Godzilla's New
New images of Godzilla unveil the King of Monster's new design, explicitly elevating the kaiju from terrifying monster to "extinction-level event." Here's how Godzilla has changed, and what the kaiju's new green energy means.
While Godzilla's design is iconic, it's always been malleable. Originally imagined as a cross between a gorilla and a whale (indeed, that's the origin of the name), Godzilla quickly took on more dinosaur-like features, including Tyrannosaurus-like jaws and stegosaurus spikes.
Aside from those details - plus the creature's bidpal stance, long tail and ridged skin - Godzilla has varied immensely in different movie appearances, especially in terms of height. Now, the King of Monsters debuts his greatest redesign of all time.
Horror of Godzilla Turns the King of Monsters into Nightmare Fuel
The redesign can be seen in IDW's new The Horror of Godzilla, from Ethan S. Parker, Griffin Sheridan, Tristan Jones, Josh Burcham and Tom Napolitano. Set in 1950s Tokyo, the story reimagines Godzilla's first emergence as a true horror story, with the King of Monsters more than living up to his name.
This version of Godzilla is utterly gigantic, described as "unfathomably large ... it's a walking mountain." Shrouded in darkness, this Godzilla radiates emerald-green radioactive energy which constantly feeds into the sky, becoming green lightning that crashes down around it - lightning reflected in the glowing veins that crawl across Godzilla's colossal body.
This Godzilla isn't a compelling antihero, but a natural disaster that threatens the entire planet - "it kills not for survival, but as if destruction is its biological imperative." The monster's teeth are mismatched and overlapping like a shark crossed with broken glass, and its pinprick eyes and gaping maw release an inner light that depicts Godzilla as a living reactor.
Interestingly, this Godzilla design uses an enlarged lower jaw/underbite - a detail that has similarities to the design from 1998's Godzilla movie and its titular kaiju, also known as 'Zilla' or 'GINO (Godzilla in Name Only)' by fans who felt the Roland Emmerich movie failed to capture what's great about the franchise.
As terrifying as this version of Godzilla looks, the crackling green lightning isn't just for show - in fact, it's what makes this Godzilla an extinction-level threat...
Godzilla Has a Horrific New Power
While Godzilla is incredibly and unceasingly destructive, Horror of Godzilla adds another terrifying twist. Godzilla's radioactive energy infects the clouds themselves, causing acid rain that mutates humans and turns them into zombie-like monsters.
The transformation is depicted as incredibly painful, with the acidic rain burning those it falls on and driving them out of their minds with pain. It's all the more horrific because this isn't something Godzilla is actively doing - just its presence perverts the natural world to the extent that normal people become heralds of destruction.
With entire cities already razed, the comic follows one of two scientists who seemingly released or enhanced Godzilla with experiments to create a new energy source, and who still hopes to use their discovery to bring down the kaiju and its zombie army.
Why This Is Godzilla's Best Design of All Time
Horror of Godzilla is standing on the shoulders of giants with its Godzilla design, but it's still fair to say the monster has never looked more ferocious. Even in Godzilla Minus One, the titular titan was never THIS overwhelming. And not only is the design superlative, but the comic makes the smart decision to constantly depict Godzilla from the ground up, emphasizing its immense scale.
Setting has always been a big part of how Godzilla is depicted - 2014's Godzilla marketing did a lot with depicting the monster in a ruined city. However, having Godzilla's radiation seep out into the clouds, bringing down lightning and acidic rain, is a peerless realization of this design choice, especially as the apocalyptic weather transforms humans on contact.
Fans knew that The Horror of Godzilla was going to be something special, but the first issue has surpassed expectations, depicting Godzilla as not just a destroyer of cities, but a ravager of worlds.
The Horror of Godzilla #1 is available now from July 29.