Last year’s film Prey opened up an intriguing avenue for popular franchises; how would your characters work in other time periods? While perhaps not a universally applicable idea, there are some series’ that just make sense. Take Godzilla, for instance. While the King of Monsters is usually an allegorical stand-in for the dangers of nuclear war, the famous Kaiju has been around for centuries. Nothing stops you from looking at the monster’s adventures through history. In “Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons” #1, Frank Tieri and Inaki Miranda put the Kaiju Alpha into a logical period and use clever narrative devices to build up the eventual reveal of a familiar monster in an unfamiliar setting.
Written by Frank TieriCover by Inaki Miranda
Illustrated by Inaki Miranda
Colored by Eva de la Cruz
Lettered by Nathan WidickIn the 1500s, before humanity had successfully traveled the entire globe, it was believed that monsters ruled the oceans just beyond the horizon. ‘Here there be dragons’ was written on maps to denote the areas people dared not go.That is, until Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the seas, visiting foreign lands and collecting treasure. That’s what history tells us, at least, but history does not have the full tale. Monsters did lurk yonder, living on an island that still doesn’t appear on any map, and among them was the king of them all-Godzilla!
Let’s get one thing out of the way quickly, the premier issue of “Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons” #1 doesn’t have a lot of Godzilla in the story. There are plenty of implications through the comic panels, with page layouts interrupted by the tail or mysterious storms destroying ships in the ocean. Still, Godzilla doesn’t show up until the end. Instead, the premier issue features a bit of buildup as a prisoner negotiates his freedom with a mysterious tale involving monsters, treasure, and Francis Drake. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that you don’t come to a Godzilla story in the hopes of following the human element of the story. In fact, you’d probably be hard-pressed to find someone genuinely invested in a Kaiju film’s human characters. We’re here for destruction, fights, and guys in rubber suits! But in this story, the buildup is incredibly satisfying due largely to the clever presentation of how they relay information to the audience.
Again, we all know that the King of Monsters will rear his head at some point in the comic. (He is in the title, after all.) But there’s something exciting about hearing the story from a person desperately trying to save his life especially when you consider that pirates thrived on tall tales and big fish stories. “Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons” #1 relies on a slow burn and a skeptical audience, which Tieri balances well. Throughout the issue, you see them going from complete skeptics to, at the very least, curious. The prisoner’s story, similarly, is an excellent example of a slow burn. While the story might be light on details, the visuals of the panel imply that we are dealing with more than a Komodo Dragon spun into a king of monsters. Overall the script is solid, if a little overreliant on narration instead of dialogue, but the issue excels at creating a visual language that invokes the illustrations of classic novels and the science fiction elements of prehistoric apex predators.
Inaki Miranda’s illustration in “Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons” #1 have a classic feel, really capturing the swashbuckling adventures of the Great Illustrated Classics series of books. The character design is heroic, the action is straightforward to follow, and even the backgrounds invoke a classic aesthetic. Miranda certainly has fun with the page layouts and ways to invoke the monsters of the world. Be it a larger-than-life footprint, a tail slashing through the page, or (my personal favorite) a map with some familiar kaiju illustrated as the monsters on classic maps of the world, it is clear that Miranda is up for drawing impressive creatures. The final page, in particular, is a beautiful way of redesigning Godzilla to have a more Elizabethan feel. Miranda also excels at making the different settings of the issue stand out from one another. From the gaudy halls of Queen Elizabeth’s palace to the dim lighting of a Caribbean pub, Miranda takes you on a journey from setpiece to setpiece, giving the story a massive scope. Eva de la Cruz’s coloring work helps Miranda’s classical approach by highlighting the swashbuckling visuals but she also knows how to capture each atmosphere well. In general, the visuals of the book are incredibly strong and set up a visual language that works well for a Godzilla out-of-time story.
At the end of the day, “Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons” #1 is largely a setup issue, the part of any movie where you’re waiting for the monsters to start fighting. This isn’t necessarily the most exciting part and one of the potential issues of making a Godzilla story serialized over multiple months vs. a full story told over the course of a couple of hours. It’s easy to see how this story might not set the hook for all readers, but one of the strengths of the premier issue is that it is a solid pirate story, first and foremost, which sets the stage for some monstrous destruction. It’s not difficult to see how the villains of all nations might interpret mysterious storms as ancient monsters of the deep. Some of our fantasy lore was about sailors interpreting their natural world through supernatural explanations. What makes this story fun is that, in this case, their perceived monsters, the reasons you don’t go off the edge of the map, are accurate. It’s exciting to anticipate how these sailors will fight back against ancient monsters. It’s intriguing to see how flintlock pistols and cannons deal with nigh-indestructible forces of nature. It might be light on that action now, but it allows you to overthink those conflicts and leaves you wanting more.
Final Verdict: 7.5 While “Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons” #1 doesn’t feature the titular kaiju, exceptional art and an intriguing premise promise for some exciting monster action.
