Stuart Wilke published a very kind review of ATOM Vol. 1: Tyrantis Walks Among Us, and I’m gonna show it off here because it makes me happy and, y’know, it’s a smart movie author-wise to do so.

ATOM Vol.1: Tyrantis Walks Among Us! An Honest Review

I have long waited for the chance to read William Cope’s (AKA @tyrantisterror​) giant monster mash passion project, and as of last Christmas I finally had my chance. The first volume of The Atomic Time of Monsters (AKA A.T.O.M.), Tyrantis Walks Among Us! is every bit the big fun love letter to classic giant monster movies from across both sides of the Pacific that the author has touted on his blog many times. However, although there is a lot of love that evidently went into this story, and plenty of fun to be read, I would not say it’s the best kaiju story I have ever seen, in print or otherwise. Of course, to expect perfection from anything is unfair, but it’s not perfection I’m looking for: it’s consistency. Consistency, particularly of ideas and presentation, has been one of the kaiju (the ever popular Japanese name for “strange/giant monster”) genre’s biggest problems since it first began—be it keeping worldbuilding consistent with themes, or keeping the quality of one shot of the giant juxtaposed monsters consistent with another. Sadly, readers will find that Tyrantis Walks Among Us, for all it’s charms and bravado, suffers from similar inconsistencies.

 The premise of the first entry in the A.T.O.M. series follows many well-worn tropes from the standard giant-size creature: set in an offshoot of postwar 50’s world, a mysterious earthquake linked to nuclear testing has revealed a subterranean lost world filled with mysterious radioactive crystals and (what else) giant monsters to the world. As the menagerie of prehistoric creatures make their way across the surface, gobbling up and/or stomping on the unlucky extras in their path, the government scrambles to gain control of the unprecedented situation, sending in scientists, men in black, and the military. The heroes of the story are the sole scientist smart enough to understand the gravity of the situation, their intrepid band of friends, and the good giant monsters who befriend the humans while fighting off the bad monsters to protect their world. Opposing them are crooked government men who refuse to listen to reason and more menacing monsters driven by hunger or simple malevolence. What follows is a mash-up of almost everything giant monster movies prior are made of: giant monster fights, quirky humans bouncing off each other while trying to stop corrupt governments from worsening the situation, discovering strange lost worlds and encountering the creatures that inhabit them, and even encounters with alien and robot monsters.

 What makes the seemingly formulaic Tyrantis Walks Among Us! stand out is it’s personality. The first volume of ATOM is an affectionate homage, but it’s also a something of a send-up and evolution of the giant monster movie. Not only is every giant monster trope treated with a mix of earnest excitement and tongue-in-cheek wit, embracing both the inherent impressiveness and absurdity of the subgenre in the same breadth (including more than a few references to a selection of giant monster films past, some more subtle than others), with a heaping helping of satirical edge in it’s depiction on atomic era America. Elevating this satirical edge is the colourful human cast, whose personalities, talents, and backstories make them some of the most memorable civilians you’ll ever see in a kaiju series while also giving the story its political punch. Dr. Mina Lerna, the human protagonist and paleontologist turned local giant monster expert, who grapples with sexism and ignorance in her quest to make her voice heard—a voice which is telling everyone to stop trying to kill every monster they see and listen to reason—and come out of her shell; Henry Robertson, an African-American reporter for the United Nations News Organization (a cheeky homage to the oft-maligned American cut of the original King Kong vs. Godzilla) who, with Dr. Lerna’s help fights back against the racial bias trying to keep him quiet to offer current and true coverage of the protagonist’s quest to unlock the mysterious of the kaiju; as well as Gwen Valentine, a spunky homage to activist actresses such as Marylin Monroe in her prime, who after being rescued from certain death in a monster-inhabited cavern, offers some much-needed close friendship, good publicity, and funds to Dr. Lerna and their cause. The more villainous humans opposing them also present some amusement and self-awarness, such as the mysterious vindictive government agent J.C. Clark who prioritizes secret government agendas over transparency and honesty, or “Doctor Brick Rockwell,” a machismo meathead straight out of a camp American monster movie who barely passes for a scientist hired as a talking head to perpetuate willful ignorance—as well as sexism—for the government amidst the monster situation.

Of course, this IS a giant monster story and the kaiju side of the cast deserves special mention as well. Despite being deriving from the all-too familiar archetypes you could expect from giant monsters (i.e. dinosaurs, insects, spiders, and reptiles on a giant scale), the monsters A.T.O.M. stand out from the crowd thanks to their colourful characteristics. The majority of which are “Retrosaurs”: alternate history based dinosaurs that evolved from Loricata, a group of ancient reptiles that included the first crocodylians, as opposed to birds and more or less resemble the terrible lizards as they were depicted in older illustrations such as those created by Charles R. Knight. Chief among them is the star monster, Tyrantis, a standard giant green fire-breathing dinosaur but with an out-and-out heroic complex and a goofy side, showing compassion for his fellow monster and human companions, as well as having a tendency to greet new friends and foes by boisterously charging into battle. Joining him are Tyrantra, a even more impressive red-hued female of Tyrantis’s genus, the tyrannopyrodon (i.e. the fire-breath-enabled Retrosaur equivalent to tyrannosaurs); Gorgolisk, a gigantic frilled serpentine creature who serves as the steadfast guardian of the Earth and the mysterious inhabitants of its hollow earth; and Bobo, a big pink and blue quasi-arachnid with a soft heart and a surprisingly playful disposition. The monsters opposing them are no slouches either, such as Ahuul, a ravenous pterosaur-like Retrosaur who takes sadistic delight in swooping down on smaller prey; Myrmidants, a swarm of gigantic fire ants who fight for their colony with equal parts duty and ferocity; and The Terror, a blue-tinted rival Retro  Tyrant who—without giving anything away—only becomes more of a monster as the story continues. Special mention also goes to a giant scorpion, a giant mothman-themed invader, a deadly duo of a giant wasp and mantis, and an entire island of Retrosaurs of almost every species.

 However, as previously stated, for all it’s charming characters and progressive political statements, the first volume of A.T.O.M., like its forebearers, sadly falls prey to the issue of inconsistencies. Everything from the writing itself to the logic of this world suffers from occasional dips in quality to outright plot holes. The first and most noticeable is the abundance of grammatical errors, and while the majority of the novel is tightly written in very sense of the word, I couldn’t help but notice that every few pages there was incorrect punctuation or a misspelled word, which gave a somewhat rushed impression. Another oddity is the sexuality of Dr. Lerna who develops an affectionate attraction to Ms. Valentine, despite the author confirming in a post on the author’s blog made several years before the novels completion, claiming Lerna was aro-ace (found here)—this is more of a metatextual nitpick and if the author made her an asexual lesbian, it’s still quite a progressive choice in that it offers that minority some representation shows ace folk can still pursue romantic relationships—however, it still can’t help but think think it would have been just as valuable to give aro-ace people some representation as well, rather than seemingly backpedalling on a prior statement on a character’s sexuality. Another distraction is how the story seems to be at odds with itself over anthropomorphizing the monsters, where in some scenes they are written with fairly animalistic traits in mind, wherein others they treated as if they were almost cartoon characters. (e.g. Tyrantis breaks into caveman speak in a postscript picture to advertise some more other novels—relatively harmless but jarring nonetheless.) But the most bothersome inconsistencies by far are concerned with the science of the novel. Specifically, despite possessing a narrative that pushes for embracing science and learning, throughout the novel there are numerous instances where outdated biological and paleontological theories are treated as scientific truths, such as when Bobo’s inability to swim is chalked up to the old misconception that spiders breath through their skin and would drown when but in water. But the most damning example would have to be the Retrosaurs, who despite originating from a completely different evolutionary line, largely resemble past media depictions of dinosaurs more than anything else, inaccuracies at all. It could have been fascinating to explore how familiar species such as ornithopods and sauropods would appear if they were derived from ancient archosaurs (i.e. the grand group from which crocodilians originate). This discrepancies between artistic license and science makes it hard to tell just how much of the author’s intent for the origins of these alternative dinosaurs was driven more by a desire to replicate the aesthetic of prior depictions of prehistoric creatures and movie monsters than a wholly original exploration in speculative biology.

 As critical as may be, I do not want to completely discount the author’s efforts. I enjoyed the first entry in the adventures of the mighty Tyrantis and the impeccable Dr. Lerna from start to finish. As a wholly affectionate parody of the great giant monster subgenre, it’s almost everything I could have wanted it to be! What’s more, I would like to see the ATOM series reach its full potential. However, due the author’s attitudes towards modern science and tendency towards error, I don’t know if this series will ever reach that potential. Tyrantis Walks Among Us! is good as a creative comical take on the classic kaiju story with a progressive sociopolitical punch, but as a scientifically conscious evolution of the genre that birthed it, it falls as flat as the tail of a Retrosaur, and it seems it will stay that way—sticking close to the ground and only occasionally swinging upwards.

I finished reading Tyrantis Walks Among Us!

The first novel in @tyrantisterror's Atomic Time of Monsters saga has been a long time coming for those who've followed its development - even longer for him, as detailed in the book's preface. After all this time, does it deliver? The answer, I'm happy to say, is a resounding "yes."

TYRANTIS WALKS AMONG US! starts with monsters, continues with them, and leaves off with them. Giant monsters are not an object or plot device in this story's world, they are fully realized characters with complex, relatable motives. There's an operatic quality to the monsters' drama, full of passion, betrayal, revenge, and forgiveness. Pulling this off is no easy feat, but it's accomplished here with absolute sincerity, which is really the only way you can do it. There's no winking or joking about the plausibility of the story to be found, not in the least because the amount of love  exhibited for the genre and what it's about would actively prevent such an approach even if Cope tried.

This isn't to say that the human characters aren't just as interesting - there's a reason they share space on the cover. Doctor Lerna and her unlikely companions are fully fleshed out and a delight to follow. All of our protagonists are ultimately outcasts of society, drawing a parallel to the monsters' struggle to fit into the modern world. The symbolism of those who've been looked down upon by societal constructs finding companionship amongst monsters points out the appeal of this genre and why it continues to resonate with so many.

This is really a fantastic book that delivers for anyone who loves giant monster stories with the kind of sincerity displayed here. It's not just a love letter to the genre, it's a gift to those who dream of finding their calling in a time of monsters.

ORDER LINK

tyrantisterror replied to your post “i love it when i’m talking about @tyrantisterror to another tumblr...”

Me Tyrantis sick of people treating fictional stories as black and white conflicts

tyrantis: of COURSE the people who were punching the hero want to be friends now! that’s how you know they want to be friends!

I’m 30 pages into @tyrantisterror’s Tyrantis Walks Among Us, but if anything bad happens to Big Green, I will be very displeased.

The Jade Giant

So, I read the novel "A.T.O.M. Vol. 1: Tyrantis Walks Among Us", written by @tyrantisterror, and I absolutely loved it! Really fun kaiju novel with all the delightful tropes of the old Showa era stuff. Really recommend it to any kaiju fan, you will have a great time with the intriguing story and all the references to various kaiju media.

And, of course, I had to draw something from it while I wait for the second volume to come out. So, here's some fan art of the big lug himself, Tyrantis, a.k.a. 'what if Godzilla had the personality of Goku'.

Latest book acquisitions! Godzilla: Aftershock and Atomic Time of Monsters: Tyrantis Walks Among Us!

Aftershock was a wild ride, Looking forward to sinking into @tyrantisterror s ATOM saga.

Finally getting around to reading Tyrantis Walks Among Us! because I was putting it off until I got through All Your Ruins in the hopes it will be something of a pick-me-up, so to speak, mood wise.

This was a pretty big year for me.  I directed my first play, which was such a big deal in so many ways for me that I’d have trouble articulating them all succinctly, and I published the first Volume of ATOM, Tyrantis Walks Among Us (available here!)  Both of those are sort of the culmination of everything that’d driven me as an artist so far, and while I intend to go farther from here, it’s kind of a big milestone, and for the first time in a while I feel like I’m ending the year making some actual progress as a human being.  So that’s, y’know, nice.

Tyrantis Walks Among Us!  thoughts

Normally how “ridiculously noble” and honorable Tyrantis is would be something I would roll my eyes at, feeling it ties into predators being demonized. But here it actually makes sense and adds to Big Green's oddball charm.

Unlike some other kaiju, Tyrantis, Tyranta and The Terror come from a fully functional species shaped as much by natural selection as they were yamaneon exposure over centuries.

As their ancestor's became more kaiju like, they wouldn’t need to eat as much, which has drastic implications.

First, they could become potentially even more social as there was less competition for food, and Tyrantis’s retrosaur ancestors were already pretty social by WOG (probably thanks to their more crocodile like metabolism lowering the need to compete for food). Relatives were even domesticated by the Reptodites as herding animals (albeit ones that need as much training as an elephant or more for safety reasons).

The ability to empathize and work with other species could also develop as an evolutionary advantage as the fertility levels dropped thanks to yamaneon over generations.

Second, the ability to prove one's worth through hunting became less important. Combine that with the general kaiju compulsion of fighting and combat ability started to surpass hunting capability as social capital.

Combine the two and a sense of "fair play" is completely plausible to develop..

Now, the Terror and Tyranta may appear to throw a wrench into this idea by how aloof they are (or just at first for Tyranta's case.) But as I said, fertility levels would drop the closer their ancestors came to becoming full on kaiju. No matter how social their ancestors were, they might not be getting similar levels of opportunity to socialize while young. Only one egg in the clutch laid by Tyranta was viable, so it may be the norm despite their social ancestry they lack siblings to bounce off of during a critical development period. Nurture as well as nature must be accounted for when going over their behavior, as well as individual personality of specimens.

All this also makes me wonder if Raroga, who shows a similar sense of predatory sportsmanship, maybe having social instincts or at least recent ancestors with such instincts. Perhaps pair bonded mates that acted as hunting partner?

I keep neglecting to mention this, but I finished ATOM Vol. 1: Tyrantis Walks Among Us! and now I am preparing my review of it.

Stay tuned, fellow kaiju fanatics!

So I don’t usually do this sort of thing - actually this is my first time! - but I feel like I really need to give a big shoutout to the first part of @tyrantisterror‘s novel series, Tyrantis Walks Among Us! (I picked up both the physical copy and the ebook because I was excited and it was only 99p!).

It’s every B-Movie from the 50′s and 60′s (as well as several more modern shout-outs!) crammed into one fantastically well-crafted world. The Kaiju are just as complex and well realised as their human counterparts - they have their own distinct personalities, drama, thoughts and opinions both about the world they’re thrust into, one another and the tiny humans they’re invariably mixed up in (if I had to pick some favourites it’d absolutely have to be Tyrantis himself and MechaTyrantis!).

Likewise the human side of things is incredibly well written and engaging - it isn’t played for laughs but there is absolutely a sense of realism that fits the pulp-esque world rather than trying to force the blatantly unnatural 100% into a world that entirely justifies it in the way a modern day setting may (pulp realism I guess!).

All-in-all, please pick this book up and please check out tyrantis’ other work. You won’t regret it!

I’m only about 1/3 of the way through Tyrantis Walks Among Us! (about to start the third “episode”) but it’s more than accomplishing what it’s set out to do - take the elements of a 1950’s giant monster movie and blow them up into a big, fun, unrestrained epic. I love the monsters (and the wonderful human cast) and can’t wait to keep following them. I’m also enjoying the tone - it feels good-natured and earnest, which might be what most sets it aside from a lot of stuff out there.

Finally have my claws on the long-awaited first volume of ATOM by @tyrantisterror! Can’t wait to dig into the Atomic Time of Monsters.

(Order link)

So Gwen Valentine totally is the one who gave the Writhing Flesh the alias of “Cuddles”, right?

Just thought this while looking at their bio. I mean she already named a giant spider “Bobo” in the currently released volume

Shame Cuddles apparently likely won’t catch