Age Of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians #4 - Dark Horse Comics

AGE OF REPTILES: ANCIENT EGYPTIANS No. 4, September 2015

“Ricardo Delgado’s latest tale of survival and the cycle of life in Cretaceous Africa” begins with an incredibly ruthless confrontation between a bull Paralititan and a “lone, deadly Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus”... Then frankly doesn’t stop in its graphic depiction of Prehistoric savagery and mutilation until towards the end of this twenty-four page periodical, when the series’ victorious protagonist seemingly bids farewell to his nesting mate and stalks off into the treeless wastes beyond the Baharija Formation.

Such unrelenting brutal barbarity genuinely proves an incredibly tiring experience for the reader, especially when each of the production designer’s bloodily animated panels are so overly-packed with all many of details that it frequently becomes necessary to just stop and study each and every drawing for a few minutes. Indeed it is almost as if the Costa Rican author has purposely tried to exhaust his audience in a similar manner to that employed by the plethora of combative carnivores who eventually wear down their colossal-sized prey. It is certainly very easy to understand why the “second largest known creature ever to walk on Earth” ruinously resigns himself to a ghastly fate after being so mercilessly badgered by page after page of vicious bites and clawing attacks…

However those bibliophiles fatally fatigued by such remorseless storytelling have genuinely missed as dramatically atmospheric an Antediluvian conflict as any dinosaur fan could want, courtesy of the Tidal Giant's vicious injuries “drawing the attention of the entire ecosystem” surrounding the combatants. In fact such is the ferocity of the Carcharodontosaurus, Rugops and Deltadromeus’ maw-sized attacks that the meat-eaters actually start to get in one another’s way as they repeatedly launch themselves at the ever-weakening, mortally-wounded Sauropod.

All of this guts and gore, including the odd stomach-turning picture drawn from inside the Titanosaur whilst his intestines are devoured by primeval crocodiles, is both incredibly well pencilled by Delgado and competently coloured by Ryan Hill. Although some may question the necessity to depict the once mighty Paralititan being literally pulled to pieces by swarms of hungry carnivores across the length of several pages before the title’s creator finally ends the ravaged cadaver's woes with a grisly sketch of a Pterosaur plucking out one of the herbivore’s sightless eyes…

Story, Art and Dinosaur Color Concepts: Ricardo Delgado, and Colors: Ryan Hill

Age Of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians #3 - Dark Horse Comics

AGE OF REPTILES: ANCIENT EGYPTIANS No. 3, August 2015

Graphically brutal and undoubtedly not for the squeamish, Ricardo Delgado immediately imbues “this exciting new [third] instalment of the multiple Eisner Award-winning series” with an aura of grisliness by depicting the harrowing mutilation of a Carcharodontosaurus foolish enough to blunder into a herd of Paralititan with the corpse of the sauropods’ long-dead infant still lifelessly dangling from the carnivore’s maw. Surrounded, and arguably ambushed, the solitary dinosaur quickly finds itself easy pickings for the agitated gigantic herbivores, and despite its name meaning ‘shark toothed lizard’ is quickly upended and then grimly crushed by an avalanche of phenomenally heavy Titanosaurian hooves.

Such outright savagery is easy to comprehend, and even sympathise with, considering the ‘grief-stricken’ parents’ feelings for the arrogant killer of their younglings. But hauntingly the “kid from the East San Fernando Valley” has an even more gruesomely gory fate in mind for the defenceless theropod, as its quivering, partially disintegrated large frame is methodically picked to pieces by the smaller predators of this deadly realm whilst it’s still actually alive…

Interestingly, having established such a violent tone to this twenty-four page periodical’s narrative, and later reaffirmed the harshness of his Prehistoric world by having a pack of Rugops Primus molest a nursling Carcharodontosaurus, Delgado does somehow also manage to incorporate a little ‘loving’ tenderness into the comic’s storyline courtesy of a disconcertingly affectionate male Spinosaurus placing some carrion beside his mate's muzzle. This scene is so delicately delivered that there momentarily seems to be some genuine feeling developing between the two huge flesh-eaters; a mutual appreciation which is reiterated at the end of the book when the Spine Lizard fends off a voracious pack of Primordial crocodiles attacking his docile partner’s nest.

Notably the Los Angeles-born artist doesn’t just lavish the entirety of his considerable drawing talents upon just depictions of dinosaurs violently tearing one another apart either. For Issue Three of “Age Of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians” is absolutely packed full of some incredibly detailed panels which not only portray everyday life within the Cretaceous period, such as fish swimming through murky, heavily-weeded waters and lightning strikes bringing down both flora and fauna simultaneously. But also focusses upon tiny confrontations between Crustaceans and Pteranodons, as well as the comic’s cast running in between the illustrator’s actual breakdowns.

Story, Art and Dinosaur Color Concepts: Ricardo Delgado, and Colors: Ryan Hill

Age Of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians #2 - Dark Horse Comics

AGE OF REPTILES: ANCIENT EGYPTIANS No. 2, July 2015

In many ways it is quite hard not to imagine the softly spoken voice of a broadcaster or naturalist such as Sir David Attenborough knowledgably whispering in your ear whilst reading this second instalment of “the Eisner-winning wordless series”. For Ricardo Delgado’s ‘vision’ of a group of Carcharodontosaurus Saharicus worrying a herd of Sauropods in order to ‘snatch’ away the enormous plant-eaters’ minute young manages to emulate the very best of televised wildlife documentaries.

Indeed this twenty-four page publication so readily captures the essence of a natural history programme that any bibliophile with the tiniest interest in dinosaurs will feel that they are genuinely watching a live action sequence rather than perusing a periodical. So much so in fact that their blood will undoubtedly run cold and their pulse start to race as the American comic creator’s opening panels depict the lime green playful Paralititan pups being hungrily watched from the shadows of the swamp by the Theropods.

Bizarrely this magazine’s greatest asset however, is the sometimes violent and gruesome narrative’s amazing ability to conjure up the noise and sounds of the primordial world within which these ‘giant lizards’ live... and oft-times die. Whether it be the eerie quiet stillness of the semi-hidden ‘jagged toothed’ carnivores as they patiently observe their hapless quarry, the yipping of diminutive baby titanosaurians as they spar with one another at the feet of their gigantic parents, or the thunder of the Saharicus’ three-toed feet upon the moist earth as they charge towards the now petrified yelping offspring and snatch them up within their horribly large jaws, one can easily imagine every reverberation, every thud and every grisly crunch.

Visually some of Delgado’s imagery is equally as vivid and occasionally heart-breaking, especially as events progress and the meat-eaters bloodily tear apart their pathetic prey until all but one tiny, shivering infant sauropod remains. Sated, the gore-caked adults sluggishly then watch as a momentarily defiant Paralititan tot bests one of their brood with a well-timed head-butt before succumbing to their teeth and claws.

Disconcertingly however, this is as nothing compared to the artist’s depiction of this title’s primary protagonist, a solitary anti-heroic Spinosaurus Aegypticus, devouring the young of a female he has just coupled with. The sheer savagery of the 'spine lizard' as he rends the squawking litter to pieces or squashes them underfoot would be horrible enough on its own. But is actually brutally exaggerated as a result of colorist Ryan Hill populating every repugnant panel with nothing but numerous shades of red.

Story, Art and Dinosaur Color Concepts: Ricardo Delgado, and Colors: Ryan Hill

Age Of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians #1 - Dark Horse Comics

AGE OF REPTILES: ANCIENT EGYPTIANS No. 1, JUNE 2015

“Basically a western that stars a samurai… who happens to be a forty-foot long predatory dinosaur” this publication by “Dark Horse Comics” is innovative not only for featuring the heavily stylised storyboard artwork of creator Ricardo Delgado. But for the fact that it doesn’t contain either a single word or sound effect throughout its twenty-four page journey across Cretaceous Africa.

Fortunately what it does encompass are some truly exquisitely detailed drawings of the flora and fauna of a “bustling, thriving and treacherous world” of giant reptiles and an action-packed captivating excursion alongside a “tough, lone Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus”. Indeed the sheer amount of things happening within the tiniest of the Costa Rican artist’s panels is unbelievable, and can actually prove so overwhelming that new elements to the textless story can be found even after the third or fourth reading.

Admittedly bibliophiles wanting a bit more to their narratives than just a succession of pictures may well be able to argue that at its most basic level this magazine is simply about a huge ‘spined lizard’ spending a day of its life eating fish and fending off threats. However there is so very much more to Delgado’s storytelling, even down to the “Disney” production designer’s ability to imbue the creatures he illustrates with characters all of their own… even down to a pair of claw-snapping crustaceans trying to catch a small insect whilst precariously balancing upon a branch floating down the river.

Indeed considering the sheer number of different dinosaurs, fish and birds which the writer incorporates into Issue One of “Age Of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians”, the attention to behavioural detail is incredible. Not only does the scarred main protagonist act with a persuasively believable animal intellect, picking his prey carefully amidst waters teeming with fat-bodied giant groupers and panic-stricken snapping-turtles. But so too do the creatures which the sharp-toothed behemoth encounters. Whether they be a pair of velociraptors inadvertently running into the Spinosaurus whilst tussling between themselves over a leg shank, or a reckless meat-eating carnosaur wildly fleeing a herd of sauropods it had unwisely attacked earlier.

Dishearteningly not everything works as well as Delgado presumably hoped however. The California-based penciller’s ‘thunder lizards’ appear far too reminiscent of something from the live action computer animated adventure film “Dinosaur” by “Walt Disney Pictures” to be taken seriously. Especially when the group’s leader appears a little too ‘human-like’ with its ‘double-take’ at the semi-aquatic "anti-hero" swimming past it.

Story, Art and Dinosaur Color Concepts: Ricardo Delgado, and Colors: Ryan Hill