IDW Makes Godzilla a Real Monster Again in New Series, ‘The Horror Of Godzilla’
At its core, Godzilla is always a cautionary tale using monsters as an allegory for the fears of a given era, whether that’s nuclear weapons, biological warfare, or the age-old fear of the unknown. The trend-setting original film from 1954, directed by Ishiro Honda, voiced the fears Japan felt as it entered the Atomic Age post-WWII, making Gojira, in many respects, a horror film.
However, the deeper meaning and inner bleakness of the series were quickly lost and somewhat forgotten as it quickly shifted to an obsession with prehistoric and cosmic monster battles. Attempts were made again and again – starting in 1984 and recurring in this millennium with Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One – to make the central creature scary again. Still, the essence of horror is mostly absent when the King of the Monsters stomps across our screens.
IDW might change all that in a new series coming this summer, appropriately titled The Horror of Godzilla. Written by Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan with art by Tristan Jones, this new installment in the publisher’s Kai-Sei era will retell the night of Godzilla’s first rampage through Japan with a much darker edge. As Godzilla’s official site puts it, “this one is going all-in on frights and scares” with a very simple mandate: “make it frightening.”
“THE HORROR OF GODZILLA is for fans of Godzilla Minus One, Shin Godzilla, and Godzilla ‘54. It’s a terrifying look at the Kai-Sei era’s first Godzilla attack. It grabs the reader and places them on the ground in the middle of the most petrifying night in human history… the arrival of Godzilla. Through the power of Tristan Jones’ visceral art style, this is the first Godzilla comic we’ve released that goes 100% in on horror. It very well might become the best Godzilla comic ever made… it’s certainly the scariest,” says IDW editor Jake Williams.
“Godzilla’s been such a huge part of my life as far back as I can remember,” said Tristan Jones, who confessed to hogging his local video store’s copy of Godzilla 1985 back in the day. We’re talking about Roger Corman’s notorious cut of Toho’s first Heisei entry, which saw the return of not only the radioactive dinosaur, but also an older Raymond Burr who wound up saddled with Dr. Pepper product placement.
Jones added that he is so spirited about this project that he is “genuinely hard-pressed to think of anything I’ve been this excited about.” For him, “it’s a genuine honor and a thrill” to be on a team putting together a story that leans harder into elements the films teased over the years, but never quite explored to the degree he and IDW are. These elements include body horror that parallels the effects radiation and fallout had on people caught in the blasts at Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
“Set in 1954 Japan, the series revisits the night Godzilla emerged and changed history forever. But this isn’t just another retelling. The creative team is exploring the horrifying human cost of Kai-Sei energy, showing how exposure to these grim events transforms the people caught in the chaos,” goes one synopsis. The Horror of Godzilla hits shelves and digital outlets in July.
