New Ongoing GODZILLA Comic by IDW

Since getting the license from Toho, IDW has published 3 Godzilla comic book miniseries so far: Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters, Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths, and Godzilla Legends. Today marks the release of the first issue of their new ongoing series, Godzilla #1. Based on what they've done with Godzilla's universe so far, I'm already onboard. Here is their press release:

IDW announces digital Godzilla comics, new characters, and a new title!

May 23, 2012

San Diego, CA – Expanding what has become an explosive publishing partnership, this summer IDW Publishing and Toho Co., Ltd.are bringing even more kaiju chaos to comic fans everywhere!

May 23rd brings the launch of Duane Swierczynski and Simon Gane's new, ongoing Godzilla series, which features covers by Arthur Adams and Tony Harris! That's not all, though!

That same day, after much anticipation, Godzilla will finally hit digital platforms!  Available on iOS, Android, and Nook, IDW's entire back catalog of catastrophic, giant monster destruction will be available as single issues and trades.  Not only that, but the new Godzilla ongoing will launch day and date with two exclusive digital variant covers!

This bounty of crushing comics destruction comes hot on the heels of IDW's announcement of Orc Stain creator James Stokoe's Godzilla: The Half-Century War, a generation-spanning tale packed to the gills with Stokoe's trademark hyper-detailed linework and nearly-psychedelic colors. If any comics creator out there was born to draw giant monsters leveling crowded metropolitan areas, folks, it's James Stokoe.

And as if all that city-stompin' goodness wasn't enough, IDW has made the necessary space in Godzilla's monstrous world for even more of Toho's creatures, with more than 20 of Godzilla's co-stars joining the roster of licensed characters. From fan favorites such as JET JAGUAR to lesser-known greats like the gargantuas, SANDA and GAIRA, the future of Godzilla at IDW is bound to be even more action-packed than ever.

Needless to say, it's going to be a chaos-drenched summer for Godzilla fans.

Hopefully they all have insurance.

 
 Jet Jaguar? Sweet. If I recall, JJ couldn't appear in Kingdom of Monsters because he wasn't part of the licensing agreement with Toho.

And Sanda & Gaira from War of the Gargantuas, the sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World? From the cast of characters alone it sounds like this series is going to be insane. I mean, I doubt we'll get to see Stringer Bell, but really, besides me, how much of a crossover audience is there between Godzilla and The Wire?

Since I haven't made it to my friendly neighborhood comic shop yet this week, here's an advance review of Godzilla #1 from Newsarama.

Frankenstein: Big in Japan

This poster popped up on my Pinterest feed shortly after I finished my Frankenstein post. So in defense of Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE and other comic books that take liberties with Mary Shelley's creation, I would like to point out that at no point in these comics is the heart of Frankenstein's Monster cut out by the Nazis, transferred to the Japanese fleet, taken to Hiroshima, nuked, and then mutated into a creature that grows to the size of Godzilla and fights a dinosaur that fires a heat ray out of his mouth.

Nor does the DNA from Frankenstein's Monster's severed hand spawn two more giant monsters, a good brown one and an evil green one, who proceed to wreak havoc in and around Japan, and fight a giant octopus. So, no offense to the awesome Steve Niles, but by these standards, it makes any image of Frankenstein's Monster "riding a horse" and firing "a Thompson submachine gun" seem downright tame by comparison.

I'm just sayin'.

This is not part of the stuff on my desk, but it should be.

Frankenstein, on the Stage and the Page

In 2011 Danny Boyle, best known to geeks as the director of 28 Days Later and Sunshine, directed a stage production of Frankenstein at the Royal National Theatre that ran from February 5th to May 2. It was broadcast in movie cinemas by National Theatre Live in March 2011 and, in case you missed, there will be encore showings in the United States on Wednesday, June 6 and Thursday, June 7, 2012. You can check out the trailer here. It stars Benedict "Sherlock" Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee "Sick Boy" Miller from Danny Boyle's earlier movie Trainspotting, who alternate playing the roles of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster.

USA Today has a preview of Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson's new comic book miniseries, Frankenstein Alive, Alive! from IDW, which I'll be picking up this week as soon as I can make it over to Paper Heroes.

This is an awesome creative combination, written by Niles, creator of 30 Days of Night, and illustrated by the legendary Wrightson, co-creator of Swamp Thing.

(If you click that link to Wrightson's Wikipedia entry, you'll see they're using the picture I took of him at the 2006 Dallas Comic Con, where he signed my copy of Treehouse of Horror #11. And that he was wearing a Frankenstein t-shirt).

Frankenstein Alive, Alive! picks up the story where Wrightson's 1983 adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein novel left off.

Also arriving in comic shops this week is DC's Frankenstein:Agent of SHADE #9. I can't help but think that this series is what Steve Niles is referring to in the USA Today article when he says:

"Whenever I see people doing Frankenstein comics, nine times out of 10 he's riding a horse and has a Thompson submachine gun. There's this leap from the Mary Shelley (character) to a superhero. Bernie and I, we talked a lot about it and we are trying to follow the bread crumbs of the past laid out by Mary Shelley and try to see it through to some sort of logical conclusion."

Left to right: Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein, Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #11, Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE #9. Click to enlarge.

While I've been collecting Agent of SHADE, I have yet to read an issue, so I can't give my opinion on it yet. When I get to around to checking it out you'll be the first to know.