Customer Reviews

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Mix Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, and a little Mad Max and what do you get? Probably this excellent series of comics. Mark Schultz has dreamed up a truly original fantasy world. Set 600 years in the future, in the mythical "Xenozoic Age," mankind no longer dominates the earth. The ecosystems represent all ages of earth. T-rexes and mammoths walk side-by-side. Sure, this isn't very likely, but it is a lot of fun. Unlike most comic artists, Schultz can not only draw but he can tell a good story (Steve Stiles does a good job also). Schultz's landscapes are extremely detailed and extremely beautiful. My only problem with the comic is that the dinosaurs are a little primtive-looking (stand upright, drag tails). However, the reader will notice that in later issues Schultz's dinosaurs become more scientifically correct. Still, this is an excellent comic. Take it from someone who dosen't usually read comics

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs contains superb art and a solid story full of action and adventure

My cherished copy of Cadillacs and Dinosaurs that I found in a Tacoma used book store ages ago. If your library doesn't have any of Marc Shultz's Xenozoic Tales you really should track some down! I read in a book by Bruce Campbell that director Sam Raimi likes to put as much "mush-mush" in every scene he films as possible, where mush-mush is described as anything cool that can jazz up the scene in some way (dolly zooms, point of view shorts, high speed sequences that are played back backwards as to look otherworldly). Xenozoic Tales more than any other comic is chock full of mush-mush. There's dinosaurs fighting mammoths, classic cars, drowned cities, a hero in the style of "Doc Savage", a bucksome curvaceous heroine cut from the same cloth as an Edgar Rice Burroughs princess; you just couldn't deliver more pulp-era super cool stuff into one comic title.

This trade CADILLACS AND DINOSAURS compiles stories from the first four issues of XENOZOIC TALES and a story from the anthology title DEATH RATTLE #8. It also has an introduction by Al Williamson. If you haven't heard of CADILLACS AND DINOSAURS then you are flatly missing out. The premise introduces a global catastrophe which wipes out entire species and most of humanity. After 450 years of seclusion the remnants of man emerge from the safety of their steel shelters. They step into an insane ecological stew, a terrifying future in which dinosaurs and mammoths and other strange creatures now stalk the planet. In the scope of things, man is now just this itty-bitty speck milling around in this harsh new post-apocalyptic world order. Mind the dinosaur guano!

It's the 26th century now and tiny, scattered tribes struggle daily just to survive. Writer and artist Mark Schultz concentrates on the plight of the City in the Sea (which I think is the detritus of New York City) and on the adventures of two people in particular. Jack "Cadillac" Tenrec is a jack of all trades. "Cadillac" is a mechanic whose pride and joy is his fleet of vintage Cadillacs. He's an intrepid guide and a shaman who believes in the balance of nature. He's basically the go-to guy whenever the fit hits the shan. He can usually be found tinkering on a car in his imposing garage (which looks more like a sort of citadel).

When Hannah Dundee, ambassador of the Wassoon tribe of the Tidal Flats, comes to sojourn in the City in the Sea, she immediately gets on Tenrec's bad side. Their shared antagonism is partly what drives these stories. Hannah has got this healthy bump of curiosity and she can't help getting into scrapes and questioning things. Tenrec is more fatalistic, having learned to accept things as they are. But they're both handy with firearms and so find themselves on the forefront when something needs shooting. And, in these perilous times, there's always something needs shooting.

Fleshing out the Xenozoic world even more Schultz occasionally veers away from Tenrec and Hannah to tell stories about other inhabitants of the City in the Sea. Kinda like tiny drops of human drama. These side stories add to the bigger picture. Steve Stiles comes in to ink over Schultz's stuff for these side stories. Here and there, he outright provides the main pencils.

Mark Schultz can write a tale but his gorgeous black and white artwork is sheer eye candy, and now you can see why Al Williamson asked to write the introduction. As Williamson states, there are touches of Wally Wood, Hal Foster, and Alex Raymond in Schultz's renderings, and one can only conjecture as to why this guy isn't bigger on the comic book stage. It probably has to do with how long it takes him to produce his artwork. But he's certainly got the goods. Schultz impeccably details the human and dinosaur forms and sets them convincingly in their environs. His stuff is terrific from jump and whatever rough edge he has is quickly smoothed out as the series progresses.

So sue me, I'm not usually inclined to listen to preachy environmental messages, but when these messages are framed around ravenous dinosaurs, I'll surely bend an ear. Mark Schultz makes use of the short story format, and so the pace is brisker and maybe it's another reason why the environmentally-couched morality plays are easier to swallow. In classic pulp action style, the sub-plots center on gross science experiments and enigmatic alien species and, every now and then, dinosaurs murderously chasing down souped-up vintage automobiles. And it's too bad XENOZOIC TALES lasted for only 14 issues, which is a measly run but then again long enough to inspire a short-lived cartoon show. But I wanted to see more of Hermes, providing someone's got the muzzle nearby. XENOZOIC TALES are hard issues to come by, but if you get your paws on them, you'll have a good time. Remember about the dino guano.