Jurassic Park: The Devils In The Desert #4 Review

Well folks, it's finally here. John Byrne's take on Jurassic Park has come to a close. Did the finale of Devils In The Desert fare better than the mediocre issue 3? Well, yes and no. WARNING: HUGE SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS ISSUE. I STRESS THIS BECAUSE IT'S KIND OF A BIG DEAL THIS TIME AROUND.

This issue starts with Monica and Sheriff Tobias flying in Monica's plane and they talk briefly about why Monica's last name is different than her dad's. Turns out she was married but her husband was killed overseas in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb. Tobias apologizes for bringing it up but then they see the Pteranodons flying below them. Since the plane is too fast, Monica has to keep circling them in order for the Sheriff to get a good shot at them. He gets two of them but one kamikazes into the plane's propeller and they crash into a zoo. Monica twists her ankle on the way out and Tobias is bleeding from his forehead but the second Pteranodon isn't dead and bites his head apart. It comes after Monica because this Pteranodon is out for vengeance and she limps into an animal enclosure only to get jumped by a polar bear. She dives aside and the Pteranodon lunges at the polar bear but gets the unholy shit beaten out of it and then she escapes. We cut to Tobias' funeral where Daniel says he's only the temporary Sheriff now and Tobias' secretary is talking with his old high school sweetheart who says she won't tell Tyler who his real father is because he's already lost one father. The comic closes with Monica saying that the creatures came from Isla Sorna using the ocean currents and what happens next year?

This issue was better than the last because it seemed to have better pacing this time around, I don't have to read about that "Who's Tyler's Real Father" subplot that got annoying fast and I was greatly amused by seeing the Pteranodon get completely hauled by a bear. Yet, at the same time, not a whole lot happens in this issue. Seriously. Fly after the Pteranodons, crash at the zoo, Tobias dies, Pteranodon vs bear, funeral, fin. Not that this series overall was bad, in fact, it's still really good, issue 3 being the only major bump in the road, but there were just a couple of things that bugged me. I'll have to watch the scene again, but I'm pretty sure that nothing will happen next year because I thought these were the last of the Pteranodons from Jurassic Park III, unless they've nested elsewhere and we get a repeat of The Devils In The Desert somewhere else. I still recommend this series, but it sucks that we won't be able to get a new Jurassic Park series until May 2012 at the latest when the Dangerous Game tradepaperback hits shelves. I mean, we'll probably get an individual issue run before the trade comes out, but since the individual issues haven't been announced before the trade, I'm not so sure.

-The Cynic

Jurassic Park: The Devils In The Desert #2 Review

Yup, it's time again to look at IDW's latest arc in the Jurassic Park franchise, The Devils In The Desert. Now, assuming you read my review of the first issue, you know that this series has taken an interesting and ballsy move in their choice of "villain." In regards to the JP series, I try not to use that term very often (if it all) because usually the island's inhabitants are labeled with said term, but the fact is that the dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures created by InGen are just animals doing what they do in order to survive and not making things difficult for the humans in order to take over the world. However, Devils In The Desert #2 brings up an interesting point that had been mentioned but somewhat brushed aside in Jurassic Park III: the creatures are not actually dinosaurs or Pteranodons but rather genetic replicas of them with imperfections throughout...which of course is a nice way of saying, "Genetically engineered theme park monsters." With that said, SPOILER ALERT.

The comic opens with a trucker almost running over one of the hikers from the end of the first issue and then taking her to a hospital. While Sheriff Tobias and his party come to the conclusion that the Pteranodons did in fact come from Site B, Tyler Franklin runs off to find his father (who was found dead in the first issue) and he & his horse are attacked by the Pteranodons. As the Pteras rip Buttercup apart, Tyler falls into a crevice and twists his ankle. Agent Harding gets a call from one of his colleagues saying that the survivor of the hiking crew said she was attacked at Morton Ridge so the group heads over and while on his way, Tobias gets somewhat lectured by Liz the secretary about how he let Sara, Tyler's mother, get away all those years ago but Tobias tells her to mind her own business. When they get there, Harding hands out some guns stowed in the back of his humvee but they do agree with Monica, one of the scientists from the university, that they should try and take some of the Pteranodons alive. However, when the Pteras attack and cause their truck to flip over down the side of the hill, that idea gets abandoned and Agent Harding begins blowing holes into them. They rescue Tyler from the crevice (I swear, Tyler is eying Monica's ass in this panel) and the last wound Ptera lunges at Harding's leg, injuring him before he blasts its head apart. Monica investigates the top of the ridge and finds that their problems are just starting...

Honestly, there isn't a whole lot to say about issue #2 of this series that wouldn't sound like a rehash of my feelings on issue #1. The artwork looks just as good this time around as it did with the first issue and the writing is well done...mostly. My only gripe this time around seems to be with how Liz and even Sara's parents are nudging Will's shoulder going, "Hey, hey, she's single, hey, hey, you should get on that, hey, hey." There are fucking Pteranodons killing livestock and people alike, not to mention the woman just lost her fucking husband and the father of her son, even if he was something of a douche. This is not the time nor the place. I'm glad Will is focusing on the task at hand instead of humming and hawing over hooking up with his now back-on-the-market-due-to-unforeseen-and-tragic-circumstances-former-high-school-sweetheart. Looking forward to issue #3, which should hopefully ship at the same time as this.

Also, expect a new video sometime within the next week or so.

-The Cynic

Jurassic Park: The Devils In The Desert #1 Review

You're probably wondering why you're reading these words here instead of hearing them on YouTube. Coffee With The Cynic's YouTube schedule is limited to 1-2 videos a month so that I don't burn myself out, so here it is. Be warned: minor to moderate spoilers.

Jurassic Park has had an unfavorable history with comics, whether it be poor artwork, strange/horribly written stories, or a combination of the two. The last good comic of Jurassic Park to be released in my opinion was the comic adaptation of The Lost World: Jurassic Park, where the dinosaurs looked very similar to how they did in the movies (unlike the first film's adaptation) and the characters almost looked spot on to the actors that played them. Sadly, that comic came out almost 14 years ago and the only follow-up we've had since then was the absolutely horrible series Jurassic Park: Redemption, which you can see me tear apart on Coffee With The Cynic's YouTube channel. So rest assured, I was skeptical of the announcement of the next installment, The Devils In The Desert, but since it has that damn logo with the Rex skeleton in it, I shelled out money to read it. How is it?

Redemption haters rejoice!

Well first off, it looks much MUCH nicer this time around and when reading any comic, nice artwork is good to have. However, in the sense of Jurassic Park, it is crucial because the films went out of their way to make sure the dinosaurs LOOKED real. Sure, pencil & Photoshop coloring doesn't quite match life-sized animatronics or computer generated imagery, but dammit, it helps. The humans don't look like horrible pixelated boxes, the vehicles and locales look like some effort was actually put into them and as for the "Devils?" Well, see for yourself...

I honestly was not expecting this...

I love how the Pteranodons have a very similar coloring to how they did in Jurassic Park III, making this feel like a true sequel rather than something trying to cash in on the JP name. I'm still not crazy about them having teeth, but they had teeth in the movie, so it only makes sense they sport them here.

The story of The Devils In The Desert follows Sheriff Tobias as he is called in to investigate cattle mutilations and the disappearance of a farmer. As he and his deputy investigate the details of the scene, they find a footprint and make a cast of it to be analyzed by experts at the state university. The missing farmer's body is discovered across the state line, making it a federal case and two Special Agents are brought in. Another farm gets attacked (preview page earlier) and the three men working there, or rather what's left of them, are discovered by the sheriff and his crew later on. One of the feds goes in a helicopter to scout ahead but the sheriff and other fed lose contact with him, only to find the chopper downed with a strange trail leading away from it, indicating something dragged itself away from the wreck. They however are called back to the airport to meet with the paleontologists the university sent, who are curious to see how they found perfect footprints of an animal that's been extinct for sixty-five million years. The comic closes with a group of hikers happening across a trio of Pteranodons (pictured above) hiding out in the mountains.

So what's good about the debut issue of Devils In The Desert? Obviously, the artwork as mentioned before, but the pacing of the comic is nice too. Building up the appearance of the creatures similar to Alien, Jaws, and many other classic horror films, you do not actually see the Pteranodons until the final 2 page spread of this issue. There's also a lot of dialogue to really get to know the characters and possibly get attached to them so you want to see them make it and not just get offed by InGen's creations. I believe that the Jurassic Park name is in good hands with writer/artist John Byrne, so let's hope he can keep this trend up in future issues. However, I do have a couple of things to nitpick about it:

#1: Pteranodons aren't dinosaurs.
Minor thing, but in the preview art earlier, you see the guy say, "It's a dinosaur! How can it be a dinosaur?!" I would hope that these farmers aren't being portrayed as your stereotypical southern hicks, but we all know that Pteranodons are not dinosaurs, but merely flying reptiles that were related to dinosaurs. I imagine that this line was used to keep the readers guessing as to what was tearing up the countryside and those who inhabit it, but that bugs me every time I hear it.
#2: Again with the insane metabolisms!
So in this issue, we hear about fifteen head of cattle, half of a horse, and four people getting torn apart by these creatures. If you look at the frame of the Pteranodon, you can see there isn't a whole lot to them. Their bones are hollow, their bodies are very thin and they need to be light in order to take flight (Hell, even the largest of pterosaurs such as Quetzalcoatlus only weighed approximately 300lbs.). Where is all that food going?! Are they burning off calories so fast that they need to gorge as much as they do? Are they infected with a zombie-esque virus that they need to consume every living creature in their path? Or have they been around longer picking off cattle and only now their cover's been blown? I hope the latter is the case, otherwise it makes them more like monsters than animals (again) and that was never what JP was about.
#3: The Covers.
I'll go right out and say it, Devils In The Desert #1 has a really nice cover. My gripe is with the next few issues in the series. While they look nice in their own right, they feel too much like copycats to me. Observe.

Cover art for issues #2 & #3

Not a deal breaker, per sey, but it would've been nice to see something other than the "from-the-mouth-perspective" in later issues, but if it works, go with it, I suppose.

Despite these three gripes, Devils In The Desert left me wanting more, whereas Redemption was DOA. You could say that this could very well be the redemption Jurassic Park needed after Redemption. I want to close this review by saying John Byrne has made an interesting choice with the creatures to use. In a franchise dominated by theropods like Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor, it's a very gutsy move to say, "Nah, let's get those Pteranodons from JP3 in here. Let's tell their story." While I am applauding this comic for doing something a little different, the theropod fan in me is a bit let down that they apparently won't be featured in this story, especially after seeing this piece of art in the IDW forums, which I at first thought was done by John Byrne.

He may have been a lame T-Rex wanna-be in JP3, but who wouldn't wanna see this guy tear it up in a comic book?

Check back sometime next month where I'll be putting up a review for The Devils In The Desert #2. There'll probably be some other stuff in the meantime as well.

-The Cynic