The Half Century War comes to a close. Does it go out with the same level of quality we’ve come to expect?

Here’s the official description from IDW:

Ota Murakami has fought Godzilla for fifty years. The decades have been hard on Ota, and he is seemingly no closer to his goal. Now, in the frozen wastes of Antarctica, the end of the world beckons. Ota and Ken gear up for a deadly final battle, and only one beast will be left standing at its end! This is the book you’ll be talking about for years! Don’t miss it! 

Yes, it’s been almost three months between issues. Ridiculous, I know, but what can we do? It was definitely worth the wait. The Half Century War has been called by fans the best Godzilla related thing to come out of IDW. They’re not wrong, it’s been a series of quality, spectacular art, epic fights, but must of all it ‘got’ Godzilla. The previous issue had G take on SpaceGodzilla with Mechagodzilla thrown in the mix. Here in this issue King Ghidorah and Gigan arrive. While not quite as good as the previous installments, it’s still an epic ride both old and new fans alike will enjoy.

James Stokoe all the way from Issue #1 had succeeded in making the moist likable human protagonist in the Godzilla comic world aside from Steven Woods of Kingdom of Monsters. Here we see that Ota’s an old man whom has been chasing Godzilla for years. He has accepted the fact that he’ll never truly understand the monster, but he at least wants G to notice him. It’s rather an emotional story at the same time. It’s nothing heavy, but the final few moments were pretty powerful. What’s cool is that Kiryu gets to fight alongside Godzilla. Who wouldn’t clap at the splash page of them shooting beams together? Now, Ghidorah and Gigan teaming up is a homage to when they were united in Godzilla vs. Gigan. It’s pretty awesome to see the Heisei Ghidorah as opposed to GMK’s, so for that alone this issue will get a thumbs up from the fans.

Stokoe once again handles the art. The humans look alright, it’s the monsters that shine. Ghidorah looks like a demon, and Gigan just looks fantastic. The battles are incredible and satisfying, the only battle I can think of that matches this is Matt Frank’s work in Godzilla Legends #1.(Now imagine how epic the fights will be in Rulers of Earth.) There’s a really great panel of Ghidorah holding Godzilla with its three heads, it’s pretty fantastic. Sadly Gigan doesn’t get to use his buzzsaw strangely. The main cover is a great shot of Godzilla powering through a battleship. It’s not exactly what I’d call a cover to a conclusion, but it’s still solid. The variant by Simon Roy is very interesting. It’s definitely more artistic, and it strangely uses the Heisei Godzilla. Ghidorah and Gigan do look good, I think longtime fans will appreciate it.

Overall, a great finisher to the Half Century War saga. I’m disappointed we’ll no longer be seeing this version of Godzilla, it was the best portrayal of G IDW has given us. The fights in this comic are fantastic, and…Dimension Tide, the black hole shooter from Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, is used. The ending is awesome, and altogether this will make one killer trade paperback for any fan, or if you want to introduce someone to Godzilla through the comic medium. Either way, The Half Century War will never be forgotten.

4/5

My name is Daniel (@Destroyer_199), the main guy for comic reviews here at Unleash the Fanboy. I was born in 1995 in the Big Apple, spent my formative years in Staten Island, and currently reside in the awesome state that is New Jersey.