HAPPY WALPURGISNACHT!

And have a nice dance around the Maypole tomorrow!

GODZILLA NO. 3 (MARVEL)

GODZILLA
Vol. 1 No. 3
October 1977
Marvel Comics Group
Editor: Archie Goodwin
Cover: Herb Trimpe; Marie Severin
Pages: 36
Cover price: 30 cents

Godzilla moves south to San Francisco and destroys the Golden Gate Bridge! Dum Dum and The Champions try to stop him from doing massive damage.

NOTE: This scan has ads removed.

CONTENTS
"A Tale of Two Saviours"
Script: Doug Moench
Pencils: Herb Trimpe
Inks: Tony DeZuñiga
Colors: Don Warfield
Letters: Gaspar Saladino (page 1); Denise Wohl (pages 2-7); Irving Watanabe (pages 10-31)

GODZILLA VS. KONG POST-PANDEMIC

Today is the third in what has turned out to be a mini Godzilla trilogy of posts, including the first few issues of the eponymous Marvel comic from the 1970's. 'Zilla seems to be snowballing -- er, more properly, fireballing -- into a giant-sized monster industry.

Now comes the inevitable clash between the Toho Titan and Skull Island's giant ape, King Kong. Originally due to be released this November, the film's premiere has been postponed because of different type of monster -- the coronavirus.

Let's hope that they don't decide to go straight to digital -- movies like this deserve to be on the big screen.

Godzilla vs. Kong: Trailer, Release Date, Plot and News to Know (So Far)
Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong, including cast members, plot details and more.
By Hector Valverde | April 12, 2020 | SCREENRANT

Ever since Legendary's MonsterVerse launched in 2014 with Godzilla, the entire franchise has been building to one film: Godzilla vs. Kong. That culmination of the MonsterVerse has been long-delayed. However, when it arrives the two title Titans will finally get a chance to face each other in combat.

Here's everything we know right now about the upcoming film.

THE STORY SO FAR
A follow-up to last year's King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs. Kong is also a sequel to 2014's Godzilla and 2017's Kong: Skull Island. All three prior movies have, in some way or another, centered around Monarch, a cryptic government organization founded to study and manipulate the Earth’s ancient Titans in order to protect mankind.

After leveling yet another city in King of the Monsters, Godzilla has crowned himself the Titan's alpha, instituting peace on Earth. The environment is healing after centuries of human endangerment, with Titans returning to the planet’s surface to protect the natural world between their biomes. Despite Earth’s tranquil state, newspaper headlines during King of the Monsters’ credits sequence indicate that Monarch is busier than ever. The organization is exploring the hollows of the Earth in search of more Titans, and an increase in seismic activity and security around Skull Island suggests Monarch is up to something fishy on Kong’s home. Kong, meanwhile, has presumably stayed dormant on his island since the '70s, though it appears he's now substantially larger in size. Kong has been theorized to have been in his infancy or youth during the film, explaining this dramatic growth spurt.

As of right now, no trailer for the film has released. However, the film's official synopsis reads:

Legends collide as Godzilla and Kong, the two most powerful forces of nature, clash on the big screen in a spectacular battle for the ages. As Monarch embarks on a perilous mission into fantastic uncharted terrain, unearthing clues to the Titans’ very origins, a human conspiracy threatens to wipe the creatures, both good and bad, from the face of the earth forever.

RELEASE DATE
Initially slated for a March release, Godzilla vs. Kong is currently set to premiere on November 20. No further delays have been announced in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

CAST AND CREW
You’re Next and Blair Witch director Adam Wingard will helm the film, with a screenplay from Pirates of the Caribbean and Shrek scribe Terry Rossio.

Alexander Skarsgård (The Legend of Tarzan), Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), Eiza González (Baby Driver), Rebecca Hall (Iron Man 3) and Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist) have all been cast. However, details about the movie's characters are sparse, though Skarsgård’s character, likely the film’s human lead, has been described as a geologist with a special connection to Kong.

Kyle Chandler and Millie Bobby Brown will reprise their roles as father and daughter scientists Mark and Madison Russell from King of the Monsters. Zhang Ziyi will also return as Dr. Ilene Chen, a third generation Titan mythologist and a spiritual successor to Toho’s classic Shobijin characters from the Mothra series.

No returning members from Skull Island have been announced. However, James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston), Mason Weaver (Brie Larson) and Hank Marlow (John C. Reilly) seemingly joined Monarch at the film's close, so it's possible they could appear in some capacity. Similarly, Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Elle Brody (Elizabeth Olsen) survived 2014's Godzilla, making it possible they could play some sort of role.

RUMORED MONSTERS
Alongside Godzilla and Kong, the credits sequence of King of the Monsters sets up returns for other monsters down the road. Notable newspaper headlines in the credits included  "Monarch finds massive egg," "Rodan nesting in volcano north of Fiji" and "Monarch confirms Ancient Greek origin of squid-like Titan known as 'Scylla.'"

The egg mentioned foreshadows another Mothra spawning after its parent's sacrifice helping Godzilla defeat King Ghidorah in King of the Monsters. Rodan and the new, Legendary-created Scylla, amongst other kaiju, may also return from King of the Monsters to protect their reptilian ruler in his battle with Kong.

One big headline in the credits also mentions Monarch is creating a “mechanized giant on Skull Island” after several disastrous attempt to “create organic Titans in the past.” All hints seem to indicate the arrival of Mechagodzilla on the horizon, which a recent toy leak seems to indicate may indeed be the case. However, toys are not always indicative of what appears in the final product.

Additionally, the film's post-credits scene shows the villainous Alan Jonah and his eco-terrorist group buying one of King Ghidorah's severed heads, suggesting this isn't the last we've seen of the three-headed dragon.

[SOURCE CREDIT: screenrant.com.]

Don't forget to come back later today to read issue #3 of Marvel Comics' GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS!

GODZILLA NO. 2 (MARVEL)

GODZILLA
Vol. 1 No. 2
September 1977
Marvel Comics Group
Editor: Archie Goodwin
Cover: Herb Trimpe
Pages: 36
Cover price: 30 cents

As a denizen on the eastside of Lake Washington, this is getting a little close to home! Dum Dum Dugan and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents must find a way to lure Godzilla out of Seattle before the monster lizard lays waste to the city. Is Starbucks doomed?

NOTE: This scan has ads removed.

CONTENTS
"Thunder in the Darkness!"
Script: Doug Moench
Pencils: Herb Trimpe
Inks: Frank Giacoia; George Tuska
Colors: Janice Cohen
Letters: John Costanza

TITANS VS. KAIJU!

The new Godzilla movie series is shaping up to be a pretty big deal. Multiple sequels are being planned and the director, Michael Dougherty, has envisioned a brand new "monsterverse" that includes his new term for the traditional kaiju.

Why Godzilla & Others Are Called Titans In The MonsterVerse, Not Kaiju
Godzilla: King of the Monsters director, Michael Dougherty reveals why Monarch switched to calling the monsters Titans instead of MUTOs or kaiju.
By Sarah Moran | April 23, 2020 | SCREENRANT

Godzilla: King of the Monsters director, Michael Dougherty reveals why Monarch switched to calling the monsters Titans instead of MUTOs, and why they didn't want to refer to them as kaiju. King of the Monsters released in 2019 as a sequel to Gareth Edwards' Godzilla and as the next installment in the MonsterVerse following Kong: Skull Island. The movie introduces several more of these titanic beasts and sets the stage for the epic showdown the franchise is set to feature next - Godzilla vs Kong.

Among the Titans introduced in King of the Monsters are some of Godzilla's most famous foes and allies: Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah. In addition to these classic creatures from Toho's Godzilla films, King of the Monsters introduces brand new Titans created especially for the MonsterVerse like Behemoth, Methuselah, and Scylla. Similarly, King of the Monsters also sees the return of the MUTO, the creature introduced in 2014's Godzilla. As established in that first film, MUTO isn't a name but an acronym for Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism and a designation for any newly discovered giant monster. However, King of the Monsters changes this by having Monarch refer to the monsters as Titans and only referring to that one specific monster as a MUTO. The change did not go unnoticed by fans and King of the Monsters director, Michael Dougherty has now addressed why it happened.

During a live tweet-a-long for a Godzilla: King of the Monsters watch party, Dougherty (tweeting via the official King of the Monsters' Twitter account) shared their reasoning for switching up the monster's designations. Not only that, he explained why the MonsterVerse didn't simply refer to them with the commonly used Japanese term for these sorts of giant monsters - kaiju. Read Dougherty's three-point explanation, below.

"1) People have asked why we refer to the creatures as Titans instead of MUTOs or Kaiju. 1) MUTO stands for Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism, so once a creature is identified & classified, it’s technically no longer a MUTO so Monarch had to come up with a new term:  Titan.

2) Besides sounding cool, the definition of a Titan matches the history of the creatures as the First Gods and ties back to their ancient mythic roots.

3) Kaiju was already taken by @PacificRim, but I like the idea that the English translation of Kaiju could be Titan, because then everybody wins."

Admittedly, it would be really frustrating to keep 17 different MUTOs straight, so giving each of them a unique name helps the audience follow along as more are seen awakening throughout the movie. Within universe, the explanation is more scientific, with new species being identified and therefor no longer able to be considered unidentified. The switch to Titans also makes the most sense given the mythic quality King of the Monsters gives its monsters, too. Of course, none of this explains why those first MonsterVerse creatures are still called MUTOs, but then King of the Monsters does already have a bunch of new monsters to name and fans were likely to keep referring to them as MUTOs regardless.

Most fans would also agree, though, that their first choice for what to call the giant monsters in King of the Monsters is kaiju - a Japanese word that actually means "strange creature" and for most foreign audiences is understood to mean those strange creatures of massive size who rampage cities. However, as Dougherty rightly notes, the term kaiju most recently appeared in the Pacific Rim movies, so to avoid any confusion or appearance that they were ripping off those movies, Godzilla: King of the Monsters opted for Titans. It isn't a perfect solution, and of course there will always be fans who continue referring to the Titans as kaiju, but surely most will agree Titan is an improvement over MUTO.

[SOURCE CREDIT: screenrant.com.]

GODZILLA NO. 1 (MARVEL)

GODZILLA
Vol. 1 No. 1
August 1977
Marvel Comics Group
Editor: Archie Goodwin
Cover: Herb Trimpe
Pages: 36
Cover price: 30 cents

Edited by Warren alumnus Archie Goodwin, this is the first issue of Marvel's foray into the world of kaiju. The story is supported by characters from the AGENTS OF S.H.E.I.L.D. series.

NOTE: This scan has ads removed.

CONTENTS
"The Coming!"
Script: Doug Moench
Pencils: Herb Trimpe (breakdowns); Jim Mooney (finished art)
Inks: Jim Mooney
Colors: Janice Cohen
Letters: Joe Rosen