Godzilla Gets His Most Powerful Form Yet (Thanks to the Silver Surfer?)

What a revoltin’ development. The Fantastic Four have fought a number of larger-than-life monsters since 1961’s Fantastic Four #1, which pit Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Human Torch, and the Thing against the Mole Man’s subterranean army from Monster Isle. The Fab Four have even faced Godzilla, King of the Monsters, more than once: for the first time in Marvel’s Godzilla #20 and again in issues #23-24, teaming up with the Avengers to save New York from Toho’s famed movie monster in the ’70s.

Nearly 50 years later, Marvel’s First Family and the King of the Monsters meet again in the first of six one-shot comics spanning different eras of Godzilla and Marvel Comics.

RELATED: Fantastic Zero: Marvel’s Fantastic Four Goes Back to Year Zero

Godzilla vs. Fantastic Four #1 — by writer Ryan North (One World Under Doom) and artist John Romita Jr. (The Amazing Spider-Man) — blends the histories of Marvel and Toho into one. Set after the events of 1954’s Gojira and 1966’s Fantastic Four #50, the issue begins where the original Godzilla movie ended: with Akihiko Hirata’s Dr. Daisuke Serizawa using his Oxygen Destroyer to defeat Gojira at the cost of his life.

The Coming of Godzilla

The Fantastic Four arrive too late to stop Godzilla’s attack in Tokyo, only to return home to find that Godzilla has resurfaced in the waters surrounding New York’s Liberty Island. The Four mount an attack, but Godzilla is able to withstand fireballs flung by the Human Torch, the Invisible Girl’s force field blasts, and a clobbering from the Thing. By stretching his fist, Mister Fantastic is able to topple the monster with a punch to the mouth.

Godzilla retaliates by unleashing his atomic breath, which would have killed the Fantastic Four if the Invisible Girl hadn’t shielded them with a force field. As Godzilla reaches land, the Four return to the Baxter Building with a plan: Reed intends to feed New York State’s power grid into their home, turning it into an electrical booby trap in the monster’s path.

The Fantastic Four turn the Baxter Building into a conduit that fells Godzilla, bringing the Baxter Building down with him. As the skies turn apocalyptic, the Four suspect the return of the planet-devouring Galactus, who was left without a herald after the Silver Surfer — the silver-skinned sentinel of the spaceways — turned on his master and was trapped on Earth by a cosmic barrier.

It’s not Galactus who comes to Earth, but the three-headed kaiju King Ghidorah. As the new herald of Galactus, King Ghidorah has been sent to raze the Earth so that its master can consume the planet for sustenance without resistance. Even the Silver Surfer’s Power Cosmic is no match for King Ghidorah, but if he imbues Godzilla with the cosmic energies, the King of the Monsters might stand a chance against Galactus’ three-headed herald.

The Silver Surfer shares the last of the Power Cosmic with Godzilla, draining himself of his power and turning the monster into his new form: Cosmic Godzilla. (Note the Easter egg: a nod to Godzilla: King of the Monsters and The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman.)

Cosmic Godzilla

Glowing with the cosmic energy of the Power Cosmic, the King of the Monsters unleashes his city block-leveling atomic cosmic breath, but King Ghidorah still stands. As a last ditch effort, Sue suggests using her powers not to make Godzilla invisible, but to bend the light around the Thing and make him appear Titan-sized as a distraction.

King Ghidorah attacks the Thing’s giant-sized light construct, and Godzilla blends his heat ray and Power Cosmic together to forge a weapon with enough power to kill the gods. He unleashes his full might on King Ghidorah, knocking the Power Cosmic out of the winged monster, which then flies into space free of the planet-devouring Galactus’ control. While the Silver Surfer reverted to the Zenn-Lavian Norrin Radd, Godzilla returned to the Silver Surfer the Power Cosmic and returned to the ocean.

But Reed Richards suspects this is not the end. “As we’ve learned, it may take a monster to stop a monster. A Godzilla versus Galactus battle now seems inevitable. And if it is… can any of us hope to survive it?”

Marvel and Monsters meet again in Godzilla vs. Hulk #1 (out April 16), Godzilla vs. Spider-Man #1 (April 30), Godzilla vs. X-Men #1 (May 14), Godzilla vs. Avengers #1 (June 18), and
Godzilla vs. Thor #1 (July 2).

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