Review: Age of Reptiles: Tribal Warfare

Age of Reptiles: Tribal Warfare by Ricardo Delgado
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rating 4 out of 5 | Grade : A for effort; Once upon a time, when dinosaurs ruled the earth...

This ain't your parent's land before time! Ricardo Delgado brings back that sense of wonder & excitement everyone of us had, when we were children, playing with our dinosaur figurines. He manages to tickle that nostalgia bone, and makes you remember the time, when we were genuinely excited for the next Jurassic Park movie, instead of the swivel that we got recently. And, to a limited extent, he is able to make us empathize with the characters of this story. Given that, a. said characters are dinosaurs, and b. there is no dialogue in the story, that is an admirable feat.



Other than this whole thing being a silent affair, one of the first aspects which caught my eye, is how immersive the world of the Dinosaurs was. With lush forests, gargantuan flora, a virgin earth untouched by the ravages of civilization and pure Natural Selection in action. It's just breathtaking.




Plus, the story features a plethora of vistas, where you just sit back and enjoy the panoramic views which it affords you.

In some pages, you can see the painstaking work that the Illustrators have done, drawing each scale of the dinosaurs as a rich tapestry, as well as the organic elements, such as the distinct patterns & marking on the trees and ground, with the added erosion & damage afforded by the passage of time in a passage of time.



The brutality of the hunt, the survival through predation gives plenty of opportunities to showcase action scenes, which are kinetic & dynamic. The pack hunters of the velociraptors benefit the most from this treatment.





Another feature which impressed me, is how, despite not being cartoonish, the various species of Dinosaurs in conflict have been drawn in an emotive manner, so that, at any given time, we know what sort of emotional pain they're experiencing, without it taking away from the authenticity of the premise.



There is a also great utilization of the environment, as vast panoramic vistas are rendered, with the depth and ever changing forms of the irregular landscape. In addition to making good use of light, dark, shadows & contrast. In some panels I was thinking how it felt, almost as if, the trees were casting their shadows onto my face, even when it's all drawn fictional work.





When it comes to the story, the narration is more akin to something out of an Attenborough documentary, as we are made privy to the day in the life of these creatures. As they hunt for sustenance, come into conflict with competition and predators, as they form and live in families and communes, as their survival is ever in peril due to natural and unforeseen variables. As well as how, these creatures, despite acting in a primal manner, also seemed to show traits of family, belonging, camaraderie, bravery and vengeance, which somehow makes them more relatable.

It's a short affair with sort of an abrupt ending, but seeing as this is how part of a series of books, I'm looking forwards to reading the other entries. And would recommend it, with some reservations, both to adults and maybe a few brave children, as I found the experience to be educational and nostalgia inducing.



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