REVIEW: Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong 2 #7
And so, after another wait, this time two months, we finally get the finale in Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong 2 #7. They waited until the last minute to break out not just King Ghidorah and Rodan last issue, but Shimu and Scar King from The New Empire. With that movie seemingly not having taken place in this Monsterverse, this now stands in its own canon. Perhaps a universe where the monsters are the stars rather than the people. Does it manage to hold up? It’s got some issues, but the action definitely helps them leave the readers’ mind quickly.
Christian Duce, with colors by Luis Guerrero, has done an excellent job of colliding the worlds of DC and the Monsterverse. These covers have become their own genre of pop culture art by now. This final cover features our heroes and their Titan allies and foes. With how dark Guerrero colored Godzilla, his blue energy always makes him look like he’s glowing. Their Superman has always been good too, sometimes they would mess with his hair a bit subtly.
Alan Quah’s cover spread image is now complete with his last variant. Closing out the image with Harley Quinn, Enchantress, and an android fighting off Skullcrawlers and the creatures of Hollow Earth with Kong. I will be honest, I like when gorillas are drawn as hulking, borderline sasquatches –it’s a gross exaggeration from what gorillas actually are, but what we can’t help but see them as.
Kevin Maguire, with colors by Rosemary Cheetham, must have it out for Guy Gardner (and lots of people do) because they put him square up against Godzilla in his variant. Godzilla actually doesn’t seem too interested as he stomps away. It’s Guy, judging by the suit from the distance. This also may be the most to scale a hero has been drawn to Godzilla.
Another eye-catching variant is available from Carmine Di Giandomenico.
Batman shows Harley the Joker of the Monsterverse, her true quest. However, she’s surprised to find him a happy street clown. Basically, Arthur Fleck if he actually got the care he needed. No longer interested, Harley joins Batman in getting Mothra’s help. Scar King and his ice Titan mount Shimu are leading the Kongs and the Titanized Cheetah while King Ghidorah and Rodan also continue their rampage. Mr. Terrific and Aquaman head to the ocean floor to speed up a recharging Godzilla. With a super-sized Superman, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman, the Justice League has one chance to stop this Titan onslaught and restore balance to this chaotic world of giants.
Remember how this started off as a big Suicide Squad scheme? By now, all of the human villain characters have either been killed or sent back to DC’s Earth. I had a feeling they would be more of a major threat in the end, but Lex Luthor got further with Mechagodzilla in the prequel. DC villains just felt much more involved in the last finale. Here it boils down to the Titans. Harley’s strange quest for the Joker of this Earth has a strange message to start the issue off –she’s unhappy that Joker is happy? I get that Harley loves the Joker’s craziness, but she’s never done anything or gone out of her way to make him unhappy when they go up against Batman together. If anything, he doesn’t make her happy. Brain Buccellato also seemed to have this whole arc for The Flash, like Superman from the prequel, planned only to have Wally come in and Barry be never heard from again. Letters are by Tyler Smith.
Christian Duce’s art, with colors by Luis Guerrero, is why you buy this issue. In fact, it’s the reason why I encourage people to read this series and the prequel. At the end of the day, we just want our favorite characters pictured fighting each other while story comes second. His Godzilla is dark and brooding, his Kong is animalistic and primal, and his Justice League inspire hope and attempt to bring order to a wild world. We can also add giant Superman to one of his many forms and iterations. We don’t get any evolved Godzilla like in New Empire, but Scar King and Shimu were a huge surprise since I thought this series was written before the movie had come out.
(7/10) Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong 2 #7 wraps up a sequel that just manages to fall a bit short of the prequel. But the way it has subverted typical Godzilla crossover expectations and spoiled us with kaiju battles makes it worth checking out.
