Marvel Comics; 35¢

Like The Micronauts and ROM, from the mid-1970s and into the ‘80s, a number of Marvel Comics’ licensed titles were firmly rooted in the Marvel Universe. That included Godzilla.

While the series only ran two years, its 24 issues pitted the title character against a specialized S.H.I.E.L.D. task force (headed by Nick Fury’s number two, Dum Dum Dugan) as well as a number of new, original threats. Over the course of the series, Godzilla also squared off against The Champions, the Fantastic Four, and even Devil Dinosaur.

As scientists tried to figure out how to deal with Godzilla, high-tech possible solutions became regular story elements. In Godzilla #6, cover dated January 1978, after the loss of a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier in Godzilla #3, the team gets a brand new, customized helicarrier, The Behemoth, and a giant mecha, Red Ronin (which would have seemed familiar to fans of Marvel’s Shogun Warriors licensed series).

Written by Dough Moench, who wrote the entire series, and illustrated by Herb Trimpe, who drew all but two of the issues, this issue is a pivotal one in the series. Dum Dum, the scientists, and rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team find out that it’s one thing to subdue Godzilla, but it’s another to contain him for any length of time.

This issue is fun reading, as is the series. It’s steeped in 1970s Marvel – that’s certainly not a bad thing – and remains some of this Godzilla fan’s favorite comics featuring the character.

– J.C. Vaughn