Tyrannosaurus Ralph

Good Fun

To be honest, I didn't expect much from this. I figured it would be a comic with a single obvious storyline, computer generated cheap cartoon graphics, and a lightweight message or two. Well, please excuuuuuse me for being such a dishrag. Turns out this is an upbeat, though still awfully silly, adventure with a nice feel to it.

Our hero Ralph is trying to avoid a bully when he accidentally gets stomped by a T-Rex that's just been transported to our time line by a mad scientist. Squashed like a bug, Ralph's mind is transferred to the T-Rex. Just in time, because the scientist had kidnapped and transported the T-Rex so it could be sent to a distant planet to fight as Earth's champion. Got that? Now Ralph, as a T-Rex, has to be Earth's gladiator champion; if he loses, Earth will be disintegrated.

The rest of the book follows Ralph to the alien arena, and we share with him the desperation he feels as an inexperienced gladiator with Earth's fate on his shoulders. Ralph has to find the hero within. He's joined by the mad scientist, the scientist's assistant, and a whole crew of other alien gladiators from all over the universe. One of those aliens is a youngster who can switch from being a nice alien girl around Ralph's age to being a fearsome troll. So, Ralph gets to have a friend, gets to act out against all of the bullies in the universe, and gets to face a formidable challenge. All as a T-Rex.

That's a lot more substance than I expected, and it makes for a pretty fast-paced and appealing story. There are some sub-plots that come together at the end, and lots of one or two page long funny bits that punch up the narrative. There are also many farty, smelly, boogery, gross jokes, just to add atmosphere.

The upshot is that this was better drawn, better written, smarter, and wiser than I expected, and circled around to a satisfying and upbeat conclusion. It's also not a tie-in to a movie franchise or video game or TV show, (as best I know), so it's sort of handmade instead of a stale knock-off. I like that in my silly kid comix. A fun find.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Can an ordinary kid become a heroic dinosaur?

After being taunted by a bully and getting flattened by a dinosaur, Ralph wakes up in a secret lab under a garage ... as a Tyrannosaurus Rex! Professor Overdrive tell Ralph that his brain was put into the body of the T-rex and shows Ralph a message from King Clobberus Crunch who is demanding earth send their designated champion to fight in his gladiator style arena or else the planet will be destroyed. Professor Overdrive then drops the bombshell that Ralph is going to be earth's champion!

Fights to the death with champion fighters from rival planets remind Ralph of when he and his friend Dave play video games fighting fantasy monsters, only this time it's real. Thud! Crunch! Smash! Kaboom!

With a cast including aliens, a T-rex, a hunchback, a Professor and heroic kids (male and female), delicacies like pizza and blood grub pies on the menu, atom smashing wedgies, flaming farts, time travel, the threat of barf, and intergalactic gladiator fights, kids are going to have heaps of fun reading this graphic novel.

Along for the ride with Ralph and Professor Overdrive, we meet Lugnut, the Professor's hunchback assistant, Joona, a girl alien who may be friend material, along with a host of cute, gruesome, scared and mean aliens all battling it out to save their respective planets from annihilation at the hands of evil Clobberus Crunch and his ugly minions.

Seasoned and reluctant readers alike will be drawn in by the non-stop action, the humour and the interesting facts about gladiators at the end of the story. The illustrations are brilliant - bright, full of humour and action themselves, and with the best expressions you'll probably ever see on a dinosaur.

I received an ARC from NetGalley (thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity) in exchange for honest feedback.

The layout of Tyrannosaurs Ralph is clear cut and easy to follow. The colors are vivid without being overdone. The illustrations are fantastic. There are all sorts of different aliens to be seen. And there are several little giggles worked into the various pages. The planet, for example, has a super special way of providing lighting. Also, bad jokes and bodily humor. Basically, it’s perfect for the age range it’s targeting. (And maybe for adults who are easily amused as well. Just sayin’.)

One of the very first things in Tyrannosaurus Ralph that made me grin was the appearance of the scientist. You aren’t going to find your typical white-coated, crazy haired skinny old guy in this book. No, in Tyrannosaurus Ralph, the ‘mad scientist’ is a sleeveless t-shirt wearing, Fu Manchu ‘stached guy with tattoos and arms the size of a little kid’s head! (The lab assistant is a fairly typical one on the surface.)

The story itself is, at its roots, pretty typical. Kid who has been bullied gets granted special powers and saves the world and finds his self-confidence. But the way it’s dressed up into a dinosaur fighting aliens keeps it interesting. I mean, what little kid wouldn’t like to imagine they could transform into a Tyrannosaurus Ralph – er, Rex – and save the world? Meeting a pretty girl while they’re at it is just a bonus!

Overall, Tyrannosaurus Ralph was a fun middle-grade graphic novel to read. I liked the fact that it had the mad scientist go against expectations. It’s simply written enough to appeal to a pretty wide age range. I’d definitely recommend it. It’s a nice spin on the reluctant hero tale.

I can see kids enjoying this as they read comic panels whose story flows well with bright, detailed illustrations that exude a sense of fun and action. There are dinosaurs and aliens, how can this not be fun? There’s a good mix of characters to appeal to a wide audience and situations kids can easily see themselves having to face.

That youngish middle school crowd will surely eat this up with the targeted humor, jokes that will make adults shake their heads, and questionable science that is crazy enough to make them wish it could be true.

As a parent I liked the story with it giving the bullied kid a chance to gain some self-confidence to take on the world. Doing so using dinosaurs, aliens and a good supporting cast will just make that theme all the more fun.

What kid hasn’t wished they could be a dinosaur?

This comic book is so silly, but I can't deny how fun it is. It is quick paced and action packed. It's just all around weird and not realistic at all, but that hardly matters. I think kids and adults of all ages could like it. I wonder where the series will go from here.

I enjoyed the artwork.

This is a very cute book, appropriate for the intended audience. Lots of bang-em-ups, fun creatures, and a hero's journey. The mad scientist character is refreshingly different. I do wish the female character's situation weren't quite so gender-biased, however, she is also a strong character in her own right. I especially loved all the visual angles of the dinosaur, very funny. I will be featuring the creators on my blog soon - http://dulemba.blogspot.com.

*thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

3 stars.
This has massive appeal to children. Its brightly coloured, has the right type of humor for them and it has dinosaurs. Its a fun read but unfortunately not quite my type of graphic novel. Saying that though, I can easily see how others would like it. A boy gets bullied by another boy and next thing you know, he wakes up in a laboratory and hes a T-Rex dinosaur! Be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it. While it wasnt my favoutire, I would recommend it to others in hopes that they would get alot of enjoyment out of it.

Ralph is a typical 5th grader with bully problems. Until the day he wakes up to find his brain is inside a T-Rex and that he’s been chosen as the representative from Earth to participate in an intergalactic gladiator battle so Earth doesn’t get destroyed by the insane King Clobberus Crunch. Oh, and if he doesn’t win his battle, the Earth will be destroyed and his new alien friend will be enslaved to a colossal jerk. No pressure or anything. Can a weakling from Earth learn how to fight in a T-Rex body with no training…or is the Earth pretty much doomed?

This is definitely designed to appeal to those kids who like the concept of monster fights and laugh at slapstick comedy. There is a teensy bit more to this than just a boy in a T-Rex body fighting giant monster aliens. There’s a little lesson on how to respond to bullies (i.e. make sure you don’t respond by turning into one yourself) and to not judge others by appearances. There’s also some historical info in the back about Roman gladiators. So adults can enjoy the messages, and kids can eat up all the scifi, monster smashing goofiness. I personally enjoyed how the author & illustrator solved the issue of Ralph's tiny arms being useless in a fight. There's an opening left at the end so that there could certainly be future volumes in Ralph's fighting career to save the Earth. Definitely a good pick for reluctant readers. I’m considering purchasing this for our library. The middle school boys would probably love it.

Notes on content (in the ARC): No language issues. No sexual content or decency issues. There are a couple monster alien fights shown, but no one seems permanently damaged (just knocked out). Destruction and slavery are threatened, but the good guys win the day. Bullying happens, but it is relatively tame and as mentioned, Ralph learns some things. Some fart and wedgie humor.

Holy moly, this is a fast-paced read. The story just drives forward. So I'll definitely carry this one. I think a lot of middle school kids will really like it. That said, it does have some issues. 1. I don't think it was all that clear what happened to Ralph before he was turned... until later. I also found that there were a lot of eye-rolling cliches throughout. Names, dialogue. But overall, I think this one will be a winner. The artwork is fun, bright, and colorful.