“Age of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians” is the fourth book in Ricardo Delgado’s ongoing dinosaur series. It’s a self-contained story that, finally collected, shows not only the breadth of Delgado’s artistic talent, but also the skill in his plotting and storytelling as he delivers some Mesozoic mayhem.
Written and Illustrated by Ricardo Delgado
Ricardo Delgado’s Age of Reptiles series returns and marks a bold, new direction in wordless storytelling! The steaming swamps of Cretaceous Africa teem with prehistoric life and primordial danger in a tale filled with villains, victims, and one of the most dangerous and unpredictable protagonists ever created-the lone, lonely antihero Spinosaurus aegyptiacus.
By day, Ricardo Delgado works as an animator and storyboard artist for places like Disney and Nickelodeon, and that sense of rhythm, pacing, and storytelling come out clearly in his latest miniseries, “Age of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians.” Just like previous entries in this series, it’s delivered wordlessly (without even sounds effects or onomatopoeia!) and it’s entirely captivating.
It’s not only that Delgado has an eye for movement, directing our attention through these hyper-detailed yet still animated panels where sometimes creatures break out of the frame, making it feel like we’re panning along with the action. It’s not only that he has a strong sense of composition, an inherent sense of placement and panel layouts that make the story feel even more epic and intense and alive. It’s not only the gorgeous art, from the wide landscapes to the meticulously designed dinosaurs themselves. It’s also that here, with everything said and done and collected in one volume, do we see how well he builds the narrative, how strongly he tells the story.
“Age of Reptiles,” as a whole, has such an odd relationship with actual science. Delgado doesn’t anthropomorphize these creatures. They are animals and he presents them as animals, with all the brutality and rawness of nature intact. Often, however, dinosaurs who lived millennia apart find themselves thrust into a single location, duking it out. The series is literally called “Age of Reptiles” but that’s probably because that rings better than “Age of Birds” or whatever. And he takes these different genres and blends them together, enacting their conventions through these massive creatures (which actually helps make even the more by-the-numbers plot developments come off exciting and fresh).
“Age of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians” takes that lame dinosaur from Jurassic Park III and gives it the spectacle it deserves. As he admits in the afterword, Delgado casts the Spinosaurus as a sort of wandering ronin, who happens to come across this area by the river under the tight grip of an old, grumpy Paralititan, ruling by stomping on any of the other creatures who dare cross him. His influence is enough so that when the local predators, the Carcharodontosaurs (who are sort of the desperate bandits of this world), manage to steal away a group of young Paralititans, the baby long-necks attempt to fight back against the youngling predators.
Mostly, the Spinosaurus observes everything, just below the surface of the water, more concerned with this female Spinosaurus he’s stumbled upon and mated with, and making sure that his offspring are the ones to survive and thrive. He plays it like he’s keeping to himself, and the alpha Carcharodontosaur makes like he begrudgingly allows that. Until, of course, temperatures rise and everything comes to a head.
Make no mistake: this is an intense book. Delgado’s slow burn plotting keeps the tension building and building, straining and straining, and you essentially snap right along with the dinosaurs. You root for the Spinosaurus because he’s cool and obviously going up against a vile foe, but he’s as much a threat and terror as any of the grumpy Carcharodontosaurs. Delgado’s evocative and atmospheric color palette explodes along with the violent outbursts in the story, and they come off as more terrifying and brutal.
“Age of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians” is one of those books that won’t take you long to read. However, it’s a world you’ll want to keep revisiting. The more often you return to it, the more you find to admire. Ricardo Delgado’s storytelling sensibilities are aces. You’re never at a loss for what’s going on in the story, or who the characters are, despite not a single piece of sound or dialogue appearing. You’re immersed in this prehistoric setting and you don’t want to come out of it until the whole book is finished. And after that, you can’t wait to return.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – packed with strong storytelling, awesome cartooning, and, of course, dinosaurs.
