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• Price: $19.99
  
• Pages: 96
• On Sale: April 23, 2018
• Writer: Spencer Estabrooks
  
• Artist: Jethro Morales
  
• Colorist: Adriano Augusto
• Publisher: Renegade Arts Entertainment

From the Publisher – ‘Faith and facts collide on a Creationist themed golf course when the daughter of a widowed creationist falls for the adopted son of a gay paleontologist. Unbeknownst to the lovers a prehistoric dino-shark has emerged from hibernation leaving a trail of death and destruction. Will the creationist and paleontologist settle their ideological differences or will Sharkasaurus devour them all?’

The theme of Sharkasaurus is evolution. All central characters go through a transformation or metamorphosis. When faced with the might and awesome power of Sharkasaurus stubborn characters are forced to work together, adapt and become the best versions of themselves before they are killed in a terrifyingly hideous way.

Our We Talk Comics WeView – Killer sharks are great. Killer sharks combined with other things are even better. I mean, look at Sharknado or Sharktopus, both of these things are awesome (to me at least). Sharkasaurus carries on this tradition by combining a shark and a tyrannosaurus rex and definitely gives you a good looking monster. Setting this book in the Badlands of Alberta is great for the concept of finding a creature but it isn’t optimal for a high body count, and I’m not completely sure how a shark got to the middle of Alberta, but we’ll let that pass.

Based off a short film (watch it here), Sharkasaurus (the graphic novel) reads a lot like a film. It hits the expected beats and gives you the fun elements you look for from a giant monster story. It expands the story a great deal and allows for a lot of elements to be added that would have cost too much to do in a low-budget movie.

Spencer Estabrooks knows his monster movies. He has crafted a solid plot that allows for the “creationist vs atheist” debate to help power some of the story. The real star of course is Sharkasaurus and the creature is everything you could hope. A killing machine that doesn’t care if you believe in God or not… I appreciate it when you can tell that someone knows their stuff, and I KNOW that Spencer understands how to entertain an audience telling a story like this. Though perhaps his understanding of the b-movie genre is too great given that there are a few obviously American elements that are common to the genre that are a bit out of place in the Canadian setting.

Jethro Morales does a fine job bringing the creature to life. The Sharkasaurus looks really good and he has drawn some fine action scenes within the story. I have no problem following the plot from the art, and the characters have more than enough to differentiate them that you never get confused. The art is colorful and fun, certainly in line with the driving concept behind the story.

The best part about the book is that it expands on the short film. They try to bring in more characterization and give you a bit more meat on the plot bone so to speak. While I applaud them for this, I also think this is where the book fails a bit in it’s efforts. Though the characters are more well-rounded as compared to the movie (and there is a lot more of them), they are still little more than stereotypes. I would have appreciated digging into the main characters a little deeper to provide readers with a bit more emotional gravitas and a better reason to care about each of them. Overall though, it goes where you expect and desire it to go. The addition of the crazed groundskeeper really allow for some over the top moments, and I’d certainly like to see more of him in the sequel.

I’m a big fan of giant unexplainable ridiculous monsters terrorizing humanity. Sharkasaurus is a perfect fit with that genre and Spencer delivers the goods with the ending. While by no means “high art” this book is a very engaging read that should absolutely appeal to the viewers of the many shark themed movies out there. I think it’s awesome seeing b-movie comics and personally would like to see more of them produced. A fun concept that is worth the read.

Rating – Very Fine- (VF-) or 7.5/10

Unless being chased by a Sharkasaurus, in which case it is a 50/10…

Review by Brett

Love the review? Hate the review? Disagree with me? I’m happy to talk comics on twitter @Brett_WeTalk

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