Godzilla's Monsterpiece Theatre #1
Chad Burdette
Recap
Godzilla takes on his greatest foe yet — The Great Gatsby!
The year is 1922. Mysterious man of luxury Jay Gatsby throws lavish parties from his palatial Long Island estate, all in hopes of attracting the attention of his love, Daisy Buchanan.
But his affair is interrupted as his party attracts the one thing more dangerous than love: Godzilla.
Now, Gatsby has no choice but to turn his undying will away from his love of Daisy and onto revenge against the monster who destroyed his home.
Review
Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre #1 finds the world’s most identifiable Kaiju facing off with the iconic capitalist, Jay Gatsby.
The issue begins like the novel as the Roaring Twenties as the good times roll following World War I. Scioli does an excellent job setting the stage for the era in a succinct manner and minimal pages. Of course, readers also don’t have a long wait for Godzilla to show and crash and burn the party.
After Daisy goes missing following the monsters attack, Gatsby puts together a team of real and fictional characters such as Edison, Sherlock Holmes, and a Cyborg Jules Verne. Scioli also doesn’t skimp on the number of Godzilla’s appearances or carnage he creates. There is a nice balance between the Godzilla moments and Gatsby’s story that keep this issue following although it does get wordy at times but there are also just pages of the art telling the story too.
Sciloi captures the voices of the secondary characters such as Edison and Holmes well, paying attention to how these characters speak and interact.
The art and color style that Scioli uses is gives the story the perfect feel for a meeting such as is on display in this first issue. The panel and page layouts, along with the art and color, give the issue a Golden Age feel that one might expect from this type of meeting.
Final Thoughts
Godzilla's Monsterpiece Theatre #1 is the crossover that should never had existed, but does under Scioli's pen. So far Godzilla's appearance in this literary tome does not seemed forced or have exposition shoehorned to try and make sense.
Kudos to IDW for taking a chance on this way-out-of-the-box three issues series.
Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre #1
- Writing - 10/1010/10
- Storyline - 10/1010/10
- Art - 10/1010/10
- Color - 10/1010/10
- Cover Art - 10/1010/10
