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Reviewed by David Rasmussen Why am I giving DinoWars a B?!? Because it's.. meh… not perfect. I'm not saying it's not readable (I'm recommending this one for your collection) it's just not at that same height of excitement I got from Espinosa's other works. Humankind has returned to the moon, and brought with them Schwarzenegger clone Commander Armstrong. While on the moon they are ambushed by "monsters" that turn out to be… dinosaurs. The humans escape, but the dinos (in their massive worldship) follow them back to Earth and start an invasion of Independence Day meets Dragon Wars proportions as they attempt to take over the Earth. Meanwhile Commander Armstrong's sweetheart of his youth, a hottie named Debra, is visited by two alien dinohuman-style, odd-couple partners who proceed to tell her that dinos used to have a sophisticated civilization way back in the distant past… they got into a Transformers-style Autobots vs. Decepticons long long war between the Protosaurs and the Megasaurs which was only stopped by the coming of the Ice Age. For once they had something to work together about, and in 90 years they built giant Space Arks which they hid in the asteroid belt waiting for the Earth to become habitable again… only, surprise surprise, when they woke up they found the planet's once lower life forms had rose up and become the dominant species! Now… if humanity did that and came back to find that whatever was once a lower species is now the dominant race of the world… quick, show of hands… who thinks we would NOT invade the planet and attempt to retake it once again, throwing out the "minor" species in the process. Yeah, didn't think so. One of the reasons I don't give this a lower score (because really it kinda pales in comparison to some of Espinosa's greatest works) is because it does make sense. The scenario does have a logical set-up, and even I can get behind the thought of a previous dominant species going Rambo on the "inheritors" of what was once their world. Well, since we are still talking Transformers-style race vs. race, the peaceful race decide to talk peace with the humans to help them, which doesn't exactly pan out as only a so-so agreement is reached, leaving humans to figure out a way to stop the rampaging evil dinos (since the good ones have vowed not to fight) which is a bit rushed since it all happens in the fourth and final issue. Ending with an ending that leaves room for a sequel, the title is well-drawn, and written well enough… it's just that, well, held up against the greatest works of his past (say, Courageous Princess and Neotopia), it seems to me that DinoWars… well… falls short. Sure, I gave it a good score, it's still Espinosa and I still appreciate it (and it's still written solidly despite the fact the overall run of the title is abit disappointing in terms of being an action yarn that kinda could have been better or less "I've seen that before" in its pitch. Still, at the end of the day DinoWars is still a cut above others of the genre which couldn't even pull together a logical premise, lovable characters (mainly the female lead Debra and the dino twins who first approach her and explain to her the situation) and nicely drawn and solid writing. It's Espinosa, it's still better than most at the genre, and even if I have my disagreements, it should still be part of your Espinosa collection. DinoWars scores a B for being good (but not perfect). Interested in writing for MangaLife? We're always looking for talented reviewers and columnists, so drop us a line! Charles Webb Editor-in-Chief, MangaLife.com |
1 September 2010
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