The Good
I'm not normally a big fan of movie-related comics. There's always something missing in the execution. Released through Legendary Comics, this hardcover Godzilla comic is obviously tied to the upcoming movie. Two things that immediately caught my attention were the cover by Art Adams and the fact this was co-written by Max Borenstein, the guy that wrote the screenplay for the movie. It is a nice looking hardcover and I am a sucker for those.
As for what's inside, the story takes place before the movie. If you're familiar with Godzilla, you might think you know what his origin is. It turns out, it's not quite what you think. This little detail makes an interesting change from some of the pre-existing tellings of how Godzilla came to be.
There are moments when the art is pretty cool. There's a fine line between making Godzilla look menacing or a little silly. Seeing the different locations and other things Godzilla deals with was interesting.
The Bad
The story jumps around a little. This isn't too much of a problem but there were some moments I had to flip back to see what year it was to remind myself at what point in the timeline the section was dealing with.
I mentioned the cool parts of the art. Unfortunately there were some moments that were pretty muddy. Some of the inking and colors made it a little difficult to keep track of what was going on. This was compacted with the parts where the story jumped forward a little.
Even though this story is set as a prequel (of sorts) for the movie, it's likely that it won't be completely essential in viewing the movie. Fans of Godzilla will be interested but the average viewer may be on the fence.
The Verdict
As with Pacific Rim, Legendary Comics has released a hardcover prequel for Godzilla to get fans even more excited for the upcoming movie. Often movie tie-in comics fall flat but the story here does provide some interesting tidbits about how Godzilla will be interpreted in the movie. We get some cool moments in the comic but with multiple artists, some parts felt a little rushed and hard to follow. Fans of Godzilla and the upcoming movie should consider checking this out. Others could likely get by waiting.
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