Like King Kong, Godzilla is a monster and an international pop culture icon. This prehistoric reptilian monster made his debut in the 1954 movie directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. A movie franchise was developed, and the kaiju appeared soon enough in various other media. It never stopped since.
Naturally, he was featured in several mangas, but we’re here today to talk about Godzilla in American comics.
Following a deal with Toho Studios, Marvel Comics published a Godzilla Comics set in the Marvel Universe. The King of Monsters was depicted more as an anti-hero way too big for our time! It lasted two years before Marvel lost the rights to the monster. Following this loss, Marvel would find a way to continue to use Godzilla for a few years afterward by introducing a mutated version of the character who no longer looked like the Toho versions.
Years later, Dark Horse acquired the comic rights to the Godzilla franchise. The company published various comic books (one-shots, miniseries, ongoing series) based on the monster for the next 12 years.
But no one has used Godzilla as much as IDW, a company that also published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Sonic the Hedgehog, and more. They began publishing Godzilla comics in 2011 and still hold the license, offering a variety of stories and several continuities (the miniseries are all standalone stories).
IDW is not, right now, the only publisher putting comics with Godzilla out there. Legendary has also released several tie-in graphic novels with Godzilla, all part of their Monsterverse Universe.
Godzilla Reading Order
Godzilla Marvel Comics (1977-1979)
Written by Doug Moench (creator of Moon Knight), Godzilla goes west, travels through time to battle Devil Dinosaur, and hosts one of Spider-Man’s most gratuitous guest-shots ever and much much more! This is the complete classic Marvel Comics series starring the iconic King of the Monsters, Godzilla, now available in Omnibus!
- Godzilla: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus New
Collects Godzilla (1977) #1-24. Previously collected in Essential Godzilla, King of the Monsters.
Godzilla Dark Horse Comics (1987-1998)
From a translated version of the Japanese manga of the film The Return of Godzilla to an ongoing series and some one-shots, this is Godzilla from Dark Horse:
- Godzilla
Collects Godzilla (vol. 2) #1–6. T - Godzilla: Age of Monsters
Collects Godzilla, King of the Monsters Special #1, Godzilla Color Special #1, Godzilla, King of the Monsters (vol. 3) #0–4 and 16, Godzilla versus Hero Zero #1, and a short story from Dark Horse Presents #106 - Godzilla: Past Present Future
Collects Godzilla, King of the Monsters (vol. 3) #5–15 and a short story from A Decade of Dark Horse #4 of 4
Godzilla IDW Comics Reading Order (2010-)
New Godzilla Library Collection! In 2023, IDW started to release the Godzilla Library Collection, a comprehensive line of books that will collect every comic series by IDW! A great way to collect all those Godzilla for new readers!
- Godzilla Library Collection Vol. 1
Collects Gangsters & Goliaths, Legends, and The Half-Century War. - Godzilla Library Collection Vol. 2
Collects the 12-issue series Kingdom of Monsters by Eric Powell, Tracy Marsh, Jason Ciaramella, Phil Hester, and Victor Santos. - Godzilla Library Collection Vol. 3
Collects the 13-issue series History’s Greatest Monster by Duane Swierczynski and Simon Gane.
As this collection is ongoing, you’ll find all those stories in older collections below!
IDW Main Series! When Godzilla appears off the coast of Japan, the Japanese government must respond quickly to contain the disaster… but before long, other monsters begin appearing all over the world. Can humanity survive this mysterious onslaught of giant beasts? This is the beginning of the longest ongoing Godzilla story (with 25 issues!)
- Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters (now in Godzilla Library Collection Vol. 2)
Collects Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1–12. Previously collected in: - Godzilla: History’s Greatest Monster (now in Godzilla Library Collection Vol. 3)
Collects Godzilla (vol. 4) #1–13. Previously collected in: - Godzilla: Complete Rulers of Earth Vol. 1
Collects Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #1–12. Previously collected in: - Godzilla: Complete Rulers of Earth Vol. 2
Collects Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #13–25. Previously collected in:
IDW Stand-alone Stories. Following are IDW trade paperbacks collection of all the stand-alone Godzilla miniseries taking place in their own continuities.
- Godzilla: Unnatural Disasters
Collects Godzilla: Legends #1–5, Godzilla in Hell #1–5 and Godzilla: Rage Across Time #1–5. Previously collected in:- Godzilla: Legends (now in Godzilla Library Collection Vol. 1)
- Godzilla: In Hell
- Godzilla: Rage Across Time
- Godzilla: World of Monsters
Collects Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths #1–5, Godzilla: Cataclysm #1–5 and Godzilla: Oblivion #1–5. Previously collected in:- Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliath (now in Godzilla Library Collection Vol. 1)
- Godzilla: Cataclysm
- Godzilla: Oblivion
- Godzilla: Half Century War (now in Godzilla Library Collection Vol. 1)
Collects Godzilla: The Half-Century War #1–5. Also available in Godzilla By James Stokoe Deluxe Edition - Godzilla: War For Humanity New
Collects Godzilla: War for Humanity #1–5 - Godzilla: Skate or Die 2025
Collects Godzilla: Skate or Die #1–5
Godzilla vs. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers! In collaboration with Boom Studios, The King of the Monsters and the defenders of Earth take on villains from both their worlds. From writer Cullen Bunn and colorist Andrew Dalhouse.
- Godzilla vs. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Collects Godzilla vs. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #1–5 - Godzilla vs. the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers II 2025
Collects Godzilla vs. the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers II #1–5
Here be dragons! From Frank Tieri and Inaki Miranda, the team behind Old Lady Harley, comes a Godzilla adventure set In the 1500s and following a ship of seafaring navigators run afoul of a lost world where there is only one king, the King of the Monsters! The team recently reunited for a sequel!
- Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons New
Collects Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #1–5. Godzilla cross paths with pirates. - Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II – Sons of Giants 2025
Collects Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II – Sons of Giants #1–5.
Godzilla Rivals! Godzilla Rivals is a quarterly comic book series from IDW Publishing, with four one-shots released per year. Each issue features a self-contained story by different artists, writers, and colorists, centering on Godzilla and another monster, a single monster, or two monsters.
- Godzilla Rivals: Round One
Collects Godzilla Rivals: Vs. Battra #1, Godzilla Rivals: Vs. Hedorah #1, Godzilla Rivals Vs. King Ghidorah #1, Godzilla Rivals: Vs. Mothra #1 - Godzilla Rivals Vol. 2: Round Two New
Collects Godzilla Rivals: Vs. Gigan #1, Godzilla Rivals: Biollante Vs. Destoroyah #1, Godzilla Rivals: Mothra Vs. Titanosaurus #1, Godzilla Rivals: Rodan Vs. Ebirah #1 - Godzilla Rivals Vol. 3: Round Three New
Collects Godzilla Rivals: Vs. Mechagodzilla #1, Godzilla Rivals: Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon #1, Godzilla Rivals: Vs. SpaceGodzilla #1, Godzilla Rivals: Mothra vs. M.O.G.U.E.R.A. #1 - Godzilla Rivals: Round Four 2025
Collecting the final four issues of the series
Anthology, Uncollected One-shots and more
- Godzilla: Valentine’s Day Special New New
- Godzilla: Mechagodzilla 50th Anniversary New
- Godzilla: 70th Anniversary New
An anthology collection featuring nine original stories from various creative teams and a few reprint issues.
Godzilla Comics For middle school-age readers! This is Godzilla for the younger readers by writer Erik Burnham and artist Dan Schoening! When a coldly single-minded businessman uses an untested element to create clean energy for a profit, he inadvertently awakens the beast from the deep–Godzilla! Sensing the harm the new energy poses to the planet, Godzilla attacks the heart of the problem–humankind! It will be up to three intrepid middle-school students to show Godzilla that not all humans are bad… and that there is still hope for Planet Earth.
- Godzilla: The Complete Monsters & Protectors New
Collects collects Godzilla: Monsters and Protectors-Rise Up!, Godzilla: Monsters and Protectors-All Hail the King!, and Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors-Summer Smash (one-shot). Previously collected in:- Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors—Rise Up!
Collects Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors #1–5. - Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors—All Hail the King
Collects Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors—All Hail the King #1–5.
- Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors—Rise Up!
From The Godzilla Rivals II: Vs. Battra team of writer Rosie Knight and artist Oliver Ono comes a new middle-grade Godzilla story featuring Minilla, the son of Godzilla:
- Godzilla: Monster Island Summer Camp New
A middle-grade Godzilla OGN
IDW also regularly releases ‘Godzilla: Best of‘ comics, which are reprints of selected issues from IDW’s Godzilla series, each focusing on a specific character.
Godzilla Legendary Comics (2010-)
This is part of the Monsterverse! At the dawn of the atomic age, humanity awakens lifeforms beyond imagination, unleashing monumental forces of nature. You can discover more about it in the following comic book pages as well as in several movies including Godzilla (2014), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
- Godzilla: Awakening
Prequel to the Godzilla 2014 movie. - Godzilla Aftershock
Prequel to Godzilla: King of Monsters - Godzilla Dominion
Set after the events of King of Monsters. prequel to Godzilla vs. Kong. - Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong New
the DC Universe clashes with Legendary’s MonsterVerse. - Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted New
Prequel to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.