Lifespan:
"The egg is the most valuable specimen to be discovered in decades."
Okinawa, 2007...
Lance Corporal Graves returns to Camp Schwab with a rather unique, and unwelcome, souvenir... An egg taken from the nest of the monster Rodan. The angry mother comes looking for the stolen egg, of course, and catastrophic disaster ensues.
But Dr. Holder, a scientist working at Camp Schwab, manages to hide the egg from the attacking mother and keep it for further study.
Okinawa, 2011...
Dr. Holder has kept the egg hidden from Rodan for four years. During that time he has become dangerously obsessed with it. Holder's obsession has so unbalanced him that he abusively neglects his obviously troubled son, Ethan, and lashes out at anyone he perceives as threatening the egg.
When the government orders that the egg be destroyed, Ethan offers to help his father "hide" and "protect" the egg. But what Ethan really wants to do is to take the egg to school, so the monster Rodan can deal with the bullies that are making the boy's life hell.
Wait just a minute. Did writer Jon Vankin put too much Mothra in his Rodan
story? Or maybe it was too much Gamera
that was put in. That would ironic, though, since the giant turtle doesn't even belong inside of Toho Studios stable of classic giant monsters.
Granted, it has been a long time since I have seen either (original) film, but I do seem to recall that it was Mothra who was the warm and fuzzy maternal type, not Rodan. I do remember that Rodan and his mate got a surprisingly touching death scene at the end of the very first film. Rather than survive alone, the "monster" Rodan chose to die with its mortally wounded mate inside of an erupting volcano. So I guess the monster Rodan has a rather romantic and caring side, too.
I am still guessing, because there is nothing in this Rodan centered one-shot that makes any kind of sense whatsoever. Why the four year jump between the prologue and the main story? What has Dr. Holder been researching and why has he become so obsessed with Rodan's egg? Both are unexplained to the point of being flat out ignored. Holder's just an explosive nutcase with an egg.
Ethan's side of the story is the typical bullied teen seeks revenge on his tormentor's tale. Instead of bringing a gun to school to shoot the bullies, Ethan lures a giant monster in to either crush them or eat his bullies. It's kind of vague as to what Rodan does to Ethan's tormentors, but it is unlikely that they survived to graduate from High School.
This entire one-shot is vague and confused. Why Ethan suddenly develops an emotional bond with the attacking Rodan makes no sense. Rodan deciding to carry Ethan away makes no sense, unless Ethan is going to be fed to the new born Rodan. The fallen Dr. Holder's heartbroken mourning at the "loss" of his son makes no sense. Nothing in Lifespan made sense. It was the most baffling and nonsensical story I have read in quite some time.



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