Publisher: IDW
Writer: Bob Schreck
Artist: Nate Van Dyke
The Comic:
A quick catchup for anybody who’s not a massive Jurassic Park fan like myself:
It’s been 13 years since the events on Isla Sorna and Nublar. Nublar housed Jurassic Park, and was portrayed in the first film. Sorna was the secret factory location where the dinosaurs were created before being shipped over to Nublar, to be showcased in the park. John Hammond is gone (owner of InGen, the company who originally created the dinosaurs), and his company is nearly bankrupt. The whole series of events is considered a total loss.
It’s also important to note that this series is based on the films by Steven Spielberg (which Michael Crichton, may he rest in peace, helped to adapt), and not on Crichton’s novels. Personally I count that as a tragedy, as the book series was much more dynamic than the films. Don’t get me wrong, I love the films, but nothing beats a Crichton novel, and I think a comic adaptation of his work would be phenomenal.
All that aside, it’s nice to see this storyline back in print, and taking a new direction. Specifically, revisiting Hammond’s young grandchildren, Lex and Tim, from the first film. They’ve been left out of the series’ sequels up to this point (besides a very brief appearance in the second film), so seeing them again, as opposed to the other recurring characters, is a nice change of pace.
We find them grown, and running their own multinational corporations. Lex heads a vast organic foods empire, and Tim is running what’s left of InGen. Though the first issue doesn’t make it entirely clear, Tim is involved in a plan to recreate his Grandfather’s dream and finally open a live dinosaur themed attraction, this time on the mainland. At the same time, Lex is fighting hard (and paying quite a bit of her own money) to keep people away from the 2 islands, and leave the dino’s alone.
Why it Matters:
Jurassic Park has always been a series about man’s control over nature: both his own and the natural world around him. We know there were dinosaurs, and we know that they’re gone now (for the most part). Theories abound on not only what happened to them, but when they were here, and where they came from. Here we see a story moving beyond the “What if?”, and into the “What now?”.
It’s easy to become obsessed with theories, but as followers of a peaceful Savior, we can’t find ourselves embroiled in debate and argument over such things. The truth is we have no way of knowing exactly what happened, because none of us were there! Do I believe that man and dinosaurs existed at the same time? Yes. Does that mean that someone who doesn’t is an idiot? Of course not. Brilliant men and women have studied these creatures for over a century now, and you can’t simply discount their findings because you disagree with their premise.
It’s like Ian Malcolm (the mathematician from the first and second film) says, “God creates dinosaurs, God destroys dinosaurs, God creates man, man destroys God, man creates dinosaurs.”
We’ve never left the tower of Babel. We’re always trying to achieve the status of creator. The sad news is, it will never work. These stories show the consequence of man’s attempts to be omnipresent and omniscient. No matter how many contingencies or fail-safes you have in place, mistakes will be made, and the consequences severe. You don’t think Eve had a good justification (or even good intentions) in place when she took the first bite? John Hammond wanted to share something beautiful with the world, and didn’t mind making a boatload of money doing it, but in the end, all he’s done is play right into the hands of chaos.
Pick this book up for a humble reminder of how great ideas can end in tragedy (or just because dinosaur action is awesome!).
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