Mothra: Queen of the Monsters (2025)
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Mothra: Queen of the Monsters is an upcoming five-issue comic book miniseries from IDW Publishing. Written by Sophie Campbell and illustrated by Matt Frank, the series will follow a pair of twins who set out to prevent an apocalyptic future where Mothra has fallen by traveling back in time to locate an ancient Mothra egg.[1] The series will be IDW's first comic series centered around Mothra, as well as the character's first titular solo project since the 1998 film Rebirth of Mothra 3. The first issue is set to release in March 2025.
Issues
Development
The series was first announced on October 18, 2024, alongside the Godzilla miniseries Godzilla: Heist and Godzilla vs. America, at the 2024 New York Comic Con. That same day, the official Godzilla website posted further details about the series, including a first look at the covers of the first issue and additional concept art of the new characters Mothra Gemini and Antra.[1]
In an interview, author Sophie Campbell revealed that the series began life as a pitch for another Godzilla comic series before being revamped to focus instead on Mothra, as Campbell felt there was more "unexplored territory" with that character, who had never headlined a solo comic series before. Familiar enemies of Mothra such as Battra or King Ghidorah were also considered, though the creative team ultimately opted for an original kaiju, creating Antra.[2] Editor Jake Williams requested that artist Matt Frank color the pages by hand rather than digitally, as he did for his comic in Godzilla: 70th Anniversary.[3] Matt Frank stated in an interview with the official Godzilla website that he was glad to have taken this approach, as it presented "the next big challenge in my artistic career, looking to try something new or an approach I haven't fully explored."[3]
Gallery
Concept art
Mothra Gemini concept art by Sophie Campbell
Mothra Gemini concept art by Matt Frank
Antra concept art by Matt Frank
Panel art
Handrawn panel art by Matt Frank
Miscellaneous
Trivia
- The concepts of an elder Mothra dying and being succeeded by a new imago, and the defeat of a villainous kaiju requiring travel to prehistoric times recall Rebirth of Mothra and Rebirth of Mothra 3, respectively.
- The first issue's description includes the phrase, "Mira might hold the key to the rebirth of Mothra," as a nod to the Rebirth trilogy. Moreover, Mothra Gemini's zodiac-based name references Mothra Leo.
- This is the first piece of media to include "Queen of the Monsters" in its title, although the nearly-identical "Mothra: The Queen of Monsters" was used as the title for Rebirth of Mothra on its Japanese VHS and LaserDisc releases.
- The character Emi may have been named after singer/actress Emi Ito, who portrayed one of the Shobijin in the original Mothra film and two Godzilla films, alongside her twin sister Yumi.
- "Mira" is the name of Mothra's priestess in GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse, a novel prequel to GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters. Emi's body markings are also reminiscent of the Houtua introduced in that film.
- The Shobijin possessing antennae in this series is also a trait shared with the Houtua, though the Houtua's antennae are fluffier and lay flat against their heads.
References
This is a list of references for Mothra: Queen of the Monsters. 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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