In his 71 years of stomping around entertainment, Godzilla has been in all kinds of stories both on screen and on the page. In more recent years, those stories (especially the ones on the pages) have seen the King of Monsters take on superheroes, literary characters, you name it but Godzilla: Heist #1 sees the fan-favorite monster as we’ve never seen him before as the surprising accomplice in a high-stakes heist and it might just be the best ‘Zilla story yet.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Written by Van Jensen with art by Kelsey Ramsay, Godzilla: Heist #1 centers around a pretty confident and clever thief, Jaion Kulkarni, who decides to rob a highly secure casino vault. But rather than use a team and a ton of tech, Jaion enlists Godzilla to be the king of all distractions and then have him be the mechanism by which he opens the vault. Jaion gets the cash, Godzilla goes back to the sea, but this story is far from over. Jaion’s heist attracts some attention by a group of professional thieves who essentially want what Jaion’s got — and not the money/ You see, the big twist here is that Jaion has figured out how to summon and control Godzilla using the weather and they want to use the big guy for a major impossible heist of their own.
Straight out of the gate, everything about this is an incredible premise. A heist story involving Godzilla? Sign me up. A heist story involving Godzilla with a science twist as to how our main character is involving the notoriously uncontrollable kaiju? Extra sign me up. But what really makes this whole story work on an even higher level is that this isn’t just a heist. Jaion is playing at a much larger game and this has been a much longer time coming. It’s suggested that Jaion may actually be playing the gang of thieves that think they’re playing him all for him to make the ultimate score that lets him keep a promise from his childhood — and yes, that’s all I’m going to say about it because the twist is immaculate.
[RELATED: IDW’s 2025 Godzilla Comic Plans Detailed, Including Brand New Universe (Exclusive)]
Art-wise, there is no mistaking that this is a Godzilla book and fantastically so. Ramsay’s art here is top notch, particularly when it comes to Godzilla. The panels where we see Godzilla in action, tearing up the casino or using his atomic breath are just everything you could want. It’s also well-balanced with how Jaion is drawn as well, creating a nice contrast between this larger-than-life creature and this seemingly ordinary guy out to do something truly insane. In terms of how the book is written, however, this is a fantastic case of a story where the execution works with its high concept. Something like “Godzilla helps rob a casino” could end up being pretty corny, but Jensen pulls it off in a way that feels like a big budget action flick more than it does a comic book.
The nuts and bolts is Godzilla: Heist #1 is a truly unique Godzilla story that takes the familiar and beloved King of Monsters and does something entirely fresh and highly entertaining/ Between great art and fast past storytelling with interesting layers, this is just a truly great first issue and I can’t wait for more.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Published by IDW
On February 19, 2025
Written by Van Jensen
Art by Kelsey Ramsay
Colors by Heather Breckel
Letters by Sandy Tanaka
