Xenozoic Complete Collection

by Robert Greenberger

Today, Kitchen Sink Press’ legacy is probably resurrecting Will Eisner’s The Spirit, but that ignores many of the other wonderful accomplishments during the company’s brief existence. Denis Kitchen was one of the first independent publishers to span everything from comic strip reprints, such as The Spirit, to underground comics to alternative comics. He also fostered new talent among them, Al Williamson’s protégé, Mark Schultz. In Kitchen Sink’s Death Rattle we first saw what Schultz could really do with his story, “Xenozoic!” about a post-apocalyptic near future that brought dinosaurs back to the world.

The story was so well received that Kitchen encouraged Schultz to do more and in February 1987, the first of fourteen issues of Xenozoic Tales arrived. The black and white series was imaginative, thought-provoking and pretty wonderful to look at. It proved successful enough to be adapted for Saturday morning television by CBS under the more familiar name of Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. It lasted all of one season but was successful enough to spawn a comic based on the cartoon from Topps in 1994.

Mark’s original tales, though, endured and have been reprinted by Dark Horse and Marvel Comics. Now, Flesk Publications, which seems to have a particular fondness for dinosaurs and their artists, is collecting all the stories in a single 352-page volume. Printed larger than the original comics, we will stare in wonder at Schultz’s meticulous detail and immerse ourselves in his view of a world gone wrong. It’s a distinct pleasure to watch how, page after page, Schultz’s work gains verve and detail, going from stark imagery to lush detail. Throughout, you can see Williamson’s influence and these stories would not have looked out of place in the old EC Comics where the late Williamson made his reputation.

Set in 1996, Earth experienced a series of geologic upheavals that altered the ecosystem. We learn that by 20202, humans have been largely rendered extinct and new life forms have evolved. Those humans who found bunkers for survival hunkered down and the series picks up some 500 years later. Humanity re-emerges to find a world they no longer recognize. Nature has rendered the world habitable for other life, including ancient models from trilobites to mammoths. Somewhere along the way, Earth gained a second moon, which had its own effects on the planet’s development.

The stories are set in this new Xenozoic Age, featuring Jack “Cadillac” Tenric, someone still in possession of technological skills, making him among the elite of the remaining human society. He is rebuilding the 20^th century from whatever parts have survived, notably Cadillacs, which can now run on dino guano in lieu of oil. Accompanying him on his adventures is the gorgeous Hannah Dundee.  When not being chased by dinosaurs (long before a T-Rex chased a jeep in Jurassic Park), Jack and Hannah, who has secrets of her own, deal with corrupt humans and the new humanoid race with genetic links to the reptiles and can telepathically chat with the dinosaurs.

The shame of it is that Schultz never concluded the series and ended it midway through a story and he does not come back to wrap things up. We’re left to wonder, in the best of science fiction tradition, “What if…?”