Super Dinosaur #2 – Advance Review

by Robert Kirkman (writer), Jason Howard (artist & colorist), and Rus Wooton (letterer)

The Story: The Kingstons fit out SD with some new Arctic gear as he and Derek go up North to battle Tricerachops and a new enemy…the Exile.

The Review:  I’ll admit that I’ve often not been kind to Robert Kirkman when chatting about comics.  It’s long been my opinion that everything the man has done outside of the Walking Dead and Invincible have, well, not been very good.

So, honestly, I’m shocked at just how much I’ve been enjoying Super Dinosaur.  It’s something very different from Kirkman, and it succeeds utterly.  It reminds me strongly, both in look and storytelling, to the cartoons I watched as a kid, and I think that any guy in their twenties who got up at 8 on Saturdays will get a real good nostalgia trip from this comic.

Story-wise, in being an all-ages comic, Kirkman seems intent on moving at a breakneck speed so as to capture the attention of even the most hyper-active kid.  A lot happens and there are tons of action scenes mixed in with the character moments.  As far as pacing goes, this one keeps you reading, to be sure.

I love the addition of a new villain, and better than that, I love the fact that this villain is at odds with main bad guy Max Maximus.  I’ve always loved when cartoons do that: introduce a new villain whose nastier and more powerful than the perennial big bad.  It opens a whole new realm of threats while offering the potential for new motivations, and possible allegiances, with the former villain, in this case Maximus.  It’s a tried and true technique that I’ve always loved.  Hell, it’s one of the reasons I’m such a Dr. Doom fan, for instance.

While the action is an absolute blast, Kirkman does strong work with the small character moments as well.  Erin and Erica remain compelling characters, with Erica’s opening up a bit about her unhappiness giving a sympathetic human face toe character.  Kirkman also has SD express his loneliness at not having any dino-friends.  Much like the introduction of a new villain, this is an avenue with huge potential, showing some sure to be rocky roads ahead in Derek and SD’s friendship.  It’s a familiar tale, sure, but the sheer energy of Kirkman’s world and the nostalgia it conjures are enough to make it a good one.

Super Dinosaur Origin Special #1 – Review

by Robert Kirkman (writer), Jason Howard (artist & colorist), and Rus Wooton (letterer)

The Story: Derek Dynamo tells of the origins of his buddy SD, the creation of SD’s harness, the discovery of Inner Earth, and the blossoming of Max Maximus’ villainous tendencies.

The Review:  I’ll admit, comic books weren’t a huge part of my childhood.  That said, I watched a lot of cartoons.  Super Dinosaur is totally something I would’ve watched religiously.

That said, this is a tough issue to grade.  As an actual comic book, it isn’t very good.  It’s basically an atomic bomb of exposition.  The idea of “showing not telling” is completely thrown out the window and finds itself buried by heaps of text.  This isn’t a master class on comic book storytelling, to be sure.

Yet, I actually liked this issue more than I disliked it, and I think that’s testament to how fun Kirkman and Howard’s world and characters are.  I skipped the first issue of Super Dinosaur, but I liked what I saw here enough to give #2 a go.  The characters are just so likable and the world is just so crazy, the sort of crazy that only a wide-eyed kid could dream up.  Indeed, this almost read’s like a kid’s fantasy.  There’s an enthusiasm, life, and, well, ridiculousness here that is impossible not to grin at.  With characters named “Super Dinosaur” and “Max Maximus” there’s a sense of gleeful abandon that’s infectious.

More than that, Kirkman once again shows, albeit in a very different context this time around, that he excels at writing kids.  Derek sounds like an actual kid, and his youth and vibrance isn’t forced at all.

Super Dinosaur #1 – Review

By: Robert Kirkman (writer), Jason Howard (art & colors), Rus Wooton (letters) & Sina Grace (editor)

The Story: A boy genius and his Super Dinosaur friend fight an evil scientist.

What’s Good: Comics for kids…  Some folks think we need a lot more comics for kids since most of the people reading comics are 30-45 year old dudes and people wring their hands about the “death of comics” and the “need to bring in new readers”.  But, how do we do that when even “safe” titles like Amazing Spider-Man has a bedroom scene every 40 issues and is “burdened” by decades of back-story.

This is a great kid’s comic.  It has the look and feel of a Ben 10-esque cartoon.  The basic story is simple: Derek Dynamo lives with his super-scientist father, Doctor Dynamo and his partner/friend Super Dinosaur.  They come into conflict with Dr. Dynamo’s former lab assistant, Max Maximus and his squad of evil, uplifted dinosaurs over access to some scarce raw material.  The dinosaurs come from some Inner Earth (think Journey to the Center of the Earth) and have been modified by the good/evil doctors.  That’s pretty much the plot and Kirkman explains it all in the first 3-4 pages with the rest of the issue being devoted to dinosaur fights and an interesting plot wrinkle tossed in at the end.

The best thing I can say about this is that it is fun and I think that any adult comic fan with a 7-10 year old boy could try handing this to them.  There is nothing even remotely risqué in this comic and it somehow gives you the confidence that it won’t ever get into bad language and wanton violence or sexuality in the future.  I think you’d be perfectly safe buying this at the comic shop and just handing it to your kid without previewing it first.