By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
Based on the 2014 short film of the same name, Sharkasaurus is also a graphic novel. This fun thrilled romp has all the hallmarks of an enjoyable B-film of the 50’s. Those monsters back then did not have the help of today’s CGI technology to realize in glorious 3D or realistic proportions. Usually, they were puppets carefully brought to life through stop-motion or marionettes. Flash forward to the print medium, none of that will matter. Those who saw the video will find a huge difference and none of that truly matters when in the desert, nobody can hear your distant scream and mistake that for a screeching hawk.
The book expands on the material from the book and greatly expands on why such a land shark exists. Also, Alice Monroe is set up as the would-be heroine. I do not want to give away the entire story. Here, she and her mate Frankie are in an archaeological excavation to unearth clues to another Proterozoic species said to roam the earth. Along the way, Creationists led by Reverend Peter Matthews and his daughter (she’s not immediately named) object to the rewriting of more than just “the scripture.” He’s your stereotypical evangelist, and quite laughable to say the least. Will he get his just desert in the dessert? The video answers that very easily, and what this dinosaur symbolizes is nothing like Devil Dinosaur (Marvel Comics). Godzilla? Maybe.
By Ed Sum