Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre Presents: Roar of the World’s #1 Is an Amazing Adaptation of a Classic (Review)
Godzilla was born in the ’50s, when sci-fi-tinged monster movies were all the rage. The King of Monsters, though, was different from the start. While most of these movies involved nuclear energy in some way, Godzilla was made in response to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, giving it an edge that other monster movies didn’t have. Over the decades, Goji has starred in every kind of story imaginable, in just about every medium, including comics. In recent years, we’ve gotten crossovers with Marvel, DC, and more in the funny books, with publisher IDW putting out a varied slate of Godzilla comics. Some of the best of these are the Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre Presents, which takes various piece of classic literature and adds Godzilla to them. IDW’s Godzilla books hit every kind of Goji story and these adaptations do a fantastic job of giving readers entertaining yarns.
Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre Presents: Roar of the Worlds adapts H.G. Wells classic story of invaders from Mars attacking England, except this time it’s in Japan. And Godzilla is there. Writer/artist Kyle Baker is able to take a classic British story and make it Japanese, giving readers a great human story as well as fantastic Godzilla action. Tom Scioli gets the back-up Robin Hood story, capping off a comic that is never anything short of amazing.
Rating: 5 out of 5
| Pros | Cons |
| Godzilla versus Martian tripods is as awesome as you imagine it is | |
| Baker is able to give the story a solid human core, one reminiscent of Godzilla Minus One in a lot of ways | |
| Baker’s art is gorgeous; it’s detailed and fluid, with a unique style that impresses from the beginning |
Baker Is Able to Take the Story In Surprisingly Excellent Directions
Kyle Baker is an Eisner award-winning writer/artist, so getting him for this story is something of a coup. War of the Worlds and Godzilla are basically chocolate and peanut butter; two great tastes that taste together. Godzilla movies pit him against many monsters and the Martian Tripods are the perfect enemy for the kaiju. However, Baker takes it slow. He kicks off the book by introducing us to the four humans we will be following through the story – Minister Takahashi, his daughter Aiko, the wealthy Masaru, and young soldier Hiroshi – and giving us their web of relationships. He does a fantastic job of setting up the characters quickly, setting up the story that will carry us through the carnage. While we all love the monsters in Godzilla movies, it’s the humans that make these tales work and Baker understands that.
War of the Worlds, as a story, is more of a chronicle than a character piece and it’s also extremely British. Baker is able to make the story as much about the characters as about the monster fight and made it actually feel like a Japanese story. By the time the Martians attack, we’ve gotten a pretty good romantic drama, and the action takes the book into the next level, as the four humans do their best to survive a clash between two of the most dangerous forces in sci-fi. One of the things I loved about Godzilla Minus One was that it was much a human story as a monster one, like all the best Goji movies, and this book feels like it in a lot of ways. It welds two different types of stories to each other, each one informing the other and making the whole that much more interesting. It would be almost impossible to ruin War of the Worlds or Godzilla, so this was always going to be an entertaining book, but Baker is able to take it all to the next level.
The Art Is Just as Great as the Writing
Baker is a very experienced artist, so right when I saw his name in the credits, I was ready for a fantastic-looking story and I wasn’t at all disappointed. There’s an old school comic feel to the art, with Baker mostly using the six-panel grid, and I love the way he does shadows with little black dots, just like old comics did. His figure work is sensational, his character acting outstanding, and the detail is out of this world. The beginning of the story is rather quiet but dramatic, and Baker’s art really brings the emotion of those early scenes to life. The beginning of the story wouldn’t work nearly as well with another artist; Baker is a pro and knows how to use his panel real state to get the most out of the page. The human scenes are flawless, with Baker using the art to take us on an emotional roller coaster.
The book’s action is sensational, but that’s not really all that surprising. Baker isn’t reinventing the wheel with this story, but that doesn’t mean it looks cliche. His Martian Tripods aren’t a re-imagining of them or anything like that; they fit the ones you’ve seen in the various adaptations of this classic story. However, because it’s Baker drawing them, they look that much better. The fight scene between Godzilla and the Martians are perfect. Baker is able to capture the hard-hitting feel of Goji’s battles; some of my favorite parts of the fights are seeing the kaiju rip the Tripods limb from limb. In fact, each fight scene has a cool little moment, ones that aren’t readily apparent but once you notice them, they’ll give you a little smile.
I’ve reviewed every one of Godzilla Monsterpiece Theatre books that have come out in the last year and this one is by far my favorite. Kyle Baker was someone who I wouldn’t have thought to find doing one of these books, but I’m thrilled he did. This is everything an amazing Godzilla story should be. It’s an awesome monster fighting other monsters story, all while giving readers a great story starring the humans caught in the middle. While recent years have seen a terrible adaptation of War of the Worlds (looking at you, Amazon), this one is perfect. If you love War of the Worlds, Godzilla, or just cool sci-fi in general, this is the comic for you.
Godzilla Monsterpiece Theatre Presents: Roar of the Worlds #1 is on sale now.
