4 out of 5

I feel like we’re supposed to accept this all as kitsch, but even from the first issue (which is a reprint of an Eclipse issue, which was the only published of an intended 3) there’s an indication that Dinos Attack! goes beyond its camp and gore to craft a quirky and fun story and some actual characters.  Gary Gerani, penciller Herb Trimpe, and a set of painters produced a card set in the 80s that was a spiritual successor to Mars Attacks!, though taking monster movies as their inspiration instead of B- sci-fi.  Looking at images of the cards, they’re gloriously detailed and they go for effing broke, man – puppies getting smashed, school children gored, presidents ripped apart – but without the mean-spirited nature of, say, the Avatar comics ‘gore’ variant covers… there’s something undeniably cheeky about the images, guts and eyeballs and all.  The humorous tone is apparent, even if the art isn’t to your taste.  This sensibility is carried over into the comic – which IDW has finally allowed Gerani to complete (or perhaps these were just unpublished from the Eclipse days, I dunno), all of the attack sequences lushly painted, surreally separating them from the core story pages, which are more traditionally penciled / colored – the former stuff mostly by Earl Norem (also of the card series), the latter again Trimpe, with a spattering of assistance in a couple of issues.  Most issues devolve into madness for the last couple pages, where the dinos materialize in some city and just start stompin’ and eatin’, ’cause that’s what gigantic monster dinos do.

But kitsch alone doesn’t always wow me, and five issues of it would have grown tired.  These insane sequences work because they’re balanced out by a surprisingly intelligent story – in the sense that the characters behave realistically, and the plot movement don’t insult the reader – of scientist Elias Thorne’s ‘Timescraper’ experiment, which allows one to use a special viewer to review actual images of past occurrences, post bathing the target area in… y’know, science particles.  On the eve of a celebration for turning the Timescraper on Earth, Elias’ ex-wife Helen – as a fellow scientist, worried about unforseen complications with the experiment – successfully stirs up a bit of panic and gets the project delayed.  But later that night, the Timescraper is mysteriously activated… and now killer dinos are taking over the planet…

Silly?  Sure.  But Elias and Helen’s relationship is notably mature, not the bickering couple that would’ve been easy for comic book drama, but rather two intelligent individuals who still share love, albeit on their own terms.  Their tete-a-tete in determing the cause and solution for the problem, as well as concerns over Elias’ mental state, are well scripted and interesting.  And the reveal of a potentially malevolent force aboard the ship is awesome… as ridiculous as it should be.  Though, I suppose, no surprise to those who own the cards.

Some of the side stories unfortunately fall a little flat, but only because they don’t end up going anywhere.  A reporter who believes in his duty to continue covering the events; flashes to Elias and Helen’s daughter, making her own way.  At the moments these scenes play out, they are, again, well done, but have little resolution or real sense of consequence in the overall proceedings.  These were possibly included only as references to the cards.  And sometimes the pencil / painting transitions can be jarring.  Generally, we’ll end one scene in pencils and start the next in paints, and that works great, but a couple scenes are continued from one medium to the next and some fairly obvious background / character details will change, stopping the flow.

Still, the cards have a following precisely for the reasons I enjoyed the book – they’re lovingly produced, and have a well written tale to tell.  The comic series is definitely recommended; and at least give it a glance or two if you passed it up as just pulpy nonsense.