“Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong” – Book Two
Artist: Christian Duce
Color Artist: Luis Guerrero
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
Review by Lauren Fiske
Godzilla and Kong and cryptids, oh my! Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #2 has a multitude of crazy monsters. The Justice League has its hands full with all the crazy Kaijus, let alone the few villains we see show up in the background. There are also a few mysteries in the works that the creators hinted at this month, but that all needs a bit more unpacking.
Catch up on the previous issue to learn more about how the behemoths suddenly appeared. Spoilers ahead!
Battle of the Bats
The majority of this issue takes place in Gotham, with select scenes in Metropolis setting up book #3. Batman, his entire crew, Cyborg, and Black Canary join forces to take down the monster facing down Gotham: a giant bat that Batman calls Camazotz.
This giant is part of Mayan mythology and a quick poke around the internet reveals that Camazotz is a giant bat associated with death and night… Sound familiar? It’s more than a little coincidental that the monster attacking Batman’s city has such a similar description. Other netizens have made the connection between Camazotz and Batman, so it’s obvious that the creators behind the series have been planning ahead.
It takes some work for Batman and the team to bring the creature down and keep it away from the city. Interestingly, there’s a moment of Red Hood pushing back on Batman’s authority and the rest of the group.
I’m curious to see if the creators continue to focus on the danger of hubris in future issues, as this seemed to be the for most of Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #2. Either way, it’s an interesting premise to explore in the context of superheroes facing off against gigantic monsters bent on destroying their hometowns. This leads me to some questions…
Black Manta talks about Toyman using “the magical Dreamstone”. This artifact is responsible for the random appearance of the Kaijus and a mysterious island, but what else can it do? Is it tricky like a genie’s lamp and a set number of wishes? In what other ways can the Dreamstone affect reality? (I’ve since been told that this artifact is a big deal in the DC Universe, but I’m a newcomer to this dimension).
Additionally, I don’t understand how all the villains got spread out. It’s seemingly random, especially since Cheetah and Black Manta were not wished to appear in the separate places like the others. Why are they still at the Fortress of Solitude but the others have been blasted around the world? Are the heroes going to go back to the Fortress to apprehend them? Is the appearance of the “titanic monsters” going to assist the baddies in whatever villainous scheme they’re trying to pull off? What else is there to the mysterious island? How is it connected to the monsters and the Dreamstone? How did it arrive on Earth? (Less relevant: how do Wonder Woman and Green Arrow immediately know that the island doesn’t belong there? Are they master cartographers somehow?)
There are still at least 3 more monsters to be taken down in future issues as well as more heroes and villains to be seen, so I’m sure all of my questions and more will be answered in time, but now I question how many more wonderings will come up before answers are given!
Conclusion
Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #2 is pretty good and I appreciate the building of suspense and mystery with little breadcrumbs of clues in this issue. It’s neat to see the Bat crew work together (for better or worse) and the appearances of Black Canary and Cyborg were a nice touch. Superman obviously has plot armor so we know he’s not going anywhere, but it’s always entertaining to see “invincible” heroes get knocked down and struggle to get up again.
The layers of this issue are fun and uncomplicated and create some good storytelling. Even though there’s a large volume of characters, it’s not overwhelming to get invested in the story’s action. The art style is good, and I appreciate how each character is individually designed. There’s no chance of mistaking any hero for another one with the dynamic lines and fantastic colors.
I’m genuinely enjoying this series more than I thought I would. It’s definitely not a series that you can pick up, set down for an issue, and pick up again without some disruption in the continuity, but that’s not a bad thing with how this story has been designed.
Hopefully, the next issue will continue to pack some punches and introduce even more fascinating monsters for readers to learn about.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment