Book Review: Age of Reptiles

'This story is about a samurai'

The cover is simple and powerful. I love it.

     Age of Reptiles by Ricardo Delgado is one of the best graphic novels I've read in the long time. I know, I know...of course it is. It has dinosaurs! It's not just because it's a graphic novel about dinosaurs, but the art, pacing of the story and how the story itself was delivered is what made me enjoy this book as much as I did.

     Any yeah, the dinosaurs in it are really awesome.

     It's always strange to me when a story about animals has dialog, as in the animals themselves are talking. Language as we know it is a human thing; laced with emotion, deception and hidden messages, never straight forward and honest like how animals communicate. 

     But how else could a story teller express a story if their characters don't speak? If they don't have human language?

     A good example of this is Raptor Red by Robert Bakker. The story stars a raptor going through her life in the cretaceous trying to survive. She has inner dialog, thoughts, concerns, etc. It's not more complex then "red stripe on his muzzle means he's good, one of my clan", but it's still speech, dialog, and hard for me to really get into. Because...well...animals don't talk.

     Delgado's story has no dialog. No speech bubbles, no thought bubbles...just scenes, a story unfolding frame by frame. Never once was I confused about what was trying to be expressed, the emotions of the creatures clearly expressed on their faces, in their eyes, through their actions. Coupled with amazing art in the dinosaurs and background, sticking very close to the science, this story was rich and beautiful.

     The star of the story is a male Spinosaurus living his life as a lone warrior in what would later be named Egypt by humans millions of years later. During this time Egypt wasn't a dessert but a lush, swampy area with tall trees and teaming with prehistoric life. It was the land of huge apex predators, crocodiles and Titanosaurs.

     Life during this time was brutal, and Delado doesn't hold any punches when it comes to that fact. Death happens, in graphic detail, almost Game of Thrones style. I remember thinking more than once, "Oh, damn. Didn't see that coming." 

     This is not a comic for kids, unless your kids are used to seeing animals getting stomped to death by Titanosaurs or eaten alive by Carcharodontosaurs.

     Age of Reptiles originally came out as single issue comics, but if you buy the graphic novel that has all of them together, you get a collection Delgado's essays talking about the inspiration behind the story, as well as a collection of the single issue cover art.

     Apparently Delgado is a huge fan of samurai movies, specifically Seven Samurai, and wanted to make a story reflecting that feeling of a lone warrior. 

     So, Spinosaurus in this story is a samurai, surrounded by death and fighting. 

     Spinosaurus is definitely not a good guy by any stretch, as he's still an animal surviving in a ruthless world with death at every turn. But he's still a character you want to see succeed, live, and try not take as much damage as he does.

     You can order it at any local comic shop, which I would suggest if you're able to support local business. Otherwise, I snagged mine on Amazon for about $12.
     Delgado has another graphic novel, Age of Reptiles: Omnibus, which has a collection of dinosaur stories, that I'll order probably in the near future.    

     Over all, the graphic novel is amazing, and I think anyone can really appreciate how well done it is. You don't have to be a dinosaur fan to really love it, but I think dinosaur nerds will really enjoy it the most.