Godzilla #22 (May 1979)


Godzilla Marvel 22

The true reason dinosaurs went extinct!


Godzilla #22 – The Devil and the Dinosaur! (May 1979)
Writer – Doug Moench
Penciler – Herb Trimpe
Editor – Archie Goodwin

Trapped in the past, Godzilla and his new pals Moon-Boy and Devil Dinosaur prepare to fight evil dudes who are evil. The Lizard-Warriors attack along with their pack of dinosaurs. The pack feature more Chargers, Triceratops, Sauropods, Pteradons, a mohawked Theropod, what looks like a badly drawn Gallimimus. There is an awesome two-page spread of all the dinosaur fighting. Godzilla, Moon Boy, and Devil Dinosaur are outnumbered hundreds to three, so they decide to run.

Back in modern day 1979, the SHIELD squad discuss what to do now that they are all out of a job. Ben Grimm and Reed Richards notice radiation coming from the time machine! Dang it, Reed, why you got to mess up history like that?

Godzilla and Devil Dinosaur will make a stand while Moon Boy tries a new trick, and talks to the Hag who controls the Region of the Pits. Hey, the name of the character is Hag, I’m not just calling this crazy old cave lady a bad name! Hag is in charge of a land that has a bunch of pits on it, so the plan is to cover the pits with grass and lure the enemy Lizard-Warriors onto it. You might think that the bad guys must be awfully stupid if all of them fall into the pits, and you are correct! Goodbye morons!

Godzilla Marvel 22

Check out that HARDCORE mohawk dinosaur!


The time machine will soon explode and yank Godzilla back to our time…like a yo-yo. Does this make any sense? Of course it doesn’t! Just go along with it, please. Reed and crew figure they must get the time machine to an open area. Forget central park, let’s take it to Times Square! I’m beginning to think these characters get off on putting the public in danger…

The radiation in the area with the pits combines with the radiation in Godzilla and the radiation from the time machine to make the radiation storm that restores Godzilla to his proper size and transports him back to our time, 1979!

This issue is pretty much just an excuse for Godzilla to punch dinosaurs for most of the length. And how!

Next month: Two issues left, so time for Godzilla to fight the Avengers! But will Sam Jackson show up after the credits to offer him a job???

Godzilla Marvel 22

Godzilla follows anyone short! Once these dwarves couldn’t get him to leave until Godzilla ate an apple and fell asleep…

Continue reading

Godzilla #21 (April 1979)


Godzilla Marvel 20 The Doom Trip

Looks like all my 50 Shades of Grey jokes are more accurate than I thought!


Godzilla #21 – The Doom Trip! (April 1979)
Writer – Doug Moench
Penciler – Herb Trimpe
Editor – Archie Goodwin
Godzilla Marvel 20 The Doom Trip

Beware, those Chargers will ruin your credit score!


D-D-D-D-Doom Trip!!! And we don’t mean the video game Doom, though a BFG might come in handy in case of Godzilla attacks. When last we left Big G, he and the Fantastic Four were duking it out in a museum, and The Thing had just knocked Godzilla into a shark tank.

The sharks do nothing, especially not to The Thing, who also drops in the tank. Mr. Fantastic wraps around and smothers Godzilla until he’s unconscious. Which is sort of disgusting when you think about it, and also sort of creepy.

They tie Godzilla to the Fantasiticar and fly him to the Baxter Building. Mr. Fantastic’s big idea is to use Dr. Doom’s time machine and send Godzilla back to the past where he belongs – 900 million years in the past to the Mesozoic age!

This is totally wrong! The Mesozoic Age was 252 to 66 million years ago! Reed Richards should know that 900 million years ago was the Tonian Period of the Neoproterozoic Era! The Tonian Era featured unicellular bacteria and fungi, but also had multicellular algae. So basically Godzilla will be very bored. Luckily Reed Richards is as bad at programming the time machine as he is at knowing about ancient geological eras of Earth, and luckily does dump Godzilla during the Mesozoic Age. I can only credit Dr. Doom having an idiot-proof time machine control console.

Godzilla likes it!

Godzilla Marvel 20 The Doom Trip

Feral He-Man characters threaten the future of the past!


But the Lizard-Warriors (mean cave dudes) are on the march, trying to conquer Flame Valley with their Beasts of Strife. They send two purple tyrannosaurids called Chargers to attack Big G, just because they’re mean. Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur hear the commotion and go investigate. Moon Boy sees Godzilla use his atomic breath and declares him a demon, and sends Devil Dinosaur to fight him. even though he just saw Godzilla fight his common enemy.

Godzilla and Devil Dinosaur battle and fight, but then the Lizard-Warriors invade, and Moon Boy convinces Devil Dinosaur to make peace and attack the real villains. Way to be several pages behind, Moon Boy, but at least you got it right in the end. Godzilla goes along with this because Moon Boy is similar to Rob, which means that any young boy can convince Godzilla to do all sorts of stuff. And here we thought it was Gamera that was friend to all children.

As the invaders close in, we to be continued!

Next month will have lots and lots of dinosaur fights! It’s like you’re three and playing with your toys again, but in drawn on comic strips form!

Godzilla Marvel 20 The Doom Trip

It is Marvel Law that two characters must fight before teaming up against the real threat.


Continue reading

Godzilla #20 (March 1979)


Godzilla Marvel 20

Ben Grimm punching Godzilla into a T-Rex skeleton decades before Jurassic Park!


Godzilla #20 – A Night at the Museum (March 1979)
Writer – Doug Moench
Penciler – Herb Trimpe
Editor – Archie Goodwin
Godzilla Marvel 20

Godzilla: Road Rage Wars!


A Night at the Museum, huh? Will Ben Stiller be guarding Godzilla? No, guess not. When last we left Big G, the monster was about six feet tall and wandering around New York City, randomly flashing people and slowly growing by spurts back to his normal size. As of now, Godzilla just shot up to 20 feet tall, which is big enough to scare angry traffic jam commuters. Keep in mind, these are people who live in New York while the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Spiderman are fighting giant things all the time.

The new SHEILD plan is to use flare guns to lure Godzilla to the museum they were going to take him to anyway. Once again, no one seems to think that maybe having Godzilla in the most populous city in the US isn’t a good idea. And at the museum, Godzilla can smash a while bunch of priceless artifacts! I can see how this is a good idea, if you are planning to steal the artifacts in the museum and have fakes ones destroyed to collect the insurance money. Not that I think any character is doing something so nefarious.

Ben Grimm (aka The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing!) sees the commotion on the tv, and soon the Fantastic Four have sprung into action. Dum Dum and Ben Grimm to not like each other at all, which isn’t surprising considering every super hero who has gotten involved with Godzilla has just been in the way, causing more troubles than they solve. Soon Ben gets accidentally hit by Godzilla’s tail, and fighting begins.

Dum Dum and team just watched the Fantastic Four battle Godzilla through a museum, at this point he’s probably resolved just to let his enemies tire each other out before he whomps them both.

Godzilla Marvel 20

Godzilla is enraged over the low quality of the Fantastic Four movies


We get a cliffhanger when the Thing knocks Godzilla into a shark tank! Will Godzilla fight a shark while he’s still small enough to almost be affected by shark bites? I predict things won’t be as exciting as they seem, and Ben Grimm is all rocks, so there is no way he should be worried about sharks. But he should be worried about Red Rock Eaters.

Overall, this issue doesn’t have much story, and is largely a showcase for Marvel Heroes to begin fighting Godzilla, a trend that will continue until the series ends. Though there will be one more diversion with plenty of monster action…

Until next time, stomp on! Remember to check out the Godzilla Marvel Splash Page if you are confused about all things Marvel Godzilla related.
Continue reading

Godzilla #19 (February 1979)


Godzilla Marvel 19

Godzilla: Violent Nudist


Godzilla #19 – With Dugan on the Docks! (February 1979)
Writer – Doug Moench
Penciler – Herb Trimpe
Editor – Archie Goodwin

When last we left Godzilla, he was tiny size and loose in New York City, having just defeated a rat in ultimate combat. But to reuse an obvious joke, Godzilla was drinking milk, and soon grew up to child size. Just the size that Godzilla and Robert and run around together like they’re pals. Thus the central premise of Godzilla #19. If you are completely lost with Marvel’s Godzilla, we have a Godzilla Marvel Splash Page.

Robert now has to lead the child-sized Godzilla through the city without being seen, to get to a safe zone before Godzilla grows any bigger. Needless to say, this is easier said than done.

The cops spot them and give a short chase. Robert realizes he has to disguise Godzilla, because New York City cops in the Marvel Universe are going to stop anyone who looks non-human.

Godzilla is now wearing a trench coat and hat while walking down the street. This disguise is one of those ridiculous disguises that Marvel heroes have traditionally worn that would fool nobody. This whole sequence reminds me of some panels of What The-?! #25:

What The 25

No one suspects!


This is 1970s New York City, so the pair are quickly mugged! You would think that muggers would known not to mug obvious superhumans in disguise, but apparently not. A quick shot of fire breath solves that problem.

It’s Godzilla War Journal all of a sudden up in here…

The Godzilla Squad is dejected, having found neither hide nor hair of Big G, and yet Rob and Godzilla walk right up to them. Godzilla whips off his disguise, this is the second time he does this (first was against the muggers) and it seems someone really liked that idea.

Godzilla then grows to seven feet high as Dum Dum and Gabe attempt to capture him. At one point Godzilla hits Dum Dum and the sound effect is “SPAM”!

Godzilla then wanders away, because that’s what Godzilla does best in this series. Of course, Godzilla will continue to grow and be loose in New York City, and that won’t sit well with some Marvel Heroes, as we shall see next issue…

Godzilla Marvel 19

A Knights Tale 2: A Godzilla’s Tale


Continue reading

Godzilla #18 (January 1979)


Godzilla Marvel 18

How About a Little Fire, Scarecrow?


Godzilla #18 – Fugitive in Manhattan! (January 1979)
Writer – Doug Moench
Penciler – Herb Trimpe
Editor – Archie Goodwin
Godzilla Marvel 18

Who hired Chevy Chase to carry the cage???


Last issue, Godzilla was shrunk down to size and captured by a butterfly net. Now, Godzilla awaits his fate, except that he escapes and fights a rat in the sewer. It’s Godzilla #18!

If you need a Marvel Godzilla rewind, check out the Godzilla Marvel Splash Page, and don’t forget to check out all of March of Godzilla 2013, which is the month-long event that lasts a year!

In a Real Moments of Genius™ moment, the heroes decide to take the shrunken Godzilla – who could grow to full size at any moment – to New York, the biggest city in America. And they can’t give him more shrink gas because he’ll either get immune to it or die (neither things seem to bother Henry Pym, but whatever…) This is among the worst decisions in civilian casualties history, right up with Transformers driving the All Spark to downtown LA.

But it’s far from the worst thing that happens in this issue, or even the beginning of this issues. New character and complete dolt Dr Hawkins drops Godzilla’s cage while disembarking, and Godzilla falls out and into the bay!

D’oh!

Robert says he was in a daze so he doesn’t know if he opened the cage. Not that it matters, because if the cage didn’t open, Godzilla would be drowned. Now he’s just escaped and running around New York City as a Mini-Me version of himself.

Tiny Godzilla spooks a cab driver! Tiny Godzilla runs into the sewer!

Godzilla battles a rat in the sewer!

This is presented as an epic battle, with the rat treated as any other monstrous Godzilla foe. And like all Godzilla foes, the rat is dead!

Robert escapes from the Behemoth to help look for Godzilla. He finds him just in time for the shrink ray to wear off! Just a bit. Now Robert and Godzilla are the same size. For great fun!

Tune in next issue, as Godzilla and Robert have an exciting time in dangerous 1970s New York City!

Godzilla Marvel 18

That rat has spent years getting revenge on the business executive who moved his cheese!


Continue reading

Godzilla #17 (December 1978)


Godzilla Marvel 17

This is one of my favorite panels in Marvel Godzilla history!


Godzilla #17 – Of Lizards, Great and Small (December 1978)
Writer – Doug Moench
Penciler – Herb Trimpe
Editor – Archie Goodwin

Ready for a short story about Godzilla? And I don’t mean that this is a smaller than normal issue of Godzilla, but that Godzilla is actually shrunk down to size! Though, the synopsis is shorter than normal, because literally all they do is get some gas, gas Godzilla, then catch him in a net. Also a new character who does nothing productive is introduced.

If you need a Marvel Godzilla rewind, check out the Godzilla Marvel Splash Page, and don’t forget to check out all of March of Godzilla 2013, which is the month-long event that lasts a year!

Godzilla Marvel 17

Pick on someone your own size! Oh, wait…


We get a new character joining our SHIELD team, Dr. Gladstone Hawkins! Yes, we needed another random person to cram in and eat up valuable characterization time. Dr. Hawkins is a paleontologist and reptilian behavior patterns expert. He also talks a lot, which gives Dum Dum the idea to talk to another loudmouth scientist – Henry Pym – aka Ant Man and Giant Man!

Henry Pym gives Gabe a special dose of his shrinking gas, and even Janet Janet van Dyne (The Wasp) shows up for a cameo appearance.

Godzilla gets gassed, and after a few minutes…

He shrinks!

Godzilla shrinks to like six inches tall and runs around like a chicken, but he’s finally caught in a butterfly net!

The King of the Monsters, defeated by a tiny net? Is this the end of Godzilla? Will there be a Shrinky Dinks tie-in toy? Find out next issue, as Tiny Godzilla continues!

Godzilla Marvel 17

Godzilla, now in pocket size!


Continue reading