Kaiju tales are our jam, but, admittedly, some of them can be slavishly rote, with the basic beats hit with only the details tweaked here and there. However, the inaugural issue of Dark Horse Comics’ miniseries Hidden Springs defies that concern, hitting the gate as one of the most economically-written, unexpectedly surprising kaiju tales released in a bit. From writer Rob Williams, artist Nil Vendrell, colorist Berta Sastre, and letterer Simon Bowland, Hidden Springs follows former Hollywood professionals who now find themselves living their golden years in a retirement community. Snarky and cranky and unintentionally hilarious, their community field trip to a campground goes sideways when they run into an infant kaiju. On the run from the military, the baby reveals to the retirees via mental link that if the kaiju can’t get back to the ocean and evade the military, the world will be doomed.
While the kaiju appearance halfway through gets the party started, I’m here for these hateful-as-Hell former stars sniping at each other and acting like Walter Matthau and Jack Lemon spewing venom at each other in Grumpy Old Men, with maybe some Bubba Ho-Tep sprinkled in for good measure. Williams’ dialogue is whip-sharp and doesn’t let up from the first appearance of our hilarious heroes. However, none of the cranks–from Loretta Tide to Brock D’Angelo–feel like the same character with different faces. Every one of them feels fully-fleshed out from the jump, much of which can be attributed to Vendrell’s linework. From the emotive faces of the retirees to the baby kaiju to the vision of a ravaged, destroyed planet, every inch of every page is used to its fullest visual effect. Sastre’s colors give a rich patina to the entire book, especially making the kaiju pop, with Bowland’s letters giving narrative weight to the baby’s fear and wailing pain.
The entire collected miniseries goes on sale in January, but I’ll be checking out the individual issues soon because I don’t want to see what this cranky crew and cutie kaiju do next.
All four issues of Hidden Springs are on sale now from Dark Horse Comics. The collected miniseries goes on sale in paperback on Tuesday, January 5, 2027.
From the official trade paperback description:
While on a retirement community field trip, a group of ageing ex-Hollywood stars encounter a baby kaiju on the run from military agents.
Rob Williams writes a humorous and thoughtful graphic novel, with art by Nil Vendrell, colors by Berta Sastre, and letters by Simon Bowland.
When a group of Hollywood has-beens bond with a baby kaiju that crashes into their peaceful forest outing, they become its only hope for escaping the army special forces that want to harness it and its destructive power. Psychically connecting to a former movie star, the kaiju directs them to take it back to the ocean. But what are the chances that a bunch of oldsters can outsmart the US military when they can’t even remember what they had for breakfast?
They’ll need to reconcile their pasts to save the world’s future in this wild tale of unlikely heroes.
