Kaiju fans have been treated with this series because Chris Mowry has delivered the monster battles with passionate intensity. He has dipped into the most obscure monsters (Kamoebas, for example), and continues to do so with this issue. Sanda, in all his brown-ness and the very green Gaira make Gargantuan appearances in issue 10 as they do battle with Godzilla. Now here are all fanboys’ dreams realized: we get to see battles between Big G and monsters that he never fought in the Toho films. Mowry stays dedicated to The War of the Gargantuas (1966) storyline by having Sanda being the passive one and Gaira being the belligerent monster.
As the twin monsters attack Australia, Godzilla pops up to show why he’s the King of the Monsters. Lucy and Woods intervene with some sonic weapons and send Big G packing. Meanwhile, Sanda and Gaira get collected to the island where all the monsters are being deposited.
The issue has its strengths, namely a fast introduction to Godzilla in a very creative way. Also, as mentioned, we have two kaiju that never fought Godzilla getting a chance to rumble with the King of the Monsters. Throw in Matt Frank doing an excellent job depicting the details of the Gargantuas with all their furry hides, and you have a very balanced episode.
The one weakness that I observed for this issue is that the Gargantuas appear for no distinct reason. Sure, it’s cool that they appear, but above that coolness is a story that needs to be told. We understand from the Mothra explication last issue that some monsters are representative of Earth; therefore, the twin kaiju could be attracted to the impending war.
I’m hoping that monsters aren’t being used only as a gimmick but as a larger element of this arc. With issue 14 (the last of this series) closing in only four books away, I am anticipating a great climax from Mowry and crew. He built up a great series so far, and therefore I see no reason to doubt his conclusion.
Score: 4/5
Story: Chris Mowry and Matt Frank Writer: Chris Mowry Artist: Matt Frank Publisher: IDW Publishing Price: $3.99 Release Date: 3/26/14