11. Super Dinosaur Vol. 1 by Robert Kirkman

Super Dinosaur Vol. 1 by Robert Kirkman. Art by Jason Howard (US) - (Canada)
Super Dinosaur, Vol. 1

Pages: 128
Ages: 8+
Finished: Jan. 10, 2012
First Published: Dec. 6, 2011
Publisher: Image Comics
Genre: children, manga, robots, dinosaurs, superheroes
Rating: 4/5


First sentence:

I know what you're thinking: Who the heck are these guys?!

Acquired: Received an egalley from the publisher, Image Comics, through NetGalley..

Reason for Reading: Robert Kirkman wanted to write something his son could read and I wanted him too! So I was anxious to see what this would be like.

Publisher's Summary: "This is where it begins! The Evil Max Maximus wants to get to Inner-Earth! He wants the dinosaurs that live there! He wants the powerful DynOre mineral that originates there! SUPER DINOSAUR and DEREK DYNAMO are the only ones who can stop him! The fate of the world rests on the shoulders of a ten year-old kid and his best friend, a nine-foot tall Tyrannosaurus Rex who loves to play video games."

This was truly wonderful. We jump right in with battle scenes between genetically altered dinosaurs,  who are part robot, and Derek Dynamo. Then we are switched back to the lab where Super Dinosaur (SD to his friends) quickly starts talking about his machinery. This leaves the reader somewhat out of the loop but as the events and dialogue continue we are quickly brought up to par with the other members of the team and understand as much as they do, who they are fighting against and why.

Super Dinosaur is an awesome superhero, that will appeal to boys and dinosaur fans, as will the other various villains such as Terrordactyl and Dreadasaurus to name only a few. The evil genius is a typical protagonist along with his usual background story of how he became evil in the first place. But this makes him easy to understand. This book isn't really the place for deep characters, we already know what makes most of them tick. But new characters are introduced and they put a new swing on things, both good and bad. The volume then ends up with some things nicely wrapped up only to have a major twist in the story thrown at us on the last pages that will have you clamouring for more.  This will satisfy pre-teen male readers who are looking for something a little more involved than just Pokemon or Bakugan. However, the final pages of the story, really got me involved in the plot and I'll be sure to read on to Vol. 2 to find out what happens next with the continuing story arc.