Godzilla Vs. San Diego #1 // Review
In 1954, Tokyo had a population of about 7 million people. By contrast, present day San Diego only has about 1.4 million. Not exactly a huge draw for a giant lizard, but this time of year there’s another reason to go there that’s expected to draw an additional 135,000 people to the city. Godzilla encounters a whole bunch of danger at one of the world’s largest conventions in Godzilla Vs. San Diego #1. The one-shot anthology features work by writers Stan Sakai, Dan Jurgens and more with artists including Nicole Goux, Carla Wyzgala, Dave Baker and many, many more.
The title Godzilla Vs. San Diego Comic-Con 2026 would be a lot more accurate. There isn't a single feature in the issue that isn't directly said at least partially at the convention. Godzilla goes to terrorize the Gaslamp Quarter. Different stories offer different options as to how this might go down. Maybe there are automatic defenses in place. Or maybe a particular toy turns out to be a sleeper, awakened by the presence of the giant lizard. Or maybe it's just gonna be handled by a few cosplayers. This is the San Diego Comic-Con. Anything could happen.
So it's really more about what happens when the king of monsters decides to go to.Comic-Con this year. It can feel a little bit repetitious in places. There are a few different approaches to the type of story in question. They're all involving comedy of some sort that work too varying degrees of effectiveness. It would have been nice to see more of the specific culture of this particular city factored into the issue. Some of it's pretty lame. But it's always fun to see a comic book pointed in the direction of one of the largest comic book conventions in the world.
The “Artist’s Alley” section at the end of the book features some of the best artwork of the issue. Really it just looks like a bunch of alternative covers, though. The actual stories are home to more goofy art that features more cuddly version of a title character. Some of it works. Some of it doesn't. On the hole, though, things move across the page briskly with a whimsical sense of humor. And while the visuals are competently brought to the page, there isn't anything that feels particularly memorable about the graphic end of this particular anthology.
The San Diego Comic-Con has a great many different angles and aspects to it. That would have been fun to explore from the standpoint of a Godzilla story. Theoretically, if more different personalities were drawn into the anthology it could've turned out to be something a lot more interesting. It's not like it isn't fun. It's just not anything that's likely to be all that memorable in the long run. There have been entries into this series from a various other cities in the United States that have been a little bit more diverse in their offerings. Those tend to be the more successful ones.
