Review by Frank Plowright

Boxer is a man with very special skills and not afraid to get his hands dirty. He’s gathered three others, and is touring the world ridding humanity of giant monsters at $7 billion a pop. Four people against such vast creatures may seem a ridiculous contest, but as seen in Volume 1, Boxer’s organised his team well. However, Simon Gane’s sample art shows he may have to rethink his plans for Godzilla.

Duane Swierczynski has two further big surprises in store for the opening chapter, one out of the blue and the other foreshadowed in the previous book with the introduction of egotistical entrepreneur Daniel Malmon. Rather than give anything away, let’s just say it ties in beautifully to the mythologies of Japanese culture. Swierczynski also escalates the problems Boxer, and indeed humanity face, introducing a new threat and a new player beyond Malmon, as he prioritises a fast pace, ensuring events never stand still. There’s a section set in a jail that under other hands would be extended well beyond the pages allocated to it here, but Swierczynski has other matters to fit in, so it’s used to establish a new area of conflict and he rapidly moves on. The result is a really efficiently plotted action thriller almost topping the first instalment.

Unfortunately Gane doesn’t draw the entire book, and while Dave Wachter’s art would be perfectly respectable in other circumstances, despite his best efforts to fit, his style is naturally different once you’ve become used to Gane’s blocky cartooning. A full catalogue of giant monsters put in an appearance, and Gane defines them amazingly.

By the end of Volume 2 Swierczynski has moved things forward greatly, and Volume 3 requires an extra chapter to finish everything off. Or you could pick up the entire story either as 2018’s History’s Greatest Monster or as 2024’s third Godzilla Library Collection.