Zany chaos ensues in this wonderfully outlandish graphic novel for young readers featuring extinct creatures in the Internet age. The creator of the series Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales illustrates how wacky life can get when a trilobite (from the Paleozoic Era) and an ambulocetus (a walking whale from the Eocene Epoch) catch fame fever--they'll go to any length to be online phenoms.
Trilobite and his pal, Amber, are in search of a get-rich-quick scheme when they encounter Tiffany Timber the paleo-newscaster. Tiffany introduces the pair to the wonders of Internet video, and Trilobite immediately decides that video fame is their ticket to riches. The path to fortune is not a smooth one for the pair, though. They encounter a conniving opabinia, a ladder-loving ape god, and a group of ancient sea creatures before entering an epic video battle.
Hale contrasts his muted color palette of blue, black, and white with extravagant and quirky humor: a pooping sea cucumber, a floating kitten head, and a sobbing wooly rhino are a few of the many eccentricities young readers will find appealing. While some of Hale's satire appears gendered--Tiffany's vanity is a regular joke--readers should enjoy the overall silliness of Trilobite's single-minded search for fame.
Hale includes additional back matter with fascinating information about his mostly extinct cast of characters and some extra insight into the origins of this project, "I wrote this book with one reader in mind: myself at age nine." This graphic adventure should tickle the funny bones of science buffs, video junkies, fans of madcap humor, and nine-year-old Nathan Hales. --Jen Forbus, freelancer