The Jurassic League #3 – Juan Gedeon/Daniel Warren Johnson, Writers; Rafa Garres, Artist; Mike Spicer, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: Surprisingly, we get a total change of artist only three issues in, and with a series like that with such a distinct visual style, that does affect the story a lot. Rafa Garres is not an artist I’m familiar with, but he’s clearly talented. However, his art is a little more cartoony than Gedeon’s, and it makes some of the scenes feel a little slapstick-like. Given that this is a series about dinosaurs with superpowers fighting each other, it’s already on just this side of absurd, and it doesn’t help that some of the new characters focused on this issue are a lot more out-there than the original three. Flashraptor and Green Torch have a buddy comedy vibe when they’re introduced, while the more serious Aquaonyx has his hands full keeping them on-mission when they’re attacked by a band of villains. The looming threat of the Dark Embryo continues to tie everything together, but this group isn’t as compelling as the main three.
The art is also a bit of an issue when it comes to the main segment involving Batsaur, Supersaurus, and Wonderdon. These three have been given much more characterization and each have their own motivations as they fight to defend the human settlement. However, in this issue the art on this scene feels rather chaotic, often with dozens of characters scrambling over each other. It improves when we have one-on-one confrontations, such as when the strange Bizarro creature winds up getting interrogated by Wonderdon. The writers have done a good job of setting up the concept of the Dark Embryo as a lurking horror, and the cliffhanger ending here ups the threat intensely. This is a fun comic, but it’s one where the concept is carrying a lot of the weight and we still really haven’t seen where it’s going yet. I’m hoping the finale is as strong as the setup here.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
