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Mars Will Send No More

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Mars Will Send No More

Tag Archives: Allosaurus

The Thunder Lizard Returns: Dinosaur Books by Ted Rechlin

30 Wednesday Aug 2017

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in dinosaur, educational, indie

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Allosaurus, brontosaurus, coloring book, dinosaur comics, dinosaurs, dinosaurs live, farcountry press, jurassic, rextooth studios, ted rechlin, tyrannosaurus rex

9781591522034.jpg

I began reading dinosaur books in the late 1970s, and back then, we had a dinosaur called Brontosaurus: the iconic Thunder Lizard! But the beast I grew up with would be revealed, in my adulthood, to be a complete fraud. Brontosaurus was nothing more than a hoax perpetuated with the bones of the real animal: Apatosaurus.

Just like my generation needed to reconceive of dinosaurs as having feathers, lifting their tails instead of dragging them, and living as endothermic animals instead of exothermic reptiles, my generation accepted the disappearance of our beloved Brontosaurus.

But it seems we were wrong about being wrong. Recent examinations of the fossil record have shown both Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus were real animals: structurally similar, but differentiated by their skin. The Thunder Lizard has returned!

Author and artist Ted Rechlin couldn’t be happier about it. His graphic novel Jurassic puts Brontosaurus back in the spotlight. When a baby Brontosaur is separated from his mother, he gets swept up in a journey through the perilous landscape of a forgotten North America, encountering all sorts of species of dinosaurs Rechlin renders in gorgeously colored illustrations. Through the young Bronto’s eyes, readers take a tour that is both educational and exciting.

Jurassic_PAGES (dragged) copy

Despite a few violent dinosaur fights, Jurassic keeps the gore to a minimum, focusing instead on the drama. Rechlin doesn’t try for the existential terror of Jim Lawson’s Paleo and Loner, nor the biological brutality of Ricardo Delgado’s Age of Reptiles. But like those comics, Jurassic tells a thrilling story about animals in the natural world.

Jurassic_PAGES (dragged)

Just between you and me, the Brontosaurs may have been the main characters, but they were not the superstars of the story. That honor belongs to the incredibly awesome Allosaurus who rages through this book, a massive female fighting machine storming the countryside with a pack of smaller Allosaurs at her side. Rechlin renders her with savage, majestic beauty, and she totally steals the show.

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Rechlin doesn’t get heavy-handed with his natural philosophy, but the final scene with the big female Allosaurus puts the entire story in a different light. Throughout the book, you sympathize with the baby Bronto’s separation from his mother, and you hope he will be okay. The female Allosaur and other carnivorous creatures are threats to our main character. But at the end of the day, the murderous Allosaurus is shown to be an attentive mother whose primary concern is feeding and caring for her own babies.

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The interdependent struggle of all animals to survive, eat, and rear their young is a tale that echoes Jack London’s Call of the Wild and White Fang, and it’s a consistent theme in dinosaur comic books. Eat or be eaten. The triumph of Jurassic is how subtly Rechlin handles this theme and communicates it without getting excessively graphic.

dinosaurs live rechlin cover.jpg

Brontosaurus, Allosaurus, and many more dinos also appear in Rechlin’s coloring book Dinosaurs Live! This innovative work combines drawings of dinosaur skeletons, educational and entertaining captions like a comic book, and full-page spreads of the dinosaurs in all their fleshy and feathery glory.

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Rechlin isn’t afraid to convey science in casual, conversational language that uses humor to memorable effect. You will learn from his coloring book, but you will laugh, too. Like Jay Hosler’s Clan Apis, which teaches about honeybees, Rechlin’s coloring book is strong on biology without being a stuffy textbook.

dinsoaurs live edmontosaurus pages.jpg

No, I can’t bring myself to color these beautiful pages. I would feel like I was defacing a black-and-white dinosaur comic book such as Epic’s Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Guide by Charles Yates, or Tyrant by Steve Bissette. I might need a second copy so I can color the pages guilt-free!

dinsoaurs live appalachiosaurus promo

Also on my wish list is Rechlin’s other full-color dinosaur graphic novel, Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Below is a list of where you can buy these books on Amazon, and with links to purchase directly from FarCountry Press, the distributor who kindly sent us review copies and images. FarCountry has many animal, nature, and history books, and other exquisitely drawn coloring books featuring flora and fauna of national parks.

  • Buy Jurassic on Amazon or from FarCountry. 
  • Buy Dinosaurs Live! on Amazon.
  • Buy Tyrannosaurus Rex on Amazon or from FarCountry. 
  • Ted Rechlin’s store, RexTooth Studios, carries books and cool posters! 

Charles Yates’ Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Guide!

13 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in dinosaur, first issue

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Tags

Alioramus, Allosaurus, Baryonyx, Carnatosaurus, Charles Yates, Coelurus, dinosaur, dinosaur comics, Dinosaurs an Illustrated Guide, Dromaeosaurus, Dryosaurus, first issue, Herrerasaurus, Leptoceratops, Microceratops, Mussaurus, ornithomimus, Oviraptor, Psittacosaurus, Saltopus, Saurornithoides, Saurornitholestes, Spinosaurus, Staurikosaurus, Tenontosaurus, Thecodontosaurus, Velociraptor, Yangchuanosaurus

Charles Yates’ Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Guide showcases tons of completely awesome dinosaur drawings. No dinosaur comics enthusiast should be without it! Dinosaurs has been out of print for more than twenty years and can be hard to find.

Collector’s Guide: From Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Guide #1 (Carnivores) and #2 (Herbivores); Caliber, 1991. Sometimes available on Amazon: Issue One, Issue Two.

In today’s gallery, you’ll find nine pages of raging dinos, including: Carnatosaurus, Spinosaurus, Allosaurus, Coelurus, Yangchuanosaurus, Staurikosaurus, Alioramus, Baryonyx, Ornithomimus, Velociraptor, Oviraptor, Dromaeosaurus, Saltopus, Saurornithoides, Herrerasaurus, Saurornitholestes, Mussaurus, Thecodontosaurus, Tenontosaurus, Dryosaurus, Leptoceratops, Microceratops, and Psittacosaurus. That ought to keep you busy for a while!




Presented with permission of artist Charles Yates and writer Gary Reed. Gary, now a science teacher, notes that some of the science may be out of date due to new discoveries, but was the best information available at the time.

Prehistoric Mammals of Young Earth: Treeward Forever!

11 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in educational

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Tags

Allosaurus, northarctus, prehistoric mammals, Turok, Turok Son of Stone, Young Earth

No collection of pure dinosaur comics is complete without the mother of all dinosaur comics, Young Earth! Young Earth appeared in the golden-age comic, Turok Son of Stone. Published first under the Dell imprint and then by Gold Key, Turok sees the light of day again in an archival reprint series by Dark Horse. We will share with you the complete original educational series of dinosaurs, prehistoric mammals, and other animals of prehistoric earth. Enjoy!

Northarctus vs. Allosaurus!



We invite you to:
Shop for original issues of Turok.
Choose an archival edition of Turok.
Browse our galleries of Dinosaurs or Dinosaur Comics.
See all our Young Earth or Turok exhibits.
Like Young Earth? You’ll love Age of Reptiles and Prehistoric Mammals.

Lotor Eats Allosaurus Eggs for Breakfast!

19 Friday Aug 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in dinosaur, golden age, jungle

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Tags

Allosaurus, dimetrodon, dinosaur, dinosaur comics, golden age, Lotor, raccoon, Triceratops, Turok, Turok Son of Stone, tyrannosaurus rex

Alright. Before you go bagging on Lotor, WE KNOW. Raccoons, Dimetrodons, and Triceratopsians all lived in different geologic eras, separated by millions of years. But this story is pulled from the pages of Turok Son of Stone, which just happens to take place in a totally &%$#!-up reality where biologies from all periods of history coexist. It was the Savage Land of our grandfathers when they were little tykes.

That being said, Lotor is a bad-a$$. He doesn’t give a %$#@ about taking on a T-Rex bare handed. His lady Keenah has a keen eye for real estate. He steals Allosaurus eggs to feed his kids. ALLOSAURUS EGGS! We don’t care if that makes biological or historical sense or not. It rules!

As far as we can tell, Lotor appeared in only two stories, in Turok #6 and #7. Witness all 7 and 1/2 pages of their breath-taking beauty in the gallery below.




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