. We’ve all had countless negative experiences with passionless movie tie-in cash grabs, But this comic provides several easter eggs, and moments referred to from a team that clearly cares about its source material. For those that care, there is an attention to detail found in this book that you will greatly appreciate.
In the time since Godzilla: King of the Monsters, The Kaiju have grown restless and irritable. There aren’t enough resources to properly feed all of the woken giants and Gojira can only be in one place at one time. Godzilla proves to be a less than pacifistic ruler of this realm and lays the Smackdown when he sees fit, but it’s becoming a more frequent challenge for him to keep the Titans in line than he wishes it would be. Thanks to writer Greg Keyes, we’re rewarded with a peak behind the curtain of what Godzilla’s life was like in the before times. Ritualistic underwater palaces of worship, ancient societies, and we even get a glimpse of an ancient rival that took everything away from him. In one heartstopping moment, Drew Edward Johnson’s artwork transports us to a beautiful city with technology and architecture beyond our most wild dreams. He draws this familiar spot heavily trafficked by an ancient civilization. But the panel next to it reminds you why you know the location well. Now it’s a fiery, smoldering ash and ruin of what once was. It’s Godzilla’s home. The very place that Dr. Ishiro Serizawa would find his final resting place as he would say goodbye to his oldest friend.Â
Barnaby Legg does a great job providing the mythology and bringing context to the mysteries you’ve all been wondering about. This team has all the answers, knows all the secrets and it has way too much fun sadistically teasing you and giving you one crumb at a time. Everything is beautifully detailed, drawn, and shaded to accurately show scale for these giant monster battles. Godzilla: Dominion shows you what happens when you leave a force of nature like Godzilla in an undesirable position and without a home. It’s a solid precursor to Godzilla vs. Kong and the perfect comic to get you ready for the next legendary battle coming at the end of the month in theaters everywhere and on HBO Max later this month!
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