It’s a dinosaur eat dinosaur world.
Creative Staff:
Story: Ricardo Delgado
Art: Ricardo Delgado
What They Say:
Ricardo Delgado’s gorgeous and brutal Age of Reptiles series returns, marking a bold new direction in wordless storytelling! The steaming swamps of Cretaceous Africa teem with prehistoric life and primordial danger in a tale filled with villains, victims, and one of the most dangerous and unpredictable protagonists ever created: the lonely antihero Spinosaurus aegyptiacus!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With some strong material behind it previously that I have not read myself, I went into the first issue of this new Age of Reptiles series with a lot of curiosity. Wordless books certainly aren’t new, but few are done well overall when you get down to it. I still have fond memories of my first one from when GI Joe did it in the early 80’s, but getting it here with dinosaurs and their life? That’s a whole different kind of interest that will draw me in.
The main focus with this installment is that of the Spinosaurus, which is certainly an interesting predator to watch across the landscape here with it has an interesting mix of desolation and growth depending on where you look. Introducing us to the dinosaur as it makes its way out of the wasteland area itself with all of its worn down and destructive look about it and progresses into the tree lined wilderness certainly sets a tone as though it’s entering a new world itself. And it’s one that the Spinosaurus sees quickly is definitely familiar as a pair of smaller dinos race out and compete over the remains they have from something else. It’s almost comical when you get down to it, but it’s a survival moment that plays out between the two that are likely more scavengers than full on predators themselves. It’s a solid moment that sets the tone well.
The book largely takes us through the rest of the Spinosaurus through this region, which moves into different places, from careful treading along the terrain to some time in the river and even underwater a bit. It’s interesting to see how many smaller creatures it ignores in its travels though, and Delgado presents the journey in a solid way with a variety of panel layouts that draws you into it bit by bit, changing perspectives but also showing the intensity of the attacks themselves when the Spinosaurus does go after some sustenance. There’s some time with other, larger creatures roaming through the forest as well and the general brutality of what it means to survive is explored well – and wordlessly.
In Summary:
The Spinosaurus goes on a lengthy journey here and it’s a very packed piece when you get down to it with lots of small panels, lots of dinosaurs and lots of brief moments of intense action as they live and survive. It’s not your traditional journey when you get down to it, which makes sense considering the nature of the material being told, but once you settle into the style of it all and become more and more engaged with it, you really find yourself drawn to it and what it’s telling. I also liked the small corner artwork we get on most of the pages along the lower right that brings in a variety of creatures itself. This is a really curious book, one that’s going to challenge in some ways what you get out of it, but it’s one that’s left me curious to see just how strong the overall narrative is.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 3rd, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
