Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #1-3

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #1-3

Originally released in 2023

Written by Brian Buccellato

Art by Christian Duce

When talking about monkeys, I can't leave out what is possibly the biggest example out there - King Kong.  With Warner Bros. distributing various Godzilla movies that are set in the "Monsterverse" (with the newest one, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire coming out recently), they presumably made a deal to have a comic crossover between Godzilla, King Kong, and the Justice League. (this also means that Godzilla is one of the seemingly rare cases of a franchise crossing over with both Marvel and DC in the comics - the only other ones that I'm aware of are Alien, Predator, and Star Trek)

The series isn't complete as of now (only three issues are on DC Universe Infinite, and the seventh/final issue hasn't released yet), but I thought I'd read these issues and see what I thought.  Right off the bat, there's at least one image where it felt like this crossover was written solely because the creators wanted to include it:

To be fair, the image of Godzilla and Superman having a beam struggle with their respective lasers is a great one.  The premise of the comic is straightforward.  While trying to break into the Fortress of Solitude, the Legion of Doom is caught by several members of the Justice League.  A fight breaks out, and a Mother Box is damaged, sending them to the Earth where Godzilla, King Kong, and various other monsters live.  Toyman, who got the wish-granting Dreamstone while in the Fortress of Solitude, wishes that they could use these monsters against the Justice League.

This teleports the monsters, Skull Island, and the Legion of Doom back to DC's Earth, where Godzilla shows up in the middle of Metropolis just in time to interrupt Superman's marriage proposal to Lois Lane.  Obviously, this didn't happen in the Superman comics when Superman proposed, so this is seemingly set in an alternate universe.

Since it's set in an alternate universe, the creators can play fast and loose with continuity, and there can be casualties among both the heroes and villains.  At least one character is seemingly killed off here, though it happens so quickly that it's unclear.  In addition to Godzilla, three other giant monsters have appeared in Gotham, Central City, and Themyscira, so the rest of the issues have been a series of fight scenes as the Justice League tries to fight off these massive foes.

In addition, while Green Arrow is traveling to Themyscira with Wonder Woman, the pair spot Skull Island where there shouldn't be an island, so Green Arrow is left there to investigate.  He briefly encounters King Kong, though so far, Kong hasn't really been brought into the main story yet.

There are other plot points that haven't been resolved yet - Gorilla Grodd views Kong as some kind of ape god and tries to telepathically communicate with him.  I'm guessing Grodd will try to control Kong's mind or switch minds with him, though I'm guessing that neither of those plans would work out for long.

All in all, it's big, dumb fun.  Despite the title, the bulk of the focus seems to be on Superman and Godzilla, with Superman having a character arc and Godzilla being the biggest threat.  The rest of the Justice League is present, though they don't get much to do as characters beyond fighting the various giant monsters, and despite his name being in the title, King Kong hasn't really done much yet.  I'm sure that will change by the end of this mini-series, though hopefully he does more than just showing up for the final issue to assist the Justice League.