In this review of Godzilla: Heist #2, our favorite kaiju shows up in London, England. But why?
Godzilla: Heist #2
Written by Van Jensen
Art: Kelsey Ramsay
Main Cover: Bob Eggleton
Variant Cover: Pablo Tunica
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: April 2, 2025
IDW’s newest Godzilla branded line has been making radioactive shockwaves in the comics press. The announcement of Van Jensen’s and Kelsey Ramsay’s Godzilla Heist raised more than a few eyebrows. The title would have to stand out not only against the concurrently running Godzilla vs. America anthology, but also crossover projects starring the King of the Monsters battling both the Marvel and DC heroes. Not to mention the comparisons to the similarly themed Aftershock series Kaiju Score. That being said, it is with a happy heart that it can be said that Godzilla: Heist #2 gives readers the goods: stylish action meets authentic monster madness.
In a cold opening to Godzilla: Heist #2, a romantic ride on the London Eye is rudely interrupted by the arrival of Godzilla. The assembled crew of heisters board a reappropriated News chopper in order to direct the atomic-beast. Meanwhile, in a British defense lab, scientists prepare for the arrival of Godzilla in order to test their newest creation: Mecha-Godzilla. Back outside, Alpha fires a rocket from the helicopter at Big Green in order to lure him to attack Whitehall with his atomic breath.
The helicopter is caught in some of the debris, and thanks to some evasive flying, crashes without any fatalities. The crew abscond towards Whitehall in a getaway van, but are stopped by a wall of armed guards. Thankfully, drones have led Godzilla right at Whitehalls’s doorstep, and the King of the Monsters is enough of a distraction for the crew to slip past and into the cratered remains of the facility.
Godzilla: Heist #2 provides the excitement that the premise requires. Setting a heist plot into a Godzilla story is brilliant in its simplicity. Getting to see how the scheme is executed, and how things go wrong is part of the charm. Jensen’s dialogue and characters are run of the mill quippy and edgy, but it services the concept. You really do want to see how these guys are going to pull off the job, and the monster sized hiccups that can be caused by having a rampaging kaiju in the mix dwarfs any Ocean’s 11 comparison.
Ramsay’s art in Godzilla: Heist #2 is evocative, if a bit rushed. Her depictions of Godzilla are tremendously screen accurate. She’s able to capture the icon’s mass at every angle. The action and paneling is well crafted and cinematic. There’s a brilliant panel sequence of Godzilla’s feet trudging on top of a double-decker bus which transitions into a skyscraper window pane view of the monster pursuing the crew’s chopper sells the scale of the story.
However, some of Ramsay’s figure work is uneven, with some figures having good to great features and gestures, while others feel like they are melting into their forms. You can tell what Ramsay is excited about drawing and what she probably keeps on the backburner, as while Godzilla and the action are intricately rendered, buildings and supporting players are far less detailed.
While it’s apparent Sanday Tanaka is trying to do something dynamic with the lettering, it often feels too artificial. Different colors on word balloons is always a welcome inclusion in any project to create a book’s “voice”. However in this case it’s the fonts themselves that don’t feel properly ingrained into the artwork. Godzilla’s screams in particular feel like a downloaded font layered on top of the art.
Godzilla: Heist #2 is an atomic breath of fresh air in the licensed comics scene. It delivers on a big scale kaiju action while executing on its high concept premise. While the book falls prey to some novice tendencies, there is an undeniable crackling excitement on a majority of panels on each page. Hopefully future issues ramp up the human drama while keeping pace with the massive monster action shown here.
