In Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre Presents: Romeo & Juliet and Godzilla #1, Adam Tierney and Sean Peacock intensify the classic tragic melodrama of William Shakespeare’s doomed lovers with an old-fashioned kaiju attack on Renaissance Verona. With the exception of a gorgeous fantasy sequence and some fun genre riffs, Tierney’s plot (and language) doesn’t stray from the classic story. However, Godzilla stomping, Mothra flying, and Capulet’s medieval take on Mechagodzilla add an extra level of mayhem and dark, slapstick humor.

Adding Godzilla to the mix really shows how self-absorbed and infatuated Romeo and Juliet were with each other. While the monster destroys their town killing family and friends, they only have eyes for each other. (And by extension, so do Godzilla and Mothra.) Shakespeare’s beautiful speeches and soliloquies take the foreground while carnage reigns in the background. I cackled when Godzilla took out Juliet’s famous balcony with a blast of nuclear breath, even though it sets up Romeo as the romantic hero sweeping her up in his arms before their kiss. Also, the Capulet/Montague feud doesn’t go away while the town is being attacked, but it only gets (literally) hotter. Tybalt and Mercutio (Especially Harold Perrineau’s performance as him in Romeo + Juliet) are two of the best characters in the play, and Adam Tierney and Peacock give them time to be witty and combative. However, their deaths result from being caught in the crossfire between Mechagodzilla and Godzilla. The combination of Gothic visuals from Sean Peacock and ominous lettering from Brian Kolek, with the classic line “A plague on both your houses,” captures the comic’s overall tone very well: highbrow, yet not afraid to laugh at itself.

Yes, the themes of the irrationality of love and family feuds shine true in Romeo & Juliet and Godzilla. There’s even a gorgeously colored dream sequence where Romeo and Juliet find a happy ending under a stained glass window of Toho monsters that illustrates that this isn’t Verona’s first Kaiju rodeo, as well as the cyclical nature of war and conflict. It’s just also a plain cool piece of art from Peacock, and he adds depth and humor to Tierney and Shakespeare’s text. He has a Tom Scioli meets Classics Illustrated style that works for the tone of the book, even if some of the panel transitions can be muddled and confusing, like when Juliet takes this story’s take on the “poison”. But, overall, Sean Peacock brings a dynamic approach to layouts that draws parallels between Romeo/Juliet and Godzilla/Mothra. The way the action is staged feels like a stage play, too.

Even better than the lead story is the first chapter of Tom Scioli’s Robin Hood and Godzilla serial that will run as backups in all of the Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre Presents titles. The King of Monsters plays a background role in this story, with Scioli gleefully throwing himself into an all-swashbuckling, all-the-time adventure yarn with violence and hijinks that would make Errol Flynn smile. He uses page layouts to spring the trap that Robin Hood pulls off on the Sheriff of Nottingham and his goons, and honestly, this comic works out as a straight-up Robin Hood comic without the Godzilla bit. However, with his face poking out of the water, Godzilla represents menace and the escalation of stakes to come. Tom Scioli uses Godzilla’s presence in the book to put Robin Hood in the tradition of the chivalric romances because this hero finally has a kind of dragon to slay.

If you enjoyed Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre, Romeo and Juliet & Godzilla is much in the same vein, adapting the key moments and themes from the William Shakespeare play while adding some explosive giant monster action. Tierney and Peacock use the presence of Godzilla, Mothra, and Medieval Mechagodzilla to deepen the tragedy of the love story while also throwing in slapstick humor on a colossal scale and showing how self-involved Romeo and Juliet were, as well as the futility of their families’ feud.

Story: Adam Tierney, Tom Scioli
Art: Sean Peacock, Tom Scioli Letters: Brian Kolek
Story: 8.8 Art: 8.6 Overall: 8.7 Recommendation: Buy

IDW provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle