Super Dinosaur #9
Written by Robert Kirkman
Pencils & Colors by Jason Howard
Inks by Cliff Rathburn
Letters by Rus Wooton
Image Comics
Release Date: March 21, 2012
Cover Price: $2.99

There’s a lot missing from Super Dinosaur #9. Like the Super Dinosaur theme song. Super Dinosaur toys. Super Dinosaur t-shirts. Super Dinosaur breakfast cereal. Super Dinosaur the 3-D ride. Super Dinosaur Underoos and of course, Super Dinosaur: The Flame Thrower. But, for the comic itself — it’s pretty much all there.

Robert Kirkman writes a great issue of a licensed property comic that never was a licensed property. Yes, this book is aimed at kids, but for someone like myself, and any reader who’s over the age of about 16, it reads like that comic you picked up when you were a kid. GI Joe, Masters of the Universe, Visionaries, Transformers, Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, whatever it was that we watched on TV or played with in the yard and then that one day we discovered that there was a comic book to go with it!! And we ate that comic up with a spoon!!! That’s the same feeling I got when reading this comic.

There was more than one occasion that I actually stopped and thought “Man, I have to look for some of these figures the next time I go to Target” then promptly realized they don’t exist and shouted “Damn Kirkman! You got me again!” The comic is a LOT of fun to read. And unlike a comic based on an actual toyline, ANYTHING can happen here. He’s successdfully created the perfect creator-owned licensed property. The issue is mostly a fun, all-out battle between the good guys and the bad guys and there’s a GREAT reveal at the end with a twist that I’ve been waiting for someone to do for years.

I love Josh Howard, so it comes as no surprise that I love his art on this book. He creates the perfect designs for the characters and the best part is that they actually LOOK like they’re based on toys. He does a great job at keeping the action really heavy and intense but never too intense or hard to follow. He also gives the book a classic animated style look. Nothing too modern or far out.

I recommend that you buy this book, read it, give it to a kid, then get it back and read it again. It’s definitely worth the $3 cover price. You’ll have a good time and it’ll bring back some great memories of toy lines and cartoons gone by. It’s definitely something new and different from everything else in comic stands today.