Monday 30 March 2015

The Pheonix Presents The Pirates of Pangaea Book 1 by Daniel Hartwell and Neill Cameron - reviewed by Cavan Scott

In his excellent How to Make Awesome Comics, Neill Cameron suggests mashing together different cool things to make a REALLY cool thing.

The Pirates of Pangaea is the artist and author practicing exactly what he preaches. Cameron and co-writer David Hartwell take two eternally popular staples of adventure stories and combine them with epic results.

Pirates and Dinosaurs. Need I say more?

OK, if you insist. Set during the 18th Century, The Pirates of Pangaea sees Sophie Delacourt visiting a recently discovered island that is still populated by dinosaurs. All is going swimmingly, until she is kidnapped by a band of vicious pirates, led by the blood-thirsty Captain Brookes. Can she escape before Brookes finds his heart's desire, a mystical skull hidden somewhere on Pangaea?

Along the way, we have action, intrigue and pirate ships strapped onto the back of massive sauropods. Yes, you read that right - schooners on the back of dinosaurs. Just look:



Seriously, why has no one done this before? If any comic deserves to be adapted for the big screen, it's this pre-historic page-turner.

Oh, and you've heard of horse-whisperers? Well, Sophie turns out to be a T-Rex whisperer. Far more impressive, if you ask me!

The writers' inventive world building is brought vividly to life by Cameron''s dynamic artwork, with colouring from Abigail Ryder. Best of all, there's a real sense of jeopardy here. There's no quick fixes to problems, and you begin to wonder which of the main cast will make it to the end of the book - if any!

If you like your swashes buckled and your pulse quickened, you'll love this dino-mighty adventure.

The Pirates of Pangaea is published by David Fickling books. Reviewed by Cavan Scott





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1 comment:

Ann Turnbull said...

This looks fabulous!

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