Kodoja: Terror Mountain Showdown
Publisher: Self-published
Writer: Keith Foster
Artist: Rory Smith (cover by Elroy Jenkins)
Editor/Art Director: Lance Pilgrim
In the vein of Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra comes Kodoja! A behemoth that was created by the government, but shelved after some initial testing. Fast forward three years, and somehow the giant beast is loose, but it’s acting strangely. Not only is it going wild and destroying everything in its path, but it also seems to be going against some of its programming. You see, the beast is actually a combination of organic material and mechanical means. This has the military wondering what is going on, because they don’t know how it was activated or why it’s going against its programming.
The President isn’t taking things well, either, and by issue’s end he doesn’t have to worry about it anymore. The military, specifically Major General Cruz, is panicking, and she gets some help from “Director Stephens,” but ultimately, he seems just as frazzled as the rest of the country. Can anything stop this rampaging beast? It doesn’t look that way, but hopefully we’ll find out about the mysterious reanimation of the monster, and also why a certain college professor believes that aliens have visited the Earth previously!
Alright, well, when you read this book, it won’t take you long to realize that this was a labor of love. Lots of blood, sweat, and tears went into this one, and it shows. The story was actually pretty good for a self-published book, and really holds its own. The monster is the focal point, but the President and the Major General are also characters that drive the plot. Honestly, the destruction by the beast is awesome, and is what’s in the forefront, but don’t be fooled, there’s a subplot of some kind of insidious nature.
Artistically, Rory Smith really did the book justice. The art is very sketchy and raw, but that’s perfect for this book. You really get a sense of all the mass hysteria when the beast is smashing everything in its path by the way that Smith has drawn all of those scenes. The carnage was great, but the characters looked good, too. Especially Major General Cruz. Her look was perfect. Tough, smart, and the hair all over the place was a great touch, as well. The cover was awesome, and Jenkins did a really cool job there. The glossy cover really makes this book (along with the beast) great. The monster was slightly grainy, but it didn’t take away from the cover at all.
Do yourself a favor, go out and grab this book to help support some dudes that are putting it all on the line for something they think is cool. Anybody that is a fan of the Godzilla comics or just sci-fi in general needs to give this a chance. Below are a couple of links to check this crew out further. Rating 4/5
http://kodoja.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kodoja/334571216637282
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
