Godzilla #7
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeGodzilla #7 is the issue where Red Ronin receives its name and first engages in full action, making it the functional debut of one of Marvel's most enduring original kaiju-era creations — a hundred-foot samurai mecha that outlasted the licensed series itself and went on to clash with the Avengers, Wolverine, and the Thunderbolts across decades. The story also crystallizes the series' moral heart: 12-year-old Rob Takiguchi, defying both S.H.I.E.L.D. and his own grandfather's intentions, commandeers the robot not to destroy Godzilla but to protect him, giving a Bronze Age monster comic an unexpectedly complex emotional throughline. As the middle chapter of a three-part arc embedded in the first ongoing American Godzilla comic, the issue represents a high point of Herb Trimpe's large-scale action art and Doug Moench's ambition to treat kaiju fiction with the same character-driven craft he brought to his other Marvel work.
In "Birth of a Warrior!", Godzilla's relentless advance toward a nuclear missile site pushes S.H.I.E.L.D. to deploy the Behemoth in a desperate stand. Meanwhile, Red Ronin runs amok at Stark International after Rob lapses unconscious—only for Jimmy Woo to slip inside the machine and halt the chaos. When it's revealed the robot now responds only to Rob’s neural signals, he quietly reclaims control, flying the machine to San Diego to face the beast head-on. Written by Doug Moench and brought to life by Herb Trimpe’s dynamic art, with inks by Fred Kida and colors by Janice Cohen, this 1978 Marvel classic features a cover by Herb Trimpe and Ernie Chan.
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Editor-in-Chief Archie Goodwin personally suggested the creation of Red Ronin for the series after recognizing the growing American appetite for Japanese super-robot properties, a cultural moment also reflected by Mattel's concurrent Shogun Warriors toy line. Writer Doug Moench, tapped by Stan Lee to work in a lighter register after his intense run on Master of Kung Fu, shaped the supporting cast around humanizing Godzilla — including devising Rob Takiguchi, named after a real high school friend, as the boy who would bond with the monster. Herb Trimpe, the Incredible Hulk veteran who drew almost the entire 24-issue run, inked here by Fred Kida, treated the robot-versus-kaiju set pieces with full-page compositions that leaned into the scale challenge the medium posed. The issue was later collected in the 2006 black-and-white Marvel Essentials volume and again in the 2024 full-color omnibus, the first color collection of the complete run.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Titled 'Birth of a Warrior!' (Part 2 of a 3-part arc), cover-dated February 1978; written by Doug Moench, penciled by Herb Trimpe, inked by Fred Kida, edited by Archie Goodwin.
- Red Ronin receives its name for the first time in this issue — in issue #6 the mecha existed only under the S.H.I.E.L.D. codename 'SJ3 RX'; issue #7 is when Rob Takiguchi christens it 'Red Ronin' and first pilots it in action.
- Red Ronin was built at Stark International facilities in Detroit by Dr. Yuriko Takiguchi and engineer Tamara Hashioka, originally intended as a S.H.I.E.L.D. weapon against Godzilla.
- The robot's neural interface bonds uniquely to 12-year-old Rob Takiguchi's brain patterns after he secretly enters the cockpit, rendering it inoperable by any other pilot — a plot mechanic that drives the remainder of the sub-series.
- The central dramatic tension of the issue is Rob positioning Red Ronin between Godzilla and a nuclear missile stockpile at a San Diego military base, choosing to redirect rather than destroy the creature.
- Red Ronin's design was directly inspired by Japanese anime super robots of the 1970s; then-Marvel Editor-in-Chief Archie Goodwin acknowledged the anime influence and it was Goodwin who first suggested creating the character for the series.
- Red Ronin proved durable enough as a Marvel property to appear in subsequent titles after the Godzilla license expired, including confrontations with the Avengers, Wolverine and Sunfire, and the Thunderbolts during Civil War.
- The full run of Godzilla, King of the Monsters — including this issue — was collected in black and white in the 2006 Marvel Essentials volume and then in full color for the first time in a 2024 Marvel omnibus.
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Godzilla rampages towards a nuclear missile site. S.H.I.E.L.D. tries desperately to stop Godzilla and battles him with the Behemoth. Meanwhile Red Ronin is going on a rampage (due to Rob being unconscious at the controls) at Stark International. Jimmy Woo gets inside the robot and stops it before it can do any damage. After Rob is revived, Woo tries to control the robot so he can fly it to San Diego to stop Godzilla, but it's discovered that the robot is now configured to respond to Rob's brain waves. Rob sneaks aboard again and takes control of the robot and flies out to stop Godzilla.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
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