Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters Issue 1

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1 is the first issue of IDW Publishing's comic series Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters.

Official solicitation
The King of the Monsters rises again, and for the first time in comics, he's bringing lots of other beloved Toho monsters with him in one destructive saga, and The Goon's Eric Powell is sounding the alarm.

Synopsis
Children Isamu and Kameko play on a beach on Niijima Island, Japan, littered with dead fish. Isamu crushes the dead fish with his monster toy, much to his sister's annoyance. Isamu expresses his desire to have a real monster of his own to be his friend. Suddenly, the water recedes and a huge tail emerges from it. The children investigate, only for the ground to begin shaking and a huge monster to erupt from under the beach, swallowing both children whole. Out at sea nearby, a fisherman witnesses the earthquake and is distressed because his children were on the beach. Sirens begin blaring in a nearby town on the island as the ground shakes and cracks with the sounds of footsteps booming. A man runs past a shopkeeper, screaming about a monster. One shopkeeper asks the other if it's another earthquake, but he responds that he heard a man shout about a monster just as the creature from the beach appears over the horizon. The citizens flee in terror, with an old woman falling to the ground. Another citizen stops to help the old woman, but both are crushed under the monster's foot. The monster stomps through the town, leaving destruction in its wake. Fighter jets are scrambled and open fire on the monster, but their missiles have no effect.

Elsewhere, the Japanese Prime Minister asks a JSDF general about the situation. He reports that they have no idea what the creature is, only that it came from the sea. He reports that hundreds are dead, but that they are fortunate it did not attack a more populated area. However, the creature returned to the ocean and is currently on course for Tokyo Bay. The Prime Minister asks what their options are, and the general responds that everything the JASDF threw at it was ineffective, and that it would be disastrous if the monster made landfall in a populated area. He tells the Prime Minister that they have a duty to ensure the monster does not reach Tokyo, and suggests a nuclear strike. A submarine then launches a nuclear missile at the monster as it moves through the ocean. Guided by a drone, the missile strikes the monster and detonates, producing a mushroom cloud. The strike is reported successful, and the Prime Minister tells his advisors that they have averted disaster, but must answer questions about what the creature was. However, a video feed shows that the creature is still alive and unharmed from the blast, and can now exhale an atomic ray from its mouth. Three hours later, the monster makes landfall in Tokyo and ravages the city with its atomic breath.

At the White House in Washington, D.C., President Ogden is informed by his advisor Dave that Tokyo is being destroyed by a giant monster. Ogden initially believes this to be a joke, but Dave shows him the attack on television. Ogden is distressed at another disaster after having to deal with the war, the economy, and the oil spill already.

Key events

 * Godzilla appears for the first time, attacks Japan, and is hit by a nuclear missile, granting him atomic breath.

Quotes

 * President Ogden: "The war... the economy... the oil spill... now this... '''You have to be @%$#ing kidding me."

Appearances
Monsters Characters Locations Vehicles
 * Godzilla
 * Isamu
 * Kameko
 * Isamu and Kameko's father
 * Prime Minister
 * JSDF General
 * Dave
 * Ogden
 * Japan
 * Niijima Island
 * Tokyo
 * United States
 * Washington, D.C.
 * Mitsubishi F-1
 * General Atomics MQ-1 Predator
 * JSDF submarine
 * JSDF tank

Trivia

 * This issue by far possesses the most variant covers of any Godzilla comic or manga. This is because 80 variant covers were created depicting Godzilla's foot crushing any comic shop that ordered 500 copies of the issue.
 * Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1 is by far the best-selling Godzilla issue by IDW Publishing, with 69,662 physical copies sold.
 * While Japan utilizes a nuclear strike against Godzilla in this issue, in reality Japan does not possess nuclear weapons.
 * When some covers for this issue were first revealed, they still bore the comic's original title of Godzilla: Monster World.
 * The full Cover B for this issue features, in addition to Godzilla, Anguirus, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Kumonga, none of whom appear in this issue.