Godzilla: Awakening is a graphic novel by Legendary Comics and a prequel to Legendary Pictures' Godzilla. It was released on May 7, 2014.
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Description
"In May 2014, audiences will witness the epic rebirth of the King of the Monsters as Legendary and Warner Bros. bring Godzilla to the big screen. To pave the way for the iconic creature's return, Legendary Comics is proud to present the official graphic novel Godzilla: Awakening. This 72-page story, set decades before the film, is co-written by Max Borenstein (screenwriter of the new Godzilla) and Greg Borenstein.
Delve into an incredible mystery, generations in the making. At the dawn of the atomic age, humanity awakens lifeforms beyond imagination, unleashing monumental forces of nature. This explosive, larger-than-life adventure is the perfect way for fans to experience the new Godzilla before seeing it in theaters."
Plot
In 1980 Tokyo, Ishiro Serizawa meets with his father who asked him to come urgently. Serizawa's father begins telling him about his job, the one he had kept secret from him. He begins his story in Hiroshima, on August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM. After the atomic bombing of the city, Serizawa went looking for his wife and newborn son but only found his son. After finding him, he sees a creature in the air, "summoned by our own monstrosity," who flies away, with something in the water observing. Serizawa left off Ishiro with his grandparents for his safety and continued working in the Japanese Navy. One year later, he and his fellow sailors are sent to provide aid to an American vessel that sent a distress call from a nearby island. After finding one of the American men, the sailors find the wrecked ship deep inland and are attacked by the Shinomura. They go inside the ship to rescue the men trapped inside but the Shinomura throws the ship down at the sea, sinking it. No one but Serizawa and the one American they rescued, named Shaw, survives. Shaw, impressed with Serizawa surviving, offers Serizawa go work for the U.S. government, which Serizawa accepts as Godzilla looks on at the Shinomura flying away.
Later, Serizawa becomes part of the first Japanese-American military unit since Japan's surrender in World War II: Monarch. MacArthur, their superior, explains that the job of the Monarch unit is to kill the Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms in secrecy to avoid world-wide panic. Shinomura attacks places all around the Pacific Ocean each year following, starting with Russia in 1946, Western Australia in 1947, Moansta Island in 1948, New Zealand in 1949, Yap in 1950, and Guam in 1950. Every time Shinomura attacked, eye-witnesses reported both it and a giant crocodile-like creature which chased the Shinomura away. Serizawa believes that the monster, which one of Guam's people calls "Gojira," a combination of the Japanese words for gorilla and whale, actually exists, while the rest of his team doesn't. Serizawa gets some people to go down in the ocean and to find Gojira using the first nuclear submarine, the U.S.S. Nautilus, but after weeks of searching, Gojira isn't found.
Three years later in 1953, Serizawa is playing with his son Ishiro, as Shaw comes and tells Ishiro he has to take his father for "shipping company business." At Monarch headquarters,
Appearances
Monsters
Weapons, Vehicles, and Races
Characters
- Ishiro Serizawa's father
- Ishiro Serizawa
- Shaw
- General Douglas MacArthur
- Doctor Zamalek
- Satou
- Kuso
- Nakamura
Locations
- Japan
- Pacific Ocean
- Moansta Island
- Yap
- Guam
- Bikini Atoll
- Novosibirsk, Russia
- Busselton, Australia
- Rotorua, New Zealand
Staff
- Written by Max Borenstein and Greg Borenstein
- Illustrated by Eric Battle, Yvel Guichet, Alan Quah, and Lee Loughridge
- Cover art by Arthur Adams
Gallery
Videos
Trivia
- Yvel Guichet, who also worked on Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero, worked on this graphic novel.
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