Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong
#Issue 1 from Legendary and DC Comics
Review by: Nik Christensen
Written by: Brian Buccellato
Art by: Christopher Duce
Colored by: Luis Guerrero
30 Pages
Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong was announced at San Diego Comic Con in June of 2023 and hit the shelves on October 17, 2023 to great fanfare and anticipation.
Pitting the likes of Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman and of course the man of steel himself Superman against one of Earth’s mightiest monsters – Godzilla!
As we begin our journey into this epic crossover we find Clark Kent and Lois Lane enjoying a beautiful Metropolis sunset on top of the Daily Planet. Clark is about to ask something very big of Lois but of course in true Superman fashion his time with Lois is shortened by the Metropolis wide rumbling of what seems like an earthquake but is then revealed through a massive tidal eruption to be Godzilla himself standing tall and menacingly in Metropolis Harbor!
From this scene we reveal over the rest of issue one just how Clark and Lois found themselves to be on top of the Daily Planet enjoying a romantic evening and just how important the reason was, to not just Clark, but all of his super friends in their super hideout.
This issue is a fantastic way to introduce the characters of the Justice League into the characters of Legendary’s MonsterVerse and the reasons why are entirely better and more entertaining than the usual universal crossover expositional reasons. The inaugural chapter quickly brings in a significant cast of players, both good guys and bad guys, but the individual characters never feel crowded out or simply there as a box to check as “present.” Each character feels alive and invested in the story and the majority are given very unique moments of engagement with their respective counter which is where some of the humor shines through.
Spending a considerable time on Skull Island as the link between the worlds grows we get to see a lot of King Kong and a fair bit of action between our furry favorite Titan and our two-legged snake-tailed Skullcrawler Titan as some of the DC characters explore and find out just how vicious and intimidating this Titan-filled Earth can be.
One of the true crowning achievements of this issue and the ongoing series (so far) is the art and color. The characters are brilliant and vibrant on the page and the details that have been captured help evoke movement and action which makes it such a visual treat to read each page. The dialogue isn’t intrusive like it is in so many comics that I have read lately, which just adds to the ability to appreciate the vibrancy of this release and the partnership between DC Comics and Legendary Comics. A particular joy for me is the art of Christian Duce coupled with the coloring by Luis Guerrero and how they capture both the DC Universe and the Legendary Universe in subtle and unique ways – I interpreted this subtlety to be evoking the size difference between the two sets of characters.
I eagerly await the release of Issue #2 on November 21, 2023 as the story is going to continue to fire on all cylinders at this point as the story wastes absolutely no time getting off the ground and moving into what we would all call – the GOOD STUFF!
This is an excellent idea and the folks at DC Comics and Legendary Comics should be congratulated for working this out and bringing this beautiful idea into the real world. I hope the visual style of Christopher Duce and the color work by Luis Guerrero continue throughout the entire run as their visual style together is cinematic and so vibrant and works so well for this story.
Issue #1 is currently available at most local comic book outlets and of course available through your larger corporate comic suppliers!
Issue #2 is available November 21st, 2023.
Images used are for review purposes and are ©DC Comics and Legendary Comics.
Coming Soon…
Image ©IDW Publishing
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