My critical volume on Godzilla will offer sustained analysis of every single Godzilla film from 1954 to 2024. It will be published by Headpress Books, and has been generously financially supported by the Society of Authors. This page collects every essay I have published as a part of this project.

 

See also: Devastation Songs: An Anthology of Kaiju Writing

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FORTHCOMING:

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Kiryu: Cyborg Reincarnation and Rebel Monstrosity in the Millennium Mechagodzilla Duology

In: Creature Redux, ed. by Samantha Baugus and Ayanni C. H. Cooper. Full details TBC.

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The Blackness of the Beast: Godzilla in the Heart of Darkness

Revista de estudios norteamericanos [Journal of American Studies]: Special Issue: Darkness in American Audiovisual Culture. November 2024.

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Egg (Imaginal Discs)

A poem about Mothra: read here.

Devastation Songs: An Anthology of Kaiju Writing, edited by Alex Adams and Aaron Kent (Broken Sleep Books, 2024).

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PUBLISHED

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Review: Godzilla Minus One

"Godzilla Minus One is a monster movie of singular power, using horror-infused kaiju spectacle to deliver an emotionally compelling story of grief, wartime trauma, and hope."

CineVue, 19/12/2023

url: https://cine-vue.com/2023/12/film-review-godzilla-minus-one.html

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The Colour of Monstrosity in Godzilla 2014 and Godzilla Vs Kong

"Where Godzilla 2014 needs you to know that it went to film school, Godzilla Vs Kong needs you to know that it likes to party."

PopMeC Peer-reviewed Blog, 17/8/2023

url: https://popmec.hypotheses.org/5186

 

Surf Nazis Must Die: An Examination of the Red Bamboo Army

"Ultranationalist fascists are dangerous, yes. But they are dangerous bozos. Like the recruits who laughed Yukio Mishima to his death, Ebirah laughs at the stupidity of fascists."

Kaiju Ramen 10, July 2023, pp. 26-32.

Illustrated by Ed Pirrie.

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Finding Redemption for Gigantis, The Fire Monster

"Gigantis, The Fire Monster, arguably the Godzilla franchise’s ugliest duckling, actually complements Godzilla in surprisingly interesting ways."

Certified Forgotten, 22/4/2022

url: https://certifiedforgotten.com/gigantis-the-first-monster/

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Doom, Détente, Dr Pepper: Godzilla 1984 and Godzilla 1985

"Godzilla 1984 is that rare cultural artifact that doesn’t portray crisis as a time when an exception can be made. Instead, the movie foregrounds the struggle to stand by one’s principles when they are most sorely tested."

We Are The Mutants, 31/1/2022

url: ​https://wearethemutants.com/2022/01/31/doom-detente-dr-pepper-godzilla-1984-and-godzilla-1985/

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The Golden Hydra: King Ghidorah, Astro-Colonizers, and Cold War Empire

"Much as US sci-fi movies like The Blob (1958), The Thing From Another World (1951) or Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) used alien encounters to think through themes of cross-cultural contact, colonialism, and communism, the Showa Ghidorah movies are a rich engagement with world-historical themes of Cold War antagonism, first contact, and imperial manipulation."

We Are The Mutants, 6/10/2021

url: https://wearethemutants.com/2021/10/06/the-golden-hydra-king-ghidorah-astro-colonizers-and-cold-war-empire/

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Rise of the Smog God: Ecological Apocalypse in Godzilla Vs. Hedorah

"Banno’s only Kaiju movie is a bold, flamboyantly weird parable about mankind’s responsibility for the murder of the Earth." 

We Are The Mutants, 15/6/2021

url: https://wearethemutants.com/2021/06/15/rise-of-the-smog-god-ecological-apocalypse-in-godzilla-vs-hedorah-1971/

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The Greatest Showa on Earth: 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla

"In the final analysis, what is perhaps most striking about this movie is that its legacy—the structuring principle of the Kaiju battle film—saturates every Godzilla film to come."

We Are The Mutants, 25/3/2021

url: https://wearethemutants.com/2021/03/25/the-greatest-showa-on-earth-1962s-king-kong-vs-godzilla/

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