Justice League Vs Godzilla Vs Kong #7 came out last week, ending the series, a true sprint to the finish line.
You know that feeling when you are watching a silly, summer blockbuster movie and you stop and try to rationalize some glaring plot holes or insane coincidences only to realize it is a fool's mission. That you aren't supposed to be thinking hard about something like this?
That is sort of my feeling about this finale.
This book has been wildly fun in places. There has been plenty to love and there is a lot to love in this issue. But a couple of issues ago I began to worry how the many plots threads that writer Brian Buccellato had been introducing would be tied up.
The answer is that they'll be tied up very quickly. You just have to roll with it. I wonder if I would feel more fulfilled if this was a movie and not a comic I am reviewing.
The art remains an interesting mix of Christian Duce's beautifully fluid, thin lined art mixed with Tom Denerick's scratchier 'late Neal Adams' style. They don't always mix well.
I wish the energy and enthusiasm I felt in the first couple of issues carried throughout.
On to the book.
And all the villains are gathered.
How did Superman get healed?
He got boom tubed outside the sun for a big dose of yellow sun rays.
I suppose it makes sense but wouldn't that be like the first thing you tried?
I do like that last panel for some reason. Cool.
What happened to the Toyman?
He was flattened by Godzilla.
He was flattened by Godzilla.
The Dreamstone isn't on him.
Quick end to the villain but at least it explains why he hasn't been around manipulating things more. And somehow it is fitting for someone like Toyman to meet their end this way.
All that's left is a brawl between the kaiju, Kong, the skull faces and the mega-skull face brought to bear by the League of Assassins, the super-heroes, and Luthor's mecha-godzilla.
The tough thing is that is a lot of moving parts and a lot of tough creatures and there are only a few pages left. So the ultimate fights become pretty quick.
Supergirl helps Wonder Woman snap the neck of one. Pretty brutal.
Then the quickly defeat the mammoth, the spider and all the others. All pretty quickly.
Why did the monsters fight them to a standstill before?
See how these fights end so fast that you wonder why they weren't mopped up in issue #2.
I thought Superman and Godzilla would somehow team up. Godzilla is a force for order in the world and so I thought maybe some unspoken understanding might happen to them.
Instead, Superman realizes that he needs the firepower of Godzilla to fight all the others. So he frees the king of monsters and lures him to the battle site.
Duce really shines on this book. I love his Godzilla. I like the angle of that last panel. Gorgeous.
I said that this book was filled with wild moments.
Guy Gardner was killed last issue. This issue his ring goes to the nearest being without fear. Kong.
I mean, how can you not love a Green Lantern Kong? He makes that Godzilla scale axe as a ring construct.
It was moments like this that made me really love this book.
But things that shouldn't be easy are almost too easy.
Shazam, Supergirl, and Diana and Donna easily dispatch Lex's Mechagodzilla before we even get a chance to see what the thing can do.
Is it cool to see Supergirl rip the arms off of a robot Godzilla? Yes.
But ...
Too easy.
And then the team up of Superman, Godzilla, and Kong kills the giant skull-face.
This is a solid splash, a sort of heroes towering over the vanquished iconic image.
But even here, the most giant of kaijus doesn't put up much of a fight ... albeit against three very heavy hitters.
Still, for 6 issues all this looked like a stalemate. But here, with the ending nigh, all the fights are one sided.
Nothing left but the wrap-up.
The Dreamstone was stuck in Godzilla's foot, another reason for Superman to free him. Using the stone, Superman sends all the kaiju back to their world.
I do like how he became sort of fond of Godzilla. I wish we got one more Supergirl/Kong moment. This books seriously needed her to fly up and give the big ape a kiss on the nose.
There is something perfect about Supergirl going out and getting Lex. Kara has been mostly portrayed as a powerhouse in the book. And really dig Duce's take on her.
Look, you had me at 'Kong is a Green Lantern'. But this issue felt like an overly fast sprint to the end. I could sense it would be this way and it was.
Still, I'd buy a sequel. Too much fun. And maybe I shouldn't be thinking about it too much.
Overall grade: C+
3 comments:
Supergirl killing monsters left a bad taste in my mouth. This was lousy writing on Buccellato's part and reeks of some idiot in editorial telling him that Supergirl has to kill in order to show how she is different from Superman. These days the s has has to stand for homicide not hope. Good writing would have her find another way instead of snapping necks and decapitation by heat vision.
In this case Bucellato fails to realize that since the first monster is bound by Wonder Woman's magic lasso, Wonder Woman can simply order it to go to sleep. Or she and Supergirl could just flatten it as Supergirla nd Captain Marvel did Godzilla. As for the Scylla, Supergirl has already proved strong enough to take down Godzilla without resorting to murder, albeit with help. She should be able to do that to a lesser monster on her own or at least use her super cold breath to freeze the heads.
However, I will say that I have no problem with what she and her fellow superheroes do to Mechagodzilla's arms since Mechagodzilla is a robot and not alive. I also like that she is the one to bring in Lex Luthor. Knowing Luthor, he probably had a dirty and deadly trick or three up his sleeve in case his original plan failed. The fact that against Supergirl none of them worked tells you just how tough and resourceful she is.
Oh, and Kong Lantern was a fantastic idea and alone worth the price of the book.
I wonder why they only did 7? That's a weird number for these series that usually have an even number.
This is one of those series that could have easily rattled on for twelve issues on the strength of the multiple plot threads. Yeah Wonder Woman and Supergirl indulging Kaijuicide is a little rough, maybe too rough for me, but literally a kaiju was being dispatched one panel at a time in an orgy of JLA retaliation. And yes "Green Lantern King Kong" literally made my summer and possibly my whole year.
Yeah a Kara kiss on Kong's mighty muzzle would have been perfect, since at the very least she taught him that not all blonde girls are fragile and can be carried to the top of the nearest Art Deco Masterpiece sans consent.
I would LOVE to see a simple three part mini where Supergirl teams up with King Kong, I even got the title "Kong and Kara, Summer Fun!"
JF
Post a Comment