Godzilla vs King Ghidorah–Kaiju greats return today in full force

Review by C.J. Bunce

Tokyo 1996–an alien invasion threatens Earth. Godzilla emerges to seemingly defend against the invaders, who call themselves the Xiliens, but the humans target Godzilla and he is seized by the aliens. A test pilot, Captain Daitan Matushita and a cyborg scientist named Hoshi–both working for a mad scientist named Doctor Hu, develop a new aircraft to battle the alien threat. But what about Godzilla? In a mash-up of Independence Day and Thor: Ragnarok, Godzilla faces King Ghidorah not on Earth, but on a planet where kaiju monsters are battling to the death for the humanoid alien race. It all happens in the giant 56-page, one-shot comic in IDW Publishing’s third entry of its Godzilla Rivals series, Godzilla Rivals: Vs. King Ghidorah, landing in comic shops today. It’s an ambitious but thoroughly successfully and entertaining story from writer-artist Adam Gorham. Take a look inside below in a preview from the publisher:

Keep a look out for five main cover designs for this issue.

What’s next for the Godzilla Rivals series? From writer Rosie Knight and artist Oliver Ono, something is stirring in a quiet beachside town ravaged by constant sewage spillages and toxic waste dumps. Deep under the rolling hills that surround Hackney-on-Sea, Battra is awakening, driven by a single goal: to destroy mankind and save planet Earth. The only one who can stop him is Godzilla, but he hasn’t been seen in decades and has never ventured to the cold shores of the English coast… until now. Robbie runs a small bookshop, but her real passion is monsters. She’s spent years researching the myth of Godzilla and his fearsome foes, and now that hypothetical experience is about to become a life-saving tool. Can Robbie locate Godzilla? Will Godzilla alone be enough to defeat Battra? Is Battra really wrong? And will the goddess Mothra make an appearance? Find out in Godzilla: Vs. Battra.

And here’s a cover preview from another Godzilla Rivals story coming soon featuring the cyborg kaiju Gigan:

In case you missed them, here are the covers from the first two issues:

Pick up Godzilla Rivals: Vs. King Ghidorah today at Elite Comics or your local comic shop. You can also pre-order a compilation trade edition of the first three issues in Godzilla Rivals: Round One here at Amazon, but you probably don’t want to wait–it isn’t scheduled for release until next January.