Godzilla, Kong, Gamera & Co.: The Kaiju Mega-Thread

[Kai "the spy"]

The cynical side of me had the thought that the donations are simply damage control, but then, the solicitations were only released today, so pushing the book back a few months would have been an option. Though I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't pull that cover, or at least take out the smoke cloud.

 

[thribs]

It’s weird that he has destroyed Edinburgh (where I’m from) before he destroyed LA.

 

[Nerys Myk]

It’s weird that he has destroyed Edinburgh (where I’m from) before he destroyed LA.

I blame bagpipe music.

 

[thribs]

I blame bagpipe music.

I’m used to it. My only issue I have with that instrument is that they only ever play 3 tunes on it.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I’m used to it. My only issue I have with that instrument is that they only ever play 3 tunes on it.

Same as Godzilla then.

 

[JD]

I didn't really think about the bad timing of the LA comic at first, but yeah that is unfortunate.

Marvel has announced the next two Godzilla vs... comics, Hulk and Spider-Man.
https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/godzilla-vs-hulk-and-godzilla-vs-spider-man-covers
Godzilla vs Hulk is being written by Gary Duggan with art by Giueseppe Camucoli, and the description doesn't mention any specific era.
Godzilla vs Spider-Man is being written by Joe Kelly with art by Nick Bradshaw, and is set right after the original Secret Wars.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

It’s weird that he has destroyed Edinburgh (where I’m from) before he destroyed LA.

I'm not sure when the Edinburgh thing was released, but this isn't the first story where he destroys LA.

 

[thribs]

I'm not sure when the Edinburgh thing was released, but this isn't the first story where he destroys LA.

It’s a comic they did nearly 10 years ago

 

[Grendelsbayne]

It’s a comic they did nearly 10 years ago

Looking at it again I think we might be talking about the same comic (History's Greatest Monster?) and may have both slightly misremembered it. Flipping through the book to see the location tags it seems Godzilla destroys a bunch of different places in California but technically not LA proper* and Edinburgh is also destroyed but not by Godzilla.

Or maybe there's a second comic released around the same time where Godzilla destroys Edinburgh personally and you're just completely right.

*He does rampage in the San Fernado valley which I think is part of the LA metropolis but I don't know that much about how LA fits together.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Trendmasters playset from the 90s:

I'm not sure, but it may be that the Dark Horse Comics ongoing series had Godzilla in Los Angeles for an issue or two. I might be wrong, it's been years since I last read those books, and the Wikipedia article didn't go into much detail about the series.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

The first US city that Godzilla attacked would have been Seattle back in Marvel comics Godzilla run, followed by San Francisco. From there he went through the Grand Canyon, destroying Hoover Dam, which wiped out Las Vegas, on his way to Salt Lake City, then made his way toward New York/Manhattan.

If we were to use the Space Needle, which rises to 608 feet, as a benchmark, Marvel's Godzilla would have stood at around 600 feet tall, because, in the comic, he stood eye-level with the Observation deck.

​

 

[thribs]

Looking at it again I think we might be talking about the same comic (History's Greatest Monster?) and may have both slightly misremembered it. Flipping through the book to see the location tags it seems Godzilla destroys a bunch of different places in California but technically not LA proper* and Edinburgh is also destroyed but not by Godzilla.

Or maybe there's a second comic released around the same time where Godzilla destroys Edinburgh personally and you're just completely right.

*He does rampage in the San Fernado valley which I think is part of the LA metropolis but I don't know that much about how LA fits together.

I wasn't expecting someone to actually catch me out.
Yeah, it wasn't Godzilla in Edinburgh.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

The first US city that Godzilla attacked would have been Seattle back in Marvel comics Godzilla run, followed by San Francisco. From there he went through the Grand Canyon, destroying Hoover Dam, which wiped out Las Vegas, on his way to Salt Lake City, then made his way toward New York/Manhattan.

If we were to use the Space Needle, which rises to 608 feet, as a benchmark, Marvel's Godzilla would have stood at around 600 feet tall, because, in the comic, he stood eye-level with the Observation deck.

​

First off, Godzilla did attack New York in Toho's Destroy All Monsters all the way back in 1968, so THAT's the first US city the Big G attacked.

Second, I had to use a feet-to-meters calculator to figure out how tall that is. Would be the tallest Godzilla except for the anime trilogy one, obviously. Although, with all due respect to the late Herb Trimpe, that Godzilla was not very consistent size-wise, even when it was not part of the plot.

 

[Christopher]

The weirdest thing for me about Trimpe's Godzilla is that it doesn't have Godzilla's head shape at all, but something more like a T. rex.

Second, I had to use a feet-to-meters calculator to figure out how tall that is. Would be the tallest Godzilla except for the anime trilogy one, obviously.

Hm. That makes the Space Needle taller than I would've guessed from memory, but I just looked at the photos I took from its observation deck the one time I was in Seattle, and yeah, that's pretty high up.

I can see why they wouldn't want Godzilla to look smaller in comparison to it in the comic. The main reason Godzillas have gotten taller over the decades is because skyscrapers got taller and the filmmakers didn't want him to appear dwarfed by them. (At least, that was the initial reason. In recent years, it seems to be more about just trying to top previous movies, a kneejerk "bigger is better" mentality.)

 

[DarrenTR1970]

First off, Godzilla did attack New York in Toho's Destroy All Monsters all the way back in 1968, so THAT's the first US city the Big G attacked.

Second, I had to use a feet-to-meters calculator to figure out how tall that is. Would be the tallest Godzilla except for the anime trilogy one, obviously. Although, with all due respect to the late Herb Trimpe, that Godzilla was not very consistent size-wise, even when it was not part of the plot.

I thought we were discussing when Godzilla first appeared on American shores in the comics.
You're right that Godzilla attacked New York in 'Destroy all Monsters', however, Godzilla first appeared off the coast of Alaska in the first issue of Marvel comics, then moved down to Seattle in the second issue, where he made landfall, making Seattle the first city Godzilla attacked in North America.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

The weirdest thing for me about Trimpe's Godzilla is that it doesn't have Godzilla's head shape at all, but something more like a T. rex.

To be fair, Godzilla's look changed a lot in the movies, as well. Also, reference material wasn't hugely available back then. There were movie stills and promotional pictures printed in Famous Monsters of Filmland, but those were from different movies, so Trimpe probably didn't have access to images of the same Godzilla suit from all necessary angles.
It's a dilemma he shared with other Godzilla licencees, like the Hanna-Barbera cartoon or the early 1960s Aurora model kit:

It might actually be that Trimpe used one such model kit as his reference for Godzilla's look. Also, this might actually be the second-biggest Godzilla, since they obviously scaled down the buildings to focus on Godzilla.

And Trimpe certainly left his mark in the visual history of Godzilla, as Toho still uses his box art for their official Godzilla trademark logo:

I thought we were discussing when Godzilla first appeared on American shores in the comics.
You're right that Godzilla attacked New York in 'Destroy all Monsters', however, Godzilla first appeared off the coast of Alaska in the first issue of Marvel comics, then moved down to Seattle in the second issue, where he made landfall, making Seattle the first city Godzilla attacked in North America.

I think it was actually about when Godzilla first attacked Los Angeles, specifically. They left LA out of the Marvel series, though both Las Vegas and San Francisco were early visits of Godzilla before ultimately landing in New York.

 

[Christopher]

To be fair, Godzilla's look changed a lot in the movies, as well.

Of course, but while still retaining the general shape of Godzilla's head, which is usually rounder and more primate-like than Trimpe's design. I just don't see Godzilla when I look at Trimpe's version.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Here's a close-up from King Kong vs. Godzilla:

Here's a close-up from Son of Godzilla:

 

[Christopher]

I already know the different looks Godzilla has. As I already said, Trimpe's design just doesn't look like Godzilla to me. That's subjective, so no amount of information I already have will change that perception.

 

[publiusr]

Here's a close-up from King Kong vs. Godzilla:

That’s my favorite.

I think Godzilla was still shorter than the Empire State Building in “Destroy All Monsters.”

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