Urban renewal, Godzilla style!
Godzilla
(adapting The Return Of Godzilla, aka Godzilla 1985, minus the US changes)
Dark Horse (May, 1995 second printing)
collecting the six issue Dark Horse miniseries, originally published by Shogakukan, Inc
WRITER/ARTIST: Kazuhisa Iwata ADAPTATION: Randy Stradley & Mike Richardson COVER ART: Bob Eggleton LETTERERS: Dan McKinnon, Jean Simek, & David Jackson ART TOUCH-UP: Jim Bradrick, Chris Chalenor, Chris Warner, & Jerry Prosser EDITORS: Randy Stradley (mini & 1st edition) & Robert V. Conte (2nd ed COLLECTION EDITOR: Lynn Adair COLLECTION DESIGNER: Brian Gogolin
A fishing boat is witness to the return of a nightmare. After 30 years, Godzilla has awoken again. As Japan cringes in fear once more, a reporter, a scientist, and their friends may be able to succeed where Japan’s Super X plane failed and deal with Godzilla once and for all. Or until Godzilla Vs. Biollante.
This is an adaptation of Toho’s near-reboot (since the first movie is still in canon) of the Godzilla franchise. It’s the original version, missing Raymond Burr’s forced cameo and the Russians (or at least one) launching the missile on purpose. The art is beautiful. Iwata doesn’t use the dramatic poses Western artists have but only has him move as if he was being played by a guy in a suit. And yet he manages to look possibly more menacing here, a tower of death and destruction. The characters are well-written and relatable. Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen the original version of the movie, but this may be even better than the movie.
With the adaptations I’ve reviewed recently I’ve pointed you to the DVDs instead, but even if you have this movie in the original Japanese (possibly subtitled), you should really pick up this adaptation when you see it. It’s really good whether or not you’ve seen the movie.
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