‘No Gods, No Masters’ Brings a Kaiju Rampage to New York City

I have a real soft spot for kaiju stories, and an even bigger one for a kaiju story that finds something new to say. No Gods, No Masters, a new five-issue mini-series from BOOM! Studios, looks like it’s doing exactly that. It arrives September 2, 2026, from writer Julio Anta and artist Jacoby Salcedo, and instead of centering the monster, it centers the people running from it, which is exactly the angle I want more kaiju comics to take.

So, What’s the Story?

Afternoon detention gets interrupted by the sudden, violent arrival of a kaiju, and three New York City teenagers with nothing in common are forced to band together to survive. At the center of it is Felipe, still getting used to life in the city, who needs his two classmates’ help to rescue his mom from a wrecked subway station after the attack. Rather than treating the kaiju rampage as pure blockbuster spectacle, the story keeps its focus on the people and communities caught in the middle of the destruction, which fits the pedigree of the creative team behind it.

Who’s Making No Gods, No Masters?

Julio Anta writes, Jacoby Salcedo illustrates, and Francesco Segala colors, with BOOM! Studios publishing. Anta and Salcedo first teamed up on Frontera, a young adult graphic novel that earned an Eisner Award nomination for Best Publication for Teens. It follows Mateo on a dangerous journey through the Sonoran Desert back to the United States, aided by Guillermo, a ghost who has spent his afterlife guiding migrants to safety, as Border Patrol and rogue militias make the crossing even more dangerous.

The two reunited on This Land Is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story, a DC young adult graphic novel following Jaime Reyes as he steps into the Blue Beetle mantle. Anta’s other credits include Home at Image Comics, The Beast of Boriken at Dark Horse, and contributions to BOOM!’s horror anthology Hello Darkness. Salcedo also provided covers for Anta’s Home before this, so the two have already crossed paths outside their main collaborations.

Colorist Francesco Segala brings his own track record too: he colored Look Into My Eyes, with its unsettling horror palette, and Be Not Afraid, which leans into warmer, dustier Southern Gothic dread, two tones about as far apart as you can get, which bodes well for however he approaches a kaiju-scale disaster.

I’m also just happy to see Salcedo on a new series in general, he was the artist on It’s Only Teenage Wasteland, which I really enjoyed, so a new book from him is an easy watch for me.

Why We’re Watching This One

Kaiju comics are having a real moment lately, and not just the Godzilla-branded ones. I’ve genuinely enjoyed Behemoth from Dark Horse, and I’ve had a good time following Godzilla vs. Marvel as those books rolled out. There’s something I love about a giant monster tearing through a real city, Tokyo or, in this case, Manhattan, and No Gods, No Masters leaning into the human cost of that destruction rather than just the spectacle is exactly the kind of fresh spin that keeps the genre interesting.

There’s also a throughline in Anta’s work that this book seems to fit into rather than break from. Frontera is about a teenager navigating a hostile desert crossing with the help of a spirit guide. This Land Is Our Land is about a teenager stepping into a superhero identity while his border community gets used as a political football. Now No Gods, No Masters puts a teenager at the center of a kaiju disaster in a city that isn’t his own yet. Different genres, same instinct: put a kid figuring out where he belongs at the center of forces much bigger than him, and let the story live in what that costs the people around him rather than in the spectacle itself.

BOOM! Studios is also part of the appeal here. It’s one of those indie publishers we check on the moment new series are announced, because we consistently find something worth reading in their lineup. Be Not Afraid, Blink and You’ll Miss It, and In Bloom are just a few of the BOOM! books we’ve enjoyed and reviewed here, and No Gods, No Masters looks like it belongs right alongside them.

Who Should Add This to Their Pull List?

Kaiju fans looking for something outside the usual Godzilla lane should have this on their radar, especially if you like your disaster stories grounded in character over spectacle. Fans of Frontera and This Land Is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story will already know what Anta and Salcedo can do together, and BOOM! Studios readers in general should feel comfortable adding this one sight unseen.

Release Details

No Gods, No Masters #1 releases September 2, 2026, from BOOM! Studios, priced at $4.99, as the first issue of a five-issue mini-series. The main cover comes from Jacoby Salcedo, with variant covers by Jen Bartel and Marcos Martín, plus an unlockable virgin variant also illustrated by Salcedo.

FAQ

When does No Gods, No Masters come out? Issue #1 releases September 2, 2026.

Who is writing No Gods, No Masters? Julio Anta, known for Home, The Beast of Boriken, and stories in Hello Darkness.

Who is drawing No Gods, No Masters? Jacoby Salcedo, with colors by Francesco Segala.

What publisher is releasing No Gods, No Masters? BOOM! Studios.

Is No Gods, No Masters a new series, limited series, or one-shot? It’s a new five-issue mini-series.

Is No Gods, No Masters connected to Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo’s other work? Not in continuity, but thematically yes: like Frontera and This Land Is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story, it centers a teenager navigating forces much bigger than himself, this time a kaiju attack instead of a border crossing or a superhero origin.

Who should read No Gods, No Masters? Kaiju fans who want a character-focused take on the genre, and readers who enjoy BOOM! Studios’ creator-owned lineup.