Warning! Spoilers ahead for Jurassic League #1
DC Comics has released its wild new Justice League series, showcasing a ridiculous world of dinosaur superheroes that has to be seen to be believed. The perfectly titled Jurassic League imagines a unique universe where anthropomorphic dinosaurs have corresponding powers and prehistoric origins to the classic human version. Not to be taken seriously in the slightest, the newly released first issue promises an entertaining and downright hilarious adventure as big as the giant lizards who are coming together to protect the world in this new series.
Releasing as a 6-issue miniseries, Jurassic League is from the wonderful minds of Juan Gedeon and Daniel Warren Johnson. Right off the bat, Gedeon's artwork lends itself so very well to a world of dinosaurs with a very distinct and vibrant style to help set it apart from DC's other titles. Whether it's the new costumes, the landscapes, or the pure dino carnage that comes from superpowered dinos duking it out, there's no denying that Jurassic League is a work of art. A T-Rex wearing a prehistoric version of Batman's cape and cowl is truly a sight to behold.
Likewise, the narrative that's been set up by Gedeon and Johnson is so amazingly ridiculous. Wasting no time, Jurassic League #1 begins with a dino egg inside a rocket ship falling to Earth, confirming that Superman's jurassic counterpart "Supersaur" is indeed an alien (while still being what looks to be a brontosaurus). This is followed by an immediate cut to the Batwalker, the aforementioned T-Rex who for some reason believes dressing like a bat makes him scarier than just being a literal Tyrannosaurus Rex. Not to be left out, Aquaman's dino counterpart wields a trident made of bone against the "Blackmantasuarus" while Princess Diana's "Wonderdon" envisions a team of dino-heroes that's yet to be formed before leaving her island paradise full of Triceratops. Featuring all sorts of prehistoric puns that will make readers chuckle and groan in equal measure, Jurassic League embraces the ridiculousness of its concept to the max and holds nothing back. How else would a page exist where the "Jokerzard" kills the Batwalker's T-Rex parents in a flashback, resulting in one of the wildest depictions of Batman's origins ever?
While the Jurassic League has yet to gather by the end of this first issue, it seems as though it will only be a matter of time seeing as how the featured dino-villains are all harvesting humans, using them to create something undoubtedly sinister. Regardless, it's clear after only one issue that DC's Jurassic League probably won't have a major impact on the rest of the multiverse like the recent Death of the Justice League (if it does, that will be awesome). It's far more likely that this is a story that is meant to be enjoyed exactly for what it is: superpowered dino-mayhem that answers a simple question: if the Justice League were dinosaurs, which ones would they be?
For DC fans who prefer their comics to be serious, canonical, and have consequences for the rest of the established universe, Jurassic League probably isn't for them. Instead, this dino-centric Justice League series invites readers to sit back and just enjoy the wild ride no matter how crazy it might get. After all, isn't that what comics are all about? Telling fantastic stories that defy logic and reason for the sake of pure entertainment? How much further does the mind really have to stretch if the vigilante who goes out a night dressed as a bat just so happens to also be a T-Rex?
Jurassic League #1 is available now from DC Comics.