JURASSIC PARK: RAPTOR #1, Topps Comics, November 1993
Between publishing Zorro and The Lone Ranger, as well as a number of other licensed properties like Mars Attacks and, yes, Jurassic Parc, I guess Topps Comics was the Dynamite of its day. Or should I say, DINO-mite?! Actually no, I should never say that kind of thing again. Even if it's Dinosaur Week. I humbly apologize.
Truly, Jurassic Park was a watershed film for dinosaur enthusiasts. Not because it's actually any good or paleontologically correct - it's just a big, dumb, popcorn movie - but it nevertheless sparked a new wave of dino-mania, and its effects led to such projects as Walking with Dinosaurs, which I love. Don't get me wrong, sitting in the third row of a full theater, Jurassic Park was terrifying, stressful and magical. Spielberg at work. But as soon as I walked out of the theater, I was all about complaining about plot holes and deus ex machinae. And on the small screen? Jurassic Park's nigh unwatchable. The dinosaurs need the theater's scale for the film to really work like it should.
I've never seen the two sequels in their entirety. It's fine. I don't need to.
But like any popular property, JP also spawned some shoddy comics, and those I did sample. Hey, the Raptor mini-series was written by comics legend Steve Englehart! And yet, I only got the first issue (of 2). Maybe it's the uneven artwork. This untold tale occurs immediately after the movie, as Sam Neill and Laura Dern help the US Army mop up the island. For example, they help electrocute the big momma T-Rex that saved their asses from the raptors in Spielberg's epic.
Aww. Sad. Then follows the usual military vs. scientists conflict, because scientists are always right and the military never want to listen, and Englehart throws in a little romance as our heroic duo heads off to the far side of the island in search of raptors and their eggs. And apparently get involved in a dangerous game of MXC.
Yep, that's definitely "Sinkers and Floaters".
Their quest is interrupted by Lawala, a dino hunter after smart game. Cuz don't forget, these raptors CAN OPEN DOORS!!! Turns out they can actually create well-calculated cave-ins AND swim. AND quietly judge you as you put them down. All sound effects created with a balloon.
Scientists to the rescue! After Englehart writes way too many pages of Lawala hitting Laura Dern in the face, the heroes black out and wake up in a large wet/dry garbage bag...
...being towed along with 4 full-grown velociraptors Lawala somehow captured. Now THAT's something I would have liked to see! Alas, I don't even know if there's a flashback in the next issue, but I'm betting the mystery is better than the reality.
Between publishing Zorro and The Lone Ranger, as well as a number of other licensed properties like Mars Attacks and, yes, Jurassic Parc, I guess Topps Comics was the Dynamite of its day. Or should I say, DINO-mite?! Actually no, I should never say that kind of thing again. Even if it's Dinosaur Week. I humbly apologize.Truly, Jurassic Park was a watershed film for dinosaur enthusiasts. Not because it's actually any good or paleontologically correct - it's just a big, dumb, popcorn movie - but it nevertheless sparked a new wave of dino-mania, and its effects led to such projects as Walking with Dinosaurs, which I love. Don't get me wrong, sitting in the third row of a full theater, Jurassic Park was terrifying, stressful and magical. Spielberg at work. But as soon as I walked out of the theater, I was all about complaining about plot holes and deus ex machinae. And on the small screen? Jurassic Park's nigh unwatchable. The dinosaurs need the theater's scale for the film to really work like it should.
I've never seen the two sequels in their entirety. It's fine. I don't need to.
But like any popular property, JP also spawned some shoddy comics, and those I did sample. Hey, the Raptor mini-series was written by comics legend Steve Englehart! And yet, I only got the first issue (of 2). Maybe it's the uneven artwork. This untold tale occurs immediately after the movie, as Sam Neill and Laura Dern help the US Army mop up the island. For example, they help electrocute the big momma T-Rex that saved their asses from the raptors in Spielberg's epic.
Aww. Sad. Then follows the usual military vs. scientists conflict, because scientists are always right and the military never want to listen, and Englehart throws in a little romance as our heroic duo heads off to the far side of the island in search of raptors and their eggs. And apparently get involved in a dangerous game of MXC.
Yep, that's definitely "Sinkers and Floaters".
Their quest is interrupted by Lawala, a dino hunter after smart game. Cuz don't forget, these raptors CAN OPEN DOORS!!! Turns out they can actually create well-calculated cave-ins AND swim. AND quietly judge you as you put them down. All sound effects created with a balloon.
Scientists to the rescue! After Englehart writes way too many pages of Lawala hitting Laura Dern in the face, the heroes black out and wake up in a large wet/dry garbage bag...
...being towed along with 4 full-grown velociraptors Lawala somehow captured. Now THAT's something I would have liked to see! Alas, I don't even know if there's a flashback in the next issue, but I'm betting the mystery is better than the reality.
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