Godzilla, the king of the monsters, a force of wanton destruction summoned by man’s inhumanity to man, known for tearing cities apart … but also, perhaps, bringing people together?
On Feb. 7, IDW will release the Godzilla Valentine’s Day Special, a comic in which a kaiju blogger and a paramilitary peacekeeper go from enemies to lovers over a period of years in the shadow of some cataclysmic monster mashes. The creative team is writer Zoe Tunnell, artist Sebastian Piriz, colorist Rebecca Nalty and letterer Johanna Nattalie.
ComicsXF talked with site alumna Tunnell about the comic, her ongoing web series Blade Maidens and all things kaiju.
ComicsXF: How does one come to write a Godzilla Valentine’s Day Special?
Zoe Tunnell: Honestly, it’s far less exciting than you might think. David Mariotte (who just announced he has moved over to editorial at BOOM! Congrats, David!) reached out and offered me the special directly! There was an opening in the Godzilla schedule, he thought it would be a fun one-shot, and who was I to argue? You don’t get too many chances to tell a love story with Godzilla stomping right through the center of it.
ComicsXF: As with most Godzilla things, the big lizard monster is the story engine and the real stars are the humans living in a world wracked by Godzilla. Tell us about the humans of your story.
Zoe: Our two leads are Piper Simmons and Lt. Tam Sauveterre. When we meet Piper, she’s pretty depressed and stuck working in a low-paying menial office job. After our opening Godzilla attack, she decides to uproot her entire life and become a crowd-funded kaiju-chasing journalist.
Tam’s a lieutenant with the Earth Defense Force, and they absolutely love their job. Leading a squad of some of the EDF’s best and brightest, they’re on the front lines of kaiju incursions and do everything they can to save civilians and ensure safe evacuation routes.
The two do NOT like each other. Until they very much do.
ComicsXF: What’s something you learned writing your first licensed comic?
Zoe: Well, being around the industry for years, you hear horror stories over how constricting and rigid licensed work can be. I suppose what I learned with the Valentine’s Day Special is that it isn’t always the case! Toho was a dream to work with, and I think the only note I ever received was correcting some terminology for Godzilla’s anatomy to be in line with the official branding. Couldn’t have been an easier process.
ComicsXF: How did you enjoy working with the creative team on this one?
Zoe: Working with Sebastián Piriz was a dang delight. Our original interior artist, Dani Pendergast, had to step away for personal reasons, and Sebastián stepped in without missing a single beat. Just incredible, kinetic work that juggles between human and monster-sized scale beautifully.
While I didn’t talk to them much directly, Rebecca Nalty’s colors and Johanna Nattalie’s letters are absolutely gorgeous and really tie the entire issue together. Cannot thank them enough for their work on this issue.
And, of course, David, who brought the whole team together and was about as great of an editor as I could hope for. Hope to work with him again someday!
ComicsXF: Godzilla has had so many interpretations over the years, from the original man in a rubber suit to the new Godzilla Minus One. Do you have a favorite?
Zoe: Well, obviously (like just about every Godzilla fan, I think) I am absolutely in love with Minus One and its horrifyingly animalistic take on Godzilla. What a movie.
In general, though, my favorite thing about Godzilla is just the sheer range it has in terms of interpretations. Heroic guardian of humanity in the face of extraterrestrial threats? That’s Godzilla. Walking engine of vengeance fueled by the souls of thousands of dead Japanese civilians from World War II? Yup, also Godzilla. There have been so many angles over the years that it feels like as long as you hold true to the few core tenets of the character, you can tell just about any flavor of Godzilla story.
If you’re looking for specific favorites, I’m a Heisei-era gal, so anything between The Return of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Destroyah has my vote.
ComicsXF: The romance in the comic is between two humans, BUT, which two kaiju, if any, do you ship?
Zoe: I feel like Baragon and Anguirus would have a whole lot to talk about after decades spent in the “diminutive, scrappy underdog” niche of monster. Who knows where the mood would take them?
ComicsXF: Which would you rather see: A grim-and-gritty reboot of Godzooky, Godzilla’s hapless nephew(?) from the 1978 Hanna-Barbera cartoon, or a critical reevaluation of the 1998 American Godzilla movie starring Matthew Broderick?
Zoe: Can I choose neither? Is that mercy available??
My experience with the Hanna-Barbera cartoon is limited to reruns coming on TV RIGHT before I got home from school when I was very young, so I always got angry that I didn’t get to actually see Godzilla for more than a minute or two.
And while I’m generally all for critical reevaluations and assessments, I think we actually got it right the first time with Godzilla ’98. It’s just not very good.
Actually, I’m combining your two options and instead would love to see a continuation of the animated series of THAT movie, which was shockingly fun and far better than the actual flick it was based on. I’ve solved your riddle.
ComicsXF: You and Valentine M. Smith have been making your fantasy webcomic Blade Maidens for three years now. First of all, wow! Second of all, what’s something that’s changed about the process of telling the story in that time?
Zoe: Honestly, not that much! Valentine and I are still very close collaborators (and friends; I just saw them a few days ago actually) and tackle every story together. I’d say the only thing that has really changed is that we’re both much better at this than we were three years ago. I’m still very proud of our first story and think it’s great, but I feel like the two of us have really developed our skills quite a bit and Blade Maidens is stronger than ever nowadays.
ComicsXF: How did the Dark Horse collection opportunity come about?
Zoe: I’d like to thank Alex de Campi for that, actually! She has been a wonderful supporter of Blade Maidens since the jump and put us into contact with a few different publishers. We learned after the fact that Konner Knudsen (our editor at Dark Horse) was already planning on approaching us, so I’d like to think it would have happened either way and Alex just helped get the ball rolling. She’s an absolute angel.
Working with Dark Horse has been a fantastic process. Konner loves the series and our vision for it, and we’re so excited to get a physical copy in folks’ hands in the future!
ComicsXF: You’re a Jersey Girl now. What’s a food you’ve developed strong opinions about since moving to the Garden State?
Zoe: Well, I landed in Central Jersey, so I am caught in the middle of the Taylor Ham v. Pork Roll war and am sure I’ll be drafted into one of the factions any day now.
Otherwise, it’s that the bagels and pizza really are just much better here than like 90% of the country. Sorry, it’s just a fact!
The Godzilla Valentine’s Day Special is out Feb. 7. Buy it here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
