IDW Publishing 2017
Created, Written & Illustrated by Stephen Mooney
Coloured by Triona Tree Farrell
Nobody talks about how many dinosaurs died in WWII. But three months after Sergeant Tommy Irish Flynn and Captain John Noble wiped them out while foiling a Nazi plan, the boys are back, hot on the trail of some Dino DNA stolen by their former ally, Agent Elizabeth Huntington-Moss! The Nazis must be stopped before they can unleash their doomsday weapon!
A. I got the variant cover where Irish is looking kind of quirky cute on the cover and I immediately saw Stephen in the resemblance which made me giggle. It works though because both are extremely cute men. Also I have so much admiration for someone as talented as Stephen is because the fact that he’s able to write and draw this and have all of it be as so gosh darned good as it is. The quality level here is amazing to see and that everything that is on each page is exactly what he intended it to be for us to get the maximum impact for the reader through words and visuals.
I love adventures like this we don’t get to go back to WWII much any more in comics. Well let’s face it with so many wars happening around the globe as it is they seem to get precedence. For for my tastes though this has that feel of like Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider and the Maltese Falcon and that’s the kind of stuff I crave. It’s fun, intelligent and has that element of romantic danger, betrayal and intrigue, that just can’t be found in today’s world. There really is a certain amount of romance, both physical and psychological when it comes to adventures of this sort in this era and it’s a major factor in how we get to enjoy it. What Stephen does here is blend it all so well the action, romance, adventure, intrigue and the all too important humour. Also the language lesson from the Irishman, both, adds a great element to the humour aspect as we “Americans” get to imagine the accent and the meaning behind words.
I have to say that the interiors here are magnificent as well. The way the pages are laid out and the use of angles and perspective give us a great panoramic view of what’s going on and even has a cinematic flair to it. The attention to detail in the characters, clothes and everything that we see is so gosh darned tight it’s truly splendid. I know Stephen is doing all this by himself and it’s time consuming still I really wish there were more backgrounds in play. What we see when they are used is game changing in how everything is presented and understood by the reader.
Sometimes a sequel isn’t a sequel it’s just a brand new story arc. I like that Stephen is taking the first arc and moving forward from there to bring us this one. There are elements that tie the two so closely together, like the Dinosaur aspect, and the reuniting of characters. While Ishi may be missing, hopefully just for now, it’ll be interesting to see how things progress into next issue. Also seeing Greta here well that was kind of cold and I don’t mean that nicely or as beneficial in any way. I get that in the heat of what happened people act differently but really this gorgeous beauty with a beautiful mind to be such the Ice Queen yikes.
Once again Stephen proves he’s got more than just the chops to get us instantly involved in the story. The premise, characters, pacing and characterisation that he delivers has us laughing, left intrigued, wondering and wanting to see what’s next. John, aka The American, is literally a boy scout who isn’t interested in women and is as strong as Captain America, by the way just as blonde too, remains one of those people who you can’t get enough of. How he and Irish can be as close as they are is unusual, well the whole Odd Couple thing isn’t enough of an accurate description. Still they have this comedic timing between them with John playing the straight man with the innocence of a newborn babe.
If you haven’t been reading this then you really need to be. If you haven’t read the first arc, go get the trade, it’s okay you pick this up and jump right in without feeling lost. New Reader friendly indeed. This is exciting, fresh and entertaining in ways that harken back to the past when storytelling was truly an art form.