Super Dinosaur - Robert Kirkman

The last couple of weeks have been pretty dead as far as my blogging goes.  I've been reading a ton of stuff, but most of it has been an attempting to catch up to current releases on the various comic series I follow.  I've also been reading an awesome novel that I should be finishing and posting about in a few days.  In the midst of all this reading, I had the opportunity to pick up a really great first issue of "Super Dinosaur," which just released this month.  I am a sucker for friend's recommendations, so when my friend Sunda recommended it, I knew it was bound for blog fame.  First of all, Sunda has purple hair, so really, how can you not value her opinion?  And second, this is a comic about dinosaurs.  Not just dinosaurs, but dinosaurs that wear robotic armor and fight each other.  If that doesn't do anything for you then you are probably this guy.  Keeping both of those facts in mind, I spent my four dollars, and headed home to dive into the adventure.

The story of "Super Dinosaur" revolves around a teenage boy named Derek Dynamo.  He is the son of Doctor Dynamo, a brilliant scientist.  Doctor Dynamo and his former partner Max Maximus co-discovered that under the Earth's surface is a place called "Inner Earth," which is the home to the dinosaurs!  Inner Earth also contains a rare material called "DynOre," which is basically solar power contained in rock form.  Soon after their discovery, the two scientists become enemies, with Maximus trying to take over the world, and Dynamo trying to protect it.  Doctor Dynamo recruits his son, his created robot "Wheels," and a giant T-Rex named Super Dinosaur, or "SD" for short.  Together, the four of them battle the forces of Max Maximus and protect Inner Earth from his evil plans of world domination.

If you are over the age of 12, then there might have been a few times in that last paragraph that you rolled your eyes.  When I first started reading this comic, I have to admit, I was a little turned off by some of the lackluster choices.  "Max Maximus?"  "Derek Dynamo"?  "DynOre?"  I mean, even the comic's title is a little..well, unoriginal.  This isn't exactly the complex Kirkman I've grown to love.  Where are the dark, gritty, emotionally taxing story lines?  The exploding zombies?  Where are all the things that made Kirkman a comic legend?  Then it hit me, Spielberg did "Saving Private Ryan," but he also did "E.T."  Maybe this new Kirkman is different, but that doesn't mean it's not worthy of praise. 

After reading "Super Dinosaur," it was pretty obvious that Kirkman was writing this book for younger audiences.  When asked about the series, Kirkman said, "I want it to be a true all-ages book in that it's appropriate for kids young enough but still able to read, and it's still something that my fan base will probably enjoy."

Honestly, when he puts it that way, he nailed it!  This is the perfect comic series for young readers.  It's got everything that kids love, action, adventure, fun artwork, it's simple to read, and...oh yeah, DINOSAURS!  It's a home run.  Not only would any kid gladly read this story, but Kirkman also did something that is truly rare in youth fiction – he made it appeal to older readers as well.  While I wasn't as captivated as I have been with some of his "Walking Dead" storylines, I have to admit, I had a lot of fun with "Super Dinosaur."  It was an enjoyable read, simple, fun, and entertaining.  When a book has all those characteristics, it doesn't matter if you are 12 or 29, it makes it worth the read.

The Walking Dead - Robert Kirkman

Maybe it's because my friend Jeff is so convincing, or because I'm reading an impossibly frustrating novel at the moment (one day ill post on it), but for whatever reason my blog is about to get a whole lot more illustrated.  Scott Pilgrim planted a seed, Locke and Key watered it, and now I have a full blown shrubbery growing out of control.  You see, my blog is a little outdated.  After discovering the joys of comics last month I've been on a mission to read every comic I can get my hands on.  Now my mission is to put them down long enough to update this stupid blog (which is on my bad list for making me put my comics down).  So here goes nothing...

The Walking Dead is all about the imminent zombie apocalypse — trust me it's coming, and sooner than you might think.  Unfortunately, the zombie theme has been done so many times, it's in the running with vampire stories for winner of "genre that has been beaten to death", so I was a little hesitant going into the first page.  The story starts out with the main character, Rick Grimes, waking up alone in a hospital bed.  Not exactly a groundbreaking start in the zombie genre, and Kirkman keeps a healthy dose of tired cliches coming.  There is a reason these cliches have become tired, and it's because they work so well!  Just like Pepsi would never change their recipe (Crystal Pepsi?  Doh!) the zombie cliches are part of the fun!  What makes The Walking Dead special is that it mixes an expert story and strong character development into the cliche formula.  The dialogues between characters are what really draw the reader in.  Kirkman explores the delicate mental psyche of the people dealing with the complete destruction of everything they knew as reality.  Despite the obvious appeal of guns, axes and gruesome zombie dismemberment, there is a real focus on what an event like this does to the people involved.  Exhaustion, mental deterioration, animal instincts, and the fight for survival are all parts of the formula.  The characters grow, change, deteriorate, and fight to stay alive, and they take us along for each part of the gory ride.

On the surface, you can look at The Walking Dead and say "been there done that".  There are a ton of cookie cutter zombie moments that have been used a million times in a million other zombie works.  At the same time, The Walking Dead breaks new ground on the zombie genre by taking it to a deeper level and exploring the human side of the apocalypse.  Each living person, as well as each zombie is a character of the story.  With every zombie that dies (and there are thousands) Kirkman takes you through the excitement of the action, as well as the pain of seeing a human life lost.  The humanity of each zombie is felt, and you share in the pain and internal conflict that each human character is forced to deal with.  In the end, despite all the familiarity, The Walking Dead breaks ground like a decrepit hand rising out of the grave to bring something new and exciting to the once beaten to death zombie genre.