World War Kaiju - Book One - Indie Comics Review

World War Kaiju is a Wild Jaunt Through World History with a Twist.

World War Kaiju, written by Josh Finney with art by Patrick McEvoy, is a beast of a book... and yes, pun intended. This book is a love letter to the classic kaiju stories of days past. This might turn off some folks who aren't into kaiju or just don't have a basic knowledge about the genre. I think this only goes as far as the first page, which is a dedication to the kaiju genre and its forefathers. On my first read, flipping to this page made me think, "Oh brother.. I might be in over my head," but this particular sentiment is nonsense. Once you get into World War Kaiju, you realize that while it is a tribute, it's also an immense project rooted in world building, character study, and some funny, and oft-times rather poignant, political satire that all don't necessarily have anything to do with kaiju. And let's just be honest here, even if you don't know enough about kaiju to know what the word kaiju means, you probably still enjoy seeing giant monsters destroying shit. And this is the beauty of the genre, and thus, this book.

Book One of World War Kaiju starts out with a bit of history. We are in the midst of World War II and the U.S. is planning a major strike against Japan. The big twist here is that in this world, the United States brought kaiju to life instead of creating the atomic bomb.  So essentially, the kaiju while being entertaining in the traditional sense, are also being used as a political metaphor to great effect. When you think about how ridiculously dangerous it sounds to unleash a giant murdering beast on humanity, the idea of kaiju becomes a powerful perspective on the use of nuclear weapons. Why would anyone ever do this? Good question, right? It's one that I think a lot of us still think about to this day with as many nuclear weapons as there are on the planet. Political satire and giant destructive beats aside, the thing that really hooked me in this book was the main character, Agent Hampton.



Finney does a great job of taking us on a cooky, other-worldly walk through U.S. History and Agent Hampton is our tour guide. World War Kaiju is blend prose and visual story telling. Much of the book uses a traditional comic book style, but then there are many pages composed mainly of prose with our characters illustrated at the outskirts of the pages. Finney tells the story by letting Hampton tell us the story, literally. Apparently, Agent Hampton was present at many of the events surrounding the kaiju developments all around the world. As a result, he has insider information, secrets of the highest order, and now for some reason, he is ready to spill the beans. A reporter for the "Rolling Rock Magazine," is our reader analogue here, slowly easing us into the many conspiracy stories behind the major kaiju drama of this world by way of an ongoing interview with Agent Hampton. The dynamic works well as a story telling device, although at times Keegan, the interviewer feels a bit more like a caricature than a character. On the other hand, Agent Hampton is quite believable, full of interesting and colorful dialogue.

I won't spend anymore time elaborating on the plot, because I want to stay far away from spoiler territory. Half of the fun of World War Kaiju is slowly peeling away the layers of the story with Keegan and Hampton. To switch to the art, McEvoy brings a very interesting flavor to the illustrations in the book. On most of the pages, McEvoy gives us images that could be considered paintings. There are no heavy outlines or stark flatted colors of superhero books. McEvoy's style is soft and realistic, except at times when he opts to bring in a very classic looking comic style as a story-telling device. And I must say that it works quite well. McEvoy makes this creative choice a few times, but my favorite is the scenes with Carl Sagan.. yes, I said Carl Sagan.



This is a great book that 01 Publishing has done well to see it to production, as I can only imagine it was a hell of an undertaking to bring to print. World War Kaiju holds a lot of excellence and only a few missteps. For fans of kaiju stories, this is a must read. And for those who may only be on the outskirts of the kaiju fan club, it's still a very worthy read. Swing by 01 Publishing's website to pick up your copy, and stay tuned for World War Kaiju Book Two!