There’s a new creative duo in the kaiju sphere our community needs to keep their eyes on. Avid comic book enthusiasts may already be familiar with writer Julio Anta & Jacoby Salcedo’s work on This Land is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story, or for the more monster-minded, Julio Anta’s Chupacabra series that released mere months before, Beast of Borikén. It’s been wonderful to see Julio Anta write strong, deeply thought-provoking tales about the immigrant and minority experience for youthful readers. What has wowed me the most, however, is that the majority of his books have teacher’s guides and supplementary materials for educators to utilize. It was for this reason alone that my intrigue (and great excitement) skyrocketed when it was revealed that he would be penning a true kaiju book with Salcedo.
Kaiju stories, especially in the comics medium, have exploded in the past five years. It’s far easier to visually convey a grandiose sense of scale, the dreadful, unfathomable appearance of a gigantic, massive beast, and the pro-peace, anti-war (and in some cases, secular humanism) that come from these tales. That being said, pop culture has sculpted our very ideas and expectations of kaiju stories to be something along the lines of, “mash the action figures together, and show lots of punching!” I wouldn’t discredit anyone’s enjoyment of those types of stories, but it was incredibly refreshing to see the first issue of No Gods, No Masters deliver on both fronts. The book brings some of the most unique kaiju action without sacrificing a single ounce of storytelling potential, giving us a full human experience in the midst of a massive attack.
Julio Anta’s characterization of our youthful protagonists is appreciated here; the writing is authentic and our characters feel like real teens that have to navigate the world (and each other). There is not an ounce of what I have come to dub the “Steve Buscemi” moment in this book, where an adult writer delivers dialog in a way that feels like it’s how they think a teenager living in one of the world’s biggest cities in 2026 would act and sound like. Anta is not Steve Buscemi; he’s not walking up to you with a skateboard and boasting, “How do you do, fellow kids?”
Here, Anta is characterizing the struggles, especially class struggles, of an immigrant who has just fled terror, only for that terror to reappear at his door. It’s a solemn reminder that the fight for a better world never ends, and the thing you keep running from will end up appearing again. This is kaiju storytelling, shown quite effectively in stories like Godzilla Minus One, in which giant monsters emulate mankind’s folly, be it nuclear weaponry, unchecked capitalism, or the dangers of using science for the wrong reasons. The comic, while bloody, graphic, and very serious in stakes and tones, never treads into shock value territory, either. Every single decision is made with great attention to detail, such as the teenage angst, tension, and emotions that run wild and are resolved in detention. On the kaiju end of the story, it’s the emphasis on the idea that we must all come together to defeat these “monsters” in our society, literally and figuratively.
Kaiju fans, unquestionably, pick these books up for the creature art, and Jacoby Salcedo does not disappoint in that regard. Even with small glimpses of our beasts, we are treated with some fun mixes between a traditional, more mythological beast, and something out of this world, drawing clear inspiration from contemporary titles like Pacific Rim in design and Cloverfield in delivery. Every region on this planet has stories about giant beasts, and Salcedo has done a wonderful job at mixing the best of all of them to create something that compliments the story being told. Readers may be a tad disappointed to hear that there is not a 1-on-1 kaiju fight in this issue, but you will still get creatively illustrated and intense battles between our heroes and the monsters infesting New York City. The best part is that even the mundane and “normal” stuff that keeps us grounded is still drawn with a keen visual eye, giving us a truly striking and beautiful comic to look at, even when it’s just a bunch of squabbling teenagers. It’s a careful and delicate balancing act, but the creative duo knows exactly what card to play and when to play it.
No Gods, No Masters is shaping up to be a kaiju comic story worth remembering, giving readers a relatable survival thriller that examines what it means to continue to survive and fight, no matter what obstacle is thrown in front of them. In an age where there are so many giant monster books, it’s incredibly refreshing to see one that is carefully constructed by individuals that understand and know the genre, and in the process, have something to add to the broader kaiju conversation. While it might be fun to have a goofy, late 1970s tokusatsu-esque kaiju book, it’s a stark reminder that the best kaiju stories, at least in my opinion, are the ones that put a mirror up to the human race, and tell us that we can all become better, and we must, in order to vanquish the monsters at our doors. I am eager to see where Julio and Jacoby take this book, and I absolutely think it will be one that comic readers that love giant monsters will appreciate upon its conclusion.
No Gods, No Masters Issue 1 releases in comic stores on September 2nd. For more, check out our interview with Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo that was conducted at San Diego Comic-Con.
