Graphic Novel Review: GODZILLA: KINGDOM of MONSTERS Vol. 1

Being a very big Godzilla fan I was very excited that IDW Publishing was putting together an ongoing series based on the Japanese giant monster. The resulting first four issues of the series Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters has been collected here in Vol. 1. The series is written by The Goon's very own Eric Powell and Tracy Marsh with artwork by Phil Hester. I'm a big fan of Powell's darkly comic series The Goon and was hoping for something similar here. Boy was I wrong.

This new series has no main human characters to follow (as they are killed off within an issue or two) and the character of Godzilla himself is treated as nothing more than a mindless drone. Along for the ride are all of the Big G's film enemies (who seem to be appearing out of nowhere from all over the world). Now this would seem like an interesting concept for the series but everything is taking too long to develop as by the forth issue only the beginning of a huge battle has actually taken place.

Powell has replaced his wit and sense of humor with bland action sequences and despite the fact that Hester's artwork fits with the series well it doesn't really bring the series to life. What I do enjoy is Powell's multiple mysteries that seem to be just seeds of a larger story that he is setting up but he'll have to get to some of these soon or risk losing me (as well as others) as a reader.

I must say that I did enjoy the cover gallery at the end of the book which collects all the various alternate covers for the original issues as the covers truly present the possibilities of the series should it be given a chance to expand on the larger story that Powell (and Marsh) seem to have in store for readers.