Godzilla: Rulers of Earth issue 1

Godzilla: Rulers of Earth
← Godzilla #13	Issue #1	Issue #2 →

"In the Court of the King" Story by Chris Mowry, Matt Frank Written by Chris Mowry Art by Matt Frank Colors by Ronda Pattison Letters by Shawn Lee Edits by Bobby Curnow Sales 9,813

Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #1 • #2 • #3 • #4 • #5 • #6 • #7 • #8 • #9 • #10 • #11 • #12 • #13 • #14 • #15 • #16 • #17 • #18 • #19 • #20 • #21 • #22 • #23 • #24 • #25

"In the Court of the King" is the first issue of Godzilla: Rulers of Earth. It was released on June 19, 2013.

Description

“

In the wake of the climactic conclusion of Godzilla #13 comes a brand new series! Dozens of monsters have risen from the depth and are staking out their own territory, regardless of humanity's political borders! A war of dominance begins...will Godzilla end up on top? First he'll have to beat a new upstart...Zilla!

„

Plot

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, the USS Wimbish detects a fast-moving kaiju. The chief asks what it is, and Waltz suggests that it could be Godzilla. The chief retorts that it might be Hedorah, but the technician notes a long tail and that the speed of the creature doesn't match up with him. The chief tells Waltz to keep tracking it and that he'll contact seeker command as he's sure they'll be happy to know they found Godzilla. At Seeker Command, Sergeant Steven Woods and Officer Chavez get word of the possible "G-Sighting". Chavez states that it's swimming towards Honolulu, Hawaii and should arrive by the following afternoon. Woods asks if it could be Titanosaurus, to which Chavez states that whatever it is, they need to be ready to drive it back. The signature looks like Godzilla but it's too fast, indicating that it could be a new species.

Meanwhile, Lucy Casprell arrives at Honolulu for the first annual International Megazoology Conference. She has an outburst on how she needs to be at this conference when it seems like her hotel room is unavailable before apologizing, stating that it's been a rough few hours for her. However, the desk clerk tells her that her orignal room was unavailable, but they had a cancellation in one of their suites, much to Lucy's delight. Once she settles into her new room, she calls her mother and complains about all the setbacks she's had, stating that she needs a drink and she wants to unpack. She hopes to herself that coming here wasn't a mistake. Meanwhile, in Arizona's Grand Canyon, Gigan emerges from the earth and roams the area as a group of mysterious aliens surveys their cyborg. The "commander" is notified that the cyborg is in "operational condition" despite its previous battles, to which he states that despite the creature's failure, it would be a shame if they lost it. Gigan continues wandering the area until he ends up in Kumonga's turf. Kumonga ensnares Gigan with her webbing as the commander wants to see how the cyborg handles this "Earth creature". As Kumonga prepares to finish him off with her mouth stinger, the cyborg cuts off one of the spider's limbs and frees himself with his chest buzzsaw. Kumonga hides in a nearby cave as Gigan sets the surrounding area ablaze. The commander states that they "require more cunning than brute force" for the next phase in their plan. Pleased with Gigan's performance, he orders for Gigan to be summoned for "an upgrade".

Back in Honolulu, the International Megazoology Conference begins as Dr. Kenji Ando, one of the founders of megazoology, introduces himself. He states that humanity now lives in a "world of monsters" and that the emergence of these creatures has brought forth an "age of understanding", explaining that from the ashes of the creatures' destruction, there can now by a time of peace. Ando explains that megazoology is the study of these giant monsters and that there's a dire need for knowledge. The work done by people in this conference will be studied for generations to come. When Ando was in President Ogden's think tank, they developed the Mechagodzilla Project. But when he was asked to study X-rays of Godzilla for the second Mechagodzilla project, he realized that they were only reacting to the monsters rather than trying to understand them. It's his belief that they can move forward with a greater understanding of these creatures. He then shows a slideshow about the whereabouts of several known monsters: Anguirus is shown in the border of Mexico destroying a wall, Titanosaurus is seen swimming in the ocean in the aftermath of destroying a ship, a sillouhette of Mothra is shown as Ando explains that most footage of her has disappeared, and Rodan was last seen by a fighter squadron above Canada before losing contact with him. Ando then shows the last known footage of several other monsters that have been unaccounted for, such Battra, Hedorah, and SpaceGodzilla before showing the aftermath of Gigan and Kumonga's battle in Arizona several hours ago. He concludes that it's possible that there are even more kaiju out there and that it's important to be ready for what's to come, for the answers to these mysteries lie in those willing to rise to the "challenge of science."

While this is happening, Zilla arrives at Honolulu's shores, sending the people at the conference into a panic. Lucy takes her camera and plans to film Zilla as Ando notices her while tells everyone to get to the emergency shelter, but the young woman is almost devoured by the monster. Before she can be eaten though, Steven Woods and his troops fire at Zilla, distracting the creature and saving Lucy. After introducing himself to her, Woods chastises Lucy for her reckless behavior and tells Chavez to take her to the hotel's shelter. Woods calls to hold off on heavy weapons as there are still civilians in the area and asks for the name of this monster. The walkie talkie's connection gets glitchy, and as the person on the other line tries to tell Woods that Godzilla's approaching, the sergeant interprets this as confirmation that the monster's name is Zilla. As Woods and his squad continue firing on Zilla, the creature is shot at with a blast of atomic breath, barely missing him. The troops turn around and see Godzilla approaching them as Woods rescinds his last order and orders for heavy weapons.

Appearances

Monsters

• Godzilla
• Gigan
• Rodan
• Mothra
• Zilla
• Kumonga
• Anguirus
• Titanosaurus
• Battra
• Hedorah
• SpaceGodzilla
• Gorosaurus (photograph)
• Mechagodzilla (toy)
• Kiryu (Cover A)
• Varan (Cover A)
• Destoroyah (Cover A)

Weapons, vehicles, and races

• Counter-Kaiju Reaction Forces
• Cryogs
• Devonians
• Gotengo (toy)

Characters

• Steven Woods
• Lucy Casprell
• Chavez
• Kenji Ando

Locations

• Pacific Ocean
• United States
  • Grand Canyon, Arizona
  • Honolulu, Hawaii

Gallery

Covers

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  Cover A full cover by Matt Frank

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  Retailer incentive variant full cover by Bob Eggleton

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  Retailer incentive variant full cover by Bob Eggleton

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  Full art of the retailer incentive cover by Arthur Adams

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  Subscription variant cover by Arthur Adams

• 

  Issues 1 and 2 Japanese-language Wonder Festival 2016 cover by Matt Frank and Shinji Nishikawa

Scans

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Trivia

• Several sea creatures that resemble Shockirus make an appearance on page 4, along with the shipwreck of the Yahlen from Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.
• The Gotengo and the Heisei Mechagodzilla each make cameos as models on Chavez's desk in this issue, along with a photograph of Gorosaurus.
• Lucy's hotel room number is 1954, which is reference to the release date of the original Godzilla film.
• This comic marks Zilla's first comic book appearance.
• This comic features the first ever official battle between Godzilla and Zilla since Godzilla Final Wars. The battle starts in this issue and ends in issue #2.
• In this comic, Zilla possesses the explicit design of the 1998 Godzilla rather than that of the 2004 Zilla, despite being a direct incarnation of the 2004 monster. In an interview, Chris Mowry stated that IDW used the 2004 Zilla so that the monster would not possess atomic breath, like the Godzilla from Godzilla: The Series.

External links

• Ruler of Earth cover 1 by Matt Frank on DeviantART.
• Rulers of Earth cover A by Matt Frank on DeviantART.

References

This is a list of references for Godzilla: Rulers of Earth issue 1. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

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