REVIEW – Godzilla: Cataclysm #2 (of 5) (IDW Publishing)

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Dave Wachter
Release Date: 17th September 2014

The second issue of Godzilla Cataclysm maintains some impressive components, and throws in some new intrigue, but still has not fully managed to justify its existence yet.

This series takes place within an alternate timeline, where kaiju events became so frequent and destructive that most of the planet was left uninhabitable. For me the shift to an alternate universe inferred that the focus would not be on the usual kaiju fighting, but rather on the human reaction to a world completely ruined by kaiju. While this issue explores the idea of a religion based upon kaiju slightly more than the previous one (explaining that the kaiju are not seen as benevolent gods, but certainly as guardians of some awesome natural forces, and that the people turned to this religion in the face of incomprehensible catastrophe) it still fails to expand upon this idea any further than what I have just summarised. This means that when the kaiju brawls begin it is hard to see why they could have not just taken place in a regular Godzilla comic.

Towards the end of this comic our narrator is revealed to be overly knowledgeable concerning kaiju, and it is hinted that during the Cataclysm he was part of some experiment which is inferred to have driven Godzilla angrier than ever before. These hints may eventually help justify the setting in future issues if they pay off.

The art continues to effectively sell the ruined landscapes of the post-Cataclysm world, and when Godzilla fires up his atomic breath the bright blue provides an amazingly vibrant contrast to the ruined world. This issue contains less fighting than say a Godzilla Rulers of Earth comic might, but what is shown is well-drawn and captures the feeling of an epic tag team match, as Mothra and Biollante attempt something similar to a Medic/Heavy team-up against Godzilla.

I really hope that the hints given in this issue eventually help to justify this series’ existence, as right now we are not being given a unique story to fit the unique setting.

Rating: 2/5

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