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Comics Catch-Up 074: Godzilla Half Century War
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It's undoubtedly a visual marvel, but how well does the story of James Stokoe's 5-issue 50-year Godzilla epic from 2012 hold up?
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and 'Comics Catch-Up'
00:00:00
Speaker
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00:00:28
Speaker
Oh, my God, it's comic. I think it's a special one in the world. This is Comics Catch-Up. Hey, twerp. You better not be mine.
00:00:40
Speaker
Come on. Come on.
00:00:52
Speaker
Where we read comics suggested by you, the listeners of War Rocket Apex, that we have missed. Oh, hey, how long has it been?
00:01:04
Speaker
Let's catch up. This is Comics Catch-Up.
Deep Dive into 'Godzilla Half-Century War'
00:01:08
Speaker
The show where Matt Wilson, that's me. And Chris Sims, who is he. we read the comics that we did not read the first time around.
00:01:17
Speaker
ah Even though we probably should have. it They were right up our alley, and you know we just missed them for whatever reason. and And we talk about them. Sometimes they're from a long time ago.
00:01:31
Speaker
Sometimes they're from not very long ago at all. And that is the case with ah With this one? I mean, relatively. It's from 2012. Yeah, man, I mean, that is a long time ago.
00:01:43
Speaker
It's 12 years ago. I regret to inform you that that is a long time ago, and we are now old. Yeah, it was 13 years ago, and I said 12. That shows you where I'm at in my brain.
00:01:56
Speaker
But yes, we're going to be talking about, on this episode, IDW's published Godzilla Half-Century War... Written and drawn by James Stokoe.
00:02:10
Speaker
With color assists by Heather Breckel. And those are all the credits for art on the book. um There's an editor credit.
00:02:22
Speaker
But like this is this is pretty much a one-man show on writing, art, all of it.
James Stokoe's Work and Kickstarter Controversy
00:02:34
Speaker
And with that in mind, this is an incredibly impressive comic book. Five issues of comic book. Would you agree, Chris? i thought I thought that was a comma. I didn't realize that was a period.
00:02:47
Speaker
it was It was a period, for now, yeah. Yes. ah i I mean, yeah. like I remember reading at least this first issue when this came out, and yeah enjoying it, and... ah really being impressed by what Stokka was doing here.
00:03:08
Speaker
um Which seems like a guy that I haven't heard about in a while.
00:03:18
Speaker
Yeah. Which now that I'm saying it has me extremely nervous. i I believe he's still with us. i don't think he has passed on. That's not what I'm nervous about.
00:03:30
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Um... I don't know. i i If there's any controversy involving James Stokoe,
00:03:41
Speaker
I don't know about it. There was a deluxe edition of all of his Godzilla work that came out last year. Maybe it's just that I'm not reading a lot of Godzilla comics, and that's what he's been up to.
00:03:54
Speaker
That could be it I don't think exclusively that's what it is. And then I also don't read a lot of indie books because i am ah ah a simpleton. Let's see. He did some art for a Venom annual in 2018. He did some stuff in 2019.
00:04:14
Speaker
He had a Dark Horse book called Orphan and the Five Beasts 2022. I kind remember that.
00:04:22
Speaker
That seems to be the last, at least in this bibliography, the last published work that he's done. It could just be that he's slowed down. you know like ah But I don't know. i really i don't Look, it's hard to keep up.
00:04:42
Speaker
It's hard to keep up. It just occurred to me, and you know, um dude I don't like surprises, Matt. I do remember – just searched for James Stokoe controversy.
00:04:58
Speaker
That's the trick. That's the trick. And I do vaguely remember this. I was going to bring this up. there was There was some controversy, and this was around the time or not long after this book was published.
00:05:10
Speaker
And so a lot of this gets it kind of swirled together in my head. um But roundabouts 2013 – there was a Kickstarter for a project called Sullivan sluggers.
00:05:28
Speaker
remember that? i've have vague memories of this. Yes. Uh, so it was a project that Stokoe was doing the art for a different, uh, Mark Andrew Smith was writing it.
00:05:48
Speaker
Hmm. And I, it it it was something it was something where like they were like publicly sniping at each other, the two of them, over who was to blame for it being very late and ah and like people not receiving it.
00:06:12
Speaker
but i That's all I really remember about it.
00:06:19
Speaker
and
00:06:23
Speaker
That's what comes up when I get James Stokoe controversy. All right, then I think we're in the clear to talk about this Godzilla comic. Yeah.
Plot Overview and Godzilla's Evolution
00:06:30
Speaker
It's good. Now that that's done, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
00:06:33
Speaker
Yeah, it's good. it's um the The idea of it is, based on the title, is that it covers 50 years of one guy chasing after Godzilla.
00:06:49
Speaker
So it' it starts in Japan in 1954, which like is the first appearance of Godzilla like canonically. ah And he is part of like a a Japanese army company that like encounters Godzilla when he rampages through Tokyo and tries to hold him back.
00:07:15
Speaker
And you know they they don't do any good at it. But they they really, really try to stop him. And then they watch um the bit where he like gets taken down out in the ocean.
00:07:29
Speaker
um And then he gets recruited, this guy, to hit him and his buddy. um Their names are Murakami and Yoshihara. um They get recruited to be part of an international regiment.
00:07:46
Speaker
that their whole deal is that they take down Godzilla. They're called the Anti-Megalosaurus Force. And so the next four issues, as again, as the title indicates, follow these two guys and the Anti-Megalosaurus Force for the next 50 years, trying to take down Godzilla.
00:08:10
Speaker
Yes. I will say, ah as far as the the format goes, like each issue takes place in a different decade and and involves different a different Godzilla incident.
00:08:21
Speaker
That's really cool. I feel like Stokoe maybe made mistake, and one that ah i would probably make.
00:08:34
Speaker
Because Matt, you we've been playing this game, Pips, lately. We have. It's on the the New York Times games app. It involves dice.
00:08:46
Speaker
Dominoes. Dominoes, not dice. Dominoes, yeah. Dice and domino. ah It... I... and Consider myself a smart person. um I have some college.
00:08:58
Speaker
I constantly mess up the greater than and less than signs in that game. Like, specifically in that game. ah And so I know that sometimes mathematical terms and notations can be a little difficult.
00:09:15
Speaker
So I like the idea of it's the half-century war. It's 50-year war. And each issue is going to take place in a different decade. So it's five decades.
00:09:30
Speaker
But here's the problem. It starts in 1950. So if you wanted to 50, 1954. So if you wanted to do each issue different decade, if you wanted to do each issue in a different decade Going to the end of it, that would be six issues, not five. Right. So so this skips the 90s.
00:09:49
Speaker
It skips the 90s, which is a bummer because that means we didn't get a Godzilla 1998 issue. That's true. Maybe that was on purpose. I don't know.
00:10:03
Speaker
But yes, the first issue is 1954. The second issue is 1967 Vietnam.
00:10:09
Speaker
ah The third issue is in 1974 in Ghana, 1975 in Ghana. The fourth issue is in Bombay in 1987.
00:10:24
Speaker
And then the final issue is in 2002 what in ah what is just called The End of the World. um I think they're, well, they kind of travel around to different places in that issue, but um I think they're largely in Antarctica.
00:10:40
Speaker
um But it's a very um distinctly alternate history. like I mean, as it would have to be. And that's one of my favorite things about it.
00:10:51
Speaker
yeah Because the arrival of Godzilla vastly changes world history. And like the Vietnam War still happens, but...
00:11:05
Speaker
the outcome is drastically different because Godzilla is there. um And so, like, at first I thought it was going to be like, okay, Godzilla's going to show up in the midst of all these real-world conflicts.
00:11:18
Speaker
But after the second issue, it kind of abandons that as an idea. yeah And I like that. i i I like the idea that Godzilla and then all of the other Godzilla-related kaiju showing up um completely changes um the the history of Earth.
00:11:43
Speaker
Likewise, what you think this book is about is not what it's actually about, which is also very much in following with you know typical Godzilla. like and how How Godzilla stories evolve and escalate.
00:12:00
Speaker
You know, Matt, it's interesting that you say that, because I'm curious now, what would you say this comic is about? I think it's ultimately about... I mean, I guess this is pretty common for Godzilla stories.
00:12:16
Speaker
Like, the first issue absolutely presents Godzilla as a monster and a villain. And... our two protagonists are chasing after him and trying to stop him for the destruction he wreaked on Tokyo and that they saw firsthand.
00:12:35
Speaker
Right. um So like Murakami is, is fully like, I'm going to kill that fucking monster at the end of the first issue.
00:12:46
Speaker
you Issue two sort of continues that issue three I think is where is where the other kaiju start first showing up. Well, Anguirus is in Vietnam in issue two.
00:13:02
Speaker
um But the issue three is where more and more monsters are arriving. like You're getting Rodan and Megalon and Mothra and so on and so forth. And um it also brings in the like human villain.
00:13:21
Speaker
who is this guy who was in the AMF, the anti... ah I want to say Megalodon, which is not correct. Megalosaurus.
00:13:32
Speaker
um He was in the AMF, but he's not in it anymore. And his name was Deverich, or Deverick. And he's this scientist who has created a machine that attracts kaiju.
00:13:48
Speaker
Like, it's sort of... creates a frequency that they hate to hear, and so they go toward it to try to stop it. That was the original idea, was it was originally designed as a repellent, and this guy stole it from the AMF and redesigned it as an attractor.
00:14:07
Speaker
Right. um And so he is he is using this, and he wants to like sell it. like it It becomes this thing where it's like he thinks it's this really valuable piece of technology that he wants to sell. Because you could... Why bother with ah fighting a war when you could just send Godzilla?
00:14:31
Speaker
Right. Yeah. So he he makes bigger and bigger versions of this, like to the point where, when they're in Bombay, the one that he makes is now attracting kaiju from space.
00:14:47
Speaker
So that's how we get Ghidorah and Space Godzilla. Yeah, i am not ah I'm not a man of Godzilla's. um It's not really my thing, but... ah My ah friend and former co-writer, Chad Bowers, is a a big Godzilla guy.
00:15:07
Speaker
um He's a guyzilla. white Yes, yes. He's a ah die Godzilla guy. see Big. Get it. um So I texted him a picture of that, of of the Space Godzilla.
00:15:21
Speaker
and um Because he's not actually named. He's the only one who isn't named. he he is He is just straight up Space Godzilla. Yeah. Yeah. So I was like, hey, who is this guy? And he texted me back, that's Space Godzilla. He's a Godzilla from space.
00:15:35
Speaker
Yep. And I appreciate that. I appreciate him being that thorough in the explanation. Yep.
00:15:47
Speaker
that's That's it. That's Space Godzilla. ah Anyway, the as you might anticipate, the final issue involves, in particular, ah like the main protagonist...
00:16:10
Speaker
doing a team-up with Godzilla, like you might expect. like Like often happens in Godzilla stories. But, you know, like I was curious whether this was going to be like a Godzilla minus one, or like some other Godzilla stories where Godzilla goes from being the rampaging murderous monster to the people's hero, you know? So by the, by the end of the final issue, Murakami is piloting Mechagodzilla to help Godzilla take out these even bigger, even worse monsters from space.
00:16:55
Speaker
um And they all get destroyed in like the big, cool, black hole explosion that, you know, finally, um, gets rid of so many of these monsters. I, there is one part where, um, he's like angry at Godzilla, but not for the reason you would think he, he just wants Godzilla to acknowledge him.
00:17:21
Speaker
Acknowledge me. He's saying, um, I'll make you notice me. Look at me. You damn monster. Look at me. um And it is – actually love that part. Yeah, that was good.
00:17:37
Speaker
If there's one thing that I would say that this book is kind of light on, like, there are things that this book is definitely big on.
Art Style and Character Development Discussion
00:17:44
Speaker
b Lizards. Lizards. Monsters.
00:17:48
Speaker
Drawings of monsters. yeah Like, very cool, very good drawings of monsters. It's got that to spare, right? It's got like big monster action. it's got cool It's got Godzilla doing cool shit. like
00:18:09
Speaker
ah There's one part where he gets like thrown up in the air, but he like comes down and does a move, and it's great. like it's It's full of that kind of stuff, and it's full of the alternate history stuff. and the The human villain and all of that kind of thing.
00:18:27
Speaker
But I do think it lacks a little bit of taking any time to really build these characters. So I do appreciate in that last issue where we get that sort of turn from Murakami where we we see how he's changed.
00:18:47
Speaker
Like how how his motivation has changed. Where after he's been hunting Godzilla for so long and he's been trying for so long just to get Godzilla's attention that that's ultimately what he wants in the end.
00:19:03
Speaker
It's just for Godzilla to like look at him. um That's pretty good. I kind of wish there was more
00:19:13
Speaker
learning exactly what these characters want um throughout. but there's There's too much going on to really deal with it. a I think an example of that is actually one of my favorite moments of the comic. ah yeah Because I, like, I'm always a little torn with your giant monster stuff, because I'm not fucking there to see dudes, you know? Sure.
00:19:44
Speaker
um I'm there to see monsters. ah You know, I was very much of that opinion as well for a long time. And I think that there are monster movies that really don't handle that well. Like,
00:19:56
Speaker
I didn't love the – whatever that last American Godzilla movie was. the The one that built to the better Godzilla X-Kong?
00:20:07
Speaker
no No, no, no, no. Not Godzilla X-Kong. The first one that was just Godzilla. Okay. I like those movies. From 2014, I think, is when that movie came out.
00:20:18
Speaker
Yeah, Godzilla 2014. The Gareth Edwards one. I don't love that movie. I like the movies that come after it. um But I don't like that movie because I do think it is too much about the people.
00:20:31
Speaker
Yes. But there are also movies that ultimately are about the people that I love. And the one of those that is the best one is Godzilla Minus One. um Here's what I'll say to that. is ah I was describing...
00:20:47
Speaker
to a mutual friend of ours who hasn't seen him, I was describing ah Godzilla vs. Kong and how Godzilla fights Kong and you get three fights and so you get the the one that Godzilla wins the one that Kong wins, but they don't do the third one as a tie. The third one fucking Godzilla wins.
00:21:11
Speaker
He's king of monsters. He gets the rubber match. He wins the rubber match, yeah. yeah But... ah And our our friend, our buddy Josh, was like, well, that's, you know, Godzilla's got radioactive breath and King Kong's just but doesn't have anything. i'm like, oh, no, no, Josh, you don't know about his axe that he got from the center of the world.
00:21:33
Speaker
ah That can get powered up by Godzilla radiation. Nor do you know about how Godzilla can go Super Saiyan. That's in the next movie. But yes, i that's what I'm there to see.
00:21:45
Speaker
So I feel like there is a balance because you do want, you know, you don't want them just smashing up empty cities made a cardboard, right? Right. Yeah. You do want to have a viewpoint character and have stakes and have something going on. Somebody's got to be there to tell you what's going on.
00:22:04
Speaker
And there's a really cool moment where you find out... This is in ah number three. This the one that's in 1975 in Ghana.
00:22:17
Speaker
yeah And you find out that the AMF has tasked a bunch of two-person squads to these... so like each one Each kaiju gets a team to kind of... like focus on that one and see what their deal is.
00:22:38
Speaker
yeah And we get like a lot of very cool visual design that there's kind of a lot of storytelling, but we never see those characters again, except for the two dudes who are there to find Mothra, who love Mothra.
00:22:55
Speaker
Yeah. Who are like, hell yeah, Mothra's kicking ass out there. But like the guys who are sent after Megalon are like, like big commando guys in armor. The Mothra guys are hippies.
00:23:08
Speaker
the like The guys who are going after Hedora are like in hazmat suits. And the guys going after Batra look like fucking John Constantine.
00:23:22
Speaker
they're They're punks, yeah. yeah but So like there's a lot really cool stuff there that, again... Of those 12 characters, we see two of them.
00:23:35
Speaker
We do not see 10 of them ever again. And i kind of um i kind of wish it's like, oh man, like i would really like to see more of those. But I'm kind of like, no, that is also the perfect amount to see those guys.
00:23:47
Speaker
Yeah, it it is. i agree with you that there's a lot of like visual story storytelling going on there that I think is very cool. That like... lets you know their deal as well as the monsters deal. Like the the the two for Rodan are wearing like flight suits.
00:24:05
Speaker
yeah Because of course they would be. um But yeah, the Mothra guys being hippies is very funny. Yes. oh it's like it's It's very cool.
00:24:18
Speaker
i I think it really works to kind of like... That's a really tricky balance to to walk, to... Do something like that that has enough to be intriguing and not enough to be distracting that you're not seeing it.
00:24:37
Speaker
I guess I shouldn't say we never see any of those guys again, because there's a couple of them that are in that issue, but the only ones with major roles are the Mothra guys. yeah yeah Yeah, they appear, but they don't really have roles, yeah so to speak.
00:24:52
Speaker
ah It's like have like most of the characters from Pacific Rim. Right, yeah. I have to admit that it's a shame that I read this in 2025 and not in 2012 or 2013.
00:25:07
Speaker
Because I think if I had read this in 2012 or 2013, it would have blown me away. And there's still things about it that blow me away. i like This art is like unimpeachable.
00:25:18
Speaker
It's gorgeous and beautifully rendered and so detailed and... cool. like It makes these kaiju look so cool.
00:25:31
Speaker
yeah and mean We talked about a little bit when we were deciding to do this about the way that Stoko draws Godzilla's... ah Which been transliterated mostly as Creonk, but...
00:25:47
Speaker
is letters that are drawn into the waveform of the sound. Which, the first time that happens, that shit fucking rules.
00:25:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's like it's not a two-page splash, because there's some inset panels, but it's most of the page of just Godzilla rampaging through Tokyo and... and the sound effect coming out of his mouth.
00:26:16
Speaker
And it is the best possible introduction, like full body shot introduction to Godzilla. like it it's It's perfect. You what else I like about that page?
00:26:29
Speaker
What? And this this carries on throughout. oh Snooker draws Godzilla the way Godzilla looks. like It looks like a suit.
00:26:39
Speaker
it's Yes, it's got like seams. Yeah, he's got knee pads on. Yeah. it's it And like yeah like visible seams on his arms and legs. yeah And you know what? Hell yeah. That's what Godzilla looks like.
00:26:51
Speaker
That's what Godzilla looks like, yeah. Yeah, man. He's on model. You've got to give him that. Unfortunately for me, though, ah the point I was going to make is that I read this after seeing Godzilla Minus One.
00:27:06
Speaker
And because of the conceit of this, I could not help but make the comparison between the two.
00:27:17
Speaker
And while this is impressive in many, many ways, I had um an emotional reaction to Godzilla Minus One that was much, much, much more deeply felt than my emotional reaction to this.
00:27:33
Speaker
And that's not really being fair. Because Stokoe in this is not going for the same emotional reaction as Godzilla Minus One. And I acknowledge that.
00:27:46
Speaker
But... it's just It's just unfortunate that I have to make the comparison and couldn't just read this on its own. like There was no way I could read this and not think about the last Godzilla media that I engaged with that I also think is probably the best Godzilla media of any kind.
00:28:06
Speaker
ah So that is what it is. but it is It does have...
00:28:13
Speaker
Kind of, not even unfortunate, but it does have similarities to Godzilla stuff that has come out since 2012. That aren't like, you know, like, it's not like everybody's you know ripping each other off.
00:28:34
Speaker
But that I think the ideas of what Godzilla is about... have kind of changed and are coming from the, like, similar places.
00:28:46
Speaker
So, yeah. Like, I feel like there's, you know, the the direct comparison to this, I feel like, would be Pacific Rim. Which is, you know, like, you got you got your two-person teams going after Kaiju, and at the end of it, a guy gets inside Mechagodzilla and fights Godzilla inside a Mechagodzilla.
00:29:08
Speaker
but Like... right ah it's there's not a lot of similarity, but there is kind of like evocative stuff. And I feel like it's it's like that about the American Godzilla movies. ah it's you know it's It's like poetry. It rhymes.
00:29:23
Speaker
It's like poetry. It rhymes. ah is it No, i you're right. i mean i I definitely see the kind of... not Not anywhere close for it to be a rip-off, um but but the similarities. And like...
00:29:37
Speaker
there's there's ah In issue five of this, there's like stuff where the kaiju are like standing on top of battleships. And there's like this big fight out in the ocean where they're kind of bouncing around on these battleships.
00:29:54
Speaker
Which like is in a Godzilla movie I've seen recently. like That visual. you know and Again, I don't think that movie ripped this off. ah And this came first.
00:30:05
Speaker
but Because... I experienced this after I experienced that. I have to compare this to that instead of the other way around. um and And again, if there's one thing I think the book is a little bit lacking in that I would like to have seen more of, it I just wish I had gotten more of like, like I wish that payoff at the end where he's like daring Godzilla to look at him, like really trying to get Godzilla's attention and
00:30:38
Speaker
simply wanting the
00:30:43
Speaker
acknowledgement of this monster that has dominated his entire life. You know? I wish that was more of a payoff. Yeah. Of a character arc.
00:30:55
Speaker
When I don't really think it is. It's because like the character conversations we get before that are mostly kind of like procedural.
00:31:08
Speaker
you know They don't really talk about what about their inner selves. They just talk about what they're doing. you know yeah um Which is understandable.
00:31:20
Speaker
um But but if if if if there's one note I have to give, it's that. um it It would be cool for that to be more of a payoff in the end.
00:31:31
Speaker
But I cannot complain about... how fucking awesome it is that page where it's Godzilla and Mechagodzilla standing next to each other blasting at
00:31:46
Speaker
whichever monster that is with the like hook hands. Which one is that? That's Gigan. That's Gigan.
00:31:58
Speaker
Okay. I feel like the through line is really only in like two panels. And One of them is like very close to the beginning when... oh i think it's the start of the second issue where Oda Murakami, who's our our main character, is like, yeah, one of the first things I figured out about Godzilla is that he's not a monster. He's a force of nature.
00:32:23
Speaker
yeah And the scene where he like is trying with his last breath... to to convince himself and Godzilla that Godzilla is a monster and can be beaten.
00:32:39
Speaker
And, you know, you that's why he wants him to look at him. And he says, look at me, you damn monster. And then the payoff is that Godzilla does not. no Like, Godzilla never, because Godzilla's a force of nature.
00:32:54
Speaker
and Right, and he and he and he says something, like, after he demands that he look at him, mean its he basically is like, Oh, you're always – you are what you're always going to be is essentially what he says. Yeah. um yeah And I wish that like that had been brought up more yeah in the intervening issues. like I feel like – like That is the through line, and that's the payoff. And it's not a bad payoff, but it's it's it could be more resonant.
00:33:24
Speaker
My big problem with this last issue in the climax is that there is a scene where Godzilla looks like he is pulling one of King Ghidorah's heads over his arm, like he's about to pick him up in a fireman's carry.
00:33:38
Speaker
As though, like, if King Ghidorah's middle head was his head, but his two side heads were his arms. Oh, yes. i I'm looking at that panel right now. Yeah. and And for all the world, I've been reading too many Daniel Warren Johnson comics because I was like, is Godzilla about to hit the attitude adjustment?
00:33:52
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And I thought it was going to happen. Samoan drop. Yeah. Is Godzilla going to hit the Olympic Slam? Yeah. On King Ghidorah.
00:34:03
Speaker
it If only. But no, that does not happen. That does not happen.
00:34:11
Speaker
if Yeah. yeah It would be great if he did. But Godzilla kind of... it is ah Instead, what happens is that Godzilla aims one of King Ghidorah's blasts out of one of his mouths away from Mega Godzilla.
00:34:29
Speaker
yes So Murakami's like, ah, saved by Godzilla. I better return the favor. And then he blasts away at Ghidorah. um Which is good. like The action stuff, as I said, the action stuff and the art in this unimpeachable.
00:34:50
Speaker
There's just a like... There's not that much story to talk about. No, I mean, like a bunch monsters fuck some shit up a lot. there's there's that what There's the one plot about the human bad guy and his technology, which we've gone over. Which is kind of nothing.
00:35:12
Speaker
like That's barely even a B-plot. I like it as an idea, and I like it as the reason that the space monsters come. Yeah. You know? but um Because it keeps getting bigger and bigger.
00:35:24
Speaker
It keeps getting bigger and bigger, and so the signal goes out into space. It is it is that's just in service to that, and not to... Like... You know?
00:35:36
Speaker
Like... Like, there's... I'm not even saying there has to be nuance with that guy, but there's certainly not any. Once the space monsters arrive, his part is is done, and he's gone.
00:35:49
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Like, he he has served his narrative purpose, and he is gone. Like, the big a crystal thing emerges from space that has Space Godzilla in it, and then we never see that guy again.
00:36:07
Speaker
He gets kind of, like, caught by accident. Yes. And... And kind of, like...
00:36:18
Speaker
there There is no quote like there's no struggle to take him down. like It's like they they literally run into him on the street, and then the guy follows him back to his place, beats him up, and they take him in.
00:36:31
Speaker
Well, I mean, look, I think this is worth saying. like ah lot of it is like A lot of what we seem to be saying is that we wish there was more of this, and i don't know that I do.
Critiques and Comparisons to Other Media
00:36:44
Speaker
i think five issues is exactly the right amount. for this Six issues when we could have had the 90s. Maybe one more issue would have done it. But like I do think we're both like kind of asking for things that would take more space page or page space and time to ah work through.
00:37:06
Speaker
And i do i do like how much this book is kind of narratively propulsive and
00:37:17
Speaker
like I feel like I'm asking for it to take some time to breathe, but I sort of appreciate that it doesn't really. like Because it's giving you the Godzilla stuff that you want.
00:37:28
Speaker
um and And not a whole lot of filler. ah and And that I can appreciate. i I don't necessarily want it to be slower or have more...
00:37:47
Speaker
slow stuff in it. I just kind of wish the talkier moments maybe built to something a little more effectively than they do. yeah it could have used either
00:38:01
Speaker
like 20% more talking or 10% less talking. Yeah, yeah.
00:38:10
Speaker
I think we've covered most of the story, Chris, so let's rank this. um It is very silently good. Oh, yeah. And, like, again, artistically, I think it's, like, absolutely worth reading if you are ah any form of Godzilla person.
00:38:32
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, if I was an artist and I had to do a Godzilla comic after this one... I would feel a lot of fucking pressure. Well, um that's because you and I are not Tom Scioli, who did a Godzilla comic that is actually... And I'm not saying this comic is bad.
00:38:52
Speaker
That comic is one million times better, because it's one of the best comics ever made. Yes. tom But Tom Scioli, like... Tom Scioli was not trying to top this in the way you might think. Correct.
00:39:09
Speaker
ah correct And that's what makes Tom Sheolah great. like he He zigged instead of zagged. you know um which is Which is the way to go about it.
00:39:21
Speaker
But if i wanted if i was going to do like a big action Godzilla comic, I would feel an immense amount of pressure to ever come close to living up to what this accomplishes.
00:39:32
Speaker
ah So, what do you think what do you think this could go, Chris?
00:39:39
Speaker
I mean, like, it's... I cannot stress enough, it's good. Yeah, it's very good. Do you think it's, like, top 500 good?
00:39:51
Speaker
What do we have at number 500 right now? Number 500 is Christmas on Bear Mountain, First and O, Scrooge McDuck.
00:40:00
Speaker
I don't know if it's better than that. Okay. But I feel like it's very spiritually similar to Usagi Yojimbo Senso. Well, I was going to say it's very similar to what we have at 503, which is the Daniel Warren Johnson Beta Ray Bill miniseries.
00:40:14
Speaker
Yeah, but but dudes do get hit with the Rainmaker in that one. They do, but like as far as... Beta Ray Bill does hit the fucking Rainmaker fully on panel in that. Yes.
00:40:24
Speaker
I do think that there is there is a a clear line between the artistic style of James Stokoe and... James Stokoe 13 years ago and what we've seen from Daniel Warren Johnson over the past you know five to six years.
00:40:44
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. um i I think we're in the right neighborhood. i don't know if it's as good as anything that I'm looking at. It's probably better than that Tom King, Francesca Francavia, Sergeant Rock story.
00:41:05
Speaker
probably but it's I think it's definitely better than the Suicide Squad issue where Captain Boomerang fights zombies.
00:41:11
Speaker
Okay, and that is at number what? That is at number... Those are at number 507 and 508, respectively. At 506, we have the issue of Captain America where Red Skull's in a hole.
00:41:23
Speaker
And he goes crazy because he's in a hole. Oh, that shit's pretty good. That shit's pretty good. And then above that, we have Agent X, the Acts of Vengeance Daredevil story by Anne Nesenti, and John Romita Jr. where Daredevil beats up Ultron with a stick.
00:41:37
Speaker
the the The thing about that Captain America story is that it's it's what? It's like a six-page backup, maybe? Is that all it is?
00:41:48
Speaker
It's a short backup. Out of a school, I guess, is ah is the backup. Yeah. it's like It's a six to eight page backup, I think. And like we talked about the the sort of lack of emotional resonance in this.
00:42:03
Speaker
That brings more emotion and character out of eight pages than this does in five issues. Certainly does. Certainly does. And it mostly happens in the dark.
00:42:14
Speaker
Yeah. In a hole. In a hole. Well, have just put Godzilla in a hole.
00:42:22
Speaker
Nobody told him. I guess they did try. I guess that's what a black hole is. I think this is the new number 507 between Captain America Out of His Skull and that Tom King Sergeant Rock story.
00:42:38
Speaker
I think you are correct, Matt.
Conclusion and Future Plans
00:42:40
Speaker
Alright, so Godzilla Half-Century War enters the list of the new number 507.
00:42:48
Speaker
and I'll put in parentheses 2012.
00:42:52
Speaker
I will admit ah that I had not actually looked at the date of when this was published. I thought it was more recent than that.
00:43:04
Speaker
I mean, yeah, like it's certainly like it feels like it. It feels like it, and that is that is now how I experience time. I think about something that happened...
00:43:18
Speaker
ah around 15 years ago. And I was like, that wasn't that long ago.
00:43:27
Speaker
Oh man.
00:43:31
Speaker
Yeah, man. We're old. Time, time makes rules with all.
00:43:36
Speaker
Well, that's, that's it for this, uh, comics catch up. Thanks for listening. Everybody. Uh, we'll be back in November with another comic to catch up on. Um, I think we,
00:43:49
Speaker
We had talked about doing the Matt Wagner Spirit, potentially. We talked about doing Dawn.
00:44:00
Speaker
I remember talking about doing Dawn. ah you You really want to read Dawn. I kind of do. like Now that we know what it's about, and it sounds weird, yes.
00:44:11
Speaker
All right. Okay. The November catch-up will be Dawn. The December catch-up. We may do the Matt Wagner spirit. The December catch-up might be Dawn Three Tears.
00:44:22
Speaker
It might be Dawn Simber.
00:44:26
Speaker
You just want to catch up on Dawn Comics now. and What are we going to go to next? Purgatory? so lump in Don't Joseph Michael Lindsner with but perfectgu with with the work of Purgatory's a chaos comic, right?
00:44:46
Speaker
I think so. Purgatory Fault Lady Death. yeah i i Look, i couldve gone I could have gone really mean, and I could have said Dark Child. you know, I would probably read Dark Child.
00:44:58
Speaker
i don't think I'd enjoy it. i don't think you would want to. i don't i don't think I would enjoy the experience, but like if if on a Christian dare we were requested to read Dark Child, I think I would do it.
00:45:11
Speaker
Alright, uh... ah we I guess next month month we're going to read Dawn. Hell yeah, we're going to read Dawn. So come back for that. In the meantime, if you want to send us suggestions for catch-up after we've read all of Dawn, you can do it at our email address, which is warrocketpodcast at gmail.com.
00:45:31
Speaker
You can also get in touch with us on Blue Sky. We're there at warrocketajax.com. On Tumblr, warrocketpodcast.tumblr.com. You can join our Discord.com. which you have to be invited to be a member of. But if you ask us for an invitation nicely, we will ah provide you with one.
00:45:49
Speaker
You can also help us out by supporting us on Patreon. These Comics Catch-Ups are made possible by your support there. You ah can just go to patreon.com slash warrocketajax to kick in as little as a dollar a month to help this show and all that we do.
00:46:09
Speaker
If you want to find me and my stuff, go to mattdwilson.net to find links to my comics, my books, my other podcasts, and my social medias. Chris, where can people find you? Everybody can find me by going to the-isb.com. That is my website, and it has links to everything that I do.
00:46:27
Speaker
And just to note, if you want to check out our website with all of our episodes, it's at warrocketajax.com. If you want to read up all the info, get all the info you could need about this show.
00:46:39
Speaker
Go to warrocketwiki.com.
00:46:43
Speaker
Bye, everybody. We'll see you again in November. November, Don. Don-vember.
00:46:54
Speaker
Don-vember.
00:47:00
Speaker
Until then, good catching up.