Long is the Way and Hard

"Long is the way and hard, that out of hell leads up to light." Milton, Paradise Lost

Artists: James Stokoe, Bob Eggleton, Ulises Farinas, Erick Freitas, Brandon Seifert, Dave Wachter

Publisher: IDW Publishing (March 1, 2016)

In short: 

Godzilla meets his greatest adversary of all time-the impossible tortures of Hell! Each issue of this special miniseries will see Godzilla enter a new level of the underworld to do battle with the impossible by a variety of today's best writers and artists!

My thoughts:

There is always something very "Frankenstein"-ish about Japan's lizard king, Godzilla. Look beyond his disfigured, gargantuan body and he is a misunderstood, created monster. He is a creation of man's own greed and arrogance. He is not himself evil. Evil was done to him. Still, the reader must remember that he is still a reptile, so we cannot put the same expectations of humanity on him. Still, the artists in this series of miniseries all understand the loneliness and "humanity" of this monster. It shows in the art, in his actions, in his eyes. I am left wondering how he ended up in these realms of hell in the first place, but I understand that he is just a witness and visitor, not a resident of these hells.

The Buddha quote at the end and the picture of Godzilla walking up to the red torii in the sky is both a haunting and perfect end to this series:

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you. Not by angels or demons, heaven or hell. -- Budha

Provided by NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for an  honest review.