I am always down for a good Godzilla story. The Kaiju genre as a whole has some of my favorite stories. So when I heard that IDW was not only doing a new Godzilla comic book but one set in a new universe titled the “Kai-Sei Era” I definitely had it on my radar. Having the creative team of Tim Seeley and Nikola Čižmešija certainly raises the bar as both have done some excellent comics in the past. We got the chance to check an early copy of Godzilla #1 by IDW Publishing ahead of its July 23rd release date. Find out how it turned out with our advance review.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Nikola Čižmešija
Colorist: Francesco Segala
Letterer: Nathan Widick
GODZILLA #1 SOLICITATION
“The Kai-Sei Era, an all-new shared GODZILLA universe, starts here! The first GODZILLA ongoing series in a decade, the Kai-Sei Era presents a wild new take on the franchise, complete with a brand-new mythology, new powers, new designs, new characters, and plenty of twists and surprises. Whether you love GODZILLA or love superhero comics, GODZILLA is designed to be an accessible entry point for anyone and everyone.” – IDW Publishing
REVIEW
With how often we’ve seen the King of the Monsters origin being told in just the last decade alone Tim Seeley and Nikola Čižmešija weren’t in an easy position. Godzilla #1 could’ve easily felt like a retread of everything we have seen in each reboot of the franchise. To their credit, Seeley and Čižmešija showed they understood this by leaning into what Godzilla’s impact is to the world and turning that into the strength of this debut.
The opening of Godzilla #1 does a good job merging a bunch of ideas from the various Godzilla eras to create its own history. Seeley’s narration that goes over Godzilla’s history helps inform the modern setting of this series. Embracing the first appearance of Godzilla happening in 1954, the date of the first movie, created a sense of discovery of what that impact 70 years later has.
Which leads to how Godzilla’s presence lead to this world having their own form of mutants tied directly to the King of the Monsters debut a strong explanation. The world was altered in response to what it means to have Godzilla a constant presence in it. Whether that is people getting powers or cities with massive walls built for protection, everything is shaped by the King of the Monsters.
This creates an interesting blend of ideas from other franchises like Power Rangers, Pacific Rim, and X-Men. The cast of characters hits on feeling that they would only be part of this specific world. And for long-time Godzilla fans some of the concepts and characters that appear help to further sell this mostly new cast of characters.
The cast development also allows Seeley still play with Godzilla being a living legend. The King of the Monsters’ presence is constantly felt. Every character’s action is related to what they need to do to survive.
On the art side of things, Čižmešija artwork hits on making this more of an anime in comic book form. Godzilla is a towering force of nature whenever we do see them. Because of that even when the setting is mostly city base the scope feels big because of what the King of the Monsters’ presence in. That said, there are moments in Godzilla that Čižmešija artwork can be messy. When those moment happen it is tough to tell what is going on in a panel. Those moments are few and far apart but when they happen it does slightly stop the comics momentum.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Godzilla #1 delivers a fun start to the new Kai-Sei Era for the franchise. This hits on all the notes fans of the Kaiju genre will want to read and see. The blending of the different things seen throughout the franchise’s history creates a world and cast of characters you want to read more about.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
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