Godzilla: 70th Anniversary (2024)
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Godzilla: 70th Anniversary is a one-shot anthology comic book from IDW Publishing. Featuring nine original stories from various creative teams, it was released on May 15, 2024.[2]
The comic was later reprinted alongside Godzilla: Best of Godzilla in the hardcover collection Godzilla's 70th Anniversary on October 22, 2024.
Description
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Celebrating 70 years of Godzilla! Since 1954, Godzilla has been King of the Monsters, and what better way to celebrate than with a gigantic anthology of tales that get to the heart of Godzilla’s lasting popularity! From the American Old West to modern Tokyo and beyond, this collection features stories of the King of the Monsters fighting with its allies like Mothra, against old enemies like the terrible Mechagodzilla, and reshaping the lives of all who fall in its path![1]
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Plot
"The Half-Century Bore"
In 1971, Godzilla and Hedorah battle off the coast of Istanbul, Turkey. Colonel Schooler of the Anti-Megalosaurus Force (AMF) welcomes new recruits Mehmet Yilmaz and Ömer Bulut. He assigns them to Hedorah, a newly-discovered monster, and introduces them to the heads of the AMF's Godzilla team: Ota Murakami and Kentaro Yoshihara. Murakami explains that Godzilla has already barreled through the high-yield sea mines that they laid down, and while they plan to deploy Maser batteries if the monsters near the city, for now they have nothing to do but wait. Just as Yoshihara warns them that monster fights tend to be lengthy affairs, Godzilla blasts Hedorah into pieces with his atomic breath. The Godzilla team leaders briskly depart, leaving Yilmaz and Bulut to clean up Hedorah's remains.
Work in the Bosphorus Exclusion Zone is pure drudgery, and constant exposure to the Smog Monster even causes Yilmaz's hair to begin falling out. Their request to be reassigned to another monster is denied. By 1974, Hedorah's remains have been collected in a large coastal facility. Bulut is ecstatic to see an AMF helicopter, believing that they're finally going to be transferred, only to be greeted by Murakami and Yoshihara. Yilmaz and Bulut are horrified, knowing that Godzilla can't be far behind; the King of the Monsters soon surfaces, speeding towards the facility. The men desperately drive towards it in a jeep, pleading for Godzilla to stop as Murakami and Yoshihara question what they plan to do. Unmoved, Godzilla obliterates the facility with his atomic breath, causing Hedorah to reform. Godzilla tears at Hedorah and tail-whips him, spreading around his sludge once more, as Yilmaz and Bulut despair.
"Contagion"
Tasked with creating diseases for the State Department, Dr. Mizuno realizes that she has perfected a particularly deadly virus. As she shares her simulation results, her superior reveals that they have already begun testing the virus on a test subject - though Dr. Mizuno warns that the virus could grow and mutate. Unfortunately, her warnings immediately come to pass, as the test subject breaks free of its containment.
With the ability to expel Dr. Mizuno's deadly pathogen from its body, the insectoid monster made short work of the hapless individuals meant to contain it. Mizuno blames the general for unleashing the monster, but he reminds her that she signed onto the project knowing what she would be making. United World News reporter Martin Short captures the monster's attack on Tokyo. Now dubbed "Usuru," it shrugs off tank shells and retaliates with its sharp legs and deadly virus. Eventually, Usuru reaches the shoreline, which promises to halt its advance, until the monstrosity sprouts a pair of wings from its back, allowing it to fly over the open water and potentially spread its virus across the globe. Just as the creature takes flight, however, Godzilla bursts from the water and charges at Usuru, immediately pulling the beast out of the sky and biting into one of its wings. Usuru breaks free, but as Godzilla closes in once again, the insectoid monster lunges forward and stabs Godzilla with its proboscis to infect him with its virus. As Godzilla struggles to pull the monster off of his body, he begins to glow with energy, using his radiation to burn out the infection. Having stopped the virus from overtaking him, Godzilla promptly fires his atomic breath at the helpless Usuru while the monster remains caught in his grasp, annihilating it and its virus for good. Godzilla follows Usuru's path of destruction back to its source, leading him to Dr. Mizuno. Despite her pleas, Godzilla is quick to fire atomic breath at her.
Dr. Mizuno then awakens to discover that Usuru and her encounter with Godzilla had been nothing more than a dream. However, the deadly virus that she had designed is quite real. Accepting responsibility for what could happen if her virus was ever weaponized by the government, Dr. Mizuno lies to her superiors, telling them that the virus is ineffective; deletes all of her research; and resigns. As she leaves the office, a ghostly image of Godzilla appears on her computer monitor.
"Of Gods and Con Artists"
Hara, a bodyguard for the patriarch of a minor yakuza family, throws a delinquent debtor out of a restaurant and threatens him, then welcomes in Ito. A scam artist specializing in fake kaiju artifacts, his offering this evening is sea monkeys modified to resemble Micro Form Destoroyahs. Although Ito discerns that the patriarch still believes the Mechagodzilla plating scrap he previously sold him is authentic, he has nonetheless brought Dr. Kikuchi, a two-time visitor to Monster Island, to examine the Destoroyahs. He recites his well-rehearsed story about tapping contacts in military research and development and private laboratories in the aftermath of the monster's emergence. His story is interrupted, however, by the roof caving in, which he realizes is the result of a Godzilla attack. Ito finds the patriarch crushed and picks up the briefcase containing his fake Destoroyahs. Rather than flee, however, he heads for the roof, wanting to finally see a kaiju in person after telling so many tales about them. He reflects how quickly Godzilla overrode his concerns about being found out by the yakuza - but soon realizes that Hara is still alive and has followed him. Hara holds up a broken vial, now mostly empty, which Ito hadn't realized was missing from the case, and declares that the patriarch died for nothing but a fake. They fight on the rooftop, Hara easily overpowering Ito, as Godzilla duels Biollante behind them. Just before Hara can kill him, Godzilla severs one of Biollante's tendrils with atomic breath, and it falls on top of the gangster. Flowers start to bloom from the tendril, releasing spores. Ito considers grabbing one, but his attention is drawn again to Godzilla, reminding him of how small he is no matter the authenticity of his wares.
"In the Shadow of a God"
A young girl watches an enraged and agonized Godzilla rampage through a Japanese city. She finds a trilobite in one of the monster's footprints and decides to bring it with her in a water-filled bucket. She watches a tank fire on Godzilla only to be quickly crushed, and flees as fighter jets rain down missiles. Godzilla responds with his atomic breath, shooting down all three of them. She closes her eyes and opens them to see Godzilla's head bowed low, his eyes closed, and wonders what his story is. He leaves the city, returning to the sea. The trilobite extends its antennae to her, and she sets it free to chase after the monster.
"In the Darkness"
Young Takao's mother asks him to walk upstairs on his own to go to bed, as she still has some work to get done. He does so with dread, rushing to the landing to switch on the light. To his horror, he then finds himself in the ruins of a city - with Godzilla in pursuit. He narrowly evades the debris the monster drops on him, then a stomp which sends him flying. Godzilla unleashes his atomic breath, but Jet Jaguar arrives to shield Takao from the blast. The robot punches Godzilla, withstands a taliwhip, and kicks him into a building, Takao narrowly avoiding the monster's tail. Godzilla grabs Jet Jaguar by the throat and charges another blast, but just before he can fire, Takao's mom wakes him up. He realizes that he fell asleep on the landing, clutching his Godzilla and Jet Jaguar toys.
"The Big One"
Godzilla engages Schneckeczar, a snail-like monster, in a small town as torrential rains pour down. Pop, the longtime owner of a corner store, prepares to evacuate. Talking to a photo of his wife, he says that he hopes she'll understand. He is joined by a couple, Hector and Lisa, who are loading water into their van. When Hector goes back into the store for the last of their supplies, he is attacked and killed by a smaller snail monster, Lisa screaming as she sees his arm in the creature's mouth. More snails surround the van. Lisa and Pop take shelter inside the store, joined by two local boys, Ray and Bo. Schneckeczar topples Godzilla with a laser and bites his neck, but he counters by grabbing its eye stalks and throwing it. The impact damages the store, allowing the snails to get in but also presenting the humans with a way out. Pop hits one of the snails with a shovel as they escape to the roof. He tries kicking the snail that follows him up, but it bites his leg as another of the monsters crawls up the building and attacks one of the boys. They're saved by a helicopter gunner, who kills the snails menacing them with a hail of bullets. Godzilla continues battling Schneckeczar.
Months later, Pop and Lisa visit a memorial to the dead, with Lisa leaving a bottle of Hector's favorite cider. She's surprised that he remained in town, and he tells her that while he visited his kids after the battle, he decided that he belonged here, taking care of what's left of the town. He sees her off, and tells June that they're still standing in front of a sign announcing that the convenience store will soon reopen.
"Ain't No Place for an Angel"
Senica Springs is a remote Old West town founded and inhabited by women aiming only to be left alone, and protected by a mysterious guardian. Zadie, a blacksmith, catches up with friends around town before turning in for the night. An outlaw plans to steal gold that he believes the women are guarding, with the help of a subterranean monster their guardian has awakened: Baragon. He announces his presence in town with a pair of gunshots, claiming to be looking for his horse and insulting the women. When one of Zadie's friends charges at him, he grabs her by the hair. Mothra and her Shobijin appear to confront him, and the woman bites his hand and escapes while he's distracted. Baragon bursts out of the ground to battle, but while he knocks Mothra to the ground and damages her wing, she quickly fells him with yellow dust from her wings. Zadie chases after the outlaw, who is dismayed to find only iron in the town's mine. A cave-in crushes him. On the surface, Zadie finds her forge destroyed, but with the help of Godzilla, creates a gold prosthesis for Mothra which allows her to fly again.
"In Summation"
Tomoyuki Abrams was born on October 12, 1954, the day Godzilla first attacked Japan, narrowly missing the hospital where Abrams' mother gave birth during his rampage but killing his father. Even as a child, he sought revenge against the monster. Godzilla returned to Japan when he was in college, studying megafauna, but now served as the country's protector, coming to its defense against Mechagodzilla. A top-secret anti-kaiju organization recruited him out of college, and while they faced an ever-increasing number of threats, they remained focused on Godzilla above all. On June 23, 2024, a now-elderly Abrams tracks Godzilla via sonar out at sea in one of his organization's boats. Having failed countless times to destroy the monster, he no longer seeks to kill him, believing him to be beyond human morality or understanding. Godzilla stares the ship down as it shines searchlights at him, then capsizes it with his tail, killing Abrams.
"Aftermath"
Following a Godzilla attack on her town, a nurse recovers a photo of her wife and children from the ruins of her home and weeps. She finds a man and a teenage boy in the ruins who also lost their families. Elsewhere, a billionaire dispassionately watches a news report on the 250,000 people killed and 400,000 displaced since Godzilla came ashore a month ago. The nurse confers with other survivors. An elderly Japanese woman shares that people from back home called the monster Godzilla, though she never believed that he was real. Radio reports urge that survivors take precautions against radiation poisoning, but it's clear to this group that no help is coming as the military futilely battles Godzilla. A reporter divulges that a local company was dumping radioactive waste into the ocean for years despite local efforts to stop them. He wrote a story about a little girl who suffered radiation burns and said that she saw a dinosaur while swimming near the factory, but whose family was left with no money to sue the company after paying her hospital bills. The nurse encourages the other adult survivors to fight, saying that she feels dead already and that they might as well do some good for the next generation. The billionaire, hearing a report on the demand for iodine tablets, instructs his AI assistant to research investment opportunities. The power suddenly cuts out, and he sees Godzilla looming outside, but gloats that the beast wouldn't dare approach him. He's then shocked to see a mob storming his mansion in Godzilla's shadow, led by the nurse.
Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- "The Half-Century Bore"
- Written, drawn and lettered by James Stokoe
- "Contangion"
- Written by Dan DiDio
- Drawn by Joëlle Jones
- Colored by Marco Lesko
- "Of Gods and Con Artists"
- Written by Danny Lore
- Art by Sebastián Píriz
- "In the Shadow of a God"
- Written and drawn by Matt Frank
- Poetry by Donny Winter
- Japanese calligraphy by Maki Takarada
- "In the Darkness"
- Written and drawn by E.J. Su
- "The Big One"
- Written and drawn by Adam Gorham
- Colored by Adam Guzowski
- "Ain't No Place For an Angel"
- Written by Casey Gilly
- Drawn by Liana Kangas
- Colored by Brittany Peer
- "In Summation"
- Written by Michael W. Conrad
- Art by Gegê Schall
- "Aftermath"
- Written and drawn by Natasha Alterici
- Lettered by Rus Wooton (unless noted)
- Design by Nathan Widick
- Edited by Jake Williams, Jamie S. Rich, David Mariotte
- Special thanks to Aaron John Gregory, and all of Toho
Appearances
"The Half-Century Bore"
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"Contagion"
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"Of Gods and Con Artists"
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"In the Shadow of a God"
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"In the Darkness"
"The Big One"
"Ain't No Place for an Angel"
"In Summation"
"Aftermath"
Covers
GalleryConcept art
Art
Covers
ScansTrivia
ReferencesThis is a list of references for Godzilla: 70th Anniversary. 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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