Romeo & Juliet and Godzilla #1 // Review
Two men from rival families meet on the street in fair Verona. Both are eager to fight. If they’re going to fight, best be at it before the authorities arrive. Of course...authorities aren’t going to be any match for the giant Kaiju that stands poised to attack the both of them along with everything else in Verona. This isn’t The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. This is Romeo & Juliet and Godzilla. Writer Adam Tierney explores the strange Shakespearian mash-up with artist Sean Peacock. It’s a surprisingly deep interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic that just happens to feature Godzilla, Mothra and an Elizabethan Mechagodzlla.
Romeo tries to release the fair Rosaline from his mind, but it is no use. To recall her warm voice dime any tumult from his ears. And...honestly there IS a hell of a lot of tumult off in the distance The monster has returned to Verona and it’s destroying the countryside. Thankfully, a couple of Romeo’s cousins happen by just in time to save him from the massive, lumbering presence of Godzilla. It’s all a chaos in Verona as a Romeo happens upon an invitation to a party where he is destined to meet the love of his life.
Tierney does a rather impressive job of introducing the classic monsters too, and even more classic romantic tragedy. It's actually a very straightforward abbreviation of one of Shakespeare's best-known works. Godzilla, Mothra and the Elizabethan Mechagodzilla all serve their own place in and within the large larger context of a story of two families at war with each other. The monsters would seem almost symbolic, where it now for the fact that they're very much there. And very much a source of comedy, as well as an amplification of the horrors of human animosity and aggression.
Peacock’s art has a tendency to make a light of the whole situation by amplifying the fillings of the comedy. Theoretically, there would be a way to develop this exact same script that would treat the monsters as more of an abstract force of nature. The comedy would fall into more of a subtly overwhelming effect around the edges of what would have been a more straightforward depiction of the abstract forces at work in this particular mashup. Instead, it all comes across as lighthearted and silly. Which is perfectly fine. One can't help but wonder what might have happened. Had it been a completely different artist working on this thing.
It's an interesting exercise period and honestly, Godzilla would work as a force in the background of just about any of Shakespeare's works. There's quite a bit of power in a tragedy involving two warring facts. And Godzilla fits possibly more perfect perfectly there than the monster wood in any other context. And so it's really cool to see it put together. What at first seems very silly and absurd actually turns into something much more beautiful by the end of the issue. It's a pleasantly disorienting experience.
