Godzilla Vs. America: Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles

by Tim Seeley, Caroline Cash, Gabriel Hardman

200 pages, Paperback

Expected publication April 7, 2026

About the author

Tim Seeley is a comic book artist and writer known for his work on books such as G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, The Dark Elf Trilogy, Batman Eternal and Grayson. He is also the co-creator of the Image Comics titles Hack/Slash[1] and Revival, as well as the Dark Horse titles, ExSanguine and Sundowners. He lives in Chicago.

Reviews

[Ben A · Rating 3 out of 5]

An anthology of short stories set in four major American cities that like any collection of stories has a wide range of quality, but it was really fun to see Godzilla in the United States and it was great to see the variety of story types.

Special Thanks to IDW Publishing and Netgalley for the digital ARC. This was given to me for an honest review.

[Brian Shevory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big thanks to IDW Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to preview an advanced copy of their latest entry in the Godzilla Monsterverse titled Godzilla Vs. America: Chicago, Kansas City, and Los Angeles. It’s an interesting concept where the king of monsters ends up on American soil, specifically targeting the four cities in the title and encountering local landmarks, events, and foods in his visit. I previously read Godzilla Heist, which was a synthesis of Godzilla with crime/action genre, and Godzilla Legends—Mothra, which was a cool time travel story about Mothra. Godzilla Vs. America follows a similar trend in these editions where Godzilla is placed in a unique situation and environment, and the authors and artists imagine what it would be like for Godzilla to visit and/or terrorize American cities. Each city in the collection has 4 stories with different authors and artists highlighting well known (and sometimes not as well known) history, landmarks, events, traditions, and food related to these cities. Although the premise is interesting, the execution doesn’t always land. There are several standout stories, and Boston was my favorite collection of stories in the book. In particular, “The Great Gorilla Whale” stood out to me as the best story in the collection. It’s like a Moby Dick type story, but with an old sailor retelling his tale as the only survivor of an encounter with Godzilla. The artistry and the story have a kind of Tales from the Crypt old school EC Comics feel to it. I loved it. There’s also a really cool story about a mutant lobster that grew due to a thrown away science experiment. The giant lobster was great looking, especially as it wages war for Boston with Godzilla. There’s also a brief, but beautifully illustrated story about Mothra (“Make Way for Mothra”), and a final story about a subway line. Nearly all of the cities feature stories with other kaiju monsters and subways. The LA story about the subway (“How to Use the Los Angeles Metro to Survive a Godzilla Attack!”) was like a history lesson that presents the history of the LA transportation system and how the unknown LA subway system developed. Although it was informative, the colors were brown and white, so it wasn’t as visually appealing as some of the other stories. Maybe it was just the way it appeared on my iPad but the visuals didn’t have the same pop as some of the other stories. Similarly, I liked the story “The Big Break” and the artistry was good, but the color scheme featured bright yellows that didn’t work as well with my digital copy. Regardless, author Jordan Morris and artist Nicole Goux capture what life in LA can be like trying to struggle in the entertainment industry. Kansas City and Chicago were ok. The Kansas City stories featured a lot on barbecue and hot sauce, while Chicago had a lot of interesting landmarks and a fun shout-out to Svengoolie. I especially like “Chi Godzilla” which features a great twist of irony, again reminiscent of the EC Comics where cosmic justice is eventually served. This was a fun collection, but it left me wanting more, especially in the stories. I hope that there is a consideration to expand Godzilla’s visits to other cities, but I’d also like to see maybe a longer, central story where there’s more development of the characters or an understanding of how and why Godzilla ended up in that city.

[Lanie Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect with this one when I requested th eArc from NetGalley, but it was Godzilla and I think we all know by now if it's Godzilla related I'm here for it. I can say that I absolutely didn't expect this to be a treasure trove of communities coming together to defeat or at the very least redirect the King of Monsters and right now I think this is a wonderful reminder that we are stronger together.

Some of these stories are simply silly; Freddie E. Williams II and Buster Moody bring us Godzilla vs Sauce Monsters (yes, you read that right) in Kansas City, some are absolutely heartwarming like The Green Line by Hayden Sherman, and (my personal favorite) J. Gonzo reminds us that our neighborhoods are worth fighting for, and that art is just as important as say being a rocket scientist. However, what many creators here did was to remind us that Godzilla is an inherently political story. Something I think until Godzilla Minus One many people had forgotten. So many of these stories focus on a POC character (s) simply stepping up and doing something when no one else will. In many of them their actions may seem small but in others they are huge literal city saving things that save thousands of lives and in so many cases it is because the hero of the story remembered that a city is nothing without it's communities. There is no way that IDW could have predicted that this reminder was needed now more than ever, however, given the current state of the country the timing of this publication could not have been more perfect.

I feel like this would resonate with both new and old fans of Godzilla because while Godzilla is certainly an important part of each story he is and is not the point of the stories. Plus, I think a lot of people will simply get a kick out of seeing how each of these creators decided their city would deal with this menace!

Since we have several creators contributing to this one the art varies wildly from one story to a next and I genuinely loved that. The art fit each story incredibly well and added to the overall feeling of the story. Eye in the Sky by Gabriel Hardman and Make Way for Mothra by Hanna Cha are perfect examples of this. Eye in the Sky is really a very serious kind of action story and the art reflects that perfectly; the lines are crisp, and the use of lightning and shadows to create tense atmosphere meshed so well with overall feeling of the story itself which was "OMFG DID THAT JUST HAPPEN!?" (That is an emotion, a very specific emotion). Where with Cha's art it is more whimsical which matches the impression that Boston's doors are open to everyone.

Compared to the other Godzilla stories that I have read I think I enjoyed this one the most. It was a ton of fun and I think it really demonstrates well, how to address political topics in not just comics but literature period. I also really loved the sense of community established here. Not every single story is like that, but enough that if someone asked me what the overall theme of the book is I would say community without batting an eye.

Of course, the real question here is whether or not I recommend this, and duh of course I do!

As always thanks to NetGalley and IDW for the eArc!

[Reading Adventures · Rating 5 out of 5]

🦖✨ Godzilla Vs. America is a kaiju-sized love letter to comics, cities, and chaos—an anthology that stomps across the country with style, satire, and spectacular destruction! From the glittering hills of Los Angeles to the historic streets of Boston, the King of the Monsters is on a coast-to-coast rampage, and every city gets its own flavor of mayhem. Whether it’s a film crew trying to outwit Godzilla in Hollywood, commuters navigating Chicago’s L train delays (now with added monster interference), or Bostonians realizing tea parties are the least of their worries, each story blends local charm with cinematic carnage.

💥 Los Angeles delivers blockbuster energy with Gabriel Hardman, Dave Baker, Jordan Morris, Nicole Goux, and J. Gonzo crafting stories that feel like kaiju meets Sunset Boulevard.

🏙️ Kansas City punches above its weight, proving that even the heartland isn’t safe when Buster Moody, Freddie E. Williams II, Kyle Strahm, Baldemar Rivas, and Jake Smith unleash monster madness in Missouri’s most comic-packed city.

🌬️ Chicago brings grit and humor, with Tim Seeley, Mike Costa, Ryan Browne, Ezra C. Daniels, and Caroline Cash turning sports stadiums and superhero dreams into Godzilla’s playground.

🫖 Boston goes full revolutionary with Hanna Cha, Jesse Lonergan, Steve Orlando, Hayden Sherman, and Matt Emmons leading a team that pits colonial spirit against colossal destruction.

And if you want it all in one glorious paperback? The April 7th edition collects all four cities into a monster-sized graphic novel—16 stories, one unstoppable kaiju, and a whole lot of creative firepower.

💬 Our Thoughts:
We are a Godzilla-loving household, so discovering this collection felt like striking gold. My six-year-old can name every monster Godzilla has ever fought, and sharing these stories together was such a joy. I loved seeing how each creator brought their own point of view to the chaos—every story felt fresh, clever, and full of personality. The variety of illustration styles added even more fun, giving each city its own visual flair. This has quickly become my son’s new favorite book. Perfect for your graphic-novel-loving kid and the grown-up reading beside them. Enjoy this adventure together.

📚 Verdict: A riotous, city-smashing celebration of local talent and legendary terror. Perfect for fans of comics, monster movies, and anyone who’s ever wondered what their hometown would look like under Godzilla’s foot.

[Phillip Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Godzilla comics. They’re so much fun. I remember hearing about the Godzilla vs. America series, and I loved that they were setting one in Kansas City. I knew that I needed to check it out then.

Thank you Netgalley and IDW Publishing for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

The best comic in the entire book came from Chicago. During an attack from Godzilla, a greedy alderman planned to lure the Kaiju to a poor area in hopes it would be destroyed. Developers were planning on seizing the land for themselves. Unfortunately for them, Godzilla was instead lured to the rich part of town where Godzilla destroyed homes with reckless abandon.

In Los Angeles, I really dug the local news station story. The reporter getting caught on Godzilla’s back was a great bit. I would love to see that in a live action story. That would be pretty sweet.

My favorite adventure from Boston was easily when Godzilla sought out and doing Baby Godzilla. Every single comic that I’ve read so far that brings in Baby Godzilla is cute as hell. Keep it up.

Finally, the fourth adventure takes us to Kansas City! It was cool seeing so many landmarks from my city, and one of the stories included the great Screenland Armour Theater! It’s rare to see KC landmarks in books, so this was a lot of fun for me personally.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Four American Cities, four very different sections.


Chicago - 1) enjoyable in a silly way. 2) Godzilla takes a backseat to teen romance. 3) Godzilla takes a backseat to politicians screwing their constituents and neighbors. 4) Cute.

LA - ugh. 1) Let's make our protagonists a pair of news chopper-jockeys who impede the defense of the city by crashing into a military drone because they willfully ignored a no fly zone, and call them heroes for it. 2) lets focus on an 'aspiring actor' so Godzilla only shows up halfway through and isn't the star of his own story. Also the art is childish at best. 3) Like #2, Godzilla is sidetracked for a lecture on public transit, this time with even worse art. 4) When it's already bad, flaws that might be overlooked or forgiven are instead magnified. According to this brain surgeon of an author "ONLY IN LOS ANGELES" can someone become a rocket scientist. That's it. Only place. Absolute monopoly on Rocket Scientist training, LA has. It gets stupider from there.

Boston - Every tale is sappy, rah-rah Bean-eater Pride...so exactly what you expected in this collection. (The only good part of the collection)

Kansas City - Trash. Glorifying vandalism, then a pair of overlong sci-fi tales with bad techno-babble and worse art.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four cities across America – four stories for each regarding Godzilla and the damage he causes, such as when someone unqualified to be HyperMechaGodzilla tries it on for size, or when he needs to be diverted to the right target across the city. This proved a very mixed bag – some entries are fine, and nicely just adjacent to the major stories, but some are really poor. Two stories for LA that were practically unreadable as digital review files were not promising much care – and neither really were the few that made no sense whatsoever.

On the flip side is a willingness to let the creators present their stories any which way they feel like, allowing us – say, through an eye-in-the-sky journalist ending up landing ON Godzilla - a very different view of the character. But for all of that there is yack about BBQ sauce, and some really silly submissions that a better editor would have thrown pronto. So broad is the success rate that in patches three and a half stars were seeming just too generous, but I'll settle for three and a touch more, for this sometimes-decent, often-playful collection. But if there's more to come, an improvement is both easy and much needed.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

“It has something for everyone.” is usually a good thing to say. But not always for a graphic novel.

I have loved Godzilla movies since being a little kid in the 70s and teen in the 80s. Those old movies were so cheesy good. So, what could be better than reading “Godzilla vs America”? Well, a lot could be better, in my opinion.

The concept was good. The follow through? Not so much. Most of the stories were simplistic. But the issue is more about the artwork. Every chapter has its own artistic style. So, if you like what you are seeing in a chapter, don’t worry, you probably won’t like it in the next chapter because it is going to be completely different. If there was at least a bit of compatibility between the chapters, it might be tolerable. But I had to put on a neck brace because of the whiplash in the change in artwork styles. Not for me at all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing an ARC for an unbiased review.

[Crimson Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

thank you IDW Publishing & Netgalley for an advanced copy of this graphic novel for an honest review before release.

in this book we are following different storylines that are in different parts of America involving Godzilla, I have been a fan of godzilla for decades and anything involving him I am interested in.

the stories we get are only a few pages long bit they are a fun read and having him on American soil is a nice change 👌... some stories I enjoyed more then others but of your a godzilla fan its worth picking up for a read.

[Kat Ninteau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

I was so excited for this one because my little family loves all things kaiju. This is a fun little series of stories with Godzilla popping up on various American cities. Each city gives the reader a feel for the place by bringing local businesses and things relying to the area into the story (for example the Boston section takes place partially at the Coolidge Theater). My only issue with this is that the stories are so short they almost feel like teasers for a longer experience. Overall - fun read but too short.

3.5 stars.

[norm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you netgalley for this graphic novel i really enjoyed this one i liked that we had a bunch of mini stories basically with Godzilla being the star and causing chaos as a godzilla and king kong fan i definitely wanted to read this one and i liked that the artwork had that " old style " look to it reminds me of old godzilla so that had a cool feel to it and i really enjoyed all the stories in every spot but the artwork definitely was my favorite!

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oooof what did I just read…😞 As a long time Godzilla fan these stories just didn’t do it for me. These were all over the place and just so ridiculous. These are short enough that it’s worth a try to see if they are your speed but I feel like actual Godzilla fans won’t much enjoy these.