“Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong” – Book Four
Artists: Christian Duce and Tom Derenick
Color Artist: Luis Guerrero
Letterers: Comicraft’s Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
Review by Lauren Fiske
How many monsters can one comic have?! I’m mostly kidding, but Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #4 continues to throw more Kaiju, more heroes, and more villains into the story. As chaos unfolds, in this mostly transitional issue, our heroes start to make connections and realizations about what’s really going on, and who’s responsible for the giant beasts attacking the Earth.
Progression
Superman continues to be the focus of the series, as the issue opens with Batman in denial about Clark’s death. The other heroes commiserate with Bruce but all seem to express some concern that he isn’t accepting the obvious. I found it interesting that Batman would be so shaken by Superman’s demise. Perhaps his death reminds Bruce of other losses in his life? It’s hard to say, but the comic continues and Lois is brought to Clark’s bedside. Her grief is obvious, especially as she pulls out the ring Clark had just barely missed out on offering her.
Although Superman remains a focus point for the issue, Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #4 keeps the story moving by finally revealing more information about Toyman and how the different versions of the multiverse became so entangled.
The background dialogue also establishes some canon about where Godzilla is from and his role back home. The idea that Godzilla is somehow an equalizer is fascinating to me, especially since all we’ve seen the Kaiju do is raze cities and take out indestructible heroes. Despite Godzilla’s own seemingly impossible invulnerability, the issue reveals even greater monsters below the ocean.
Under the Sea
One major player from the Justice League has been notably absent in the series so far, but Aquaman finally makes an appearance in this issue… and not a moment too soon. Godzilla retreated to the water, hunting for a beacon, but ran into yet another gigantic monster. The two beasts nearly take out Atlantis, so Aquaman’s forced to reveal his greatest weapon of all: the Kraken.
Seemingly, the creature was already living in captivity outside of Atlantis and isn’t from the alternate universe. Aquaman and his Atlantean allies already had the Kraken as a weapon in their back pocket. If this is true, where did they find such a beast?
Getting to see Atlantis and more monsters, even underwater, was fascinating, but it still leads the issue to feeling like it’s leading to something else. We briefly get to see Toyman in a few background panels, hear mention of Lex Luthor, and watch as even more villains gather together, but the intent of this chapter was seemingly to nudge the story along, but without revealing too much.
Conclusion
Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #4 continues to give me more questions than answers. This has been improving with each issue as the characters also learn more, but overall, this issue feels like it was just about getting from one point to another. Everything the creative team came up with seems to have worked, but the book’s just not quite in-depth enough to stand on its own.
I’m not aware of how long this series is meant to run, although there are obvious storylines that need to be wrapped up. My main hope is that the story can focus on just a few characters and create a bigger impact with those select few. That level of focus might help each issue feel more important individually. I don’t know, but we’ll see.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment