Mild Mannered Reviews - Special Comic Books
Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #4 [of 7]
Scheduled to arrive in stores: January 16, 2024Cover date: March 2024
"Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong"
Writer: Brian Buccellato
Artist: Christian Duce and Tom Derenick
Cover: Drew Johnson and Romulo Fajardo jr.
Variant Cover: Whilce Portacio
1:25 Variant Cover: Jorge Molina
1:50 Variant Cover: James Stokoe
Reviewed by: JP Rocha
Click to enlarge
In issue #3, it is revealed that Lex Luthor responded first to the beacon that has control over the monsters. With the beacon now off, the Justice League decides the best play is to find Toyman. Batman has deduced that Toyman has the Dreamstone and that the Dreamstone is responsible for bringing the monsters to their Earth.
Superman is still recovering and the fate of Atom Smasher is unknown. Supergirl has found that Kong is not a threat and leaves Green Arrow on Skull Island to attend to Superman. Suddenly, Green Arrow discovers he is not alone after all and is surrounded by the League of Assassins, who apparently have interest in the island.
Hal Jordan brings Lois to the Fortress of Solitude where Superman is under stasis. Lois has found Clark's engagement ring and asks Clark to get better so he can propose to her. Lois stays with Clark as Green Lantern, Flash, and Wonder Woman respond to a distress call from Aquaman.
The Rogues and the Legion of Doom continue to look for Toyman before plotting their next steps. After Lex Luthor discovered the beacon and reviewed the footage of the monsters, he understands that Godzilla cannot be controlled. Taking what he has learned about the monsters, Luthor adapts a Lexcorp project to create a "Mechanized Titan '' to defeat both the Justice League and Godzilla if needed.
The threat to Atlantis is a serpent-esque monster and the help of the Justice League is not enough to hold it back. To make matters worse, Godzilla has arrived and is engaging the monster in combat. Fearing for the safety of Atlantis, Aquaman releases the Kraken. The issue ends with Green Arrow as he discovers a giant skull on a ship off the coast of Skull Island.
Story - 4: DC usually does a good job with crossovers, and this one is great for both DC fans and Godzilla and Kong fans. If you are not reading "Justice League vs Godzilla vs Kong" month-to-month, you need to pick up the trade when it becomes available.The story slows down a lot in this issue, as Buccellato is using the issue largely as set up for the second half of the story. I wish we would have had more background story with the Green Arrow subplot as well as the Supergirl subplot. In the last issue Kara picks up a lot of the slack from the result of an out of commission Superman. In this issue her story picks up where the last issue left off, giving us only a page until she flys off and we do not hear from her for the rest of the issue.
Art - 3: Duce's art in the issue is excellent, but the problem is Tom Derenick's fill in pages. Derenick fills in for six pages. For the most part, these six are character development pages. But these pages allowed Duce to spend more time on the monster and action scenes. Derenick's art seems a little more rough, making it plain to see which pages are not Duce's. Overall the art is solid.Cover Art - 4: This is a great cover by Drew Johnson, with a nice combination of layout and detail, highlighted by vivid coloring. We see Aquaman and Mera swimming towards Godzilla and the serpent-esque monster from the issue. Although the heroes are swimming away from us, you do not feel cheated because the design captivates our eyes towards the monsters.There are four variant covers for this issue, all of them are strong. Whilce Portacio completed a series of two covers: one featuring Godzilla and one featuring Kong. I would recommend one or both of these covers.
Mild Mannered Reviews
2024
Note: Except for digital first releases, the month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.January 2024
- Action Comics #1059
- Superman #8
- Steelworks #6
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #21
- Superman '78: The Metal Curtain #1
- Superman: Lost #8
- Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #2 [of 7]
- Titans: Beast World #1
- Action Comics #1060
- Action Comics 2023 Annual #1
- Superman #9
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #22
- Superman '78: The Metal Curtain #2
- Superman: Lost #9
- Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #3 [of 7]
- Titans: Beast World Tour Metropolis #1
- Titans: Beast World #2
- DC's 'Twas The Mite Before Christmas #1
- Action Comics #1061
- Superman #10
- Kneel Before Zod #1
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #23
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest 2024 Annual #1
- Superman '78: The Metal Curtain #3
- Superman: Lost #10
- Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #4 [of 7]
- Titans: Beast World #3
- Titans: Beast World #4
- Titans: Beast World #5
- Titans: Beast World #6
- Action Comics #1062
- Superman #11
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #24
- Kneel Before Zod #2
- Sinister Sons #1
- Superman '78: The Metal Curtain #4
- Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #5 [of 7]
- Action Comics #1063
- Superman #12
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #25
- Kneel Before Zod #3
- Superman '78: The Metal Curtain #5
- Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #6 [of 7]
- APE-ril Special #1 [(One Shot)
- Action Comics #1064
- Superman #13
- Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1 (One Shot)
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #26
- Kneel Before Zod #4
- Superman '78: The Metal Curtain #6
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Check out the Comic Index Lists for the complete list of Superman-related comics published in 2024.