Coaraptor Kaiju of the Wind One-Shot #2

Coaraptor Kaiju of the Wind One-Shot #2

Antarctic Press 2020

Written & Illustrated by Hiroshi Kanatani

A storm is brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, a hurricane powerful enough to destroy much of Texas. Suspecting more than global warming behind it, Government agents use old records of a wind-elemental giant monster to find Qualetaqa, a young Native American teen who inherited his grandfather's iron spear, and with it, the ability to summon Coaraptor!

There are many things about this that I love beyond belief and among those are that a man born in Japan is writing a story about a Native American and nails the white man’s disposition with such clarity that’s it boggles the mind. Whole the government, see military, men are concerned with a hurricane hitting Texas I find it very telling that they discard the damage that would simultaneously happen in Mexico. This is why the United States has the reputation it does, well that and they elected that man to the highest office, as they only truly care about their own land and what they can do to neutralise any threats they perceive. This is the kind of storytelling that you see and often overlook the nuances of because it is so normal to see things play out the way they do. For me it’s a microcosm of what is happening currently, Kaiju’s aside, and that thrills me to no end.

I am such a fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is beautifully presented. There are few surprises as the story is pretty straight forward but there are moments that will make you laugh, smile and possibly giggle. Also this may be a continuation of what has come before but it is also completely new reader friendly. You can jump into this one-shot and easily follow along and get swept up in the book so that you’ll want to see more. The character development is fun, interesting and completely on point and I have to say it just makes love this kid even more. The pacing here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story at hand we are given an interesting look at the dynamic of Galetaga’s world.

The interiors here are beautifully done. Granted I really would like to see more backgrounds being utilised throughout the book. They do add so much to the moments we see them in and I appreciate the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story they provide. The linework is nice to see and how the varying weights are being utilised throughout to create the detail work is impressive. The colour work is beautifully rendered as well. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is simply divine. The creativity and imagination that we see throughout the book is marvellous.

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That one person is able to write and illustrated their own work is someone that I admire to the Nth degree. What we see here is a merging of folklore, legend and fantasy to bring to life what were once gods and now considered Kaiju. It is a remarkable thing to see these creatures and be able to associate them with various regions gods, I mean Quetzalcoatl from Mesoamerica is both a god and Kaiju by this reasoning. So Native American lore is rich with both gods major and lessor who could be Kaiju as well and if you want to explore that and so much more then you really need to be picking this up and explore this gorgeous universe that’s been created.