Growing up I used to consume everything pop culture as if they were going out of style. I remember coming home after school, to watch Black Belt Theatre, where I would find out about the different types of Kung-Fu and we decried the Japanese as evil, to the Chinese, thanks to Bruce Lee’s Fists of Fury. I remember my opinion changing once I started to watch samurai movies and Kaiju movies. Especially Kaiju movies, the one where Godzilla battled every monster imagined.

At first, when I did watch the movies I wondered why the Japanese military couldn’t defeat any of the kaiju as they wreaked havoc throughout the cities knocking down buildings at will, and with humans narrowly escaping death. Then the movies has us rooting for Godzilla to defeat the other kaiju and it would not belong before they started to make the movies seem more like a franchise then standalone movies.AS I dare anyone to remember the silly but fun movie, Son of Godzilla. Eventually they would pit him against King Kong, which where the movies really got interesting.

IDW has decidedly wanted to continue Godzilla’s adventures in a way that he had not been tested before. The Kaiju has entered the Underworld, as he faces his own “game of death’, in Hell. He reacts to each challenge much like how he did in the movies. By story’s end, you have a battle tested kaiju , one who has faced a 1,000 battles, and one whose victory was earned.

Overall, an interesting story, which could have been pedestrian in lesser hands, but comes off much like Milton’sParadise Lost, but with Kaiju. The story by James Stokoe, delivers in spades, a killer story. The art by the various illustrators, makes each issue collected a true treat. Altogether, a fun story, that should not be underestimated, as simple smash and grab, but definitely is on the level Vaughn’s Pride of Babylon.

Story: James Stokoe Art: Bob Eggleton, Buster Moody, Ibrahim Moustafa, Dave Wachter
Story: 9.4 Art: 9.2 Overall: 9.6 Recommendation: Buy

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review