Comics
Review: ‘Godzilla Rulers of Earth’ #2
Godzilla returns this month in an issue driven by spectacle. Kaiju battles are the only reason to pick this book up, anyone looking for any sort of character development look elsewhere.
WRITTEN BY: Chris Mowry
ART BY: Matt Frank
PUBLISHER: IDW
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: Aug 7, 2013
Godzilla stories are inherently problematic. They are incredibly unrelatable, and often focus on spectacle. Premise never drives a good story. Character is paramount in any story, and this book begs you to accept Godzilla as a character, but offers you no compelling reasons to do so.
Most of the issue is devoted to showing Godzilla Prime deal with his American counterpart. While the battle is interesting and exciting, it fails to have any stakes. Neither monster is really defeated. The resulting stalemate ensures the larger than life conflict ends with a whimper rather than a bang.
The characters Lucy, and Commander Woods are flat. Neither character has anything more than superficial motivations for doing what they are doing. Lucy is rather annoying and her introduction into a special task force was almost groan worthy. There is a rapid-fire introduction of new characters but they are all so nondescript and boring you’ll be hard pressed to remember them.
Mowry hopes that you’ll latch onto Commander Woods’ flimsy backstory. We’ve seen it a million times before. Woods is the self-doubting hero of old, bent on revenge. It’s hardly new, and proves uninteresting in the context of the story.
A missed opportunity on character makes the issue feel directionless and empty. There is nobody here to root for, and the resulting destruction of the city hardly feels like it has any real stakes. No character finds themselves in danger, not even Godzilla, who spends half the issue in a epic battle, only to emerge unscathed.
Matt Frank’s art should be applauded. The battle that takes the majority of the issue is made dynamic and exciting by his art. His attention to detail with the Kaiju is unparalleled. They have such subtle details and the pain they feel is evident on their gigantic faces. You feel like a fly on the wall for an epic confrontation. The focus on the eyes, the swiping at tails, and the impact of a bite, you feel it all.
Frank’s work with the human characters leaves a much more to be desired. Humans seem to be drawn with wavering proportions that never really look nice in comparison to the monsters they share the pages with.
“Rulers of Earth” continues to falter with little to no direction. The book hopes that you accept the gigantic monsters on the pages as the characters to root for. Yet, Mowry never provides any depth to their plight. Instead superficial flat human characters are meant to be rooted for, but usually just seem vapid and directionless.
1/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Jimbus_Christ
Comics
‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics
Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.
Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.
In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”
The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”
Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”
“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.
Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”
Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.
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Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)
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Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)
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Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover
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Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)
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Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)
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Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)
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Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)
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Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)
Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.
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