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''Godzilla, King of the Monsters'' is a comic book title that was published by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
, based on the character
Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...
from Toho films.


Publication history

From 1977 to 1979, Godzilla starred in a 24-issue run of comics written by Doug Moench, drawn by Herb Trimpe and published by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
entitled ''Godzilla, King of the Monsters''. The series thrusts Godzilla completely into the
Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...
. Godzilla first appears by bursting out of an iceberg near Alaska. Over the course of the series, he crosses the continental United States and eventually ends up in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Godzilla's appearances in the first 15 Toho films are briefly alluded to, but never specifically mentioned due to copyright restrictions, once in each of the first two issues. In at least one of the issues, Godzilla is seen as "the lesser of two evils". He has clashed with other monsters in the past and generally acts more like an actual animal, albeit one with unusual levels of intelligence. Despite such allusions to the films, Godzilla is depicted as more animal-like than as the highly intelligent, perhaps sapient, creature depicted in the majority of the films by the time of the series' printing (1977–79), in what is considered the Showa period of ''Godzilla'' films (1954–75). This version of Godzilla, while intelligent, is not the protector of mankind; however, he does, at times, exhibit compassion for human characters, such as Dum Dum Dugan, the
S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often deals ...
agent who is tasked with his capture, destruction, or repulsion from America, and Robert "Little Rob" Takiguchi, the grandson of Japanese scientific expert Dr. Yuriko Takiguchi, who regards Godzilla as a hero and who is depicted as being Godzilla's only human friend. Unlike other characters whose actions, thoughts and feelings are told through thought balloons, Godzilla's are narrated externally via captions. Godzilla encounters not only the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. during the course of the series, but many other superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. Among them are the now-defunct group the Champions (minus the Ghost Rider and Darkstar, although both of them were members at the time), the
Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
,
Devil Dinosaur Devil Dinosaur is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as resembling an enormous, crimson colored ''Tyrannosaurus''-like theropod dinosaur. Created by Jack Kirby, the chara ...
and
Moon-Boy Moon-Boy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is best known as the constant companion of Devil Dinosaur. Publication history Being primarily a supporting character to Devil Dinosaur, Moon-B ...
and the
Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...
, along with a brief cameo by
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
in the last issue of the series. Godzilla also fights other gigantic monsters, including Batragon, Ghilaron, Lepirax and Centipor, monsters created by the insane geneticist
Doctor Demonicus Doctor Demonicus (Douglas Birely) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He possesses advanced knowledge of genetic engineering and has clashed with the Avengers and the Shogun Warriors, in addition to S.H ...
, Yetrigar, a giant
Bigfoot Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims o ...
, and the alien monsters the Beta-Beast and the Mega-Monsters-Triax, Rhiahn and Krollar (which are controlled by two warring alien races called the Betans and the Megans, respectively). Red Ronin, a giant
samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...
robot created specifically for the series, reappears in ''
Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...
'', ''
Solo Avengers ''Solo Avengers'' was an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, and was a spin-off from the company's superhero team title '' The Avengers''. It was published for 20 issues (December 1987–July 1989) until it was renamed ''Avenger ...
'' and an issue of ''
Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...
'', in which Godzilla is given an oblique nod, being referred to as a "time-lost dinosaur" (presumably to avoid legal action by Toho, as Marvel had, by then, lost the rights to depict Godzilla). Red Ronin also appears in the series '' Earth X''. Between February 1979 and July 1979, Marvel had the comic book rights to both Godzilla and the Shogun Warriors. While the characters never crossed paths in their respective series, artist Herb Trimpe (who did the artwork for both of the series) drew a variation of Godzilla and Rodan alongside Daimos,
Great Mazinger is a Japanese manga comic book and anime television series by manga artist Go Nagai. The story is a sequel and direct continuation of ''Mazinger Z'' series after its initial success. The series was aired on Japanese television in 1974, im ...
, Raydeen and Gaiking on the top page of a comic book ad soliciting the Shogun Warrior toys.
Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
Toys (who had the license to the Shogun Warriors at the time) also had the license to produce toys based on Godzilla and Rodan at this time as well. Also around this time, Marvel had prepared another story featuring Godzilla, where he would have battled the Dragon Lord. But since the copyright had expired, they modified Godzilla into a dragon-like creature named the Wani for a story that was published in ''Marvel Spotlight'' (vol. 2) #5 (March 1980). Despite the loss of copyright, Marvel would continue to use Godzilla for several years afterward. In ''
Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
'' #193, one of Godzilla's primary antagonists from the original series, Doctor Demonicus, captures, mentally controls and mutates Godzilla further so that he no longer resembles his Toho namesake. This altered version of the monster first appeared in ''Iron Man'' #193 and would return in #194 and 196. His last appearance to date was in '' The Thing'' #31, where he is actually referred to as Godzilla (although it is not known if the person saying this actually knows that he ''is'' Godzilla, or if this is just an example of the name possibly being used to refer to any big, green dinosaur that resembles a ''
Tyrannosaurus ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosa ...
rex''). Godzilla also appeared in a shaded silhouette in a monster handbook viewed by Japanese children in '' Uncanny X-Men'' #181 (May 1981). Here the children refer to him as ''Gojira'', his Japanese name. Apart from this, Godzilla has been referenced or parodied in other Marvel comics. In ''Web of Spider-Man Annual'' #2 (1986), the character Warlock from
The New Mutants ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
turned into Godzilla and then into King Kong during a rampage through New York City. In ''The New Mutants Annual'' #3 (1987), the Impossible Man turns into Godzilla during a battle with Warlock, who turns into Red Ronin. In ''
The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...
'' #413 (July 1996), Spider-Man battles a giant robot toy Godzilla (among other giant robot toys) created by the villain Mysterio. In ''
The Mighty Avengers ''The Mighty Avengers'' is a comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics. Originally written by Brian Michael Bendis, also the writer of '' New Avengers'', the title first featured an officially sanctioned Avengers team of registered ...
'' #1 (May 2007), a creature bearing a resemblance to the Heisei (1980s and 1990s) Godzilla appears, alongside other giant monsters sent to attack the surface world by the Mole Man. When this issue was solicited in ''Marvel Previews'' via a sneak peek page, the creature had Godzilla's distinctive dorsal spines, but when the actual comic was published, the dorsal spines had been removed. Godzilla is also mentioned in the 2005 one-shot comic ''Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters''. In '' Astonishing X-Men'' (vol. 3) #36 (April 2011), the monster
Fin Fang Foom Fin Fang Foom is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has been depicted as an extraterrestrial creature resembling a dragon. The character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #89 (cover ...
is rampaging through downtown Tokyo. In one panel, he passes by a building that has a Godzilla billboard on its roof. The ''Marvel Comics Atlas'' (in the article on Japan) states that the Age of Monsters began in 1954, which is evidently a reference to the original film ''Godzilla''. Additionally, the entry mentions that Godzilla returns years later in North America and is the reason for the construction of Red Ronin and the formation of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Godzilla Squad. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s anti-Godzilla
helicarrier The Helicarrier is a fictional flying aircraft carrier appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is depicted as the crucial mobile command center, forward operations platform, and signature capital ship of the fictional int ...
, the ''Behemoth'', has recently resurfaced under the command of Amadeus Cho in ''
The Incredible Hercules ''The Incredible Hercules'' was an ongoing comic book series written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente and published by Marvel Comics. The series starred the mythological superhero Hercules, his sidekick Amadeus Cho, the seventh-smartest person in ...
'' #115 (April 2008). Dr. Yuriko Takiguchi, too, has reappeared in recent years, having been recruited by the Beast to join his X-Club in ''Uncanny X-Men'' #506 (April 2009). Another monster resembling Godzilla served as the "self-destruct event" for Takiguchi's lab on Kunashir Island in '' X-Men: First Class'' (vol. 2) #3 (October 2007). In 2006, Marvel reprinted the entire 24-issue run of ''Godzilla, King of the Monsters'' as a
trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...
called ''Essential Godzilla, King of the Monsters''. Like all of Marvel's ''Essential'' line, the series was published in black and white rather than color, as in its original printing.


Reception

In July 1977, Marvel revealed that the first issue had already sold 200,000 copies in its first press run. They announced that they would increase the amount of copies printed in future press runs to meet demand. This version of Godzilla was ranked No. 23 on Den of Geek's listing of Marvel Comics' 31 best monster characters in 2015. Issues 1-3 were reviewed in Brad Boyle's
Japanese Giants ''Japanese Giants'' was a kaiju (giant monster) fanzine with an emphasis on Japanese monsters, such as Godzilla. History ''Japanese Giants'' was inspired by the fanzine '' Japanese Fantasy Film Journal'' (JFFJ), edited and published by Greg Shoe ...
#4 by Ed Godziszewski and other


References

{{reflist


See also

* Godzilla (comics), ''Godzilla'' (comics) Comics by Doug Moench Crossover comics Marvel Comics titles