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Godzilla Rivals: Round Four
Step into the arena as Godzilla’s most dangerous allies and scariest nemeses square off in a series of sense-shattering showdowns! The world is pretty big. You’d think there’d be enough room for all the kaiju to claim their own stomping grounds, but even giant monsters aren’t above needing to protect their territory. Godzilla has friends and foes, and in turn, they vie against one another for dominance. In this quartet of standalone stories, different denizens of Monster Island go claw to claw for exciting, earth-shaking matchups. Marvel as the King of the Monsters throws down with Manda! Cheer on King Ghidorah tussling with SpaceGodzilla and then Mechagodzilla! Pick sides as Mothra battles Hedorah! The fourth volume of Rivals continues the kaiju brawl by creators Tom Waltz, Dave Baker, Jake Lawrence, Josh Trujillo, Casey Maloney, Kevin Anthony Catalan, and Joshua Cornillon.
- GenresComics
184 pages, Paperback
Published May 6, 2025
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 30, 2025
So, what has become par for the course by this point in this series, there is at least one bad story among the bunch, and it is the first one, “Mothra vs. Hedorah.” What starts as what you would think will be a cute family story…does not really go there. Okay, so, it will be about accepting and embracing one’s heritage and spirituality? Uh, not really. Okay, okay, so an underdog story where Mothra must take on one of, arguably, Godzilla’s toughest enemies, the Smog Monster itself? Nope, the fight is incredibly short, and ends not long after it starts, and it is as lacklustre as you would assume. Vey disappointing.
The next few are much better, the first of the good ones being “Godzilla vs. Manda.” Total honesty, I hated the art towards all the human characters, it is…overly simplistic, with black dots making up their eyes in what could be described as childish. It is weird, though, since the ‘basic’ art only goes as far as the humans, since the detail on the Kaiju are well done. The story is rather good, the sailors on the fishing boat all being likeable, at least, enough that you do not want them to be gobbled up by the Manda. Only problem I had was how quickly, or rather easily, Godzilla takes a knockout. He comes back, obviously, and wins, just…hard to accept he needed a break from something that, yes, to most would be hard to come back from, but for the King of the Monsters, should have been nothing.
The next story, “Mechagodzilla vs. King Ghidorah” is, probably, the best written one, spelling/grammatical mistake aside (the story keeps referring to the Kaiju as deities, and at one point it’s spelt ‘diety’). There is quite a bit of story that must be squeezed in, and it mostly succeeds. Still, very enjoyable.
The final story, which suits the whole premise of the series the best, is “King Ghidorah vs. SpaceGodzilla”; a fight I never knew I wanted to see. The story has some unnecessarily dark/edgy moments (a little girl, who is running away and is holding her older brother’s hand, is vaporized by King Ghidorah, and when the brother looks back, there is nothing left of her but the severed arm) sets up some of more interesting concepts, and, possibly, has the best monster fight, with the two Space Monsters really tearing at each other! And similarly to the last story, Godzilla shows up, but unlike the last story, he is a bit more temporary ally to one monster before immediately turning on him. The art is chaotic and suits the action, this is the story most Godzilla/Kaiju fans will enjoy the most, based solely on the battle royale.
Overall, I was not in love with the series. It was a mixed bag since each other had a different talent behind them, and their ability to tell a good monster story ranged from almost great to unbelievably bad. I would still recommend the series, since the highs were some of the best.
Long Live the King!
The next few are much better, the first of the good ones being “Godzilla vs. Manda.” Total honesty, I hated the art towards all the human characters, it is…overly simplistic, with black dots making up their eyes in what could be described as childish. It is weird, though, since the ‘basic’ art only goes as far as the humans, since the detail on the Kaiju are well done. The story is rather good, the sailors on the fishing boat all being likeable, at least, enough that you do not want them to be gobbled up by the Manda. Only problem I had was how quickly, or rather easily, Godzilla takes a knockout. He comes back, obviously, and wins, just…hard to accept he needed a break from something that, yes, to most would be hard to come back from, but for the King of the Monsters, should have been nothing.
The next story, “Mechagodzilla vs. King Ghidorah” is, probably, the best written one, spelling/grammatical mistake aside (the story keeps referring to the Kaiju as deities, and at one point it’s spelt ‘diety’). There is quite a bit of story that must be squeezed in, and it mostly succeeds. Still, very enjoyable.
The final story, which suits the whole premise of the series the best, is “King Ghidorah vs. SpaceGodzilla”; a fight I never knew I wanted to see. The story has some unnecessarily dark/edgy moments (a little girl, who is running away and is holding her older brother’s hand, is vaporized by King Ghidorah, and when the brother looks back, there is nothing left of her but the severed arm) sets up some of more interesting concepts, and, possibly, has the best monster fight, with the two Space Monsters really tearing at each other! And similarly to the last story, Godzilla shows up, but unlike the last story, he is a bit more temporary ally to one monster before immediately turning on him. The art is chaotic and suits the action, this is the story most Godzilla/Kaiju fans will enjoy the most, based solely on the battle royale.
Overall, I was not in love with the series. It was a mixed bag since each other had a different talent behind them, and their ability to tell a good monster story ranged from almost great to unbelievably bad. I would still recommend the series, since the highs were some of the best.
Long Live the King!
Displaying 1 of 1 review