The Kai-Sei Era of Godzilla Continues With a Stunning Look at the Future

The King of Monsters is coming back in a major way this summer. While Godzilla has been clashing — and teaming up with — King Kong on the big and small screen in recent years, a new era is about to begin in comics form. IDW Publishing and Toho International have partnered on Godzilla content for over a decade. That union will continue and take a new shape with a connected shared universe called Kai-Sei. The first salvo in the release is July’s Godzilla #1 by New York Times bestselling writer Tim Seeley (Godzilla vs. America: Chicago, Grayson) and artist Nikola Čižmešija (TMNT: Black, White & Green, Batman and Robin).

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But beyond that, there are two more titles in this Godzilla shared universe. There’s Godzilla: Escape the Deadzone from Eisner-nominated writers Ethan Parker and Griffin Sheridan (Kill Your Darlings) and artist Pablo Tunica (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), and Starship Godzilla from award-winning writer Chris Gooch (In Utero) and artist Oliver Ono (Godzilla: Monster Island Summer Camp). If any of these titles seem interesting to you, then you’ll want to check out a collection of covers for their future issues since pre-orders close on Monday, June 9th.

GODZILLA #1

(W) Tim Seeley
(A) Nikola Čižmešija
On sale July 23, 2025
THE KAI-SEI ERA, IDW’S NEW GODZILLA UNIVERSE, STARTS HERE!
In 1954, experimentation with a mysterious energy source known as Kai-Sei awakened Godzilla and a host of immortal kaiju. In the years that followed, humanity has been pummeled by near-constant monster attacks. While Japan has begun to treat the kaiju like natural disasters, understanding that their attempts to fight Godzilla only make the threat worse, the American G-Force is going to fight, fight, fight.
The Americans have just discovered the ultimate tool in the fight against kaiju: a young boy named Jacen with the power of Godzilla. Able to harness the mysterious Kai-Sei in the same vein as the King of the Monsters, this boy will either save the world… or bring about its doom.
Join Tim Seeley (Grayson, Hack/Slash, Local Man) and Nikola Čižmešija (Sword of Azrael, Batman and Robin) on the ride of a lifetime!

You can read the description of Godzilla #1 above (on sale July 23rd), as well as ComicBook’s advance review of Godzilla #1, where we gave it a rating of 5 out of 5. Covers for Godzilla #2 are below.

GODZILLA: ESCAPE THE DEADZONE #1

(W) Ethan Parker and Griffin Sheridan
(A) Pablo Tunica
On sale August 6, 2025
What’s going on inside the Deadzone?! Find out in the second book of the KAI-SEI ERA, IDW’s new connected Godzilla universe!
Inside the new IDW Godzilla universe, there exists a mystery larger than any other… what is the Deadzone? Inhabitants of this new world know the Deadzone to be a walled-off portion of the Pacific Northwest, sequestered after the most disastrous Godzilla attack the country has ever faced. The government would have its citizens believe that nothing is still alive inside the Deadzone… but do you believe that?
There are stories of a man. Or rather… a half kaiju, half man… who travels freely throughout the Deadzone. Some say he can even kill a kaiju. Some say… he’s not the only of his kind.
Journey into this mysterious new world in Godzilla: Escape the Deadzone with the Eisner-nominated writing duo Griffin Sheridan and Ethan S. Parker (Kill Your Darlings) and fan-favorite artist Pablo Tunica (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sea Serpent’s Heir).

Covers for Godzilla: Escape the Deadzone #2 are by Pablo Tunica and Juan Gedeon.

STARSHIP GODZILLA #1

(W) Chris Gooch
(A) Oliver Ono
On sale October 1, 2025
For the first time in Toho canon, this trip through the stars will bridge the gap between the various alien races. They’ve come to Earth in past tales, but now it’s time to visit their worlds as a crew of misfits embark on high-risk high-reward kaiju-based missions with a secret that could impact the whole universe.

Last but certainly not least are covers for Starship Godzilla #1 by Oliver Ono, Chris Gooch, Vitor Cafaggi, and Bob Eggleton.