The Classics - Godzilla #1

More than two decades after the creature first appeared and captured the imagination of film audiences, Marvel decided to give Godzilla his own comic.

Cover dated August 1977, this series placed the towering creature on the shores of Alaska - the beginning of his march across the United States - and set up the basic premise of the series.

For the next couple of years, the big, green, fire-breathing lizard would face off against the forces of SHIELD (largely led by Nick Fury's second-in-command, Dum Dum Dugan) in a back-and-forth battle that left in its wake lots of smashed buildings, bridges, SHIELD aircraft and loads of destruction in general.

Marvel wisely turned the writing chores over to the prolific Doug Moench, whose work seems largely overlooked these days. I always considered him one of Marvel's most creative writers, with a darn good batting average on numerous titles, with (probably) his best work being featured on Master of Kung Fu.

Moench was what I consider a dependable professional, always turning in solid stories and an impressive volume of work - especially on Marvel's monster comics.

It had to be a challenge writing a character that is, basically, a force of nature - but he came up with some great story angles along the way, and I especially enjoyed the issues set in New York.

To illustrate the comic they brought in an artist who was an old hand at big green monsters - Herb Trimpe, with another pro, Jim Mooney, handling inks. The finished product wasn't flashy or outrageous, but the storytelling was strong, the layouts clear and easy to follow, and the finished product always thoroughly professional.

This wasn't what I would call a great comic, if just because the lead character could never be much more than a sympathetic figure, and even that was pushing it. But for the length of the run, it was a fun series of stories.

Godzilla has a huge following - perhaps because there's something primal in seeing all that widespread destruction, knowing that no one is actually being hurt. Perhaps it's just goofy fun, seeing a guy in a lizard suit, pretending to smash models of cities.

Whatever the reason, this comic captured that primal attraction and ran with it. Heck, I enjoyed it. This series is worth checking out if you're any kind of monster fan.

Grade: B