Tag Archives: Red Ronin

The Thing #31 (January 1986) and the Godzilla Marvel Legacy

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The Thing 31 Godzilla

Godzilla, man, you got a drooling problem! It needs to be said…


The Thing #31 – Devil Dinosaur: The movie! (January 1986)
Writer – Mike Carlin
Penciler – Ron Wilson
Editor – Mark Gruenwald
The Thing 31 Godzilla

Godzilla just wants to be friend with his old metal pal!


Godzilla made one last official appearance in Marvel comics canon before disappearing into the ether. There have been several Godzilla-like creatures that will be discussed below, but as far as I can tell, they’ve never been officially counted as Godzilla. So let us tackle The Thing #31. The Thing is among the first comic books I ever bought. I bought two of those “comic book 3-packs”, one containing 3 issues of The Transformers and one with 3 issues of The Thing. While The Transformers became the series I would get every month and subscribed, The Thing became a series I would get in the quarter bins at comic shops, but it was still a good read (hence my buying them.) I was never that into the Fantastic Four, because Spiderman ruled all, but I often had extra money for cheap comics that would be good. Several images here are take from the Marvel Chronology’s entry of The Thing #31.

Ben Grimm (aka The Thing) goes to visit his friend, stuntwoman Sharon Ventura, who is working on a movie about Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur. Ben likes Sharon because she reminds him of a lost love, Tarianna. Sharon Ventura would eventually become Ms. Marvel, be a hero for a bit, be a villain for a bit, and then get replaced by a Skrull. Welcome to Marvel continuity!

Ben arrives and starts attacking Devil Dinosaur, because he doesn’t realize it’s a robot! But he’s not the only one to make the mistake, as out of the sea arises the reason we’re writing this entry: Godzilla!

Yes, he’s actually called Godzilla! Looks like someone forgot or thought that The Thing would be too under the radar for Toho’s lawyers.. .Godzilla has escaped from captured jerkoff Dr. Demonicus, thanks to Godzilla’s cunning plan of distracting the evil Dr. with Iron Man’s suit so he could get captured, at which point Godzilla probably just wandered out of the undersea headquarters. Or maybe SHIELD got off their lazy duffs and raided the compound and Godzilla got set loose that way.

The Thing 31 Godzilla

How dare that coward Godzilla not mindlessly destroy the robot and instead leave when he realized his mistake!


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Godzilla #15 (October 1978)

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Godzilla Marvel 15

Nighty-night!


Godzilla #15 – Roam on the Range (October 1978)
Writer – Doug Moench
Penciler – Herb Trimpe
Editor – Archie Goodwin

Holy Valley of Gwangi, Batman! This issue of Godzilla features Godzilla encountering cowboys and dude ranches! That’s not what anyone expected at all. Also there is missing cattle, stampeded, and crooked land deals going on. Will Godzilla be able to solve the mystery of whatever the heck is going on despite only being a semisentient giant mutant reptile? Of course! But next issue… First we got to set things up.

If you need a refresher on who’s-who, check out the Godzilla Marvel Splash Page, and feel free to check out the rest of March of Godzilla 2013!

Godzilla Marvel 15

Godzilla’s just got a hankering from some T-bone steaks!


Godzilla wanders into an area where lots of cattle ranches are (and then takes an adorable nap!) However, Godzilla gets blamed fro their recent rash of cattle disappearances and soon every ranch in the area is rustling riders to go rope themselves a dinosaur.

As you may have guessed, one of the lead instigators of the Godzilla Posse (henceforth called G-Posse) is involved in the actual stealing of the cattle. Oh, evil land barons, you don’t just exist in old western movies!

Godzilla then bumbles into a cattle herd, causing a stampede. STAMPEDE!!! The ranch hands stop the herd from diving off a cliff by blasting Godzilla’s tail with dynamite, then Godzilla follows some of the ranch hands and stomps a building as we are TO BE CONTINUED!!

Also Dum Dum and SHIELD clean up the aftermath of Salt Lake City and prepare Red Ronin to be taken for repairs. But that’s boring compared to Cowboys vs. Godzilla! Though it’s still more exciting than Cowboys vs. Aliens…

Godzilla Marvel 15

Great plan, Tex!


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Godzilla #14 (September 1978)

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Godzilla Marvel 14

Godzilla is the cheese!


Godzilla #14 – Mega-Monsters Part III The Super-Beasts (September 1978)
Writer – Doug Moench
Penciler – Herb Trimpe
Editor – Archie Goodwin

Now Big G is in trouble! The three invading space monsters are now super-charged and ready to kill Godzilla. Ally Red Ronin has gotten his head chopped clean off, and 12-year-old pilot Robert lies unconscious and in danger. Luckily SHIELD people have finally shown up to give us smart remarks on the impending action.

If you need a refresher on who’s-who, check out the Godzilla Marvel Splash Page, and feel free to check out the rest of March of Godzilla 2013!

Godzilla Marvel 14

Note: Never suck Godzilla’s belly


Tamara Hasioka and Jimmy Woo risk their lives to grab Robert from the battle, as he’s lying unconscious in Red Ronin’s severed head. They succeed, because I really doubt the Godzilla comic will kill off their only child character.

Thanks to the Mega-Monsters having received the super-charging Energex-ray, Godzilla is outnumbered and outgunned, and starts to get stomped. The three super-powered Mega-Monsters pound him like a red-headed dinosaur step-child.

Dum Dum and Gabe grab SHIELD ships to fly in and help the battle. Their distractions allows Godzilla to be able to kill Krollar! Take that, Krollar, you were the worst of these monsters! Godzilla sets his sights on Triax, who soon is killed dead as well. Triax was totally arrogant, so au revoir to that guy.

Rhiahn chomps on Dum Dum’s ship, but doesn’t swallow, and Dum Dum gets knocked out of his mouth…into Godzilla’s hand! Godzilla just puts Dum Dum on the ground and then fights Rhiahn. Rhiahn tries to chop off Godzilla’s head, but Godzilla moves Rhiahn’s blades so the Mega-Monster beheads himself!

On the Moon, the Betas all die from no air. Meanwhile, the Megans decide that since they can’t conquer Earth, they are too tired to war with the Betans any more. It’s peace through exhaustion! Or just being poor. Well, let’s take our victories however we can get them. Luckily, the Betans and the Megans were never seen again in Marvel comics, so we can assume that they broke both their economies so much they can’t even afford space travel to make background cameos!

Next time — Godzilla goes somewhere you will never expect! No, not there, I said somewhere you don’t expect! Stop guessing, just find out next time.

Godzilla Marvel 14

The best part of these tales is Dum Dum’s names for the weird monsters


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Godzilla #13 (August 1978)

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Godzilla Marvel 13

Triax stole the rocket boots idea from Spock in Star Trek 5!


Godzilla #13 – The Mega-Monsters From Beyond! Part 2 Triax (August 1978)
Writer – Doug Moench
Penciler – Herb Trimpe
Editor – Archie Goodwin

When last we left Godzilla, he was kidnapped by aliens and told that he’s about to get used as an intergalactic Pokemon! Godzilla wasn’t too pleased, but he was less pleased with the jerkoff evil monster Triax, who showed up to beat him up. Triax will soon be joined by his two buddies and we’ll be off at the races. If you need catching up on the who what and wheres, check out the Godzilla Marvel Splash Page, and yes, March of Godzilla 2013 is marching into June!

Triax looks like a rhino that forgot his horn and instead put his eyes on stalks. Luckily for us, he also has rocket thrusters on the bottom of his feet, allowing him to fly around like he’s Iron Man or something. Triax is also arrogant and leaves psychic taunts, except for when the taunts are coming from the Megan controllers, at which point I just assume the writer wasn’t paying attention. Fellow Mega-monster Krollar looks like a giant red Leech toy from Master of the Universe, with a horn on his head and the ability to burrow underground (Hello, Baragon!) Krollar does one better by eating dirt and crap and spitting it back out as a weapon. Krollar is a giant flying green monster with dinner plates for jaws and a tail that turns into a helicopter blade. He was altered by the Megans and is a “Biomech”, something the Megans have to remind Krollar of, because he’s too stupid to realize he’s now a freak of nature. Alien nature. Krollar has only one eye, because the last thing you want a flying monster to have is depth perception.

Triax in the mood for slaughter (and refers to himself as the “first” of the monsters…) He has hover jets on the bottom of his feet, and can transform into a sleeker flying attack mode to battle both Godzilla and Red Ronin.

The Megans spend their time taunting Robby with psychic babbling. Robert gets over his reluctance to kill because this monster is intelligent and evil. Very convenient!

Triax tries to trash Salt Lake City! How often do monsters attack Salt Lake City? Not very…

The Megans send the other two Mega-Monsters to help, Rhiahn and Krollar. The Megas declare their monsters are more powerful thanks to their biomech genetic alterations. Triax’s jet feet, Rhiahn’s helicopter tail, and Krollar’s burrowing and super-spitting ability.

Godzilla Marvel 13

The truth about the Housing Bubble!


The Megan ship Megan Booster-One arrives and plans to zap the Mega-Monsters with the Energex-ray, which will give them ten times their strength but will ultimately kill them. It’s the world’s worst stempack! The Betans expose their secret moon base location in an attempt to intercept the Megan spaceship, the Betan Leader volunteering to fly the ship to stop them.

“Snurf” — Triax
“Grooo” — Krollar
Actual quotes!

The Betans damage the Megan crash but get destroyed (and crash into the air dome of their base, rupturing it and dooming everyone inside!)

Riahn uses his Anterior Bio-Blade to decapitate Red Ronin! You might say, Red Ronin has lost his head over all this excitement!

The Megan ship fires its Energex-ray! (and then explodes!)

Oh noes, the monsters are Energexed! What will Godzilla do now that these monsters have gone all Super Mario and ate mushrooms? Find out in the next exciting issue! Be there, or catch it eventually, I know life can get busy at times…

Godzilla Marvel 13

Not the Energex-Ray! Explain the Energex-Ray! Not the Energex-Ray!

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Godzilla #12 (July 1978)

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Godzilla Marvel 12

Godzilla realizes a new story arc has begun!


Godzilla #12 – The Mega-Monsters From Beyond Part 1: The Beta-Beast! (July 1978)
Writer – Doug Moench
Penciler – Herb Trimpe
Editor – Archie Goodwin

More Godzilla is the way of the world, and it is a good way. So we are pleased to give you yet another issue of Marvel’s Godzilla series! This time, more monsters show up and things get fighty! And alien abductions with trippy space art. It’s what we call cosmic. If you need a reminder of the cast, stop by the Godzilla Marvel Splash Page, and check in on everything with March of Godzilla 2013!

Dum Dum pontificates on Robert’s actions, and how they seem to help, but the kid is too much trouble to let slide. He did steal a deadly war machine THREE TIMES!!!! Robert is upset over killing Yetrigar and flies around randomly in grief.

Aliens abduct Godzilla via sucking him into a vortex that travels him through space. That’s what Godzilla gets for wandering near Roswell, New Mexico! Just kidding, I have no idea where he was, but New Mexico is nearby, so why not?

Godzilla is transported all the way to the moon, where Godzilla is surrounded by an energy field that lets him breath and hear even though the moon is a vacuum. And waiting for Godzilla is a new enemy…the Beta-Beast! This new monster can spit fire and shoot quills. But all of that is for naught, as Godzilla shoots his own atomic breath, and soon Beta-Beast is ash.

Godzilla Marvel 12

Suddenly the Chitauri invade!


Godzilla then sees a domed city rise from beneath a crater, and attacks. But the aliens zap him with an Id Ray, which immobilizes him. (Just wait until you see how powerful their Ego and Superego Rays are!) Thanks to the power of telepathy, the aliens explain they are the Betans. They’ve been at war forever with their rival planet, Megan.

Yes, Megan.

Megan, that bitch! I knew Megan was up to no good!

The Betas are purple humanoids with weird bullet shaped heads, while the Megans are red monkey dudes with one giant eye. Their planets are depleted of resources, so they instead get monsters and alien dinosaurs and use them to fight each other. There are some cool monsters shown during this flashback with no other information.

The Megans have almost defeated the Betans, and will soon attack Earth with their three best monsters – Triax, Rhiahn, and Krollar, to get more resources.

The Beta-Beast was the Betans best monster, and it couldn’t defeat any of those three. That’s why they outsourced to Godzilla, who as you saw, easily defeated Beta-Beast.

It’s too late to explain any more, the three Megan monsters are flying to Earth. The Betans quickly send Godzilla back, as the monsters are seeking out the most powerful beings on Earth.

Mega-Monster Triax attacks Red Ronin/Robert, and begins mocking him in his mind. And Godzilla is there!

Once again, the main fighting begins next issue! Until then, it is anticipation time for the royal rumble that will happen. This storyline is my favorite of the series, because it is both cosmic in scope, but also features lots of monsters fighting.

Godzilla Marvel 12

Why Jarts were banned!

Godzilla Marvel 12

The Freak Parade is strong in this issue!


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Godzilla #11 (June 1978)

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Godzilla Marvel 11

Red Ronin is in the Choom Gang!


Godzilla #11 – Arena for Three! (June 1978)
Writer – Doug Moench
Penciler – Herb Trimpe
Editor – Archie Goodwin

When last we left Godzilla, a rumble was afoot between Big G, Yetrigar, and Red Ronin. And now the rumble will happen! If you need a reminder of the cast, stop by the Godzilla Marvel Splash Page, and check in on everything with March of Godzilla 2013!

The three monsters (Godzilla, Red Ronin, Yetrigar) battle, with Robert trying to help Godzilla, but Yetrigar is good at fighting them both. Some river rafters get caught in the crossfire, while Robert in Red Ronin is oblivious to their plight.

Dum Dum and Gabe get in a fighter and fly after the monsters, while the crashed Behemoth begins repairs.

Robert also doesn’t want to kill Yetrigar because the yetrigar of legend are supposed to be related to men. Even though this one has clearly lost it and is a danger to everyone. Of course, Robert also doesn’t try any real nonlethal attacks, either.

Robert eventually sees the Yetrigar is mad with rage and can’t be reasoned with, and will kill them both if he doesn’t kill it first. Robert has learned that sometimes the world is shades of grey. An important lesson. Robert buries Yetrigar under the side of the canyon (where he will remain until he pops up some time later in the West Coast Avengers!?!!) Dum Dum and Gabriel Jones end up saving the river rafters, if you were worried about the safety of these random one-issue flavor characters.

Godzilla Marvel 11

Red Ronin is just making excuses now…


Godzilla then wanders off, his work done. His work being to start a fight and then watch someone else end it. Robert flies away in shame that he had to take a life and is a fugitive from SHIELD.

Now that Robert is a murderer, will he come to grips with the fact that Godzilla might have to be put down like a foaming mouth dog? Or will Robert have learned an important lesson about monster morality, and which monster is good and bad? More likely, Robert learned that being an adult means you have to sometimes make adult decisions that you don’t like, but have no other choice.

And just wait until you find out what he learns next month!

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