While Godzilla has had many wild adventures in film, nothing can top the comic book series where the King of Monsters kills both God and Satan. Far from a typical Kaiju brawl though, Godzilla’s trek through the afterlife is weird in a way that readers can only get from the world of comic books. The series Godzilla in Hell from IDW tasks five comic creators with portraying the world’s most iconic monster as he fights his way out of Hell.
Though continuity between issues is loose, the story sees Godzilla sent to Hell after inadvertently destroying the earth with his atomic breath. He battles demonic versions of classic monsters until he is eventually brought to heaven. Issue three of the series from the duo of Ulises Farinas and Erik Frietas, shows angels whisper to Godzilla that they want him to be an agent of peace. Godzilla then comes face to face with God himself, here represented as a fleshy mountain covered in eyes and mouths. Godzilla rejects the offer and is sent back to Hell. When a demonic Space Godzilla attacks him, however, the angels fly into Godzilla’s mouth, gifting him enough divine power to obliterate Space Godzilla. Through a portal, God once again entreats Godzilla to join him, to which the King of Monsters responds with divine infused atomic breath, destroying God.
As if that wasn’t enough, the series’ last issue from Dave Watcher has Godzilla at the end of his journey. In a mirror to his meeting with God, a horde of Hellbats assault him. He swats them away with his tail until he comes across the last barrier, a pile of writhing flesh sitting high up on a peak. Despite Godzilla’s best efforts, nothing he does can harm the eldritch abomination. Accepting defeat, Godzilla lets the Hellbats devour him to the bone. But then something strange happens; Godzilla’s flesh infects the Hellbats. They swarm around his bones and reform the King of Monsters. With a cacophony of “skreeonk”s, the newly formed Godzilla swarm unleashes a full-body atomic blast, killing Satan and letting Godzilla escape the underworld.
The series inevitably proved divisive with fans. With the complete lack of dialogue, many felt the story was confusing or hard to follow. Given the absurd nature of the events depicted it’s easy to understand how some would come to that conclusion, but it’s also this over-the-top aspect that also makes the series such a standout Godzilla story. There is something almost introspective about Godzilla’s quest to escape Hell. Other than issue two, there’s very little in the way of dialogue or narration, the effect is that even scenes filled with action have an almost quiet beauty to them.
More than anything though, Godzilla in Hell succeeds because of its artwork. Far from a typical portrayal of Heaven or Hell, each issue’s artist depicts the afterlife as something just beyond human comprehension. It’s Lovecraftian and biblical in a way that no other piece of Godzilla media has ever been. Regardless of whether the King of Monsters’ journey through the afterlife works for readers or not, it’s undeniable that his battles with God and Satan are some of the most unique brawls ever to feature Godzilla.