Following 2001’s “Jurassic Park III,” the franchise entered a dark age for nearly a decade. Serious fans could follow the development hell of the fourth movie (which, after many fits and starts, finally will come out in June), but the drought of new material didn’t end until 2010’s “Redemption,” a five-issue series from new license-holder IDW Comics.
Written by Bob Schreck with art by Nate Van Dyke, “Redemption” is a notch below the best “JP” comics up to this point – the Abby-and-Derek issues of “Return to Jurassic Park” and the adaptation of “The Lost World” – but a cut above Steve Englehart’s Topps’ material. Its biggest weakness is Van Dyke’s art: None of the characters look like their movie counterparts, and even the dinosaur species are hard to tell apart. A carnotaurus rampages through the early issues, then a gigantosaurus is the villain at the end, and I’m not sure where the hand-off occurred.
I like the idea of using the carnotaurus, a cool carnivore in Michael Crichton’s “The Lost World.” But I’m disappointed that “Redemption” opts not to give it chameleon abilities like Crichton did, perhaps because invisibility would be hard to render. Then again, there are plenty of “Predator” comic books.
And I like the idea of revisiting Lex and Tim, who are now in their mid-20s. Both have money (from an inheritance from Hammond) and political clout (from their money and fame). Lex runs LexxCrops, the worldwide leader in organic vegetables, and provides financial assistance to the United Nations’ ongoing military mission to keep Isla Sorna and Isla Nublar free from human interference.
Similar to the premise of “Jurassic World,” public opinion has shifted in favor of Jurassic Park opening as a park. According to the summary on IMDB, as the movie begins, the park has been open for a decade. So this comic takes place soon before the park opens in the mid-Aughts. “Redemption,” though, chronicles Tim’s failed bid to open a park with strictly herbivorous dinosaurs.
Tim: “And absolutely no velociraptors, right?”
Secret partner: “Not a one.”
Tim’s downfall is that he trusts this secret partner, known as L. Would, who has hired “Jurassic Park” scientist Henry Wu (Wu appears to die in “Redemption,” but he’ll be back in “Jurassic World”), former BioSyn tech-thief Dodgson (who is a henchman here, rather than a big bad as he was in Crichton’s “Lost World”) and a paleontologist named Backer. Wu, who had stolen embryos before leaving Isla Nublar during the storm (it would’ve been awkward if he would’ve run into Nedry), aims to clone a fresh batch of dinosaurs in Texas. Backer is an homage to Robert Bakker, the real paleontologist who gets a shout-out from Timmy in “Jurassic Park”: “There’s this other book by a guy named Bakker.” (One could make a case that “Redemption” is ret-conning that line to “a guy named Backer.”) “The Lost World’s” Burke was also an homage to Bakker, and “Redemption’s” Backer is similarly bearded.
As a reader might have guessed by rearranging the letters of his fake name, the secret partner is Peter Ludlow, who purposely wants Tim’s venture to fail as a convoluted revenge scheme. Under Ludlow’s instruction, Wu is breeding carnivorous dinosaurs along with veggie-saurs. The resurrection of Ludlow – last seen being eaten by a baby T-rex in “The Lost World” – is, of course, absurd. But it’s at least fun to guess who this man with the scarred visage is. I’m reminded of when “The X-Files” resurrected Jeffrey Spender, and some people thought it was Mulder. For a moment, I suspected this scarred man might be Dr. Gustavus, the mad scientist from “Return to Jurassic Park” Issues 5-6, who was hideously scarred by a dilophosaurus.
(The return of Ludlow is at least handled better than the return of Muldoon in the “Raptor” comics, where the raptor expert inexplicably shows up in perfect health. By the way, Muldoon’s survival was rendered apocryphal in the “Lost World” comic adaptation and a DVD deleted scene, which tells us InGen paid out a wrongful death settlement to Muldoon’s family.)
Although the art’s lack of resemblance to the actors hinders a reader’s connection to the characters, the rivalry and reconciliation of Lex and Tim is handled well. Schreck imagines that the kids have grown up into flawed people – which is hard to take at first – but ultimately they are sympathetic and arguably noble. They are similar to their grandpa in that way: Tim is the visionary “Jurassic Park” version of Hammond while Lex is the naturalist “Lost World” version. The art also blunts the anticlimactic return of Grant and Ellie, who help round up the dinos.
All told, “Redemption” is a respectable continuation of the saga that delves into the worldwide politics of dinosaurs while bringing back familiar characters (if not familiar faces). As has been the case in most of the “Jurassic Park” comics to this point, the dinosaur scares and carnage fall flat. But if Schreck’s story had been made into a movie with great dinosaur effects, I think it would’ve been fun.