Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #3 [of 7]
Scheduled to arrive in stores: December 19, 2023
Cover date: February 2024
“Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong”
Writer: Brian Buccellato
Artist: Christian Duce
Cover: Drew Johnson
Variant Cover: Jonboy Meyers
Variant Cover: Mike Dedato jr.
1:25 Variant Cover: Simone Di Meo
1:50 Variant Cover: Arist Deyn
Reviewed by: JP Rocha
Issue #2 ended with Superman saving a defenceless Billy Batson. Meanwhile, Buccellato leaves us hanging as to the fate of Superman. Issue #3 picks up in Central City as The Flash, Supergirl, and Green Lantern engage with a Cthulhu-esque monster that is attacking Iron Heights Prison. While an unnatural toxic fog seems to be affecting The Flash’s powers. With the help of Supergirl, who uses her power to blow the fog away, The Flash is able to redirect his attention to the Rogues who are trying to escape from the destroyed prison. Green Lantern is forced to deal with the monster alone when Kara suddenly leaves because she cannot hear Kal’s heartbeat.
Cutting back to Metropolis, we see Godzilla standing over a bloody Superman, laying face down with Billy Batson leaning over him. With Hawkgirl still down, Atom Smasher comes to the aid of Billy and the defenceless Superman. Atom Smasher puts up a good fight and Godzilla defeats him as Billy is left watching. As Billy asks for help and shouts, “Get Superman out of here!,” Hawkgirl swoops in and carries Superman away. Billy transforms back into Shazam with a double make that triple attacks, hitting Godzilla with his transformative lighting; and a punch, aided by a simultaneous punch from Supergirl.
While Supergirl goes to the aid of Superman, Shazam leads Godzilla back to the sea. Cutting back to Central City, Green Lantern and The Flash are still fighting the Monster and the Rogues. Already barely able to keep up with the combination of the two, Captain Cold then comes to aid his fellow Rogues as he freezes a distracted Flash. However, Black Manta and Cheetah call off Captain Cold before he can finish off The Flash. With the Monsters dealing with the Justice League, the Legion of Doom is focused on finding Toyman and regrouping with the rest of the team.
On Themyscira, Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl (Donna Troy) engage with the Wooly Mammoth-esque monster. But mysteriously, the animal seems to retreat on its own back into the sea. Back in Central City The Flash breaks out of Captain Cold’s trap just in time to help free Green Lantern who has been trapped by the monster. The Flash, Green Lantern, and a returned Supergirl concentrate their attacks on the monster as it also retreats back to the sea.
On Skull Island, Green Arrow has found not only Kong, but three more monsters. Responding to his request for backup, Supergirl shows up to help. In Gotham, Shazam regroups with Cyborg, Batman, Black Canary, and Batwoman. They realize that the monsters are not in retreat, but are responding to a high frequency beacon of an unknown source. Finally, we see that the source has been discovered and appears to be coming from the Chihuahuan Desert.
Story – 4: This issue has a lot of moving parts and Supergirl gets the reward for the hardest worker. Supergirl goes from Central City to Metropolis, back to Central City, and finally to Skull Island. It is unclear if Superman survived his heart stopping, since we do not know what happened after Hawkgirl rushed Superman to the Fortress of Solitude in hopes of saving his life. Meanwhile, they leave a defeated presumed dead Atom Smasher in the streets of Metropolis. Although we are told in issue two that Diana is meeting Cassie in Themyscira, issue three picks up with Diana and Donna Troy with no Cassie to be seen.Art – 4: I am still impressed with the book’s art. My one issue is with Billy Batson and Shazam who seem a bit wonky throughout the issue, while every other character Monster, Villain, or Hero look great. Luis Guerrero, the book’s colorist, deserves a shout out. So far the color in this book has been great with bright bold colors. Unlike most modern books, you can clearly see the art in this book whether the scene is dark or light.
Cover Art – 3: The main cover showcases Kong and Green Arrow, this is my favorite of the Drew Johnson covers so far. As with the first two issues, there is no sacrifice in scale between Kong and Green Arrow. There are four other variants. The best of the four is Mike Dedado Jr’s variant cover. However, we cannot clearly see the heroes who have their backs facing us because they are facing up against Kong who takes up two thirds of the cover. This cover makes Kong seem a worthy threat for Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern.
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