Tag: triceratops

A Look Back at Jurassic Park #3 (1993)

A Look Back at Jurassic Park #3 (1993)

carlocarrasco

Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from reading the comic book and doing personal research. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.

Welcome back superhero enthusiasts, 1990s culture enthusiasts and comic book collectors! Today we go back to the year 1993 for another look at Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park in the form of licensed comic books published by Topps Comics.

In my previous retro review, the comic book still had the creative issues of heavy exposition and being very word-heavy to read as the creators focused on adapting the movie’s story closely (from the iconic brachiosaurus scene up to the encounter with the triceratops). Compared to issue , the comic book’s narrative improved temporarily as it closely adapted the lunch-and-talk scene between John Hammond, Donald Gennaro, Ellie Sattler, Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm whose dialogue was easily the most engaging in both film and in literary format.

With those details laid down, here is a look back at Jurassic Park , published in 1993 by Topps Comics with a story written by Walter Simonson and drawn by Gil Kane with ink work done by the late George Perez. This comic book was the third of a 4-issue mini-series based on the Spielberg-directed movie.

The cover.

Early story

The story begins with the group of Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, Ian Malcolm, Donald Gennaro and the two kids Lex and Tim who are shocked to see a living triceratops. The large dinosaur, however, falls down on its side causing Ellie Sattler to go near and examine it. Gerry Harding, a Jurassic Park employee, suddenly appears and explains that the triceratops was tranquilized by Robert Muldoon and has been sick. After examining the dinosaur further, Ellie wants to have its droppings examined.

Back in the control room of Jurassic Park, Ray Arnold explains to John Hammond that the center of an approaching story has not changed course and states that he likes to cut the current tour and resume the next day. He emphasized to Hammond that the storm is risky to those on tour.

Just across the room, Dennis Nedry (who secretly cut a deal with a business rival of inGen’s and has been frustrated working for John Hammond) carefully communicates with the captain of the ship that will depart once all the workers have boarded. Knowing he is running out of time to steal the dinosaur embryos and send it to Biosyn, he starts his move with Jurassic Park’s main system…

Quality

While the sequences of the T.Rex going after Ian Malcolm are not the same as those in the movie, the dinosaur itself really looks creepy.

When it comes to entertainment value related to spectacle, I can say clearly that this issue really marked the beginning of fun in this 4-issue mini-series. This is because this comic book includes the appearance of the Tyrannosaurus Rex (T.Rex) which arrived just when Alan Grant, Ian Malcolm, Lex, Tim and Donald Gennaro are helpless sitting inside vehicles that stopped by the said dinosaur’s paddock with the fences no longer electrified.

Of course, the minutes-long T. Rex scene in the movie remains memorable as it had a well-blended mix of suspense, action and some horror directed by Steven Spielberg. This comic book’s creators did their best to replicate the experience in illustrated literature format. While it’s not surprising that the essence of the T.Rex paddock scenes in movie were not perfectly captured, this comic book’s adaptation still managed to be entertaining to read showing suspense, horror and some thrills plus Gil Kane managed to even make the infamous dinosaur look frightening. Very clearly, Kane went all-out in presenting the T.Rex as the main dinosaur not only in this comic book but for the whole mini-series.

While the T.Rex paddock scene is the highlight of this comic book, the scene with the triceratops proved to be another exposition-heavy presentation laced with pretentious science and technical explanations dealing with plants, animal health and the like. Meanwhile, the scenes about John Hammond, Robert Muldoon and Ray Arnold struggling with the failures of the park systems while Nedry betrays them secretly were pretty intense to read.

Conclusion

Lots of exposition and creative explanations in this scene about the sick triceratops.

So far, I find Jurassic Park (1993) to be the most entertaining issue so far thanks to the way the comic book creators adapted the Tyrannosaurus Rex paddock scene from the movie. While the narrative still had lots of exposition and creative explanations that started since issue #1, the consequential events of Dennis Nedry’s acts intensified the reading experience and the T.Rex scenes really ramped up the fun factor.

Overall, Jurassic Park (1993) is recommended.

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco/

A Look Back at Jurassic Park #2 (1993)

A Look Back at Jurassic Park #2 (1993)

carlocarrasco

Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from reading the comic book and doing personal research. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.

Welcome back superhero enthusiasts, 1990s culture enthusiasts and comic book collectors! Today we go back to the year 1993 for another look at Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park in the form of licensed comic books published by Topps Comics.

My previous retro review was the literary version of the film’s opening until the start of the iconic scene of the brachiosaur. The comic book was very exposition-heavy, had too few dinosaurs visualized and was ultimately a word-heavy experience with little entertainment value.

With those details laid down, here is a look back at Jurassic Park , published in 1993 by Topps Comics with a story written by Walter Simonson and drawn by Gil Kane with ink work done by the late George Perez. This comic book was the second of a 4-issue mini-series based on the Spielberg movie.

The cover.

Early story

The story begins on an island where John Hammond’s guests (Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, Ian Malcolm and lawyer Gennaro) cannot help but stare and marvel at the brachiosaurus walking in front of them. Soon enough, they spot five more dinosaurs of the same species moving around. As they stare, Dr. Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler can’t help but be amazed as the sight of living dinosaurs literally broke the limits of what they previously learned about dinosaurs through books.

Grant then asks Jurassic Park owner John Hammond how he was able to come up with dinosaurs. Hammond then takes his guests into the visitor’s center which has a 50-seat auditorium for the prepared pre-show he prepared for their orientation. With Hammond taking an active part in the program, a video presentation shows how Jurassic Park’s personnel extracted dinosaur DNA from fossilized mosquitoes (which drew blood from dinosaurs), used advanced technologies and amphibian DNA to complete DNA sequencing, and created dinosaurs…

Quality

The baby Velociraptor, John Hammond, Ian Malcolm, Dr. Grant, Ellie Sattler and Dr. Wu in a scene.

The most obvious thing about this comic book (which starts with the brachiosaurus reveal until the triceratops’ appearance) is that it is very wordy and has lots of expository dialogue and creative explanations which reflected the film it was based on. What makes this a slightly better reading experience over issue is that it closely captured the essence of the best talk scene of Spielberg’s movie – the lunch meeting hosted by Hammond. To see Gennaro, Dr. Grant and Ellie give their feedback to Hammond with Ian Malcolm’s extensive opinion about Jurassic Park’s use of genetics, their revival of extinct species and their lack of humility before nature was easily the most compelling part of the comic book to read. In a way, a lot of exposition dump and build-up that started in issue were paid off nicely in the said scene.

As mentioned earlier, this comic book’s story reaches the appearance of the triceratops and by then John Hammond’s grandchildren (Tim and Lex) joined Grant, Gennaro, Sattler and Malcolm on the basic tour in vehicles. That being said, the story moved at a moderate pace and the only comic book spectacle here are the images of dinosaurs which were decently drawn by Gil Kane. Don’t expect any action nor thrills here because those would not happen until the T. Rex’s first appearance.

Conclusion

Can you imagine how you would react if you ever see large dinosaurs walking in front of you?

I can say that Jurassic Park (1993) is a slightly better reading experience than issue mainly due to the way the comic book creators adapted the movie’s best talk scene. The same old issues of heavy exposition and excessive dialogue are here which reflect Simonson and Kane’s focus on adapting scenes from the movie closely. Other than that, there is still no excitement to enjoy here which can be disappointing if you are anticipating dinosaur-related thrills and action sequences. Readers who enjoy exposition and the Jurassic Park entertainment franchise’s approach on portraying science (distorted and fantasized to be more attractive than true science) will still find something to enjoy here.

Overall, Jurassic Park (1993) is satisfactory.

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco/