Under Pressure — Reviewing ‘Mothra: Queen Of The Monsters’ #1

When mighty Mothra took on brutal Antra, many people and structures fell during the battle. Including the great Mothra herself.

In a dark future where the world withers away without Mothra’s presence, a pair of twins might hold the only key to fixing everything. They’ll have to find an egg to birth Mothra once more. A pretty easy task, really.

A whole new adventure begins with Mothra: Queen of the Monsters #1 from Sophie Campbell, Matt Frank, and Nathan Widick.

Being a Godzilla fan, this series as an easy sale. Then I saw that Campbell, one of my favorite writers & artists, was attached and there was even less doubt I’d be reading this series. As well as adding it to my review queue (obviously as you read this now).

So far, so good.

Campbell really excels at building up intriguing stories wrapped around bright character beats, giving just enough to really allow the reader to invest before thing even get to the real meat of the story. Tackling a story from the post-apocalyptic aftermath of a kaiju battle brings a different look. Instead of being “in the moment” and focused on survival and defeating the creatures, this time, one of the massive beings –even in death — holds salvation.

Already the differences in the twins are apparent and interesting. It allows us to really see what happened to them both in their time apart and what they bring to the table. Similarly, the reveal of the priestesses’ actual game (and connection) brings that mystery and tension.

Frank draws the hell out of this. So rough, gritty, and bold all at the same time.

Just look at the opening page. The view up at Antra and Mothra fighting feels pretty darn authentic. Scale and depth are clear in every panel and the changes in panel styles/shapes/placement does wonders. It helps the story feel really dynamic in the movement upon the page.

I like the choices in the colors here. The kaiju, and other elements, are allowed to be the really vibrant pieces against the more neutral backdrops. Where a lot of the colors are downplayed, lots of browns and grays, so that the spaces feel like authentically rendered city spaces with their concrete, stone, and other elements. It leaves the fantastical to truly be fantastical since it stands out so vividly at all times.

We even get two pages in the issue drawn by Campbell herself, tapping into her artistic side. Always love seeing her really vivid and large-as-life artwork style as well. It differs from Frank’s in some ways, but has a very complimentary energy that allows them to mesh together so easily.

Some of that comes into play with how Widick approaches the lettering; brighter colors seep into the caption boxes and some of the fonts. Different fonts are switched out for some of the voices so that they stand apart from the more standard voices. All of it just flows around the page smoothly so that it dances with the other visuals rather than against.

Mothra: Queen of the Monsters #1 is now available from IDW Publishing.