It’s time for your regularly scheduled atomic warfare metaphor, So You Want to Read Comics.  This is our weekly feature where we take a look at a single topic or genre, then give you two comic book recommendations, perfect for new readers, based on that topic or genre.  This week, we’re looking at the King of Monsters, Godzilla.

Godzilla first stomped and crashed onto the scene in 1954, in his first feature film aptly called, Godzilla.  The beast was created by the team of Tomoyuki Tanaka, Eiji Tsuburaya, and Ishiro Honda.  This first movie effectively created the kaiju sub-genre of science fiction.  The radiation-breathing giant lizard has remained popular ever since his first appearance.  Godzilla has been featured in 38 different movies, at least 29 video games, and has even lent its name to both a Blue Oyster Cult and Eminem song.  Godzilla is considered to be a metaphor for the destruction and devastation caused by the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, yet as time has gone on the monster has been utilized to represent a multitude of different things that are often considered massive and difficult for humans to contend with.  Most recently Godzilla has been thrust back into the spotlight with the 2023 release of the film Godzilla Minus One, which has garnered massive critical and audience acclaim, will most likely become the highest-grossing Godzilla film, and at this time is the highest-grossing Japanese-produced film in US theaters.

Godzilla has no shortage of fans, so if you count yourself among them, here are a couple of comic books that can help introduce you to the world of comic book reading.

GODZILLA: HALF-CENTURY WAR

Writer: James Stokoe
Artist: James Stokoe
Publisher: IDW

As mentioned above, Godzilla is not just a giant lizard who blows up cities, he’s often used as a metaphor.  In the recent Godzilla Minus One, many have said that Godzilla is symbolic of survivor’s guilt and the desire to shake the feeling of helplessness that was common among Japanese people after WWII. This trend is on full display in Godzilla: Half-Century War.  Rather than showing the monster’s rampage on a large scale, this series focuses primarily on the point of view of one character named Ota.  He’s a fresh recruit in the military when he first encounters Godzilla in the 50s.  This interaction entwines Ota’s life with that of Godzilla as he becomes increasingly obsessed with trying to take the monster down.  As time moves from decade to decade, the threat of Godzilla and other monsters increases, mirroring the shifting nature of war and the increasing potency of weapons.  It’s also a bit of a love letter to Godzilla in that it features a few easter eggs and nods to some deep cuts from Godzilla’s history.

KAIJUMAX

Writer: Zander Cannon
Artist: Zander Cannon
Publisher: Oni Press

You might not think that it’s possible to hide a deep, engrossing, personal story that speaks to a wide swath of social issues and the dysfunctions of prison systems, to that I say, “Have you met my friend Kaijumax?”.  In this series, the biggest and baddest monsters have all been rounded up and placed into a maximum-security prison designed to keep them away from humanity.  Yet, as the series progresses the reader comes to find out that many of these monsters had lives, families, and goals beyond the prison walls.  The art is vivid and colorful, with amazing creature designs, which all work together to give the reader a false sense of security before hitting them with questions about the importance of society’s feeling of security versus the rights even a monster has to freedom and is there something innate that creates a monster or is it simply the perception of them that makes them a monster.  Believe it or not, this is also a funny read, so it really has everything going for it, especially for lovers of kaiju fiction.

What are your favorite Godzilla stories?  What did you think of these recommendations?  Let us know in the comments section below.

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