Review – Godzilla: Dominion OGN (Legendary)

Publisher: Legendary Comics
Writer: Greg Keyes
Artwork: Drew Edward Johnson
Colour Assists: Allen Passalaqua
Lettering: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Release Date: 6th April 2021

To celebrate Godzilla vs Kong getting its worldwide streaming release, Legendary Comics have released not one but two prequel graphic novels to help fill in some of the storyline gaps from their MonsterVerse. This release takes us into the world of Godzilla as he tries to adapt to the fallout from King of the Monsters in a world filled with recently-awoken Titans.

I’m firmly in favour of writer Greg Keyes’ decision to frame the entire story from Godzilla’s perspective rather than trying to show us things through the eyes of yet another a hapless human caught up in the conflict – an approach we’ve seen time and time again over the years, and which has become more than a little played-out along the way.

I’m also a big fan of the third-person narration used throughout, which gives some intriguing insight into Godzilla’s internal thought process and his understanding of the human world as a whole. There’s an almost Swamp Thing-esque feel to this narration at times, along with Godzilla’s role as ‘quiet protector of the balance’, and his ability to sense and feel the world’s ecosystem.

Drew Edward Johnson does a strong job on the visual side of the book, giving us a suitably hulking and menacing Godzilla and some chaotic (but never confusing) large-scale Titan combat. Each of these skirmishes is broken up by thoughtful, almost peaceful moments, and Johnson brings these to the page with equal flair as Godzilla tries to replenish his strength, all while being pulled forwards by his memories and hard-coded desires.

Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by the approach taken here, and the way it portrays Godzilla as more than just an unstoppable force of nature who occasionally shows up to smack down monsters and destroy lots of skyscrapers. It provides a fresh new take on the King of the Monsters, and while a lot of that is admittedly cast aside in the Godzilla vs Kong cinematic release in favour of destruction and a simple desire to be the “alpha”, reading this graphic novel gives the events of the new movie a brand new perspective.

While Kingdom Kong felt like a bit of a blunt instrument, telling a familiar story in a familiar style, Dominion feels like a scalpel as it carves out the most interesting facets of Godzilla’s true nature and presents them in a fresh and interesting way. Highly recommended for Godzilla, Swamp Thing and giant monster fans alike.

Rating: 4/5.

[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]