With the release of Jurassic World this week everyone has gone a little dino-crazy! I can’t blame them, dinosaurs are pretty cool. Each and everyone of them has some particular feature which makes them not interesting to look at but also allows for the imagination to go wild. Luckily it’s not only the big screen that gets all the dinosaur action, comics are in on it too! Below are 5 comics featuring dinosaurs that you should read. Each pick has their own flavour to these magnificent beasts and should definitely keep you on a dinosaur high after seeing Jurassic World.
Age of Reptiles
Written and art by Richard Delgado. Published by Dark Horse Comics.
Age of Reptiles is a silent comic by storyboard artist Richard Delgado which follows the lives of dinosaurs in different locations and periods of prehistoric time. The art is fantastic with highly rendered dinosaurs in beautiful, and sometimes bloody, sequences. Each story of this award winning series follows a different group of dinosaurs, some of which are dealing with conflict, migrating or having sweet revenge.
The first three series are collected in the Age of Reptiles Omnibus and the fourth series has just begun. I talked about this series, Age of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians, here.
Super Dinosaur
Written by Robert Kirkman. Art by Jason Howard. Published by Image Comics.
This is The Walking Dead writer Robert Kirkman’s all ages series about a boy and his best friend, which happens to be a T-Rex with robotic arms and weapons. Together they must stop the evil Maximus from exploiting Inner Earth, a long lost hole in the Earth where dinosaurs are still alive. The series is lots of fun and will appeal to a wide age range – especially if you’re into action-centric animation.
Super Dinosaur has been collected in four trade paperback collections.
Rexodus
Written by James Farr. Art by Jon Sommariva. Published by Dark Horse Comics.
What if the dinosaurs didn’t die? What if they happened to leave Earth 65 million years ago and are still around to this day in outer space. Now in the present, the reason they left has now returned and threatens Earth as we know it and the one who can stop it is Amber, a young girl, and Kelvin Sauridon, a highly evolved dinosaur. This series is full of science fiction dinosaur action and should be suitable for most ages.
Rexodus is a 4 issue self-published miniseries which will be available in collected format from June 24th thanks to Dark Horse Comics.
Devil Dinosaur
Written and art by Jack Kirby. Published by Marvel Comics.
Written and drawn by the legendary Jack Kirby during his final stint at Marvel Comics, Devil Dinosaur is a prehistoric adventure series staring a giant red T-Rex and his companion Moon-Boy. Like many of the dinosaurs on this list, Devil Dinosaur is no normal dinosaur – possessing a higher level of intelligence and a telepathic link to Moon-Boy. Whiles the series didn’t last long, there’s plenty of adventure to be had with Devil Dino and Moon-Boy having to deal with unfriendly human tribes, warlords, other dinosaurs and even alien robots.
The entire series has been collected in Devil Dinosaur by Jack Kirby: The Complete Collection.
Dinosaur Comics
Written by Ryan North. Webcomic.
Of all the comics on this list Dinosaur Comics would have to be the strangest, most eccentric, of the comics on the list. The basic concept of it is that it’s a group of dinosaurs that have a conversation, but the real gimmick is that the panels are the same every day with the exception of the text. This inventive idea works quite well and was spawned from Ryan North’s inability to draw. The dinosaur’s conversations range from theoretical to the downright strange, in a range of topics from ethical situations to pop culture. But even with so much variety Dinosaur Comics still manages to be hilarious.
You can read the Dinosaur Comics online as well as buy collected editions here.
Have Your Say
Do you have a favourite comic featuring dinosaurs? Better yet, what dinosaur do you think is the coolest? let me know in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter.
how about ‘Kaijumax’? 🙂
I’m loving Kaijumax at the, but I’d put that more in the giant monsters category.