Writer/Artist: Doug TenNapel
Publisher: Image
When’s the last time you read a story that you found to be a lot of fun, and not just because the creator claimed it was fun to create, but because the result just knew what it wanted to do and enjoyed doing it? That’s Tommysaurus Rex. Simple high concept: boy meets dinosaur, boy adopts dinosaur. But TenNapel goes the distance by hitting the right notes and the right jokes.
The story goes through most of the expected motions of a pet story, but emphasizes the innocence and whimsy of the situation without bringing the logistics of a surviving dinosaur into the equation. This simplicity paints the characters’ actions in terms of right and wrong and offers a clear-cut solution to their dilemmas, such as how Ely manages to repay his neighbors for Rex’s damages or how the mayor turns the dinosaur to his advantage – but this is hardly a bad thing; when’s the last time you read a lightheartedly story that emphasized action over fear of consequence? Tommysaurus Rex plays by its own rules and plays well.
Notorious for the creation of Earthworm Jim, TenNapel brings his cartoony and slightly warped design sense to the cast of Ely, his family and his neighbors. His characters are all well-conceived and their expressions are wonderful enough to be easily adapted to animation, especially Ely’s grandfather. There isn’t anything necessarily unique about the layouts, but they nevertheless jump off the page, likely due to the dynamic perspectives in each individual panel.
If there’s one outstanding problem, it’s the ending. A story wrapped in its own simplicity is prone to finding a simple end solution, and it just rings false despite all the other conveniences in the story. It almost felt like the reader was going to get an expositive moral about good behavior. Also, Tommysaurus Rex is a quick read. Not Scott Morse quick, but it shouldn’t take longer than a half-hour to breeze through, if that much.
While anyone can appreciate this story, it would be best for a household that includes children. Older readers will giggle at the quirky and well-timed humor, but kids will likely eat it up. They’ll also have fewer qualms with the happy ending, but will have much more to relate to and learn from Ely’s adventure.
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