Review: ‘Godzilla: Infinity Roar’ #1

In 2018, Marvel Comics rising stars Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman introduced a canon-shattering monstrosity that would change Marvel forever. Knull, The God of the Symbiotes, debuted in Venom (Vol. 4) #3 and turned everything we thought we knew about symbiotes on its head. Knull was an ancient, primordial god that surfaced from darkness itself. He forged a hellish blade called the All-Black Necrosword (cleverly connected to Jason Aaron’s iconic Thor: God of Thunder run and its villain Gorr the God Butcher) and spawned from it the race of parasitic aliens called Symbiotes. This introduction made this Venom run a massive success and brought the famous anti-hero back to a level of prominence not seen since the early 1990s. While Knull himself is a bit divisive as a character (I personally think he is rad), his significance cannot be denied. Now, what if “The King in Black” was able to summon the “King of the Monsters” at will?

Welcome to Infinity Roar.

Godzilla serves as a herald of sorts to Knull. While even Knull can’t control the Big G, he can aim the beast in the right direction. This leads to the King in Black laying waste to various planets across the Marvel universe, shooting Godzilla down, letting him lay waste, and then assimilating the leftovers with symbiotes. This is, of course, bad news for the Marvel heroes.

What I appreciated most about this first issue was that for the majority of its duration, we follow lesser-known Marvel characters. Several cutaways to the Galactic Senate, where aliens like the Skrulls, The Shi’ar, and more are contemplating the massive problem at hand. Knull summons Godzilla to attack the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda (yes, Wakanda is a planet now), and we get all the wonderful Godzilla action you would expect. The art from Javier Garron & Ig Guara really hits and is by far the best part of the issue. The destruction is wonderfully rendered and beautifully articulates that not even the great warriors of Wakanda can combat Godzilla. On top of that, the colors by Jesus Aburtov REALLY pop. Vibrant reds, glorious explosive oranges and yellows, and it’s all counterbalanced by the barrage of black.

Gerry Duggan, a Marvel mainstay for many years now, writes the story and he is adept at writing the “Marvel Event” style. See, there’s two types of Marvel comics writing. There’s “This is my series, and I write it this way.” And then there’s “Oh, this is a big event/crossover? Better write it like this.” This is a blessing and a curse. While it is fun to see the Marvel Universe converge together with a wonderful Godzilla bow on top, if you’re accustomed to Marvel comics events…this will feel fairly run of the mill (at least, at about the halfway point.)

The highlight, the main event if you will, of this first issue is a confrontation between Godzilla and Black Bolt, the leader and king of the Inhumans. Black Bolt’s voice is essentially a weapon of mass destruction, the faintest of whispers can cause heavy damage. Black Bolt unleashes the full potential of his vocal chords at Godzilla, bringing the kaiju down. But, this is Godzilla, and he ain’t heard no bell. What follows is one of the funniest things I’ve seen for a bit. Black Bolt, realizing his best shot had no effect (come on, dude. It didn’t work on The Hulk) is running full sprint away from Godzilla while Wakanda’s best look dumbfounded. That one tickled me.

Unfortunately, the story takes a dip when the more mainstream heroes arrive on the scene. That’s when the story becomes pretty formulaic. The Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, The Fantastic Four, yeah…it’s kinda boring. I know for the book to sell, you need the bread-and-butter characters to be there, but it was refreshing seeing lesser known Marvelites taking on Godzilla. I’m still interested to see where the story goes, especially with how the first issue ends, but I can’t help but feel disappointed.

If you’re looking for a fairly mindless Godzilla vs. Marvel romp, this book will do the trick. But if you’re looking for something fresh, I don’t think you’ll find it here.

Rating: 6.5/10