Monday, October 27, 2025

Godzilla (Kai-Sei Era) #3 Review

 


Writer: Tim Seeley

Artist: Nikola Čižmešija

Colorists: Francesco Segala & Gloria Martinelli

Letterer: Nathan Widick

Editor: Jake Williams

Cover Artists: Nikola Čižmešija, Kade Byrand, Arthur Adams & Martin Simmonds

Publisher: IDW

Price: $4.99

Release Date: October 8, 2025

 

Dr Rumi Chiba sensed Anguirus' anger at being drained of its Kai-Sei energy. She rescued Jacen Braid when hungry mouths rose from the seabed to drag the Kai-Sei wielder beneath the surface. But Dr Chiba couldn’t protect Jacen from the Human pirates that attacked Team G-Force USA off the coast of Bermuda. Can she shield him against the sea leeches attacking their captured vessel? And where will Godzilla strike next? Let’s armor up, leap into Godzilla (Kai-Sei Era) #3, and see!

 

Story

Nadine Nuki has a dour look on life. She pushes away others and warns Jacen that most new members on Team G-Force USA don't last long. Despite Incense's interest, Nuki also keeps the glamorous pyrotechnics influencer at arm’s length. But the past binds Nuki to Jacen. While the heavy munitions expert helped protect the Deadzone, Jacen lost his mother there. After the government transported Jacen across the country to New York, Godzilla plowed through the city walls to attack him at Gravesend Charter Academy. When the sea leeches attack, and Jacen can’t use his power to save them, Nuki risks her life to protect the newcomer.

 

But Commander Riviera has more to worry about than his team, let alone his latest recruit, in Godzilla (Kai-Sei Era) #3. The leader of Team G-Force USA wears his patriotism on his armored shoulder. He knows that America awakened Godzilla by testing nuclear weapons. Still, after empowering the kaiju with "weird energy," Riviera wants to kill them or trap them below the surface. But the kaiju keep rising from the sea and attacking the good old USA. So when Riviera finds a target, he doesn't want anyone getting in his way of taking down the kaiju. And that includes voices of reason like Dr Rumi Chiba.

 

Tim Seeley's story hurtles along, powered by the clash of personalities, loyalties, and ideas. Yet it takes time to ponder how our actions affect others. American cities have barricaded themselves behind walls, and the country has retreated from the international community. Yet whether people like Richard Riviera want to admit it or not, America needs help resolving the kaiju crisis. Not just to target the aggressive monsters, but to forge a more peaceful relationship with them.

 

Art

As a woman eats a pink donut while navigating a traffic-choked freeway, the car's green interior glows. The vehicles momentarily lose color as gray fills the air. Then green tongues of fire leap off a gray beast with glowing yellow eyes, as it erupts through the concrete lanes in Godzilla (Kai-Sei Era) #3. Francesco Segala & Gloria Martinelli paint Godzilla's rampage through Chicago in grays, greens, and blues. Orange, yellow, and red surround Riviera's team and Captain Corroñero's pirates as they battle the sea leeches in Bermudan waters. Colors shift slowly amid frenetic action, creating auras around battling giants.

 

Nikola Čižmešija conveys Nuki’s concern for Jacen as she blasts the leeches leaping toward them. Dr Rumi Chiba cuts a graceful swath through the melee with her sword. Incense displays his confidence as he summons fire and pauses for a selfie to share with his followers. Commander Riviera moves like a bull, creating carnage and destruction wherever he goes. Captain Corroñero resembles a broken man, even while wearing a monstrous jaw with long, sharp incisors on his shoulders. Jet Jaguar may not feel emotions. But the smile fixed upon his metal face suggests otherwise.

 

Nathan Widick places black uppercase letters in dialogue balloons that are anything but oval. Yet they link together in a pleasing, organic manner in Godzilla (Kai-Sei Era) #3. An Atlanta DJ and Marco Petithomme, Jacen’s new roommate, fill beige balloons with off-camera dialogue. Jet Jaguar's beige balloons include music notes. Balloons adopt a hallucinatory feel as a newcomer makes a bold entrance. Sound effects make the ground shake with gunfire, jet flybys, kaiju screams, and the power of advertising. Thanks to IDW for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

While Dr Rumi Chiba may dislike Commander Riviera's American term, Kai-Sei energy links Jacen with the kaiju and those anxious to exploit the new power source. Godzilla’s attack on Atlanta opens a new era for Humanity in Godzilla (Kai-Sei Era) #3. The kaiju are no longer limited to coastal cities. Now, they can tunnel underground and emerge hundreds of miles inside the continental United States.

 

Rating 9/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch



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