Dinosaurs In Comics

It will come as no shock to those of you who have been paying attention to learn that I am a paleontologist. And while I have touched up on the occasional extinct critter in my columns before I have neglected the one group of animals that people most closely associate with my science: DINOSAURS. Why the neglect? Well honestly I don’t study dinosaurs, I’m a mammal guy. Keep it milky and covered in fur, I say. (I’ve never said that.) This doesn’t mean I don’t like dinosaurs. I especially appreciate their power to inspire the public and get them interested in science, which is kind of my jam. I also enjoy comics, which have had a long and fruitful relationship dinosaurs, rivaling even that of the mighty Silver-back Silver Age Gorilla, and today is the day I finally give in and just talk about some dinosaurs.

First things first, what is a dinosaur, exactly? Dinosaurs are a group of terrestrial Archosaurs (the branch of reptiles containing Crocodiles) that evolved during the Triassic and were the dominant group of land animals up until 65 million years ago. They were extremely diverse and included two major branches based on the structure of their hip bones, the ornithischians (bird-hipped) and the saurischians (lizard-hipped). The ornithischians were all herbivores (plant eating) and include some of your favorites like the stegosaurus and triceratops. The saurischians include the super-giant dinos with the long negs, all the meat eaters, and eventually the birds (yes, the birds evolved from the lizard-hipped guys, I agree it’s confusing). The flying pterosaurs are the sister group to Dinosauria but are not themselves dinosaurs. Furthermore, any ocean-dwelling reptile from that time period is something completely different. All that being said, I get that comics ascribe to the more popular definition of “big scary Mesozoic reptile monsters” which is fine, just inaccurate. People think I’m this hyper-critical monster out to destroy all that is fun, but I contend that you can know the truth and still enjoy the fantasy.

I think the fun thing about dinosaurs in comics is that they show up in so many different genres. Super hero books, obviously, but also war comics, adventure comics, or just straight up historical fiction comics. I think the first experience I had reading about dinosaurs in comics was probably the Savage Land, which is one of those ideas that as a scientist I could tear to shreds but it’s fun so who cares? The Savage Land is filled with a hodgepodge of prehistoric life, including dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and even much more recent mammals like saber-toothed cats. If such a place did exist it would be a gold mine of data for someone like me. As it stands in the comics, it seems to be a refuge for the weird and whacky, where planes always seem to crash. I like that the Savage Land is represented as a mostly natural ecosystem where the presence of humans seems to do more harm than good for the animals just trying to get by. But one criticism I do have about the Savage Land is that in a recent issue involving Spider-Man the dinosaurs he was fighting were NOT covered in feathers. That needs to be fixed across the board. I’ve heard some people claim that feathery dinos can’t be scary. Well 1) they’re just animals, they don’t have to be scary, and 2) they’re wrong, they can still totally be scary. Clearly those people have never seen a hawk or been attacked by a goose.

Over in the DC Universe, both the Fortress of Solitude and the Batcave, arguably the two most iconic superhero hideouts, have giant dinosaurs as part of their trophy collections. Then there’s also the aptly named Dinosaur Island, which I will admit having no familiarity with beyond what Darwyn Cooke showed me in The New Frontier and did so basically as a war comic.

And speaking of things I only know from recent re-uses of them, how about Devil Dinosaur? I know exactly 3 things about Devil Dinosaur: he has a Moon-Boy, he was created by Jack “King” Kirby, and was in Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. A quick search reveals that he’s actually from an alternate reality where earth is Dinosaur World. So there’s that. I really should go back and read the original Kirby stuff. Would anyone listen to a Katers-esque podcast of me talking about Devil Dinosaur? It will not take many commenters supporting that idea for me to legitimately consider it. Just saying.

Then there are the books that just try to talk about dinosaurs using actual science and history. There’s Bone Sharps, Cowboys and Thunder Lizards, which I reviewed once upon a time, as well as Ricardo Delgado’s Age of Reptiles books from Dark Horse, which were a beast to track to down but presented some really beautiful wordless stories all about the trials of tribulations of life in the Mesozoic.

Finally, dinosaurs for comedy. My only real example here, besides Nextwave, is Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin often imagines himself as a rampaging prehistoric beast and Waterson really nailed the look, feel, and dynamism of dinosaurs, at least as I imagine it. Yet even with that realism he still delivered a satisfying punch line to give Calvin his comeuppance. Age of Reptiles was intentionally trying to capture the look and feel of how dinosaurs would have existed in their environment, and Waterson manages to just as good a job while ostensibly trying to tell a joke. Plus there is just something so pure about his dinosaurs being birthed out of the frantic imagination of a young boy, an all too accurate a depiction if you ask me.

Now comes the part where you tell me in the comments which dinosaur I left out and why that was a terrible oversight unbefitting a comics-loving paleontologist. Be gentle.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Ryan Haupt gets to see dinosaurs every day at work, which never gets old, even though they are. Hear him talk about dinosaurs and other science goodness on his podcast.