Classic Gone-and-Forgotten: Godzilla

"Wanna join our gear team?"
Considering the promotional mania which surrounded the release of the fairly reprehensible Summer "blockbuster" Godzilla film, I'm amazed that Marvel Comics didn't offer a bound, hard-cover, collector's edition trade paperback of these original Godzilla comic book stories. Then again, I'm amazed that Marvel hasn't turned half of their female characters into porno comics. Marvel blows my mind, sometimes.

Right about the time that Asian cinema was making its big fad crash here in the States, Marvel opted to cash in on the dough with some thematic books. "Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu" was their ... um ... kung-fu book, and a well-written, well-drawn (The Day Brothers, Paul Gulacy, etc) book it was. Godzilla was their Japanese monster book, and it was poorly written and poorly drawn. Thing is ... same writer on both books! Weird, but not impossible. I suppose mastery at the complex philosophies of Eastern spiritualism doesn't necessarily translate into city-stomping thrills.

One of the delights of the old Godzilla book was that it was completely unafraid of being garish; the cover colors on these things were astounding. Note the above example, featuring bright yellow and red. My favorite was the pea green and deep purple cover which stood out like a bocchilism accident from across the room.

The plot was that Godzilla (monster with a heart of gold) was wandering around the world, foiling the machinations of the gene-freaking Doctor Demonicus (who wore a purple and white costume with a deep blue cape and silver devil horns on his head. How come geneticists of our world don't dress like that?). Mind you, Godzilla wasn't doing it intentionally, but he was smashing Doc's stuff all the time anyway. Alongside this drama, Marvel's superspy organization SHIELD and their not-terribly-Hasslehoffesque leader Nick Fury were flying around trying to bag Demonicus and neutralize Godzilla. The Champions also got in on the act. I still think Godzilla should be an honorary member of the Champions.

Also worth mentioning here: Shogun Warriors - based on the Japanese children's toys - was a contemporary of big G's book, but just as horribly written and drawn. Ick.