It often feels like independent comics live or die by their concept, as the right narrative hook can leave readers captivated enough to follow months or years worth of storytelling. From the jump, that’s exactly what drew me into AfterShock Comics’ The Kaiju Score, a four-issue saga of criminals pulling an impossible heist amid the backdrop of a giant-monster attack. By the end of The Kaiju Score, it felt like a unique contradiction was in place – there was enough closure to definitively end things there, but enough meat on the bone to potentially spin out another wild story. This week’s Kaiju Score: Steal From the Gods #1, which kicks off the second volume of a larger narrative, tackles that dichotomy with incredibly intriguing results. While it’s a bit of a slow burn, this issue shows how to convincingly raise the stakes for a high-concept story.
