Comixology Originals 2018
Written by Sam Humphries
Illustrated by Alti Firmansyah
Coloured by Brittany Peer
Lettered by Jodi Wynne
Zelda, Eunice, and Juliet are three best friends: orphans of the Kaiju Generation, and adoptive mothers to their own baby Goliath! For years they've searched for the elusive King of All Goliaths, the one fabled to bring the Forever War to an end. But they're not the only ones on his trail. The fate of the world lies in the hands of three teenaged girls and their pet kaiju, as they fight to save us from the goliaths, and save the goliaths from us.
Okay so sometimes these can be too cutesy for me and I was thinking that maybe this might be as well but then suddenly something happens and I was surprised, interested and intrigued in what was happening. I should have known better though because when does Sam create and do anything that is normal, standard or what you think it’s going to be? I found the way this was structured to be extremely well done and the overall flow of how we see the story unfold with information, twists and turns is so nice to see.
There is something about the premise that we’re seeing here where Kaiju roam the world and it while it doesn’t feel post apocalyptic it also doesn’t feel like the world we know. So that alone is something I find curious and as the book opens and we see the King of All Goliaths I got excited. So the girls base of operations is aboard an abandoned warship in the ice which is in what appears to be a graveyard for abandoned ships. It is little things like that that happen throughout the issue that make the reader sit up and take notice and wonder what kind of world they live in.
I like the characterisation that we see here as well. Even the animals, Kaiju or what have you as well as all the human characters that are introduced all have personalities that emerge in the best or most strange ways and all of it collectively is a thing of joy. Also there are a trio of girls who we see and kind of meet that I cannot wait to see more of as they represent the antithesis of our main trio of shall we say heroes. If this issue is able to introduce characters seemingly at random then I look forward to see what who else is to come. For I cannot believe that we are finished meeting new characters, good and evil.
The interiors here are nice. Yes there are times the anime/manga looks is here and that’s a little mmhmm for me but this isn’t done for me. I love the imagination and creativity that we see in these pages. Mango or Ginger it doesn’t matter who or what they are they are magnificent creatures and they come across as both powerful and gorgeous. The linework is really nice and to see how the varying weights are utilised here to create the attention to detail. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a solid eye for storytelling. Then there is the colour work here and that is sensational as we see the light source and the ways that objects or ice are seen it is completely wow stuff.
Alright so Sam not only manages to write a story that is fun, entertaining and a new take on the Kaiju genre but he also infuses this with his usual spirit and infectious nature. The story is strong, well written with great pacing and characterisation alongside some delightful interior artwork show off the fact that great stories can now be found everywhere.