Godzilla: The Half-Century War
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Godzilla: The Half-Century War (ゴジラ：ハーフセンチュリー・ウォー Gojira: Hāfusenchurī Wō, lit. "Godzilla: Half-Century War") is a five-issue comic book miniseries by IDW Publishing. Written and illustrated by James Stokoe, it ran from August 8, 2012, to April 3, 2013. Heather Beckel provided color assists for the series, and Bobby Curnow edited. The story follows a Japanese soldier named Ota Murakami as he runs afoul of Godzilla throughout his life. Following an encounter with Godzilla during the monster's first attack on Tokyo in 1954, Murakami and his friend Kentaro Yoshihara are recruited by Colonel Schooler into the monster-hunting organization known as the Anti Megalosaurus Force. Murakami and the A.M.F.'s repeated run-ins with Godzilla take them to Vietnam in 1967, Ghana in 1975, Bombay in 1987, and eventually to a final confrontation in Antarctica in 2002.
Godzilla: The Half-Century War has been republished numerous times as both a trade paperback and hardcover. It is also included in the Godzilla by James Stokoe Deluxe Edition hardcover collection set for release in September 2023, and the Godzilla Library Collection, Vol. 1 trade paperback set to release in October 2023 along with Godzilla: Gangsters & Goliaths and Godzilla: Legends. Phase Six published a Japanese translation of the complete comic on July 31, 2020, while Saldapress and Moztros have published Italian and Spanish translations, respectively. The Godzilla: 70th Anniversary one-shot featured a new story by Stokoe set within the universe of the series, "The Half Century Bore", focused around the clean-up in the aftermath of a battle between Godzilla and Hedorah in Istanbul in 1971.
Development
In 2009, James Stokoe drew a short Godzilla fan comic called "World War G," in which Godzilla battled a futuristic military force. His friend Brandon Graham posted it on his LiveJournal, where it received the attention of io9 and Monster Island News.[1] When IDW acquired the comic license to the Godzilla franchise, the comic inspired editor Bobby Curnow to contact Stokoe.[2] As a "tryout," he drew a five-page battle between Godzilla and Hedorah, scripted by Chris Mowry. After IDW hired him to a illustrate a miniseries, he requested writing duties on it as well. To his surprise, the company agreed.
Issues
Trade paperbacks
Front cover
Back cover
Japanese standard cover
Japanese limited cover
Japanese Godzilla Store exclusive cover
Hardcovers
Early hardcover placeholder art
Oversized hardcover
Textless hardcover art by James Stokoe
Italian hardcover
Spanish hardcover
Gallery
Godzilla Store exclusive mini poster by Matt Frank
In other languages
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Japanese
Italian
Spanish
Trivia
- Despite being called a "half-century war," the story begins in 1954 and ends in 2002, a total of 48 years instead of 50.
- The Dimension Tide from Godzilla vs. Megaguirus makes an appearance, albeit as a land-based weapon instead of a satellite-based one.
- The name of the series' human antagonist, Dr. Deverich, comes from combining the last names of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich.
External links
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla: The Half-Century War. 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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