4 out of 5

The brief history on this that I can glean is an amusing oddity: that in the late 80s, Peter Laird was developing another pitch for a cartoon or toy series called Commandosaurs, featuring humanoid dinos outfitted with laser guns and gadgets, presumably fighting against “the terrorsaurs,” if the content of these minis matches that pitch.  It never turned into cartoons or toys, and then sometime in the 90s, word floated about of a Commandosaurs trade made by Pete and Steve Bissette.  Which I guess never happened either.  Then, eventually, in the early 00s, these seemingly computer-printed mini-comics appeared sold at signings or trade shows, and finally, in 2015 they started to be offered via the Mirage website.

Is that history inaccurate?  Probably.  But the point is: this sprang from a toy idea.  That gives some context to the Michael Dooney sculptures of each issue’s featured character which are photoed on the back of their book, as well as to the profile breakdowns – labeling all the various doo-dads the Commandos are wearing – that pop up as extra content in each issue as well.  It also sets the stage for the very toy-esque “We’re the Commandosaurs!” type plotting of half of these issues – each of which is titled with the name of a character it spotlights.  But then, amusingly, some of the books are very dark, so our writers did let their imagination work instead of just sticking to any suggested tone.

Excellent Lawson art, great Peter Laird inks, super cool Dooney covers.  The stories can’t accomplish all that much in 12-14 pages, but there’s definite scripting and art effort the whole way through, so the minis aren’t a throwaway.  Not that you’d be throwing them away anyhow, as they’re most certainly only going to be picked up by collectors.  The lack of a fith star is sort of a cheat, I guess, as I’m rating a novelty item, but it would’ve been cool if the issues connected in some way, or at least established something beyond Commandosaur vs. Terrorsaur.  That being said it’s still super cool to own this historical oddball, and hopefully, if you bought it, you’re as big a fan of the art team as the rest of us.