Dinocorps

By Andy Briggs, Steve Horvath & Robert Molesworth (Markosia)
ISBN: 978-1-905692-80-4

The giant lizards who dominated earth for millions of years are an inescapable component of our culture and a vibrant part of modern story-telling. From Gertie and Barney to The Lost World or Dinotopia, from Calvin and Hobbes, Dinosaurs for Hire or Devil Dinosaur to The War that Time Forgot, Age of Reptiles and Tyrant, rampaging, roaring reptiles have and always will fascinate and captivate us all.

Here’s a rather cool, kid-friendly tweak on such scaly tales from screenwriter and author Andy Briggs (Judge Dredd, Freddy vs. Jason, Tarzan: the Greystoke Legacy) and Steve Horvath, illustrated in effective anime style by Robert Molesworth (Endangered Weapon B) that takes our long-vanished antecedents into rarely seen high-adventure territory.

Geeky Carl Vega is barely awake in his science class. The poor kid is fourteen and struggling to accept the inevitable changes and developments in his life. High school is getting him down and best buddy Winston just keeps obsessing about girls and parties.

Carl isn’t keen and he’s way behind on his science project but Winston doesn’t care. Being noticed by girls is cool and anyway he’s already handled his school chores. He shows off the geode/fossil thing he found near the old abandoned mine to prove it, and urges Carl to get one too before getting a life and joining him at the partyâ€¦

Still fuming, Carl bikes out to the spooky old ruin and begins poking about deep inside, nervous despite himself over all those scary stories adults told him just to keep kids out. However, as he plunges through loose boards into a deep shaft, his last thought is that Winston said he found his rock â€œnearâ€ not â€œinâ€ the mineâ€¦

Miraculously alive after his painful fall, Carl discovers an incredible rock-encrusted machine in a large icy cavern and is irresistibly drawn to a lever he can’t stop himself pullingâ€¦

With a crackle and a splash the device spews out a giant figure in a military uniform, speaking an utterly alien tongue. It’s a two-legged lizard a bit like a T-Rex, and with the flick of a switch it’s suddenly speaking colloquial English. Worse yet the machine is upchucking more of them â€¦

Soon the decanted creatures have settled and explain that they are a crack military unit from a place called Pangea. It was an idyllic civilisation and perfectly integrated society of many reptile species living in harmony – until that is – a sect of separatist terrorists who called themselves â€œTrue-Bloodsâ€ detonated a doomsday weapon to wipe out all the inferior species.

As the bewildered boy continues talking with Sergeant Rex, Lieutenant Kayla, Corporal Dirk, Professor Theodore and high-flying pterosaur Buzz they all reach the grim realisation that Pangea is now Earth, the Saurons’ dreaded Extinction Protocol device worked too well and the dinosaur soldiers have slept for thirty million yearsâ€¦

Marooned an eternity away from everything they have ever known, the Dinocorps accept Carl’s offer of help and emerge into a land completely different from their own. Painful memories of the scientific super-civilisation that once conquered space and privation taunt the sad survivors, but they are blithely unaware that they are not the only relics of that lost world.

In another distant cavern, a very similar bunker activates and the last cadre of Sauron supremacists awaken. Cruel, merciless eyes open and consult their monitoring machines. They are not happy with what they learnâ€¦

Meanwhile Carl has told Winston everything, but his â€œall grown-upâ€ pal refuses to believe a word and the friends have a huge fight. The cynic soon changes his mind however when a rampaging platoon of dinosaurs destroy the local Mall. Commander Jarek, Rayok, Kainor Veeble, Icks and Blix have no worries about being inconspicuous or politeâ€¦

The Saurons eradicated their entire civilisation because they wouldn’t share the world with different types of their own kind: they’re certainly not going to allow a bunch of mammals to live in it. The huge solar cannon that destroyed Pangea is still in orbit and operational. All they have to do is find the trigger control and they can wipe out this latest infestation of inferior lifeâ€¦

When Carl deduces that it’s in the geode Winston found, the heroes rush over to his house only to find the horrifically wicked flesh-hungry Saurons have also tracked it down. A brutal clash between the time-lost angels and devils then results in the first Dinocorps casualty in 30 million yearsâ€¦

In the aftermath, Jarek and his squad retreat with Winston as their hostage and Rex reveals the device has attuned itself to the terrified kid. Unless they can rescue him from the triumphant terror-lizards the end of the world is only days awayâ€¦

Saurons are fanatical but not suicidal and immediately head for an ancient back-up bunker prepared before their world died. Unfortunately we mammals are everywhere and the overland journey is fraught with clashes against the puny humans, allowing Winston an opportunity to phone his friend and give the Dinocorps one last chance to intercept them and stop the countdown.

As the solar clock ticks down events continually frustrate Jarek. Even after reaching the location of the shelter the killer lizard is temporarily stymied because the insufferable mammals have built a city over itâ€¦

When Carl and his valiant dinosaur defenders hit Las Vegas in their recently restored antediluvian dino-jet the scene is set for one last cataclysmic battle to save everythingâ€¦

Reading like a spectacular pilot for an edgy Saturday morning cartoon, Dinocorps is fast-paced and action-packed, with acres of drama and tension in the style of both Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Furious fantastic fun for kids of all ages and constructed with sequels in mind, this collection also sports a section of sketches and designs for the dynamic dinosaur defendersâ€¦

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