160 pages
Published 2019
Read from August 8 to August 9
Rating; 3.5 out of 5
An entirely wordless graphic novel is new territory for this blog. I feel that graphic novels (even wordless ones!) count as reading; you’re animating a mental narrative from printed visual input, whether that’s words or artwork. Besides, it’s a dinosaur story, so I’d find a way to include it here no matter what.
Cretaceous is a typical “red in tooth and claw” interpretation of life at the tail end of its namesake period. There’s even a “circle of life” sequence that follows from a dying Triceratops to the flies that consume its flesh to the mammal that tries to eat the flies to the small theropod that eats the mammal to the Quetzalcoatlus that eats the theropod to the mosasaur that eats a quetzal chick, and so on.
The artwork is solid; Galusha has a talent for flow between panels, varying his layouts for maximum impact. The story itself isn’t deep. It weaves, nature documentary style, between a handful of recurring characters: a bereaved Tyrannosaurus seeking vengeance against a pack of albertosaurs, an orphaned rex chick surviving the dangerous wilds, a dromaeosaur pack trying to bite everybody, etc. It’s pretty to look at, but it still anthropomorphizes the animals (like any nature doc), while giving us less emotional attachment than Raptor Red.
Of course, it also gives us fewer cringey sound effects and juvenile phrases than Raptor Red, so it’s a net positive overall.
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