Giant monsters are gonna be fighting this week! Godzilla is going to fight King Kong once again, and it’s bound to be some level of great! Movie theaters are open in my area once again, and I’ll actually get to see this film on the big screen! And not only is Godzilla vs. Kong coming out, but Starro appeared in the new trailer for The Suicide Squad! Giant monsters are all the rage this week, so how about a List of Six about giant monsters?

I tried to think of a Godzilla-related List for this week, but I already did one years ago talking about what monsters I’d like to see in the franchise. So unless Godzilla vs. Kong surprises us with an Anguirus cameo, I’m pretty satisfied with monsters — though I wouldn’t mind seeing a modern take on Gigan. So how about a list of some of my favorite giant kaiju monsters from American comic books? Specifically, Marvel and DC superhero comics. I know that’s limiting things, but who has the time and energy to catalogue every giant monster ever? And I’m not counting the Marvel Godzilla comics, because those are pretty generic monsters. I’m talking the best giant monsters that exist in our favorite superhero universes! Let’s do this!

Join me after the jump for the best kaiju to appear in superhero comics!

6. Groot

Did you know that Groot pre-dates the Marvel Universe? It’s true! The breakout star of Guardians of the Galaxy debuted back in the days when Marvel published monster comics instead of superhero comics. Groot originated as an alien tree monster from Planet X, who attacked Earth and was defeated by termites. Seems simple enough. Groot would pop up here and there through the decades before eventually getting recruited to Nick Fury’s Howling Commandoes, the monster version. Then a completely different tree alien named Groot joined the Guardians of the Galaxy. Such is the power of alien tree monsters.

5. American Kaiju

The list should stop here and we should all be happy. American Kaiju is such a silly and yet fun idea. Created only a couple years ago for some fun Avengers comics, he is Army Corporal Todd Ziller (yup) who was given powers through a cocktail of Super Soldier Serum, Pym Particles, the Lizard formula and more! This turned him into a giant lizard monster, then someone painted the American flag on his chest. That’s pure comics and I love it.

4. Titano

Apes sell comics. It’s a proven fact. So of course Superman has fought a giant chimpanzee with Kryptonite powers! Debuting all the way back in 1959, Titano was a space chimp who got bombarded with radiation and returned a giant! A giant who could shoot Kryptonite lasers from his eyes! That’s the sort of thing that gives Superman a lot of trouble, but the Man of Steel managed to trap Titano back in time in the dinosaur age…because of course he did! Titano has come back now and again, and you best believe he’s been in a bunch of cartoons. A giant chimpanzee who can shoot Kryptonite lasers from his eyes is too amazing a concept to leave behind.

3. Shuma-Gorath

Shuma-Gorath is who we all hope is the villain in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. He’s a legit eldritch horror from ancient Earth, who is also one of the great Lovecraftian nightmares of all time? Something like that! He’s a giant tentacle monster with an eyeball in the middle, and he’s bad news any which way you cut it. Having Doctor Strange and his pals fight an eldritch terror in the sequel should be a blast!

2. Starro the Conqueror

Starro got the surprise appearance in The Suicide Squad trailer and there’s a lot of reasons why fans were so excited! Starro is another one of those brilliant comic book ideas. He’s a giant alien starfish who attaches smaller versions of himself onto your head, thereby allowing him to control you as a puppet. It’s pretty evil, especially coming from an alien starfish. Starro has the distinction of being the first villain the original Justice League ever fought when they first appeared together in comics in 1960. It’s nice to see that so many of these big bads are still around being badass.

1 Fin Fang Foom

Despite having multiple kaiju in their stable, the one giant monster Marvel always turns to when they’re in need is Fin Fang Foom! Much like Groot, Fin Fang Foom pre-dates the superhero comics at Marvel. He’s an alien dragon who crashed in China centuries ago who tried to conquer, but kept getting defeated. In the Silver Age, Groot was reintroduced through Iron Man comics, as the villain The Mandarin stole his magical rings from Fin Fang Foom’s spaceship. I first met the dragon in the Iron Man cartoon in the 90s, which was a hoot. Now Finny shows up whenever Marvel needs a giant dragon to smack around. I wonder if he’s ever fought American Kaiju…

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