Or how narrative caption layout generates a sense of scale in Godzilla: Half Century War
By James Stokoe; IDW Publishing
James Stokoe's Godzilla: The Half-Century War is a fun comic with some distinct, gorgeous artwork. It tells the progression of the Godzilla mythos and the ever escalating and evolving nature of the giant monster-lizard through the lens of of the humans tasked with controlling the beast. It's good comics.
As far as I'm concerned, there are two key elements to a convincing Godzilla comic (which can probably be extended to Kaiju stories in any media): the giant monsters have to feel massive, and intricate environments need to be smashed to pieces. Stokoe is pretty much a goddamn master at drawing interesting, and intricate environments and he uses this skill to satisfy this second element in spades. As for the issue of scale in Godzilla: The Half-Century War, Stokoe comes up with a really simple, elegant solution:
Stokoe places the narration captions in the lower half of the page. It's that simple. Instead of the normal convention of placing the boxes along the top of the page, the narration sits in the middle. And this in turn makes the page feel extra tall, as if additional page height had to be added just to capture the full height of Godzilla. Which, when coupled with an upshot, and a small human in the forground makes for a Kaiju that feels absolutely huge. Like he towers over the comic. It's really smart comics.
It also, I think, emphasizes how important and effective lettering placement can be as a storytelling tool. Lettering, like colouring, is an under appreciated comics artform that, while often invisible-seeming, is integral to comics.
A 250 word (or less) review of the Godzilla: The Half-Century War collection
By James Stokoe; IDW Publishing
Godzilla
is a cultural icon. From what little I understand, this rubbersuit Lizard
is the towering mascot of the entire Kaiju genre of giant monster films.
Godzilla and his genre of films have been around for... a half-century (and a
bit) and Godzilla: Half-Century War is very much a celebration of this fact. In
the comic Ota Murakami, a Japanese soldier caught in Godzilla's first rampage circa 1954, gets drafted into the Anti-Megalosaurus Force to fight this giant
monster. What follows is a half-century of globe trotting conflict as Ota and
his comrades fight a war against Godzilla and the ever-growing roster of Kaiju
monsters, from Mothra to Gigan, in an effort to save humanity from these
beasts. And in that way, Godzilla: The Half-Century war functions as an homage to
Kaiju films, and acts as a kind of primer to the overall shape of Godzilla's
history, lovingly presented, costume seams and all. If you are a comics person
but not a passionate Godzilla fan, The Half-Century War is still worth picking up
for the art. James Stokoe is a fantastic artist, with a mad aesthetic unlike
anything else in comics. A mad aesthetic that features brilliantly detailed
environments and a real zeal for portraying scaly, bestial things. Basically,
what I am saying is James Stokoe was pretty much born to draw a series of
comics about Godzilla levelling cityscapes. It’s an absolutely
beautiful, confounding, art central comic that is also a loving tribute to Godzilla.
