The character Godzilla has gone through many changes over the years since he made his first appearance in the 1954 film Gojira [the American version, entitled Godzilla: King of the Monsters, didn't come out until 1956].
In 1984, Toho decided to start the series over again with a fresh beginning. They released a new Gojira, which was called Godzilla 1985 when a significantly altered version made it to the U.S. a year later. They wrote out of existence all the movies that had been produced between the original one and this new one. According to the new movie, Godzilla had appeared only once before, in 1954, and then had disappeared for 30 years. This meant that, in this new Godzilla universe, there was no Monster Island, there was no "Son of Godzilla" and there were no other "kaiju" roaming around. In the subsequent years, however, Toho reintroduced many of the "classic" Godzilla characters, albeit with a much more serious tone.
In addition to the changes Toho made to its own creation, Godzilla has also led very different lives in other media. This includes comic book series published by both Marvel comics in the 1970's and Dark Horse Comic in the 1990's. This includes the rather wacky adventures of Godzilla, Godzookie and the gang as portrayed in the Hanna-Barbera animated series of the 1970's. And, most recently, this includes what is turning into a series of Godzilla novels by Marc Cerasini, published by Random House.
When Marc Cerasini published his first Godzilla novel in 1996, Godzilla Returns, he took the same approach Toho had taken with its 1984 movie, Gojira. Thus, Godzilla had only appeared once before, in the 1950's, and then had reappeared for the first time in 1998. As with the Toho approach, there is no Monster Island in Mr. Cerasini's Godzilla universe, no "Son of Godzilla", no other "kaiju" roaming around, etc.
Although Mr. Cerasini has continued to publish additional books in this series, my novels begin where his first one left off. The continuity of my Godzilla universe, therefore, is as follows:
