The name Super Dinosaur sounds like something a kid would make up while doodling away with crayons and designing new heroes of their own creation. Superheroes are awesome. Dinosaurs are awesome. A dinosaur superhero would have to be awesome, right?
Super Dinosaur #1
Enter Super Dinosaur, the latest creation from comic superstar Robert Kirkman (Invincible, Walking Dead) and Image Comics. Unlike Kirkman’s other books, Super Dinosaur is an all-ages title. All the elements of a good all-ages book are present: action, humor, fun, imagination and an undercurrent of deeper things at play.
Super Dinosaur introduces us to Derek Dynamo, the son of world famous scientist/adventurer Doctor Dynamo. Derek is, by his own admission, pretty awesome. Not only is Derek following in his father’s footsteps as a science hero but he gets to do so along with his best friend Super Dinosaur, a nine foot tall intelligent talking armored T-Rex!
Together Derek and SD battle the forces of Max Maximus, Doctor Dynamo’s one-time partner and all around bad guy. Unfortunately, Maximus is the least of Derek’s problems. Something is wrong with his dad. Derek is forced cover for his father’s “condition” and he’s getting in over his head.
All-ages storytelling is a tricky thing to pull off. While you need certain aspects to hook kids you also need to tell a story that is compelling and rich for adults. Good examples are Avatar: The Last Airbender (the animated series and not the horrendous live action movie) and just about any Pixar movie ever made. Kirkman and artist Jason Howard (The Astounding Wolfman) manage to get the tone just right with Super Dinosaur and I’m really looking forward to seeing how this series develops.
As you can tell I really like this book. My daughter really liked it too. You want to get kids reading comics? Give them a copy of Super Dinosaur #1 to read. They’ll be hooked. I guarantee it. And so will you.
Super Dinosaur #1 is in stores now. For Free Comic Book Day (May 7th) your local comic shop will have a special origin issue of Super Dinosaur available for, you guessed it, free. That would be a great time to check out Super Dinosaur, right? Enjoy.
