Originally published on Set The Tape
It’s hard to say if there’s a more iconic a nemesis for Godzilla than the tree headed dragon (wyvern actually, as pointed out in this issue) King Ghidorah. There’s a reason why whenever he turns up in the films it takes several monsters to take him down, whether that’s in the original movies, the US versions of them, or even in comics where it takes costumed heroes in giant robots to help. Godzilla seems to rarely go it alone against the golden Goliath, but this issue of Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors – All Hail The King gives readers the first round of the fight, and lets him do just that.
A lot happens in this issue, and there’s a great deal of time-skipping that takes place. In order to help facilitate this the issue gets broke down into segments where we get a brief introduction from Cederic on his MeToob channel, giving us the pertinent information that we need for each part. For example, the book opens with him telling his viewers (and us the readers) that people around the world have been having strange dreams over the last few weeks. Everyone is dreaming about the same name over and over again: Ghidorah. This acts as a nice segue into us catching up with the Xillians, who are digging deeper towards the slumbering monster. The dreams are happening because the beast is getting ready to wake up, and the Xillians are putting their plan into action.
This kind of structure is utilised more than once, when the next MeToob catch-up lets us know that Ghidorah has been appearing in major cities around the world, causing destruction, then flying away. This issue is covering a lot of ground when it comes to time, and using time jumps in this way is actually a really good way of doing it. We get Cedric telling his audience about what’s been happening in a way that feels natural and true to an internet vlogger, and it means we don’t have to sit through clunky dialogue scenes where characters awkwardly talk through information that they’d already know. It’s not only easy on the reader, but it makes the jumps in time feel natural and even worthwhile, as we don’t have to get bogged down in the less important stuff.
So Ghidorah’s been rampaging across the world – ‘But what about Godzilla?’ I hear you ask. Well, this is addressed quite well in the book as the kids talk about something that tends to happen in almost every Godzilla story but isn’t always pointed out: Godzilla is pretty lazy when it comes to fighting monsters. The monster can be destroying a city, killing thousands, but if it’s on the other side of the world why should he care? Yes, this is different in the Monsterverse movies where he goes out after threats, but here he’s happy to sit back and do nothing until Ghidorah gets up in his business. This also allows for the kids to talk more about the mysterious Kaiju that Karen has a connection with, and how those connections work.
But Ghidorah does come where he probably shouldn’t, and Godzilla takes a dislike to that. A good portion of the issue is given over to the fight that breaks out between them, and this is where the art team of Dan Schoening and Luis Antonio Delgado really shine. The entire book looks great and has tons of personality, but the monster fights are what we’re here to see, and this one is really rather good. The two monsters feel like they’re a challenge for the other, and there’s a decent sense that this isn’t something that Godzilla could easily handle on his own; opening the door for the other Kaiju to arrive next issue.
Speaking of upcoming things, there’s a preview of the next issue cover at the back of the book that gives us a tantalising tease of who the new monster is going to be. I’m not going to say that my prediction in the last issue was correct, but I will say I’m looking forward to seeing it. With only two more issues left the series is looking to be building towards a pretty exciting finale.
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