Godzilla Rivals: Mechagodzilla Vs. King Ghidorah

Godzilla Rivals issues
← Godzilla Rivals: Vs. Manda	Godzilla Rivals: Mechagodzilla Vs. King Ghidorah	Godzilla Rivals: King Ghidorah Vs. SpaceGodzilla →

Godzilla Rivals: Mechagodzilla Vs. King Ghidorah Written by Tom Waltz Cover by Casey Maloney (CVR A) Justin Lonergan (CVR B) Justin Mason (CVR RI) Pencils by Casey Maloney Inks by Maria Keene Colors by Ronda Pattison Letters by Tom Napolitano Edits by Jamie S. Rich, Nicholas S. Niño Design by Nathan Widick

Godzilla Rivals #1 • #2 • #3 • #4 • #5 • #6 • #7 • #8 • #9 • #10 • #11 • #12 • #13 • #14 • #15 • #16

Godzilla Rivals: Mechagodzilla Vs. King Ghidorah is the 15th installment in the IDW Publishing one-shot comic series Godzilla Rivals. It was released on October 2, 2024.

Description

“

From the mind of Tom Waltz, the legendary writer of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and co-writer of The Last Ronin, comes a whole new spin on a classic myth! Forget everything you think you know about Atlantis. The ancient civilization was once an idyllic island in the middle of the ocean, subject not just to the regular caprice of Mother Nature, but also under the threat—and protection—of kaiju! Mechagodzilla provides them with their one true protection against these monstrous forces, but is it enough when ambitious and evil members of the cultural elite try to summon a three-headed beast to take control? All bets are off when King Ghidorah swoops down from the skies. But its presence not only terrifies the island citizenry, it also awakens the King of the Monsters to emerge from its home deep below the waves. Can Godzilla prevent the legendary civilization from a watery grave?

„

Plot

Atlantis, founded thousands of years ago on the highest ideals, combining cutting-edge science and magic, is both prosperous and corrupt. A faction of sage-priests and soldiers schemes to manufacture consent for war against the rest of the world by staging false-flag attacks. To wage this war, they have built Mechagodzilla, made in the image of the legendary protector Godzilla, and plan to use it to help summon a creature from the underworld to smash all opposition.

Benjamin, known as "Old Benny" to most and commonly believed insane, awakens from a nightmare of Atlantis in ruins and Mechagodzilla at the center of it all. As he feeds a worm to his bird, Asher, he is reminded of the monster in his dream: a golden three-headed dragon which he locates in one of his books. He fears the worst. At the same time, a brainwashed suicide bomber shouts, "Long live Lemuria! Death to Atlantis!" before detonating his vest in a shopping distirct. Captain Chronel's forces find no survivors. Chronel stands by Master Sage-Priest Yenche as he declares that with this fourth Lemurian suicide bomber is as many months, Atlantis is at war. Sage-Priest Zendal protests, advising they wait for word from the emissaries they sent to Lemuria, but Chronel claims that the emissaries stopped communicating with them after entering the capitol and have likely been executed. When Zendal refuses to back down, asking how they can launch an offensive without solid proof of Lemurian involvement with the bombings, Yenche orders him arrested. Benjamin reviews the writings on the dragon, King Ghidorah, and Godzilla, believing that while both are real, they are not truly gods. He muses on how he tried to warn the populace that Mechagodzilla, rather than a merging of tradition and faith, is the embodiment of technology replacing spirituality, but went unheeded.

That night, Yenche and Chronel prepare for the ritual, though the latter is reluctant to sacrifice children. Yenche reassures him that as great men, they have a responsibility to expand Atlantis's territory, and Chronel has fulfilled his role in staging the attacks perfectly. Struck with another vision of King Ghidorah, Benjamin peers down on the city with a spyglass to find the ritual underway, a boy and a girl bound to the pyramid Mechagodzilla stands astride. He interrupts the ritual just before Yenche can stab them, blasting the dagger out of his hands with his staff. Yenche orders Mechagodzilla to destroy the top of the pyramid, but Benjamin protects the children from falling debris with a magical barrier. As Mechagodzilla continues firing, Benjamin frees the children—Adama and Eva—and explains that he'll cover their escape by sea with what little energy remains in his staff. He generates shockwaves to knock back the assembled soldiers and sage-priests as they flee. King Ghidorah emerges from the pyramid as Yenche orders Chronel to train Mechagodzilla's fire on the docks to kill the sacrifices. When they miss their mark, he confronts Benjamin himself, leveling his own staff.

As Benjamin tells Yenche that the events he's set into motion have doomed Atlantis, one of the boats destroyed by Mechagodzilla's missiles slams onto Godzilla's head, awakening him. King Ghidorah takes form as Godzilla emerges from the sea, leaving Mechagodzilla surrounded. An all-out assault by the machine temporarily downs both monsters, but King Ghidorah's retaliating kills the conspirators at Mechagodzilla's feet. Benjamin and the children try to flee while Yenche is distracted, but he shoots Benjamin from behind; his staff falls and shatters. Benjamin blames himself for failing to make the other sage-priests understand that they were building a weapon of mass destruction, and for failing to take decisive action when they dismissed him, as the battle of giants continues. Mechagodzilla targets King Ghidorah with its flamethrower, but Godzilla twists its head around, incinerating Chronel along with the mech's control room. Godzilla rips Mechagodzilla's head off before King Ghidorah flies the body into the air and blasts it with electricity as he drops it; it explodes on impact with the ground. King Ghidorah returns to space while Godzilla's dorsal plates flash.

Benjamin urges the children to leave Atlantis on his boat, asking them to do better in the new land they find, while he and a despairing Yenche await judgment from the King of the Monsters' atomic breath. Later, Adama and Eva search for land as they are followed by two beings: Benjamin's bird Asher from above, and Godzilla from below.

Appearances

Monsters Mechagodzilla King Ghidorah Godzilla Characters Benjamin Master Sage-Priest Yenche Captain Chronel Adama Eva Asher Sage-Priest Zendal

Weapons, vehicles, and races Atlanteans Atlantean aircraft Lemurians (mentioned) Locations Atlantis Lemuria (mentioned)

Gallery

Covers

• 

  Cover A by Casey Maloney

• 

  Cover B by Justin Lonergan

• 

  Cover RI by Justin Mason

Concept art

• 
• 

Scans

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Trivia

• Godzilla Rivals: Mechagodzilla Vs. King Ghidorah is dedicated to the memory of Joel Benjamin "Benny" Rodriguez.
• Godzilla's emergence is paired with the narration "And to believe otherwise... is simply the folly of men," referencing the Blue Öyster Cult song "Godzilla".
• The issue marks a rare instance of Godzilla and King Ghidorah working as allies.
• The comic contains two allusions to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla: Mechagodzilla attacking two kaiju at once by turning its head 180 degrees (in this case Godzilla and King Ghidorah), and Godzilla ripping off Mechagodzilla's head.
• While King Ghidorah is modeled after his Showa incarnation for most of the comic, he curiously sports his 1991 design in Benjamin's first vision of the monster.
• Adama and Eva are presumably named after Adam and Eve, the first two humans created by God in the Hebrew Bible.

References

This is a list of references for Godzilla Rivals: Mechagodzilla Vs. King Ghidorah. 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]

Comments

Showing 12 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.

Loading comments...