Whatever humanity throws at the King of Monsters, Godzilla only gets stronger. Now, he's getting much, much taller too. Godzilla just adopted one of his tallest forms of all time, with a new name to go with it - 'Kingzilla.'
While Godzilla is always gigantic, the character's height varies radically depending on the appearance. While Godzilla Minus One and Godzilla Minus Zero depict Godzilla at over 150 feet, Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters shows him closer to 950.
Now, Godzilla is even bigger, depicted at over 1,400 feet tall and truly unstoppable. Here's what you need to know about 'Kingzilla.'
In the recent 'Kingzilla' from Godzilla vs America: Godzilla vs New York City #1, Frank Tieri, Mark Texeira, Tom Napolitano and Brian Kolek present a story inspired by 1933's King Kong. The comic story imagines what would have happened if, instead of discovering a giant ape, filmmaker Carl Denham had discovered the King of Monsters.
Seeking to make the ultimate monster movie, Denham leads an expedition to a mysterious island that is rumored to be the home of "a giant that was simian in nature." Sadly for the group, King Kong has been unseated and replaced by Godzilla, who is worshiped by cultists who address the monster as their king.
Godzilla promptly kills Ann Darrow and chases the expedition back to New York, laying waste to the city. At the end of the story, Godzilla recreates King Kong climbing the Empire State Building. Except 'Kingzilla' is so gigantic it towers over the building, destroying it with its razor-sharp claws then gnawing on the Chrysler Building for good measure.
As the story ends, the biplanes that killed King Kong arrive, only to be swatted out of the air by Kingzilla. The whole story is told in sepia-tinted black and white, recreating the aesthetic of King Kong even as the narrative disastrously diverges.
As fun as it is to see Godzilla and King Kong work together in the Monsterverse, this is the crossover fans really deserved. Ultimately, the original King Kong and Godzilla tell very different stories with very different metaphors for their monsters.
Putting Godzilla in King Kong's place results in an explosive new story that still touches on hubris, but with humanity as the losers rather than the subjugators of nature. Of course, now fans need to see the other side of the equation - King Kong running rampant in 1950s Japan.
Very mild spoilers for Godzilla Minus Zero follow.
As fun as 'Kingzilla' is, it's just one story in this anthology issue that imagines different versions of Godzilla attacking New York. Indeed, the larger series sees Godzilla take on a variety of US locales, including Los Angeles, Portland, Texas and more.
The series is a particular balm for fans of Godzilla Minus Zero, who were led to believe the movie would see Godzilla attack the United States. Unfortunately, the trailer tease of Godzilla crushing the Statue of Liberty is actually a short fantasy scene in the movie, albeit one of the movie's most awe-inspiring and disturbing, as everyday Americans are incinerated in slow motion.
For anyone who actually wanted to see Godzilla running wild in America, Godzilla vs America delivers again and again, with a variety of creative teams tackling different iconic locations. 'Kingzilla' shows how creative new ideas can emerge from the prompt of Godzilla conquering different US cities, not just using the imagery of these real-world settings but their pop culture legacies.
Godzilla vs America: Godzilla vs New York City #1 is available now from IDW Publishing.
