Godzilla: The Half-Century War #1 Review

Godzilla: The Half-Century War is one of the most recent mini-comic series released by IDW Publishing along with their treasure trove of other recent Godzilla comics. The story is based on a narrative of a Japanese Lieutenant named Ota Murakami who has fought Godzilla for 50 years – hence the subtitle of the mini-comic series.

Ota’s first encounter with Godzilla was in 1954 when he was in his early twenties when he was 23 months into his enlistment with the JDF and thus, already a lieutenant of a platoon. This is where Issue #1 begins the story.

STORY:
I can definitely see how IGN gave this issue a 10/10. The story is VERY well versed and focusing on a specific man’s history and encounters with the King of the Monsters. Issue #1 also makes you feel like that you’re part of the story and really experiencing the first appearance of Godzilla and the horrific destruction he’s caused.

It’s also a great backstory as to how a new force was created right after Godzilla was destroyed by the Oxygen Destroyer, named the Anti Megalosaurus Force (or AMF for short). I also really enjoyed on how Ota and the other supporting cast in this issue made a reference to Dr. Serizawa and the Oxygen Destroyer.

Out of all Godzilla comics I’ve read up to this point, the story to this Issue is by far the best one I’ve encountered. None of the past Godzilla comic stories can’t even compare to this one.

ART:
At first when I saw and heard of the mini-comic series for the first time, I thought that the art was a bit odd  at first until I delve more into the comic series. As of now, I think that the artwork works fairly well and for the story that’s being told.

The colors that were used are more in the violet area which gives a nice uncertainly of what lies ahead for our main character and the supporting cast.

There’s really not much to add here than just say that the artwork for this comic has really grown on me and really enjoy the style of art.

HUMAN DRAMA:
The human drama is also another great aspect to this comic so far and you get to really see how the characters act towards one another and towards Godzilla. The comic is more serious as far as human drama compared to the other Godzilla comics that have been published. This is one of the key components I think that’s making this mini-comic series work.

OVERALL:
After reading this latest Godzilla mini-comic series, it seems to be one of my favorites, if not, my favorite by far out of all Godzilla comics I’ve read so far. Although this is our third review in the comic section on Godzilla Planet, I am still praising this as the best one. Could there be better ones out there? Possibly, but I’m still sticking with this as the best Godzilla comic. So if you haven’t seen nor read this yet, I highly suggest grabbing this mini-comic series ASAP!