Jason Reviews: Godzilla Cataclysm #2

As I’ve stated in the last review of Godzilla: Cataclysm #1, the mini-series does have some potential; however, there were a few things I wanted to see fixed come Issue 2 of the mini-series. Also, I think that this could be the point to kind of know where everything is going if this is going to be a good comic mini-series or become something that will fall short. So, let’s now waste any time here and let’s dig in to Godzilla: Cataclysm #2!

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The issue starts in the village with some shots of people and buildings, while the old man, Arata’s grandfather, narrates once again just like the beginning of the first issue. He talks about how the people pray to the monsters for certain things – such as praying to Mothra for good fortune, King Ghidorah to bring rain, Ebirah to bring plentiful fishing trips, etc. Arata’s grandfather, however, prays to Godzilla to never return. He essentially talks about this for four, whole pages (a couple pages shorter than his narration in the previous issue).

We’re immediately taken to a wide-spread of Godzilla battling against Biollante. Biollante has its vines around Godzilla’s neck for a couple frames until Godzilla fires his atomic ray right through Biollante. While the battle ensues between the two kaiju, both Arata and Shiori are trying to figure out how to get away from the battleground and to avoid from getting crushed. When it seems like they had nowhere to go, they look back and see both Godzilla and Biollante fighting till Mothra intervenes in the bout. Mothra knocks Godzilla to the ground and looks as though trying to heal Biollante with her power; however, the Kaiju King suddenly fires his ray, cutting Biollante into two. He then fires his ray again at Mothra and sneers her right wing as Godzilla roars in victory.

We’re then taken back to the village at night time and all the people have gathered around, already declaring the scouting party to be dead and made as sacrifices. Arata’s grandfather tries to keep the villagers calm till both Arata and Shiori make it back. Arata tells his grandfather that he was right and that Godzilla has returned. With fear in his eyes by the mentioning of Godzilla’s name, the grandfather immediately have the two come home with him and tell what they saw.

After describing what Arata and Shiori have seen to the grandfather, we see him sleeping while narrating about the village being in the state of panic with some people probably fleeing  by morning in fear, some still plotting to return to bloody sacrifices, or some wanting moments to be with those they care about. We then see a few glimpses of what the grandfather went through via his dreams as we see Godzilla and himself, along with some others, have helmets strapped to their heads and wired to some kind of orb.

The grandfather suddenly awakens from his nightmare, and then prays to Godzilla to give them peace. He then narrates as we see Shiori awake while Arata is asleep. The old man says that Godzilla destroyed the creature that had the chance to save the Earth, which was Biollante, as we see the issue come to an end with Shiori , with such wonder, gazes upon a rose she snatched from the kaiju battleground while holding it in her hands.

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After going through this issue, I think it’s a bit too close to call where this mini comic series is going, and I think I’ll still stay neutral on this till the third issue and will get a clear idea. However, though, as of right now, the mini-series is kind of dragging its feet and moving slow to get to the main point of where its wanting to go. Although we do get good kaiju action with Godzilla, Biollante and Mothra, the story just seems to take long to develop, and a lot of the mini Godzilla comics will usually know where it’s going around the second issue – but, we’re still not sure where the story is leading us after the second issue wraps up in Cataclysm.

Besides the story dragging a bit, the color palette still seems a bit bland and flat, although it improves with more vibrant colors when it came to the kaiju that were shown in the issue. The artwork appears to have improved a bit than previously, especially towards the end where it looks like a couple panels were much more detailed than what we’ve seen in this series.

The one thing that probably bothers me the most in this issue, and was still a problem in the first issue, is that we STILL don’t know the name of Arata’s grandfather. We should have known his name in the first issue and should definitely not take us to possibly to the third issue to know his name. If the old man is supposedly the main character in this series and when he does most of the narration and not have him nor anyone else mention his name so far, it could be a problem, as I originally thought that Arata and Shiori were the main characters from the first issue. This could possibly throw some people off and/or confuse the reader a bit. It seems that the guys doing this story aren’t quite so sure of them selves if Arata and Shiori are the main focal point of the story or that the old man is.

So I hope that Cataclysm #3 really addresses not only that, but finally know the name of the old man, where the story is leading us and hopefully does not drag any further. If the series does not address these issues soon, then it could fall flat pretty quickly.

Overall, I’m still kind of giving it the same reaction to this issue as I did for the first one, but seems to have improved JUST a bit. The Godzilla-Biollante battle was good and pretty much the best part of the issue hands down, the characters were ok, but seemed a bit bland and flat, still not a whole like of text much like the first issue, and the color palette and artwork have made some improvements. I might recommend the issue to people; however, it seems that people really won’t miss much if they skip it and just move to the third issue. It’s an ok second issue, but needs the third issue to really address things quickly before it starts losing readers.