GODZILLA: Cataclysm #2 Review

Cataclysm is finally back! Does Issue 2 improve upon some of the few shortcomings of the previous one? Let’s take a look.

Here’s the official description from IDW:

An angry Godzilla returns to do battle once again! With Biollante and Mothra awakening both fears and hopes in humanity, only Hiroshi has a glimpse at the terrible truth! Will his village survive the monsters terrible onslaught?

Cataclysm is a very engaging concept, if somewhat overused. While the idea of a monster apocalypse has been played with since the early days of Kingdom of Monsters, if written well it could never get old. The first issue had some problems, namely with it unfolding just as you would expect it to. It was still a solid read, so the next comic was highly anticipated. #2 features engaging gritty monster action and starts to make the series a little more unique. While still not as amazing as it could be, it’s definitely worth a read.

Cullen Bunn provides the story with somewhat engaging narration from Hiroshi. He hasn’t quite been developed enough to be called a great character. The other two main characters aren’t bad, but lack any real reason for us to care about them. What the writing does best is give the reader a sense of how distraught the community is after the reemergence of the monsters. Points must also be given to Bunn for giving Godzilla a more interesting antagonistic role than simply attacking another monster just for the heck of it. Shiori mentions how Biollante could have made the Earth green again, and Hiroshi responds Godzilla may have fought her so that wouldn’t happen. It puts an awesome new angle to the whole thing. Too often in these comics G is portrayed as simply a  menace who destroys things for kicks, here he actually had some interesting motivation according to what’s being said. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming issues.

Dave Wachter’s art once again can be a hit or miss. There’s no denying the backgrounds look appropriately bleak. Biollante looks very good; it’s Godzilla I sometimes had a problem with. G is way too blandly colored. Not only that, but it appears almost the same coloring was used for both him and Biollante, making the two almost blend in. The choice of coloring is just bland. Still, there’s no denying Wachter knows how to draw an epic and grim fight. The main cover by him showcases the intense battle scene between G and Biollante. It’s definitely a great piece; Biollante looks fantastic, though once again G looks incredibly dull. The Subscription variant by Bob Eggleton is an incredibly painted piece. (Godzilla however, while looking cool, doesn’t quite match the incarnation seen in the comic, or any incarnation for that matter.)

Overall, a solid second issue. The story continues to be engaging and thankfully introduces a few intriguing plot points turning away from the generic aspects of the first issue.The fight between Godzilla and Biollante is great with an added sense of grittiness not seen in other G comics. So far the only character who is mildly interesting is Hiroshi, hopefully that changes in the next issue.