4 out of 5

If the very premise makes ya laugh…

Well, honestly, that’s no guarantee of anything, given how much some people seem to think that repeating jokes verbatim equates to a creative use of humor.  Sprinkle in some timely meme references, and suddenly you’ve got your hot new book or the month or whatever, praised for its wackiness and that wild and crazy central premise.

Generally not praised from the likes of good ole me.

So on the rare occasion that one of those laugh-worthy premises also produces a laugh-worthy book… it’s something to celebrate.  With a four star review!  Weeee!

Mr. Tom Ward, writer of the fantastic Merrick, and Chris Welsch, give us the kickstarter-funded Doc Dino, starring a monocle and mustache sporting t-rex who is “the best surgeon in the world…  on paper.”  But oh shucks, in practice, he’s killed pretty much every patient – damn his diminutive arms! – and his drinking and drugging lifestyle must come to an end when the hospital replaces him with his rival…

Ward and Welsch keep the tone willfully stupid and take jabs at any given college comedy / redemption story tropes, with solidly cartoony art from Mac Radwanski and groovy popping colors from Dee Cunniffe.  A couple of the jokes don’t land perfectly due to some questionable framing / timing, and I think there are some lettering flubs (incorrect bubble attribution), but the whole thing is such a brisk, pleasingly dumb, frequently hilarious read that that stuff mostly gets a pass.

Listed as 1 of 2 (and 36 pages of an originally announced 60+), but a year on with no announcement of 2, so here’s your review.