Writer: Brian Buccellato / Pencillers: Christian Duce, Tom Derenick / Colour Artist: Luis Guerrero / Letterers: Richard Starkings, Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt / Editors: Ben Abernethy (DC), Robert Napton (Legendary Comics) Collects: Justice League Vs. Godzilla Vs. Kong #1-#7 / HC / DC Comics
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3rd July 2024 (Released 17th July 2024)
Review by Paul Dunne
The Pitch: The DC Universe is about to get shaken-up when the Legion of Doom unlocks a portal to another dimension, unleashing the fiercest Monsters in the Multiverse. Godzilla, the King of the Monsters has emerged from the deep seas of Metropolis, interrupting Superman’s proposal to Lois Lane. King Kong is taking on the world’s greatest heroes in his home turf, Skull Island. Can the Justice League send these creatures back to their own dimension before it’s too late? How do you destroy the Justice League? The question has been plaguing Lex Luthor and his Legion of Doom since the two titanic groups first came to blows. When confronted with the colossal entities of Skull Island, Lex believes he's found the answer to their eternal question. It's Superman vs. Godzilla, Wonder Woman vs. Behemoth, Green Lantern vs. Scylla, Batman vs. Camazotz, and Supergirl vs. Kong in this all-out battle for the fate of the DC Universe. Can Superman stand up to the power of Godzilla? Can Lex Luthor harness the primal forces of Skull Island? It's time to find out the answers to these questions and more! Acclaimed writer Brian Buccellato (Injustice) and bestselling artist Christian Duce (Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point) bring the cataclysmic crossover event of the year as the DC Universe clashes with Legendary's MonsterVerse.
Hey, you guys ever heard of this Godzilla character? I hear he's real popular right now! Normally, I'd avoid inter-company IP crossovers like the plague. Just the fact that I have to use the term inter-company IP crossover makes my neck itch. Most of them seem like the wet dreams of the clichéd snot-nosed fanboys as seen in The Big Bang Theory or exemplified by Steve-Dave in Kevin Smith's movies, having pointless 'who do you think would win in a fight' arguments. Ain't nobody over thirty got time for that! Yes, sometimes I forget I AM one of those snot-nosed fan-boys. But I picked this up because I actually like both the character sets involved, although I have to admit my Letterboxd review of the last Godzilla Vs. Kong nonsense was a curt 'Movies Vs. Taste', such was my disdain - and I'll be honest here, snobbery - in regards to the movie. I stand by it. As I said at the top, I have that same snobbery about inter-company IP crossovers. But Godzilla is the great leveller and not just of buildings, Pacific-Asian countries and other big fuck-off monsters. He has a way of making everyone look small, even people in capes. And let's be honest here: we're all of us always rooting for Godzilla.
Obviously, the creators of this could have run into the same problems anyone making Godzilla stuff runs into - how do you humanise or get a human perspective into the piece when the star of the show is a giant amphibious lizard with emotional issues? But they find the real center is provided by the only non-human member of the Justice League - who of course is strangely, the most human. That’s right folks, give it up for Clark Kent! This seems to be set in the time frame of Clark's proposal to Lois Lane, which adds suspense of a different kind to the whole show. A case of Gojira Interuptus means Clark has to bust out the alter-ego... And to make matters worse, the Legion of Doom, led by Lex Luthor has found Skull Island. Gorilla Grodd has never had it so good as when he finds an Ape God he can worship in King Kong. Meanwhile, Toy Master wants to treat these giant beings as huge remote control sets, the way we fans might treat these characters or the way writers treat the universes they play in. A crossover with something to say?? No way, dude! I just wanna see monsters break shit!
And break they do. Superman goes down, followed by Atom-Smasher. There's a break-out at the Iron Heights Super Max (not the WB channel where they keep all the films they're never going to release but the prison). And The Flash is slowed by an unearthly fog. Can Shazam turn the tide against Big G? Find out by reading it, chum. Suffice it to say, there are some glorious moments in this, including Donna Troy and Wonder Woman lassoing themselves to a giant Themysciran crossbow bolt and being fired at a giant mammoth. One of the interesting things about this is that Kaiju media and superhero media occupy a similar space: their central characters thrive on breakage and they're both portrayed as Gods, either streaking across - or blotting out - the sun, turning the skies a different shade of red. They both promise fire. Although Marvel's heroes would have made more natural bedfellows for Godzilla, given that their origins are both rooted in the nuclear age, here we're presented with Gods battling Gods and our caped, everyday deities finding the limits of their Promethean lightning.
Buccellato brings some lovely, clean storytelling to this. His characters feel true to the ones we know and love, even if they might be alternate-universe versions. Duce, backed up by Derenick, gives us crisp artwork, clear movement on the page and some really nice panel work. Don't know if this is Duce's first big thing or if I've just missed his work, but I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for his pencils from here on in. He conveys the immense size and inherent challenge the creatures bring and the sheer awe they inspire in the cast of heroes and Villains. The character beats and moments are well crafted, with Hal's and Wally's witty, competitive banter, and Ollie being trapped on an uncharted island and having to struggle alone once again, showcasing Buccellato's knowledge of the characters. The book touches not only on important moments from DC's history but of the Monster verse, too. By the time Monarch gets its first mention, you'll already be cheering at just how much fan service is being done in these pages. Oh, and you remember how Kong has a thing for blondes? Well, the one he falls for here is... Ah, I can't spoil it for ya! Guerrero's colours really sell the radioactive buzz of the action, picking colour schemes that make the meeting of these two distinct worlds more tangible. Starkings' and Betancourt's letters give us familiar voices in unique situations and create the deep rumbling of giants ever-present in our minds and guts. I think this is one fan-boy argument I can get behind. So, come on: who do you think would win…?
Justice League Vs Godzilla Vs. Kong is available at Gosh! Comics.