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Boston Globe
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
From ‘Moby-Dick' to a molasses flood, ‘Godzilla vs. Boston' is a monster-sized love letter to New England
As a character that's been around since 1954, this isn't Godzilla's first time wreaking havoc in Boston. The city served as the battleground for his onscreen match-up with Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The upcoming issue isn't tied to the ongoing 'Monsterverse' cinematic series on the big screen. It features a number of standalone stories set in different time periods. "Godzilla vs. America: Boston" cover A art by Hayden Sherman. Courtesy of IDW Bringing Godzilla to Boston was 'an easy choice' for the team producing the comic, according to a joint statement from editor Jake Williams and associate editor Nic Niño, noting the city's appeal due to its deep historical roots, and for being 'home to some of the finest comic book artists on the planet.' Each 'Godzilla vs. America' issue includes stories created by writers and artists with connections to the cities featured. Advertisement Boston's 'historical footprint' is also what inspired GLAAD and Eisner Award nominee Steve Orlando to work on the upcoming 'Godzilla vs. America' issue. Orlando, who moved to Boston in 2018, previously got to bring a fan-favorite character to the Hub during his stint writing 'Wonder Woman' for DC Comics, which saw the famed super hero dispense justice from the Back Bay to the North End. While he got to blow up his fair share of Boston landmarks in that series, for Godzilla, he wanted to tap more into the city's 'maritime lore and whaling, which in of itself was monstrous,' Orlando said in a recent interview. To pen a story set in the 1800s, Orlando teamed up with Philadelphia-based comic artist Matt Emmons, who grew up on the Bay State's North Shore, for a Godzilla tale inspired by the Herman Melville classic 'Moby-Dick.' According to a synopsis, their contribution to the issue revolves around sailors who swap stories about their encounters with Godzilla, culminating with an attack on the city. The King of the Monsters is ultimately taken down by 'a wave of molasses,' a clear nod to the Advertisement Steve Orlando Provided 'It just felt like an opportunity, especially because this is a time period that you couldn't necessarily visit in other cities, at least not in the same way,' Orlando said of getting to write a story set in the era of 'Moby-Dick.' 'I just thought, look, this is one of literature's greatest monsters. Let's compare and contrast, and let's use them as a send up to one of film's greatest monsters and sort of dig in and celebrate not just Boston and Godzilla, but the background.' Emmons called the project 'a nice excuse to think about Boston' and jumped at the chance to draw Godzilla. Growing up north of the city, Emmons recalls his parents purchasing a 'fixer-upper farmhouse that they're still fixing up,' with fond memories of the 'old barn' and the way nature took hold over time, inspiring his love of 'animals and monsters and fiction' — all things he now draws as a professional comic book artist. "Godzilla vs. America" promotion art by Jacob Edgar. Courtesy of IDW 'The older I get, the more I look back on where I grew up at the foot of wetlands, picking up frogs ... sort of spilled into a huge, deep interest in the natural world,' Emmons said. The issue also features the work of award-winning illustrator and writer Hanna Cha, a Rhode Island School of Design alum who lives in Boston. Other New England natives involved with the project include Eisner-nominated writer and artist Jesse Lonergan, who grew up mostly in Vermont and lived in the Boston area for a long time before moving to Philadelphia, as well as artist Hayden Sherman, another RISD alum who now lives in Allston. Sherman's story for the issue taps into a cuter chapter in Godzilla lore, with the infamous Godzilla Junior held in a secret facility underneath a movie theater that may look familiar to anyone who's visited Brookline's Coolidge Corner. But before any official name-drops can be included, Sherman plans to ask for the theater's blessing on the comic book mention. Advertisement 'It is meant to be a loving homage to them,' Sherman said. 'That their building gets torn down in the story [is] the highest compliment I could give them, hopefully.' Jesse Lonergan Provided Meanwhile in Lonergan's tale, Godzilla goes face-to-face with a 'kaiju-sized' blue lobster, leading to a 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' situation as lobster meat rains down from the sky after the giant reptilian hero saves the day. Lonergan, now in his forties, remembers watching old Godzilla movies when they were only on at off hours and didn't feature the state-of-the-art CGI scenes audiences see today. As a longtime fan of Godzilla, getting to work on the comic allowed him to live out a personal passion, touching on his love for those campy films when the monsters were just people in suits. 'My dream, still, I think, is to get to be in the Godzilla suit and destroy a city,' Lonergan said. 'If something ever goes right and I can have that kind of birthday party where there's a city built for me, it's like my dream.' 'I don't know, I have a 3 year old,' he added. 'Maybe it's just touching on that destroy urge.' 'Godzilla vs. Boston' hits shelves July 30. "Godzilla vs. America: Boston" Cover B by Jesse Lonergan. Courtesy IDW Matt Juul can be reached at
South China Morning Post
26-02-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Godzilla attacks US cities in new comic-book series, first Chicago, then LA and Boston
As if Chicago did not have enough problems, here comes Godzilla. Advertisement 'Da King of da Monsters has come to da Windy City!' a shocked Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) train operator gulps in Godzilla vs. America: Chicago, the first issue of a limited 'Godzilla vs. America' series by IDW, the publisher of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Trek and Goosebumps comics. Unfortunately, train service is interrupted. This is the first time Godzilla has attacked Chicago. He rose from the depths in 1954 and took on Tokyo, then New York (Destroy All Monsters, 1968), San Francisco and Honolulu (Godzilla, 2014), Cairo (Godzilla, King of the Monsters, 2019), Osaka and Hong Kong. It's only taken him 70 years to find the US Midwest. A drawing from the comic. It only took 70 years for Godzilla to reach Chicago. Photo: Instagram/sakura_central Godzilla vs. America: Chicago, which arrived in comic-book stores on February 26, makes the most of his visit. Nicolas Niño, associate editor at Los Angeles-based IDW, said that when the publisher – among the largest comics publishers not named Marvel or DC – was deciding locations for 'Godzilla vs. America', one consideration was practical: they wanted each issue written and drawn by writers and artists from those cities, 'and Chicago has a great scene we wanted to tap'. Advertisement Comic-book creator Caroline Cash came up with a woman who downs an energy drink, grows enormous and takes on Godzilla.
Chicago Tribune
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Oh, no! There goes Chicago! Godzilla finally gets to the Midwest in new comic book
As if Chicago didn't have enough problems. Here comes Godzilla, as in Gojira, the Big G, Tokyo's Own. 'Da King of da Monsters has come to da Windy City!' a shocked CTA train operator gulps in 'Godzilla vs. Chicago,' the first issue of a limited 'Godzilla vs. America' series by IDW, the publisher of the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,' 'Star Trek' and 'Goosebumps' comics. Unfortunately, Blue Line service is interrupted. Also impacted by a giant radioactive lizard tramping through Illinois: Soldier Field, the Bears, Michigan Avenue, Interstate 94, Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Garfield Park Conservatory, Cottage Grove, hot dog stands, the mansions of Lake Forest and most CTA service to Logan Square. On the bright side, a searchlight rental business in Bridgeport seems to do pretty well. And in one of four Chicago-centric stories in the issue — definitely the funniest — a Chicago woman makes herself larger than Godzilla, wraps herself in a Chicago flag, then picks up Godzilla and drops him on another shore of Lake Michigan. 'Screw Indiana,' she says. If you're wondering: Yes, this is the first time Godzilla has attacked Chicago. He rose from the depths in 1954 and took on Tokyo, then later New York City ('Destroy All Monsters,' 1968), San Francisco and Honolulu ('Godzilla,' 2014), Cairo ('Godzilla, King of the Monsters,' 2019), Osaka, Hong Kong. It's only taken him 70 years to find the Midwest. 'Godzilla vs. Chicago,' which arrives in comic book stores on Feb. 26, makes the most of his visit. Nicolas Niño, associate editor at Los Angeles-based IDW, said that when the publisher — among the largest comics publishers not named Marvel or DC — was deciding locations for 'Godzilla vs. America,' one consideration was practical: They wanted each issue written and drawn by writers and artists of those cities, 'and Chicago has a great scene we wanted to tap.' That decision lends the comic more local flavor and credibility than the usual cliches coming out of drive-by film and TV producers in Chicago. There are nods to aldermen, Svengoolie, Lori Lightfoot, Cubs nemesis Steve Bartman, Dave Matthews' tour bus and Naperville residents who say they're from Chicago. Jake Williams, IDW's editor for Godzilla comics — this year alone, the publisher has six different G-series — is a Peoria native who once pictured 'Chicago as a magical place in the distance I got to visit every now and then.' He took Second City classes, he got lost in neighborhoods. In Wicker Park, he ran into a comic book creator named Caroline Cash, whose work would later become known in the Chicago Reader and the New Yorker. When he was putting together a talent roster for 'Godzilla vs. Chicago,' he asked her to do one of the stories. She came up with a woman who downs an energy drink, grows enormous and takes on Godzilla: 'Soon it's gonna destroy the city! Not just the Loop but also parts of the city I like!' 'It's about time he attacked Chicago,' Cash said. 'Originally I wanted Godzilla as a Bridezilla coming out of Lake Michigan, but we went with a giant woman, which is also fine — the setting in my comics is so much of a character, and since I write gag comics, and Chicago has been the setting for so much of my work, Godzilla became another chance to write more Chicago jokes.' Writer Mike Costa and artist Ryan Browne contribute a story in which a disruptive Bears fan tries to make amends by fighting Godzilla while inside of a robotic MechaGodzilla suit hidden beneath Millennium Park. Ezra Claytan Daniels — who started his career creating trial illustrations for local courts, including for the Rod Blagojevich trial — plays off South Side-North Side animosity, inserting Godzilla into a tale about corrupt politicians and developers from the North Shore. And finally, Portage Park's Tim Seeley, whose popular series 'Hack/Slash,' 'Revival' and 'Local Man' have made him a leading creator of contemporary horror comics, switches gears with a romantic comedy that happens to costar the CTA and Godzilla. 'All of my pitches for this were super Chicago-specific,' he said. 'So much so that one story I came up with was about Godzilla stepping on a parking spot right after this guy had shoveled it out. The guy is so angry he tracks Godzilla across Chicago, to kill him with his shovel. I thought for sure that was going to be the one that made it into the book.' After Chicago, Godzilla heads to Los Angeles for the second issue, then Boston for the third. Maybe Godzilla will face the wrath of a Chicago dibs owner someday: Seeley's next big project will be IDW's main Godzilla series, set in an America rebuilding after this cross-country stomping. On Feb. 28, his Chicago-centric Godzilla work will also be shown as part of a Chicago/Godzilla art show at Howling Pages comic book shop in Portage Park, alongside local takes from other area artists. 'What I can't answer is the inherent problem of how Godzilla gets to Chicago. He swims everywhere, yet just comes out of Lake Michigan? Maybe we don't need to know how.'
