IN THE BEGINNING...

Kicking off a new comics series, over a dozen smart-mouthed dinosaurs strut their stuff amid added disquisitions on reptilian relatives, fossil bones, continental drift, coprolites and other topics of dino-interest.

For the most part, each page is an individual miniepisode framed in small, squared-off cartoon panels. Along with occasional appearances by paleontologist “Indino Jones,” the cast includes a range of toothy carnivores, from T. Rex to Velociraptor, and vegetarians, like Diplodocus and Triceratops. The dinos exchange wisecracks (“HEY, TYRANT! YOU’RE SO UGLY YOU LOOK LIKE MY BUTT!”) while demonstrating offensive and defensive features, distinctive crests or other decorations and (usually) messy eating habits. Along with the snarky dialogue, some amusing byplay is provided by a diminutive Compsognathus who recurrently pops up to get stomped or come to some other bad end. Despite the seemingly casual plotlines and comical cartoon art, distinctions between reptiles and dinosaurs, dinos that actually lived in different eras and other fine points of dinosaurology are carefully laid out. Moreover, boxes in the lower corners contain specific summary facts about each creature that are repeated in the closing glossary.

This stimulating mix of hard information and prehistoric hijinks bodes well for subsequent volumes.