GODZILLA was a book that was probably more my younger brother Ken’s speed than mine. he was the one in the family who was a fan of monster movies and the like, whereas I couldn’t be bothered with them. Still, I wound up as a regular reader of the title for its final five issues, which is largely down to the fact that they prominently featured a bevy of Marvel super heroes, starting with my very favorites, the Fantastic Four. So I was back again when issue #23 turned up at the 7-11, cover-showcasing the Avengers. One has to assume that by this point, writer Doug Moench must have knows that the series was going to be wrapping up in another issue, so he pretty much threw every idea he’d had for an interaction between the big lizard and the Marvel characters at the wall in this final arc.
This issue, and indeed the whole of the series, was drawn by Herb Trimpe, a longtime Marvel artist who was never really one of my favorites, but who was always a reliable practitioner of the Marvel style. His work in these days showed a strong Jack Kirby influence, with some blocky figures and odd compositions. Trimpe was being moved away from core super hero titles towards other fare at this point–he was a good match for GODZILLA as well as the SHOGUN WARRIORS comic that he was penciling at the same time. A true professional, Trimpe didn’t skimp on his work on these licensed titles at all. As a reader at the time, I saw these as legitimate Marvel books, rather than bastard stepchildren that Marvel was only then publishing.
The plot for this issue is relatively basic; having returned from his trip into the past courtesy of Doctor Doom’s Time Machine and also having regained his full stature after having been shrunk down by Pym Particles, Godzilla finds himself in Times Square–Reed Richards having relocated the time machine to that large open area so as to give Godzilla a large enough area to return to. Now the problem is getting him out of the city without destroying massive parts of it in the process–a process made more difficult by the fact that Godzilla recognizes the mini-Hellicarrier SHIELD agent Dum Dum Dugan has been using to pursue him for issues, and the big lizard has no lost love for it.
Elongating himself into the Helicarrier, Reed tells Dugan that Godzilla seems fixated on the craft, and suggests that they use it as a lure to guide the Kaiju out of the city. This requires the Helicarrier to maneuver with precision, staying above the main streets so that Godzilla has an avenue open to him that won’t result in buildings being knocked over. The whole effort is precarious and ill-considered. But Reed has enough foresight to dispatch the Human Torch to Avengers Mansion to enlist Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the efforts as well. Meanwhile, Moench writes an awesome interaction as Godzilla passes the Daily Bugle building between the irascible J. Jonah Jameson and the giant monster. Godzilla shuts Jameson up with a blast of hot air even greater than that the publisher was spewing at him.
As the Torch rallies the troops, back aboard the Helicarrier, young Rob Takiguchi, who was once the pilot of Red Ronin and who fancies himself Godzilla’s friend (in the mold of Rick Jones and the Hulk) tries to tell Dugan that firing off missiles at Godzilla is only going to lead to disaster. But Dugan has his hands full, he’s in a tense situation already–so he has the kid ejected from the Bridge. By this point, they’ve maneuvered Godzilla down to the docks on the outskirts of the river. But here, the giant creature refuses to advance further into the water.
It’s at this point that the Avengers arrive, with the rest of the Fantastic Four in tow. Recognizing the need to get Godzilla out of the city, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes fly to the attack, with the stated goal of driving the beast into the river and then guiding him away from the city. Unfortunately, they’re so tiny that even their massive powers aren’t enough to get the job done, and Godzilla grows more agitated and more violent the longer the confrontation goes on. Looking at the problem another way, Yellowjacket and the Wasp decide to try fighting large with small. They enter into Godzilla’s ear canal at tiny size, then use the vibrations of their wings to upset the beast’s equilibrium, causing him to topple backwards into the water! Mission accomplished!
But down doesn’t mean out, and in the climactic splash page, Godzilla rises up out of the water to his full height, angry as all hell and ready to unleash against the super heroes who are tormenting him, and the city beyond them as collateral damage. To Be Continued!
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
To bad there weren’t any readers of the series around who knew of Marvel’s 1960s Monster/Kaiju comics ( Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense, Journey into Mystery & Strange Tales ) to suggest having the Big G fight them: Droom [ Tales to Astonish#9 ( May 1960 ) 3rd story — cover version is the one modern artist use ( Perhaps someone could do a flashback of Droom mutating into the cover version ) ]. Unfortunately Marvel’s King Kong inspired giant apes are 1933 King Kong size and not Japanese Kaiju King Kong size: Gorgilla [ Tales to Astonish#12 ( October 1960 ) 1st story ], Monstro ( giant albino blind gorilla )[ Journey Into Mystery#54 ( September 1959 ) 1st story ] or 1971 amalgamation monster Gog [ The Amazing Spider-Man#103-104 ( December-January 1971-1972 ) King Kong ( 1933 ) & Alien in 2o Million Miles to Earth ( 1957 ) ] or 1953’s Agu the Giant [ Lorna the Jungle Queen#1 ( July 1953 ) 2nd story ] and 1948’s Bokk the Beast [ Sun Girl#3 ( December 1948 ) 1st story ( From South America ) ]. I know from the A-Z Official Handbooks that Gog got a size increase ( I like him at his 1933 King Kong dinosaur fighting size, sure Gorgilla fought a T-Rex too ).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Forgot Timely Comics other 1933 King Kong size Unnamed Giant Gorilla ( science created ) [ Daring Mystery Comics#5 ( June 1940 ) Fiery Mask story — vs. Doctor Dork & Jelly of Doom ( protoplasm ooze ( The Blob – 1958 film )) ].
LikeLiked by 1 person
Correction to my correction: you were correct that Bokk is just a Kong-sized ape. I was thinking of a super-tall, unnamed sea monster from SUN GIRL #2.
LikeLike
Don’t leave out The Gool, who predates most of the Timely-Atlas monsters (MARVEL TALES #93, 1949). He might a little bigger than Kong but not a skyscraper-sized beast, as I believe Sun Girl’s Bokk is. FWIW, I just happened across a (non-Marvel) skyscraper-monster not long ago looking through DETECTIVE COMICS 49 (1941), a robot named Echo unleashed on the Crimson Avengers city. The mad scientist who invents Echo goes by the impressive cognomen “Jon.”
LikeLike
Today I thought of the Mole Man’s monster ( later named Giganto ) [ Fantastic Four#1 ( November 1961 ) ] and the walking whale monster Giganto that the Sub-Mariner summoned using the Proteus Horn [ Fantastic Four#4 ( May 1962 ) –it looked like it could be taller than Godzilla ] or the gigantic sea creature Krang summoned using the Proteus Horn [ Super-Villain Team-Up#13 ( August 1977 ) and seen next in The Defenders#54-55 ( December-January 1977-1978 ) ]. D9dunn I know of and seen the Sea Monster in Sun Girl [ see Atlastales.com ].
LikeLike
I don’t know if anyone mentioned it, but I remember either in the letter page or the page that Stan’s Soapbox is on but remember seeing the aftermath of a Godzilla vs. Hulk fight ( Godzilla walking away and in one of his footprints is the Hulk saying something to him ).
LikeLike
It was in the lettercolum/text page of issue 1. You can see it here:
https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/939318-godzilla
LikeLike
Dan Green did nice work with Herb Trimpe, Maybe his best inked since John Severin,
LikeLiked by 2 people
I don’t think Green ever really got the credit he deserved. He seemed to be a well-respected inker but wasn’t seen as up there with the top-name guys, as she should have been. Still, he did get put on some very high-level series, so I figure he got the royalties he deserved, at least.
LikeLiked by 3 people
“One has to assume that by this point, writer Doug Moench must have knows that the series was going to be wrapping up in another issue, so he pretty much threw every idea he’d had for an interaction between the big lizard and the Marvel characters at the wall in this final arc.”
My assumption, I think, was that he knew the sales weren’t great, so he was trying to avoid cancellation by throwing in popular guest-stars. But it either didn’t bring the sales up enough, or it was too late.
LikeLike
I recall reading in Twomorrow’s “American Comic Book Chronicles The 1970s” that is was all about Toho, not sales which were sound.
LikeLike
As I’ve read on several sites “Worlds of Pop Culture Collide”
#23 was a very fun issue for me as a child. I can recall elementary schoolyards conversations when it was released.
Totally Love the final page of the book. Trimpe drew Monsters excellent, humans not so much.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I forgot that Tom Sutton was the artist on Godzilla#4-5 ( November-December 1977 ) that introduced Dr. Demonicus and his Kaiju creations Batragon, Ghilaron, Lepirax and Centipor.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wonder if the creators of the 2014 Godzilla movie knew that Marvel had Godzilla destroy the Golden Gate Bridge first [ Godzilla#3 ( October 1977 ) Godzilla vs. the Champions ]?
LikeLike