Best of Godzilla, Vol. 1

by James Stokoe, Dean Haspiel (Illustrator), Dave Wachter (Illustrator)

All the best monster stories that can fit in one book, with features on Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Mothra, and Rodan!

Find out why Godzilla is the undisputed King of the Monsters with these specially picked comic issues from series such as Legends, Godzilla in Hell, Rage Across Time, Rulers of Earth, Gangsters and Goliaths, Cataclysm, and more!

By a variety of talented writers and artists such as John Layman, Cullen Bunn, Chris Mowry, Dave Wachter, Simon Gane, Dean Haspiel, James Stokoe, and more!

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

368 pages, Paperback

Published December 5, 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

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Includes some great Godzilla stories. I was thinking of the focus on silent storytelling where the creatures battle without humans narrating it or describing it- the comic medium works really well for these violent fights. This is a great start to Godzilla comics and someone new to them would enjoy almost all of these stories now what I didn’t like is the sort of randomness of the cut offs and beginnings of stories being cut off, this is a sampler but it’s like watching a YouTube compilation of best moments, you see some cool stuff but miss a lot of the important context surrounding it.

[Sam Ainsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rawr

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

When it comes to comics, there are usually multiple parts to conclude a storyline, so owning part of the full story is annoying. Often they will be re-released with the entire collection contained in one. This book is a collection of random stories which are supposed to be the best ones in various series. However you do get a few volumes of certain series such as “Rulers of Earth” so you end up having half of it here. It's a weird idea really, more of an advert to try to get you to buy more comics to complete the stories.

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a friend whose kids loves Godzilla, so thought I’d read a collection of stories to see what I thought.

* I like comic books and am willing to suspend disbelief, but there’s no way Godzilla and these other monsters could exist with humanity.
* I do like the artwork, but the stories are weak. At least the ones without humans.
* I like the no-dialogue storytelling, but Godzilla is not a good character. He’s flat and static.

So I’m giving it a *shrug* of 3 stars.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a very casual fan of Godzilla, have seen a handful of the movies. It is a giant nuclear lizard destroying cities not very complex. The monster splash pages are great. Just all the human sections are so boring. I dont know if this is all drawn from the "lore" of the movies but each of the monsters that Godzilla battles has its own chapter. Each chapter is a new group of humans that take up half the chapter with stupid human stories. More monsters less talking would fix this.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad I got this one. I've been a Godzilla fan for many years now and have followed him through movies, TV and an assortment of books. This one did not disappoint. A wonderful collection of books of which I had only read a couple before. Mothra is one of my favorites and was featured as well as Rodan and others. I really want to read the next volumes. Great for any fan.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was thinking this was a collection of best storylines but it was really a collection of best individual issues. which means there was no complete story or logical sequence of events. I enjoyed most of the art but without knowing the stories these bits were pulled from it was a mostly frustrating affair.

[Trae Stratton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good stories in here but generally, and unfortunately, this compendium felt like a sales pitch- if you have $25-$30 to spend on Godzilla comics you will probably feel more rewarded reading 1 complete story than this “Best Of” tome.

[Joe Bogue · Rating 3 out of 5]

If one of the Rodan story's you want use is #4 of a series & one of the Mothra's #6 of the same series, why would you put the Rodan section of this book behind the Mothra section?

Also, Gaira? The amount of Monsters has gotten out of control. Be Kong or be nothing lol

[P S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monster fights fun people talking and issues thrown randomly by character not so much

[Mouse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh 😒

[Jesse VanDeWalker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was all repeats of stuff I had already read, but I got it as part of a Humble Bundle. I'd honestly recommend reading the original story sets as this collection can feel disjointed.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't read all the words but the illustrations were just beautiful