This Starship Godzilla Invasion X #1 comic review looks at the beginning of IDW’s five-part follow-up to the original Starship Godzilla series.
Chris Gooch returns as writer. Oliver Ono handles the interior artwork, with colors by Valentina Pinto and lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.
The crew survived its first battle with the Xiliens.
Unfortunately, winning the battle helped start a war.
Now Starship Godzilla needs upgrades, hostile aliens are closing in, and the Xiliens are preparing something even more dangerous.
This copy features the Cover B Joëlle Jones Variant. Jones places a determined human character in the foreground while a massive red armored Godzilla dominates the background. Bright reds, greens, purples, and heavy graphic shapes give the cover an energetic science-fiction feel.
Comic Book Details
- Title: Starship Godzilla: Invasion X [Kai-Sei Era]
- Issue: #1
- Volume: 1
- Publisher: IDW Publishing
- Release Date: October 14, 2026
- Cover Date: October 2026
- Written By: Chris Gooch
- Art: Oliver Ono
- Colors: Valentina Pinto
- Letters: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
- Cover Variant: Cover B Joëlle Jones Variant
- Cover Artist: Joëlle Jones
- Cover Price: $4.99
- Pages: 36
- Rating: T+
- UPC: 82771403600800121
- Series Length: 5 issues
IDW lists Starship Godzilla: Invasion X as a five-issue follow-up to the first Starship Godzilla series. Penguin Random House Comics Retail
Joëlle Jones gives Cover B a very different personality from a traditional Godzilla destruction scene. The human figure commands the foreground while the enormous armored Godzilla rises behind her.
The bright red mechanical design immediately sells the idea that this is not simply another monster attack story. This is Godzilla pushed directly into colorful space-opera territory.
Starship Godzilla Invasion X #1 Comic Review: Story Analysis
The original Starship Godzilla story ended with a victory.
Invasion X #1 begins by showing the cost of that victory.
The crew defeated the Xiliens in battle, but they did not eliminate the threat.
Instead, their actions escalated the conflict.
The crew now needs to improve Starship Godzilla before the next confrontation arrives.
They do not have much time.
M Space Hunter Nebula Aliens are already pursuing them for a bounty.
At the same time, the Xiliens are working on the final pieces of a new cosmic kaiju weapon.
Chris Gooch therefore begins the sequel with pressure coming from several directions.
The heroes have problems with their ship.
Enemies are hunting them.
A larger weapon is being built somewhere else.
That gives the first issue a useful sense of momentum.
This is not a new crew slowly discovering the universe.
These characters have already fought a war.
Now they must deal with what happened because they won.
Art and Visual Design
Oliver Ono returns for the interior artwork.
Starship Godzilla requires a strange combination of visual styles.
It needs giant-monster action.
It also needs spaceships, alien technology, strange worlds, and the scale of a science-fiction adventure.
Those elements could easily fight each other.
Instead, the concept works because the book embraces the excess.
Godzilla already feels enormous on Earth.
Putting the character into a cosmic setting allows the creators to make everything around him equally outrageous.
Ships can become larger.
Weapons can become stranger.
Enemies do not have to follow normal terrestrial rules.
That freedom gives Invasion X plenty of room to increase the scale established by the first series.
The Joëlle Jones Cover B
The Joëlle Jones Cover B is one of the strongest reasons to choose this edition.
Jones does not simply place Godzilla in the center and let the character fill the page.
Instead, the human figure occupies the foreground.
She looks confident and ready for action.
Behind her stands the massive armored form of Godzilla.
That arrangement gives both characters importance.
Godzilla still provides the scale and spectacle, but the human element reminds readers that this series also follows a crew.
The colors help considerably.
Red dominates Godzilla’s armor.
Green and white balance the foreground figure.
Purple, blue, black, and halftone patterns create a background that feels more like a science-fiction poster than a conventional monster comic.
It is bright.
It is busy.
It fits Starship Godzilla.
Godzilla Goes Cosmic
Godzilla stories traditionally revolve around cities, governments, scientists, soldiers, and other kaiju.
Starship Godzilla changes the environment.
Space removes many of the usual limits.
A giant monster does not have to remain tied to one country or even one planet.
That opens the door to alien civilizations and technology on a much larger scale.
The Xiliens are particularly appropriate opponents.
They already belong to the science-fiction side of Godzilla history.
Using them in a space-based story feels natural rather than forced.
Invasion X pushes that concept further by giving the Xiliens another cosmic kaiju weapon.
The title itself makes the direction clear.
The first conflict was only the beginning.
Now comes the invasion.
Continuing the Kai-Sei Era
Starship Godzilla: Invasion X is part of IDW’s larger Kai-Sei Era of Godzilla comics.
That gives the series room to reinterpret familiar Toho concepts while keeping Godzilla recognizable.
This book does not need to copy one specific film.
Instead, it can borrow monsters, aliens, technology, and ideas from different parts of Godzilla history and rebuild them around its own universe.
The Starship Godzilla concept may be one of the clearest examples of that freedom.
It takes something familiar and puts it somewhere completely different.
The result still feels like Godzilla.
It simply expands the playground.
Collectibility and Market Significance
Starship Godzilla: Invasion X #1 begins a new five-issue limited series.
IDW released several versions of the first issue.
Oliver Ono created Cover A.
Joëlle Jones created Cover B.
Gavin Fullerton created the Cover C IDW Goes Dark Variant.
Louie Joyce created a movie-homage retailer incentive cover. Grand Comics Database
The Joëlle Jones Cover B is an open-order variant rather than a ratio incentive.
Collectors should therefore not assume it is scarce simply because it is a variant.
Its attraction comes from the artwork and the artist.
Joëlle Jones has an established following among comic collectors, while Godzilla already has a collecting audience far beyond normal superhero comics.
This is also issue #1 of the second Starship Godzilla storyline.
Those factors give the book several different audiences.
Godzilla collectors may want it.
Joëlle Jones collectors may want it.
Readers who followed the first Starship Godzilla series have an obvious reason to continue.
That makes Cover B a strong alternative to the standard edition even without artificial scarcity.
Final Verdict
Starship Godzilla: Invasion X #1 does exactly what a sequel should do.
It takes the consequences of the first story and makes the situation larger.
The crew won its first fight.
Now the Xiliens are preparing for war.
Chris Gooch immediately gives the crew new problems while Oliver Ono brings Godzilla back into the cosmic setting that distinguishes this series.
The Joëlle Jones Cover B Variant adds another strong reason to choose this particular copy.
Its bright colors, human foreground figure, and enormous armored Godzilla capture the unusual personality of the series.
This is not Godzilla simply destroying another city.
Godzilla has gone to war in space.
Recommended for Godzilla collectors, Kai-Sei Era readers, Joëlle Jones collectors, science-fiction comic fans, kaiju fans, and readers who enjoyed the original Starship Godzilla series.
Starship Godzilla: Invasion X #1 Joëlle Jones Cover B Variant is available from Razmataz Comics & Hobbies at razmatazcomics.com while supplies last.