Godzilla Rivals (2021-2024)
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Godzilla Rivals (ゴジラ：ライバルズ Gojira: Raibaruzu, lit. "Godzilla: Rivals") is a quarterly series of one-shot comics by IDW Publishing which began on June 30, 2021, and concluded on November 20, 2024. The series' 16 issues vary between pitting various kaiju against Godzilla and pitting two kaiju other than Godzilla against each other; though most feature existing characters, the ninth issue uniquely saw SpaceGodzilla fighting an original kaiju, Singura. Rivals is the longest-running American Godzilla comic. Due to its irregular publishing schedule, several other series contain more issues; however, as each installment of Rivals is twice the length of a standard comic issue, it is also the Godzilla comic with the highest page count.
Saldapress published an Italian translation of Rivals' first four issues from June to September 2022, while Phase Six has brought the series to Japan in trade paperback form.
Issues
Italian release
Godzilla #20
(Vs. Hedorah)Godzilla #21
(Vs. Mothra)Godzilla #22
(Vs. King Ghidorah)Godzilla #23
(Vs. Battra)
Trade paperbacks
A trade paperback collecting the series' first four issues, entitled Godzilla Rivals: Round One (ゴジラ：ライバルズ ROUND1 Gojira: Raibaruzu Raundo Wan), was originally slated to be released on October 4, 2022[1] but was delayed to January 3, 2023,[2] then again to March 7,[3] and then moved back up to January 24.[4] Phase Six released a translated version in Japan on October 31, 2022, while a variant cover by Matt Frank was made available exclusively through the Godzilla Store that November 3.[5]
Godzilla Rivals: Round One
Round One
Japanese coverRound One Japanese limited cover
Round One Godzilla Store-exclusive cover by Matt Frank
Godzilla Rivals: Round Two (ゴジラ：ライバルズ ROUND2 Gojira: Raibaruzu Raundo Tsū), collecting the next four issues, became available for pre-order through various digital storefronts in early 2023, and was released in the U.S. on October 24, 2023.[6] Phase Six published a Japanese translation of the paperback on June 30.
Godzilla Rivals: Round Two
Godzilla Rivals: Round Three, collecting the next four issues, was solicited in late 2023 and published in the U.S. on August 20, 2024.[7] An IDW online exclusive hardcover edition of the volume, featuring a textless cover, was also released.[8]
Godzilla Rivals: Round Three
Godzilla Rivals: Round Three Hardcover Exclusive
Godzilla Rivals: Round Four, collecting the final four issues of the series, was solicited in August 2024 and is set to be published in the U.S. on May 6, 2025.[9]
Godzilla Rivals: Round Four
Gallery
Original Round One trade paperback cover featuring Gigan by E.J. Su
Original Round One trade paperback cover inks
Textless Round One trade paperback final art, with Battra replacing Gigan
Textless Round Two trade paperback art by E.J. Su
Textless Round Three trade paperback art by E.J. Su
In other languages
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Japanese
Italian
Trivia
- Godzilla Rivals: Vs. Gigan was originally announced as the fourth installment of the series, but was repeatedly delayed until after Godzilla Rivals: Vs. Battra, which was intended to be the fifth. Because of this, Godzilla Rivals: Round One was originally solicited with Vs. Gigan included, as reflected by E.J. Su's original cover art which featured Gigan. Following the restructuring of the series, the trade paperback cover was updated, replacing Gigan with Battra.
- Strangely, the cover of Godzilla Rivals: Round Three prominently features King Caesar, despite the monster not appearing in any of the issues collected in that volume or any issue of the series at all.
- The monsters Hedorah, Gigan, Megalon, Jet Jaguar, and Mechagodzilla have been featured in issues that were released on their respective 50th anniversaries.
- Godzilla and Mothra are the only two monsters to have appeared in every "Round" of the series' collection into trade paperback.
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla Rivals. 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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