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stadkison's review
4.0
I think it’s apt that Kaijumax arcs are “seasons” and issues “episodes”, because this does feel like an attempt at a prestige TV show. Which is completely ridiculous for something so filled with easter eggs for Japanese children’s media. It’s like a prestige manga combining cowboys, The Avengers, GI Joe, and Transformers, setting it in a prison, adding in adult themes, and somehow it all works. Each issue gets its own themes and tells a complete episodic story while also developing previous plots and themes. This is a real piece of art, and a dense one at that.
kavinay's review
5.0
Outstanding. You don't really know you needed a mix of Ultraman + Kaiju + Oz (the prison show), but once you do get into it, Cannon's storytelling is just captivating. Case in point, Zonn's quiet psychopathic prison stare genuinely freaks me out more than any Kaiju rampaging through a city.
carroq's review
4.0
I expected not to like this book. The idea is extremely silly. It features a maximum security prison designed to hold giant monsters akin to Godzilla. There are cliques, schemes, corrupt guards, and romance.
To be honest, it took me a while to differentiate between the various monsters. The early potion of the book jumps around a bit. Once it gains some more focus, the story starts to shine. It can be ridiculous at times, which is fine given the subject matter. I think it is easier to set aside some of the strange events because of the subject of the book. Yet, it addresses some real issues with prisons at the same time.
That is one of the strengths of the book. It gives the reader much more than they would expect going in. Yes there are some clichés that pop up. Cannon seems to include those more as homages to the things he loves more than anything else.
The art left me with mixed feelings. The styling is more like manga or anime. It fits the theme appropriately, but it didn't do a whole lot for me. I loved the color work though. It is flashy and bright in contrast to the dark events of the story.
This book is so far afield from what I would normally read and it's great. Definitely recommended for anyone that likes Godzilla (or other monsters), science fiction, or prison stories a la Orange is the New Black.
To be honest, it took me a while to differentiate between the various monsters. The early potion of the book jumps around a bit. Once it gains some more focus, the story starts to shine. It can be ridiculous at times, which is fine given the subject matter. I think it is easier to set aside some of the strange events because of the subject of the book. Yet, it addresses some real issues with prisons at the same time.
That is one of the strengths of the book. It gives the reader much more than they would expect going in. Yes there are some clichés that pop up. Cannon seems to include those more as homages to the things he loves more than anything else.
The art left me with mixed feelings. The styling is more like manga or anime. It fits the theme appropriately, but it didn't do a whole lot for me. I loved the color work though. It is flashy and bright in contrast to the dark events of the story.
This book is so far afield from what I would normally read and it's great. Definitely recommended for anyone that likes Godzilla (or other monsters), science fiction, or prison stories a la Orange is the New Black.
ethancf's review
3.0
I picked this up after reading the author's graphic novel HECK, which really surprised me with how it blended old-school pulp aesthetics with religious iconography and a moving story. I figured this guy would handle kaiju pretty well and, for the most part, that's true. This is a novel concept, basically just re-skinning a prison series into godzilla-esque monsters. If you read it like that, all the slang and worldbuilding details are pretty easily traced 1:1 back to something like Oz. I'm not a huge fan of prison stories so this didn't do much for me, but I gotta give credit where its due to something this imaginative. It's a lot darker than you might expect at first glance, too, and the writing does its themes justice. It just didn't work well enough for me to keep on with the series.
A fun minor detail - the kaiju use "Goj" instead of "God". Presumably for Gojira.
A fun minor detail - the kaiju use "Goj" instead of "God". Presumably for Gojira.
wingedpotato's review
3.0
As much as I love Zander Cannon, this didn't really do it for me ultimately. Too difficult to empathize with any of the characters I guess.
ania's review
4.0
Love the genre mashup & visual jokes & countless references but on the linguistic side - maybe a little bit problematic, sometimes?
I'm super into Electrogor's character arc though. The trials that megafauna's been through, sheesh!
I'm super into Electrogor's character arc though. The trials that megafauna's been through, sheesh!
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