Godzilla Library Collection, Vol. 1

by James Stokoe, John Layman, Chris Mowry

Myths and legends about The King of the Monsters abound. Now is your chance to read them all!

The Godzilla Library Collection is a comprehensive line of books that will collect every comic series by IDW!

Beginning with Gangsters & Goliaths, Detective Makoto Sato is on a quest to bring down the Takahashi crime syndicate, but Sato’s efforts earn him an unexpected one-way trip to Monster Island! Alone and facing death at the hands of both mobsters and monsters, Sato can only survive using his wits and the aid of some unusual friends in this pulp-fiction yarn by John Layman and Alberto Ponticelli.

Next, within a world where monsters roam freely, some stories have been lost to time...until now! In Legends, Godzilla’s fearsome rogues’ gallery—including Anguirus, Rodan, Titanosaurus, Hedorah, and Kumonga—takes center stage in terrifying tales from Chris Mowry, E.J. Su, Bobby Curnow, Dean Haspiel, Mike Raicht, Tony Parker, Jonathan Vankin, Simon Gane, Matt Frank, and Jeff Prezenkowski.

Finally, in The Half-Century War, follow one man’s journey from the moment Godzilla’s reign of destruction begins in 1954, continuing over his lifetime, taking him from Ghana to India…and maybe even to the end of the world, as chronicled by James Stokoe.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy

376 pages, Paperback

Published October 10, 2023

About the author

James Stokoe (born September 4, 1985) is a Canadian comic book artist who is known for his work on such titles as Wonton Soup, Orc Stain and Godzilla: The Half-Century War.
Along with Corey Lewis, Brandon Graham and Marley Zarcone, he's a part of a studio/collective called "Yosh Comics".

Reviews

[Bobby Hiler · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s my first real reading of Godzilla stories. It started off a bit strange with the first story arc. I supposed I had to get accustomed to the character of Godzilla outside of the Americanized versions I’ve seen. All in all I really enjoyed the book, especially the last 3rd of the book because it was the Half Century War which is considered to be the best Godzilla comic produced. It was awesome. I will definitely buy Vol 2 and then Vol 3 when it is released in September.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this was a fun read. The kaiju are drawn reasonably well. The depictions of destruction are fairly decent. I did not care for how humans were drawn in most of the stories, they were so poorly done (more like caricatures than actual people). The coloring was pretty good, for the most part. Well, except for the third half - The Half-Century War - I thought the coloring was amazing and was well-used in every frame, every image, of that story.

Gangsters & Goliaths was a fun read, for the most part. It has some fun moments in it like when Sato looks out the window to see Godzilla's eye looking at him through the window, or when King Ghidora is attacking and the soldier says, "There is no need to panic. Everything is under control." That was hilarious!, but was a bit of a serious story, overall. Part of the story is about a framed detective trying to both clear his name by taking down the mobster who framed him for crimes he did not commit and redemption with his two estranged sons. He steals (kidnaps) the two Elias in order to control Mothra and convince Mothra to destroy the mob boss's criminal empire. The downside is that this creates some kind of imbalance that causes the other monsters on Monster Island attack Japan until the Elias are freed and returned to Mothra. The mobster boss is killed by Godzilla, Sato's boss promises to make things right, and hopes that Sato can find peace for what he did in bringing so much death and destruction to Japan just to try and clear his name while tearing down the criminal's empire.

The next section is a batch of standalone stories of Godzilla's foes and allies called Legends. They are a mixed bag for me in terms of the artwork, stories, and characters. The first story, Anguirus, was okay. Destroyah attacks . . . some city and the military fights to save the city. One of the scientists had previously managed to create a device that attracted Godzilla; the officers want the scientist to recreate the signal to call Godzilla but call Anguirus instead. There is a discussion about how Anguirus always loses his fights but never stops fighting, which was interesting. The humans and Anguirus somewhat teamup to defeat Destroyah, and then Godzilla appears. The story ends with Godzilla chasing the scientist and his lover because Godzilla recognizes who the greater threat is. It was an interesting perspective. The artwork was pretty good in this story, too in terms of how the humans were drawn. The monsters, not so much.

The second story, Rodan, is sad. One of Rodan's eggs is found and taken to a military science lab for future study. The scientist's son convinces the scientist to steal the egg because the military plans to return the egg to Rodan. The boy is so miserable with his life that when Rodan returns to rescue its baby, the boy climbs onto Rodan and is taken away. At that point, the scientist (who has been arrested) realizes what he has truly lost because of his obsession with the egg. It is a sad story.

Titanosaurus was a disappointment for me only because of how it ends. A young boy (Tristan) is chosen for innate special powers, skills, and abilities he doesn't know he has (yet). He is taken by a facility that helps him develop his powers to the point he can either control or generate Titanosaurus under certain conditions (usually stress). What he does not know is that the facility is controlled by alien invaders seeking to take over the earth. When he has a dream about his parents being kidnapped, his powers are manifested like nothing seen before, and he breaks free from the facility and races home to discover his parents are gone and Titanosaurus is outside his house. The aliens capture Tristan and the monster, then sedate Tristan to better control him and his anger. I cannot figure out if "Miki" (a female alien who mimics an attractive human woman) intends to help Tristan or not; I could see it going either way. In any case, I really wished there was a "part II" to this story to see how it ends (or some kind of continuation), but I could also see Godzilla interfering with the invasion and saving Earth as well with his allies.

Hedora was just stupid. I did not like the story at all. Well, not "stupid" "stupid", but I just didn't like it. It's another depressing story. I'll have to watch the original Godzilla v. Hedorah to see what really happens to the creature - if it is killed or not. The crew piloting Mechagodzilla attacks Godzilla not realizing Godzilla is fighting Hedorah. But then Hedorah attacks from behind and Mechagodzilla is forced to join forces with Godzilla. The story ends with different parts of Hedorah swimming to various sites polluting the environment with what I am sure is meant to be an ironic question: "Who needs Godzilla, anyway?" The implication is that Hedorah is going to become four monsters instead of just the one due to the pollution upon which it can feed.

Kumonga was a clever story. A "daredevil" (for lack of a better word; he might be described as an "extreme extreme sports enthusiast" now) (Bryson Allworth) is being interviewed about his being "hired" to climb Godzilla and collect samples from his body so that scientists can figure out how to defeat/kill Godzilla. Bryson comes to realized that Godzilla is nothing more than an "elemental force of nature" - neither good nor evil but that "he" just "is". He does not intend to harm humans; we just get in his way because generally we are beneath his notice. Bryson learned an important lesson when Kumonga attacked Godzilla - don't mess with Godzilla! You might think it's a good idea, but it's not. Bryson's comment about "Beating someone with their own arm? That's just plain wrong." after Godzilla ripped off one of Kumonga's legs and beat the giant spider with its own leg. The story ends with a report about Godzilla attacking Melbourne, and as the news crew leaves, Bryson puts his face in his hands and says, "We're doomed!"

The last story, The Half-Century War, is the best story in this compilation. The artwork is hit-and-miss for me in this story. The humans look more cartoonish than human. The monsters are drawn decently. There is something about the cityscapes and landscapes being destroyed and intermixed with the colors that makes this story seem fairly "gritty". It is about Ota Murakami's "personal fight" with Godzilla from his first appearance in 1954 to when Godzilla is apparently killed in some kind of controlled "black hole/event horizon" in 2002. The respective "chapters" take place in 1954 Japan, 1967 Vietnam, 1975 Ghana, 1987 Bombay, and ends in 2002 with The End of the World. It has elements of humor scattered throughout the stories (such as when Ota corrects an American soldier and says Godzilla is a "radiation-breathing lizard" instead of a "fire-breathing lizard"). The first story is crazy - Lt. Ota and his tank crew manage to distract Godzilla enough for civilians to flee the area before an artillery barrage occurs. I could not believe the crew's Sherman was able to survive the encounter, but it was still kinda funny and well-told. Or how Ota and his friend are the only two who willingly volunteer to be part of the team that intentionally goes after Godzilla and their reactions after they are told this - another funny moment in the story. His saving Godzilla by destroying Space Godzilla's crystals by using Mechagodzilla's weapons was pretty cool. That was a bit of a crazy story. But the cream of the crop was the last story, where we find out how much damage King Ghidorah and Gigan have rained down on the Earth, destroying over half of the planet within a year after their arrival. The final story is Godzilla and Mechagodzilla vs. these two space monsters in Antarctica, and a "black hole" cannon is used to create the event horizon that captures and kills not just King Ghidorah and Gigan but Godzilla as well (destroying Mechagodzilla in the process). The story ends with another Godzilla appearing in the waters off of Antarctica, kinda making it seem like Captain Ota's sacrifice was in vain. The colors involve a lot of oranges, reds, maroons, and purples as the primary colors with other colors mixed in as well. They are used to great effect through this story, in my opinion. It is odd: in some ways, the artwork depicting the humans does remind me of the artwork in Marvel's second G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Yearbook (like an annual, but I liked the artwork in the G.I. Joe issue better). The color uses also remind me of Dark Horse's first Predator series because of the amount of red and orange in most of that series.

Overall, it was a fun compilation to read. I am glad that I picked it up and read it; I could see reading the other two compilations in the relatively near future.

04/05/2025 update:
I just watched Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) and was surprised at the similarities between this movie and the story about Titanosaurus in this collection. Both stories involve trying to mentally control monsters. Both stories involved an alien race wanting to use Mechagodzilla and Titanosaurus to destroy the Earth and prepare the planet for their arrival. The aliens' home planet is going to be destroyed by a black hole. I thought for sure the names of the characters were "the same" or similar in the comic with the movie, but I was wrong in that regard. So it felt like the story in this compilation was almost an updated telling of the movie's plot in some respects while still being different enough to stand on its own. In any case, if it was meant to be an updated retelling of part of this movie's plot, I thought the author and artists did a nice job of it, and it actually helped me appreciate the comic story more than before. In any case, it was fun to see Titanosaurus onscreen and fighting Godzilla for a short time.

Also, I can't quite decide if the cover is an homage to Kong: Skull Island or not, but that image of the helicopters flying towards Godzilla in the jungle strongly reminds me of the movie. It probably has to do with The Half Century War chapter dealing with Vietnam, to be honest, but if it is an homage, it is a pretty cool one. The artist did a nice job with it (especially with the red highlights from the fire in the background).

06/08/2025 update:
Ha! The "black hole cannon" in The Half Century War is apparently taken from Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000) as there is a black hole cannon in that movie that is created with the intention to trap Godzilla forever. Fun times! I like how the writers have taken other elements from the movies and included them in these stories.

[Sarah Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

godzilla cool

[Derrick Adair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. Especially the last story Godzilla: Half Century War.

[Andrew Dike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of nostalgic fun - I remember a whole shelf of VHS tapes at the video rental place, bad dubbing and weird sci fi plots. Godzilla’s still got it 🤘

[kristine ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf @ 38%

everything was boring and the humans were drawn so ugly. the monsters are drawn so well, but i can’t get over how ugly all the humans are. you can clearly tell the stories are written by men 😗

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

This is a very uneven (and honestly uninspiring) collection of stories featuring Godzilla as a side character that sometimes shows up and very often doesn't until a few panels near the end. It features all of IDWs Godzilla comics collected into one library edition. I found the artwork to be rough, the plots rather boring, and the whole lot sadly missing a spark or originality or bit of fun.

The book begins with a story about a Tokyo police detective, yakuza gangsters, and a sort of "Tokyo Noir" that never really hits an honest or original note. I don't know that noir really merges with Godzilla and certainly the messy art didn't help. The following chapters of stories vary, each featuring a Godzilla opponent/monster (Anguirus, Roadan, Titanosaurus, Hedorah, and kumonga) around which a story is built. This includes very odd stories, such as a man who has to climb Godzilla to the top as a stunt and it takes him+ hours to do so while Godzilla fights the chapter's monster of the week. Finally, the last few chapters feature a story across years - a soldier who has to face Godzilla in 1954, the Vietnam War, etc. The art was so murky here that I hardly knew what I was looking at. It was hard to find enough interest to go through each chapter by then.

Godzilla is a fun character - he can be scary or he can be campy. The Godzillas in this is neither - it's mostly about people doing dumb things while Godzilla may stomp through. I kind of wish there was a coherent and original story that featured him more; most of the stories felt like something I had read before and someone was attempting to pound a square peg standard plot through a round, Godzilla shaped hole. Had the art been more interesting, I might have found something of interest here; however, the art was mediocre at best, and downright bad in some panels (the poor Ileas twins that control Mothra fared the worst here).

I love Godzilla through all his incarnations. But there just wasn't enough here that was original, interesting, or distinct enough to keep my attention. The stories felt like I had read them before, just add Godzilla in randomly. Then the messy or just inappropriate illustration work throughout was a huge turn off. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Darcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This omnibus edition of past IDW stories features Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths; Godzilla Legends; and Godzilla: The Half-Century War.

In Godzilla; Gangsters and Goliaths by John Layman, we find a police detective sergeant, Makoto Sato, framed for the murder of his partner and exiled to Monster Island to meet a gruesome fate. However, Sato is made of tough stuff and sets out on a pilgrimage of revenge with the aid of Mothra. However, he goes one step too far in messing with the balance of the universe and Godzilla intervenes, along with rogues gallery of monsters. What comes from this tale of revenge is one man's quest to make right what went wrong.

Godzilla Legends by a variety of authors is not quite so compelling. This is 5 shorts featuring Anguirus, Rodan, Titanosaurus, Hedorah, and Kumonga. These feel more like excerpts from a broader story and left me feeling incomplete.

In contrast, Godzilla: The Half-Century War by James Stoke is probably the finest Godzilla story I have ever read! This starts out during the events of the original Godzilla movie (No, not the Raymond Burr one) and follows a young soldier, Oto Murakami, over the next 50 years as he continually attempts to do away with the monster menace. Additional threat is added as the source of the attacks, from Godzilla and other Kaijus, is revealed and the peril to the world is heightened. This story draws in excerpts from various Godzilla movies and blends them into an captivating narrative driving to a fulfilling climax.

I would have paid the full price just for the final story and while #2 is a bit of a let-down, stories one and three drove the 5-star rating. A remarkable compilation and I am looking forward to Library Collection #2.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collects three Godzilla miniseries into one bigger volume, with mixed results.

The first mini, Gangsters and Goliaths, is actually really good. Combining a gritty, street level story about a detective taking on a mob boss with kaiju is a bold move, and it works way better than I would have guessed. This is much more of a Mothra story than a Godzilla one, which is not a complaint. Mothra is pretty cool.

Second, Legends. This miniseries is five individual issues, each one intended to spotlight a less used kaiju from the Godzilla universe. I hadn't even heard of some of these creatures, which is not why I didn't like this mini. Five different creative teams, and none of them good. The best of them, the Hedorah story, is just kind of boring.

Finally, The Half-Century War. This is a pretty ambitious attempt to turn the first 50 years of Godzilla into a single, coherent storyline, all in just five issues. The narrative works, believe it or not. It just has the problem that Godzilla is the most compelling character in the mini. It's not that I disliked POV character Ota, I was just kind of more on Godzilla's side. Spectacular art, though. This mini has by far the best kaiju panels, and it's a genuine pleasure to see the monsters tear into each other.

[Dominic Sedillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess IDW are making collected editions of all of their Godzilla series into multiple volumes. It’s convenient to have them together instead of trying to track down all of them.

This first volume is overall entertaining and especially if you’re a G-fan. Most of the stories are cotton candy and you might forget them as soon as you read them, but there are a few that really stand out.

The artwork varies since it’s all different teams for each story, but overall every artist depicts their favorite version of Godzilla or whichever one serves the story best.

I will note that 90% of the artists can render cities; destruction and monsters excellent, but few of them really know how to render humans well. The majority of the stories have really awkward or cartoonish looking humans. That is my only major or nit-pick gripe. It became a big gripe because there is a lot of human stuff in these stories, so it’s disappointing.

Otherwise you’ll likely enjoy it and I recommend for Godzilla super fans.

[Mikey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 3 sets of stories in this collection were all very good. I really love stories that have very common-person type characters. The thought that a guy just trying to do his job leads to him kidnapping mothra's fairies thus causing an all-out kaiju war is such a fun way to ground your story.
I also really loved the 2nd part being individual stories focusing on one or two monsters in the Legends series of books. My favorite of them being Kumonga. The story of someone trying to climb Godzilla was such a fun idea. I'm so surprised that it hasn't been done before (at least to my knowledge.)
As for the 3rd story, I found myself struggling a bit to connect with the story. The characters weren't as gripping to me, however by the time I got to the third issue, I was in. I thought how the story wrapped up was very well done.

[Alex Kuzel]

Pretty cool anthology of some godzilla comics. The one-shot stories didn't really get me invested in any of the characters, but the two mini-series had actual characters and some semblance of plot, even if the writing stays a bit childish (though I'm definitely older than the target demographic). Art style was really cool for the final story, and mediocre for the rest, but I do love big monsters fighting it out, so I got what I wanted out of it.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow Start, Big Finish

Gotta say the first story felt like typical dull sci-fi. But there's a couple of gems like the Gigantosaurus story and Anguiras fighting Destroyah. I guess it's the fascination with kaiju that appeals to me more than trying to fight them. Hence Half-Century War being a big way to conclude everything. Seeing Godzilla with such detail and action with stylized SFX can do that. Not to mention going into the effect of kaiju.

[Anthony Wendel · Rating 4 out of 5]

If this collection had a theme it'd be "How Kaiju touches lives." The book is filled with stories of how Kaiju existing in the world affect the lives of the people. At the same time it showcases how some elements of human society such as crime, greed, and pride will always exist. It's a great collection for any Kaiju fan out there.

[James Atkison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kaiju heaven

Godzilla is one of the best monster stories of all time. Taking our fear of the modern bomb and placing it in a giant lizard was a great idea at the time. He has aged well since his inception and still embodies our fear and wonder. Great stories and great artwork.

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love Godzilla, 4 stars, but tbh this is pretty mid-to-serviceable.

[Bo Malpas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utter nonsense, wonderful!

[Mitch Shaffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great love letter to all the old movies

a wonderful tale spanning from origin to the Millennium series. Masterful incorporation of lore. A truly enjoyable read. GO BIG GREEN!!

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kindle Unlimites

[Aidan Falk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing certainly wasn’t great, but the illustrations of kaiju were incredible. The last story was especially dope.

[C.Lakin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t think I’ll ever understand the hype Godzilla has.

[Kieran · Rating 4 out of 5]

not all great but not all terrible either! a good fun mix

[Kurt Lorenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gangsters & Goliaths, ☆☆☆☆
Legends, ☆☆☆☆
The Half-Century War, ☆☆☆☆☆