The Dinosaur Art of Mark Schultz

Simon · March 16, 2012, 03:01:30 AM

"STORMS AT SEA"

This thread, for as long as it lasts

will link to various images drawn by American "graphic novelist" (ie comic book writer/illustrator) Mark Schultz.

Schultz has had a prolific career - see his wikipedia entry HERE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Schultz_%28comics%29

but he is best known for a 1980s-1990s comic book he created known as Xenozoic Tales. A futuristic world has seen mankind destroy the planet; when the survivors finally emerge from underground caverns the survivors fled to, 700 years have passed, and the new world they encounter has seen the unexplained return of all manner of prehistoric flora and fauna - the comic has a strong conservationist message, but not to the point that it detracts from the story.

The hero - Jack Tenrec, the last of a society of "old blood mechanics" who first managed to restore many ancient machines after humans returned to the surface. His job is not only to assist with the machines of the "City in the Sea" (actually on shore - could be NYC, its never made clear) where the human population now lives among the ruins of a glorious past. He is also in charge of maintaining the balance of nature - to make sure man lives in harmony with his environment.

Of course, human nature being what it is, the land is overrun with Mad-Max type renegades, bandits, poachers (big dinos mean big trophies) which Jack, along with his beautiful side-kick, the diplomat and naturalist Hannah Dundee must put an end to.

You get the idea. Harmless entertainment, but eye candy for dino lovers. The comic briefly made it onto the small screen in 1993 when the Saturday morning cartoon series re-titled "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs" ran for one season. The garish animation actually looks very well considering it was Saturday AM fare.

Oh yeah - I almost neglected to mention - Jack has a fleet of 1950s restored and souped-up Cadillacs - hence the name of the TV show. The juxtaposition isn't meant to be understood - it just looks UBER-COOL to see Jack weaving in and out of roaming sauropods, or galloping ceratopsians in a convertible 1957 two-door Cadillac.

Incidentally, the entire original Xenozoic Tales comic is available in a newly released soft-cover book simply titled "The Xenozoic". But the best part of Schultz's dinosaur drawings are the rich color cover drawings made during the comics run. I intend to gradually post some of them in this thread.

The large prints done by Schultz (of which I have about a dozen - all signed) are hard to find and can be pricey, but look absolutely awesome in the right room.

Simon · March 16, 2012, 03:04:37 AM

Simon · March 16, 2012, 03:17:52 AM

The last photo few photos are screen grabs from the "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs" TV cartoon. You can watch the opening sequence for the cartoon show here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9c2K4Jl5LI