Sharkasaurus is an upcoming graphic novel from writer Spencer Estabrooks, artist Jethro Morales, colorist Adriano Augusto, cover artist Nyco Rudolph and published via Renegade Arts Entertainment! Sharkasaurus will be available to purchase April 23, 2018. Here is my review:
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 might and the awesome power of Sharkasaurus, the disparate characters are forced to work together, adapt and become the best versions of themselves or be killed in terrifying ways.
Adapted from the screenplay for the forthcoming Asylum Pictures movie – Sharkasaurus, to be directed by the comic writer, Spencer Estabrooks.
Sharkasaurus is a bloody slice of insane fun. If you’ve ever found yourself in an argument with a religious person who thinks that dinosaurs didn’t exist, you’ll be laughing your ass off at Spencer Estabrooks’ dialog that finds his characters constantly bickering amongst one another while a giant half shark, half dinosaur is annihilating everything around them. Equal parts horror and comedy, Sharkasaurus is so silly and badass that I could see a crossover with Ash from the Evil Dead series. It’s campy for sure, I mean, some of the one-liners would make 90’s action movies blush – and this graphic novel is jampacked with them.
The story takes place over the course of two days in the Drumheller area of Alberta, Canada at a dig site where two ladies and their adopted son are about to uncover a new prehistoric creature. Their plans get jacked up when a super Christian shows up and tries to make sure that doesn’t happen so this ridiculous religious golf course can be built instead. This supremely religious asshat has a daughter who falls for the son of the palaeontologists and the two wind up caught between science and faith based families while the creature that they were digging up, turns out to be alive – and hungry as f***.
The creature unearths itself and begins to attack everyone in site without mercy. An elderly Atheist choir (yes that’s a thing that they include here), children – you name it – the Sharkasaurus will impale it with its spikey tail before launching the victims into the air for a final chompdown. Jethro Morales’ art is beautiful and he draws some nasty brutal shit in this book. I’m not sure I’ll ever get the images out of my head of that balloon floating in the air with an arm still attached to the string. Some of the gore is funny, some of it horrifying – but it’s always fluid and well-drawn. It’s not hard to see how this was adapted from Estabrooks’ screenplay for the film in which this book is based – because the flow and action ramps up just like a full length movie, complete with shocking character death and all kinds of unexpected surprises. For a comedy horror comic, Sharkasaurus isn’t afraid to stun the readers with some insane and unexpected kills.
I don’t have anything to criticise here – Sharkasaurus is one of the best Renegade Arts’ books yet – maybe even my favourite. I’m really blown away by how well Estabrooks, Morales and Adriano Augusto work together. This is a trio that I would love to see continue the Sharkasaurus franchise just to see where it goes. Yes there is an opening for a sequel and yes it sounds completely unhinged but it’s one that I want to read immediately. No matter what side you choose to believe in – faith or fact – Sharkasaurus is a gore-soaked gem that goes for broke with the turn of every page. Buy it.
Rating: [star rating=”5″]
Spencer Estabrooks (Writer) – is an Alberta writer and film director. With a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies at the University of Alberta and a diploma in film production at the Victoria Motion Picture School Estabrooks focuses on telling Alberta genre stories. From cowboy zombies (Deadwalkers) to Rocky Mountain monsters (The Hunt) his film projects have won numerous awards including Rue Morgues Magazines Best Short of 2013 and Gencon’s best Feature Film 2016 (Legend of the Lich Lord)
Jethro Morales (Pencils & Inks) – After spending three years working exclusively for Dynamite on a variety of titles including Green Hornet, Dejah of Mars, and Army of Darkness / Vampirella, Jett has recently been focusing his talents on a few larger creator-owned graphic novel projects, the most ambitious of which is SHARKASAURUS. Every bit as big as the name implies.
Adriano Augusto (Colours) – Adriano specializes in digital colors, and he has a tremendious talent for breathing life into original line work. Adriano can color directly from pencils or from inks, and his vibrant color palette adds great depth to the original art that he works with. Adriano’s previous work includes Red Sonja, Green Hornet, Masks, and Voltron for Dynamite, and he is currently working on The Normals (Aftershock Comics).
Renegade Arts Entertainment – Our mission is to bring stories to life that we are passionate about and believe others will be too. Currently we are producing comic books, audio books, movies, animation and novels. We are also developing merchandise and games now too. Occasionally we’ll take on a commission, if it is just too good to turn down. We’ve produced a 6 minute animated music video for the band Judas Priest for Sony Music for example, and are involved in local community projects on both sides of the Atlantic. We operate from Canada and the UK, though members of the team are working from many different countries. The core team at the heart of the company is Alan Grant, Alexander Finbow and Doug Bradley. They are joined by a collection of extremely talented freelance artists, writers, composers and more from all over the world.