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Jurassic Park: Dangerous Games #2
Reviewed by Patrick Hayes aka PatBorg
The covers: One cover done twice. Cover A is by
Jeff Zornow, showing Page 2 from a different perspective: Doctor
Frances White surrounded by her loyal pack of raptors. The
feathered raptors look really great, very Arthur Adams-like (a
good compliment!), but the good doctor looks a little real in
the face than the beasts about her. Still, the rest of the art
is good. Cover RI is an uncolored version of A (Editors Tom
Waltz and Bobby Curnow, who's coloring the covers? Studio
C-10?), and it looks good, but I prefer the colored cover.
Overall grades: A A, RI B+
The story: Written by Erik Bear, with Story
Consultant Greg Bear, the story is an improvement over the
previous issue the the inclusion of Dr. White, whose reveal and
backstory make up the first six pages. She is a much more
interesting and complex character than protagonist Daniel
Espinoza. The human antagonists begin their title play, while
Pages 11 - 15 occur. These five pages contain one of the
silliest things I've ever seen a dinosaur do. It baffles
everything I know about the beasts. I know that this event is
supposed to be spiritual for White, but c'mon, Mr. Bear! Really?
The ending has a good cliffhanger (two for two, for those
keeping count), but the visual killed any suspense for me.
Overall grade: B-
The art: Manga Park continues under the pencils
of Jorge Jimenez. Pages 1 and 2 are good, but Page 3 is an odd
layout: panels two and three should have been joined to avoid
the contrasting height issues; panel three--do we need that
focus?--and I don't mean the fire; panel four, fine; and panel
five, what the heck? This action rates a full third of the
entire page? No, it does not. This final panel seems to be
stretching out the action before the backstory begins. The
Doctor's flashback is good, more so if you like T & A. Speaking
of which, does panel three on Page 7 have subliminal overtones?
Because in panel five that baby dino is suddenly elsewhere and
her legs are closed. And what's the focus on Page 11? I'll give
you a guess, no, wait, two. The new antagonist appears and looks
right out of Jump Magazine. I wanted a splash page for what
occurs on Page 14, but the continual small panels destroy any
chance of grandeur or true emotion that the story was trying to
elicit. Pages 17 - 20 are really solid action scenes that
happily evoke the goosebumps of the films, and for them I was
very, very pleased. However, the last panel on Page 22 is so
humorous in its rendering, how is anyone supposed to take this
threat seriously? I liked more of this issue that the first, and
when Jimenez's art works, it's decent, but with the ridiculous T
& A, odd panel focus, and lack of WOW factor, Mr. Jimenez isn't
making me thrilled. Overall grade: C-
The colors: Also a slight improvement this time
out, Studio C-10 doesn't drown in the book in so many drab
colors (browns and olives) because White's red hair and matching
'saurs brighten things up, though Pages 12 - 16 do return to
dullness. Thankfully the many sound effects provide
opportunities to put some zest into Pages 17 - 20.
Overall grade: C+
The lettering: Shawn Lee gets to run wild and
he works every opportunity wonderfully. Pages 17 - 20 are just
outright fun because of his work. Overall grade: A
The final line: Things are improving, but
slower than a prehistoric era. Overall grade: C |
