NBIM Day 25: Terror Of Godzilla #4 (1998)

Another staple of most good Godzilla vehicles: goofy comic relief characters!

Nothing quite makes up for a challenging day at work better than coming home to a UPS delivery of back issues ordered via Internet. Yesterday afternoon's delivery also doubles as today's National (Comic Book) Back Issue Month suggestion: Dark Horse Classics Terror of Godzilla #4. Published in 1998, this Dark Horse Classics is actually a recolored reprint of an original translated Godzilla manga first published by Dar Horse wa-a-a-y back in 1988, ten years earlier. The new release features a brand spanking new cover by comic book legend Arthur Adams, who, in my short time collecting Godzilla comic books, I've come to realize is something of a "go-to" Godzilla cover artist.  But, more on that later...



Arthur Adams kaiju goodness!

Dark Horse Classics Terror of Godzilla #4 features story and art by Kazuhisa Iwata, a writer who seems to get that Godzilla works best both as a plot device to tell the stories of other (human) characters and as a character himself. More  recent iterations of the big green lizard seem to emphasize one or the other, and are noticeably weaker for the missing half.

Here, Godzilla is destroying Tokyo, and the military resorts a "secret weapon" in an effort to defeat him: the Super X. The Super X amounts to a pimped out space ship[ run by the government, designed with the purpose of knocking the Big G back into dreamworld.While this issue is number four in a six part mini-series, the single issue reads well, though the cliffhanger ending (spoiled by the cover) does leave the reader (me!) wanting more.

I first came across Art Adams' Godzilla renditions on the covers of the recently concluded IDW  Godzilla Legends (2011) miniseries, and going backwards in puchasing related titles have sampled some of his work for later original Dark Horse Godzilla titles. I would have to concur with the sentiments of Toho Kingdom when it comes to Adams' Godzilla artwork: "As far as American Godzilla comics go, Arthur Adams may be the best artist at bringing Godzilla to life. His hyper-detailed work has inspired many, and due to its astounding accuracy and passionate awesomeness..."

With an original cover price $2.95, a copy of Dark Horse Classics Terror of Godzilla #4 can set you back anywhere from $6-2 depending on the quality you seek.