Thursday, July 24, 2025

Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #2 Review

 


Writer: Frank Tieri

Artist: Angel Hernandez

Colorist: Heather Breckel

Letterer: Steve Wands

Editor: Jake Williams

Production & Design: Darran Robinson

Cover Artists: Fero Pe; Angel Hernandez with Patricio Delpeche

Publisher: IDW

Price: $4.99

Release Date: July 9, 2025

 

Bob Jones dedicated his life to proving that kaiju exist. Despite all the data he collected, Bob couldn't find a single clear photograph of a giant monster anywhere. So, when the government oversight committee demands justification for Project Colossus' funding, Bob can only show them an artist's rendition of Godzilla.

 

While contemplating the demise of his department, a call from the Oval Office rescues Bob from seeking other employment. But before Bob can fly off to Japan to confront the creature that he always believed existed, two men in black abduct him. Will they erase his memories with a Neuralyzer even though Godzilla is on the TV news? And why wouldn’t they want Bob to help Japan survive the rampaging kaiju? Let's grab a camera, leap into Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #2, and find out!

 

Story

In Frank Tieri’s story, Dr Kyoto welcomes Bob into her limousine. She explains that much of what he believed about monsters is true. She also confronts his disbelief in aliens. As they transition to an airplane, Dr Kyoto mentions that Japan isn't the only danger zone. Aliens are invading New York City. And Bob can't use this knowledge to warn his wife and child of the approaching storm.

 

Bob learns the secret history of his world in Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #2. His briefing blends secret history and mythology with the pseudoscience he has always dismissed. Despite devoting his life to kaiju research, Bob struggles to believe how Dr Kyoto fills the gaps in his knowledge. And he discovers that the government has built a deterrent to fighting the alien invaders and kaiju. Sadly, it's more Dr Kyoto's last option than her first. But then, barring assistance from Obi-Wan Kenobi, Plan B is her only hope.

 

While the Point Of View briefly transitions to the shapeshifting alien orchestrating the invasion, Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #2 primarily focuses on Bob. The former leader of Project Colossus may be more reactive than proactive in Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #2. But he has a lot to take in. If Bob and his wife survive this catastrophe, he won’t be able to tell her about his work anymore. And instead of heading a research project, Bob will spend his days orchestrating Earth’s defense.

 

Art

Angel Hernandez portrays cinematic scenes in a page or less. Gray alien monsters roam the countryside and cities. Like an octopus from another dimension, the engineered beings wrap multiple tentacles around people's faces, limbs, and bodies. A plane swoops into an underground landing strip like a Cylon Raider. As she guides him through the secret facility, schematics link Dr Kyoto with a historical figure Bob imagined might have belonged to the Sons of Liberty. But just as Director Stone scoffed at Bob's hearing, Bob struggles to accept that the historical figure's ideas could address Earth's contemporary struggles.

 

Green-clad figures study gray bodies in the brown countryside. The ship they arrived in, and the monsters they brought with them, are likewise devoid of color. But the carnage they unleash, and the way they attack their victims, colors the sky orange and red. Heather Breckel paints the plane’s interior the same gray as the bank of 1950s TV monitors in Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #2. As Dr Kyoto sits at a brown table, her red jacket links her with the monsters’ eyes and what they drain from their victims. A gold medallion rises to the forefront amid a montage of crucial actors and events in Dr Kyoto’s retelling of history.

 

Steve Wands exposes the truth behind Bob’s beliefs with uppercase black dialogue in edgy white balloons and narrative boxes. Larger white lowercase words, perhaps from a manual typewriter, locate us in space and time. The words grow bold for intonation as Dr Kyoto briefs Bob on the way forward. Yellow sound effects enhance her secret weapon, which overwhelms Bob more than the alien invaders and their creations. But unlike Susan Ivanova on Epsilon III, at least Bob doesn't need a bathroom break. Thanks to IDW for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Folk legends teach an essential truth through the guise of fiction. In Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #2, government agent Bob Jones discovers that a century-old novel and a millennia-old poem could help protect Humanity from extinction.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch


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