Godzilla: Gangsters & Goliaths #1
Written By: John Layman
Artist: Alberto Ponticelli

IDW has acquired the rights to the Toho franchise and are able to include the whole stable of monsters to their new line up of titles. The second of these titles: Godzilla: Gangsters & Goliaths, attempts to do something a little different with the kaiju.

Mobster Takahashi has killed Officer Sato’s partner. Takahashi is about to kill Officer Sato by shooting him and dumping him at sea . . . but Sato has other plans. He gets loose and leaps off the side of the boat into the ocean . . . and makes a beeline for Monster Island. Needless to say, there are plenty of goliaths there waiting for him and the mobsters that follow.

Writer Layman gives the book a very 70’s feel. Mobsters. . . Monster Island. . . I half expected Jet Jaguar to show up to the proceedings (which would be awesome!). Officer Sato is an honorable man, and the reader pulls for him to get his justice on Takahashi-san. Artist Ponticelli realizes the Gojira world vividly. From character’s faces to splash pages of monster goodness, all is well rendered. The issue ends with a very resourceful Sato making what could be a disastrous decision for Tokyo, and quite possibly the world.

IDW seems to get the world of Godzilla, and with the rest of the monsters in tow, this series and Godzilla: Kingdom Of Monsters makes it a great time to be a fan of the Big G.