Dinosaurs in Rome? Oh, this is Christmas.
Creative Staff:
Story: Fred Van Lente
Art: Pere Perez
Colors: Andrew Dalhouse
Letters: Dave Sharpe
What They Say:
Have you ever wondered what would happen if dinosaurs ruled the Roman Empire? Well, you’re gonna find out! Ivar & Neela continue their pursuit of the Prometheans through time only to discover some, well, HUGE changes their machinations have made to history! Meanwhile, who is THE RACTUS?! And what does he have in store for Neela? All this and again…did we mention dinosaurs? DINOSAURS! New York Times best-selling writer Fred Van Lente (ARCHER & ARMSTRONG) and Harvey Award-nominated artist Pere Perez (UNITY) bring you “ENDING HISTORY” – PART 2!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Quick recap: so Ivar is dead; at least, the Ivar that we’ve grown to love over the past eight issues. He sacrificed himself to save Neela, the scientist who invented time travel and who would eventually become the despotic ruler of the Null: a group dedicated to the destruction of the multiverse.
But the thing is, Ivar is also alive. Good Neela used his tachyon compass to travel through time and she managed to snatch Ivar away right at a critical moment in his life. So that’s the good news. The bad news is that this Ivar (while still smart, brave, and handsome) is far less mature and has no knowledge of Neela or the time his future self spends with her. Now the two are lost in the past, captured by dinosaur Romans and forced to fight in the Colosseum. I’m going to repeat that: dinosaur Romans. Just when you think this comic has reached the height of inventiveness, it tops itself. If Van Lente, Perez, and Dalhouse aren’t having the time of their lives working on this, then I’ll lose all faith in humanity, because I’m having the time of my life reading it.
The world building is simply excellent in this work. In a single issue, this team provides us with a fully-realized, believable, and interesting world. Perez’s art completely sells this, and the two-page spread of dinosaurs walking around their Rome—complete with Dinosaur statues, children playing, and mean-looking T-Rex legionnaires—is excellent. The writing builds on the stage the visuals set, with great little touches about the political structure of Dino-Rome, with the carnivores at the top and the herbivores at the bottom, as well as little bits of dialogue, such as a triceratops’ prayer to the “Green Goddess of the Harvest” as he cowers in the Colosseum. The devil of worldbuilding lies in the little details, and there are more than enough to make this place come alive.
As great as the world building is, what makes this comic work is the balance between the inventive, far-out concepts, and the very real, very human journey of Neela and Ivar. We don’t get a great deal of interaction between them in this issue, and consequently, most of the emotional weight comes from the character Ank—an herbivore that fights alongside Ivar in the arena. Through their dialogue, we learn a rich, tragic backstory that makes Ank a very compelling character. Again, kudos need to go to the art staff, because the amount of pathos and expression Perez is able to portray in this very nonhuman face is impressive.
It’s a testament to the intelligence and inventiveness of this creative team that they can introduce these wild, creative worlds and characters and just drop them. Honestly, other writers would probably spend a great deal more time in Dino-Rome with Ank and dinosaur Cesear and whatnot, but this comic moves at such a rapid pace that I know we won’t stay for much longer (in fact, given the final panel, I guarantee it). It’s like being taken on a magical mystery tour of time and space, but only having a day to spend in each place: you’re never going to get to see and experience everything you want, but you get more than enough to appreciate where you are.
In Summary:
Ivar, Timewalker #10 came out two weeks ago (sorry!), so chances are you’ve already picked it up. If you haven’t, then get yourself to a comic store so you don’t miss out on one of the most inventive, entertaining, and dramatic titles on the shelf. Dr. Josh gives this an….
Grade: A
Age Rating: T+
Released By: Valiant Comics
Release Date: October 21st, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
