Episode 126 - Tokyo Giant

The Winter Palace Podcast

Godzilla vs The Marvel Universe. From Godzilla 24 by Doug Moench, Herb Trimpe, et al. (c) 2023 Marvel Comics.

After seven long years, we’re happy to welcome Zander Cannon (@zandercannon) to the pod to discuss the mad monster party, officially known as Godzilla Minus One. We basically go through the entire film plot point by plot point, so if you haven’t seen it yet, save the pod for after you’ve watched it. Short version: it’s as good or better than all the buzz you’ve heard about it. We talk about the main characters, both the humans and Big G himself, compare it to the original 1954 film (with and without Raymond Burr in the American version), the call-backs to previous movies, the drama at the heart of the movie and what very nerdy fan service thing I would have loved to see in the movie, even if most viewers may not have gotten the reference.

From there, we discuss the 1979 Godzilla comic from Marvel. Zander only read a couple issues as a kid, but I reread all 24 issues for the show. So, we discuss the creators and art style, which Marvel super heroes appear in the book and, of course, the giant Mattel Godzilla toy from that era (you know, the one with the spring-loaded fist you could shoot).

That’s a natural segue into Zander’s comic Kaijumax, which finished up last year and the third of three hardcover collections is coming out soon (it may be out when you hear this) from Oni Press. We talk about the evolution of the series over its 30 issues, the lack of monster vs monster splash pages in the series, all the tropes that got turned on their heads in the series and more.

We end with what could a general talk abou the comics industry, largely about original art, prices these days for older pages, creating comics digitally vs the old pen and ink days, color guides and how cool they are to see, retro technology and a bunch of other topics.

It was great to talk to Zander again on the show and hopefully it won’t take seven years to invite him back.