The artwork, particularly the individual dinosaurs, was really well done. My grievances with this graphic novel lie mostly in how violent the entire book is. Every few pages there is violence/blood/death and I'm just not into that. Honestly it made the book very myopic as it greatly implies the <i>only</i> aspect of dinosaur life is fighting/death. Well, that would make it so that they were the only species to ever exist on this planet to live in a constant state of war. Unfortunately it was obviously drawn by someone more interested in gore than anything else. Subsequently gore/death is literally the only story to be found here. 1 star rating upped due to the artwork.

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!!!!!! I must say I’m pretty glad to have a graphic novel sans the talking animals! I love when art tells it’s own story! Galusha is truly the talented genius we do not deserve but we should be thanking all the gods that we’ve got him! I wish we could order it yesterday, that’s how amazing this is! Gorgeous work!

Wow, my first book review of 2019! 0.0

This was a pretty great book. There was no dialogue (thank God, I'm so sick of juvenile talking animals. Talking dinosaurs? No. Please stop). Overall this plot was very sad. Don't get attached to any of the dinos in here, folks. It's a rough world in the animal kingdom.

The illustrations were outstanding. I'm researching everything else this author did because I want more!

This book or graphic novel rather, was incredibly well illustrated and depicted the life of a T-Rex. We see it hunting, searching for a companion and witnessing every day life in the Cretaceous Period.
Well put together and thought out!
I would probably say it does need a slightly older audience though, the stalking and killing scene in the first few chapters may be confronting for younger readers.

Cretaceous is the research-based, action-packed and heart-wrenching account of a young T-Rex who is separated from its parents and must navigate the dangerous world around it.

This graphic novel was fantastic but my love of dinosaurs may be the reason for this receiving such a high rating from me.

The story is told solely through pictures and it is brutal while also fascinating. The art style is fantastic and you can tell that the artist has thoroughly researched each dinosaur before drawing it.

Eat or be eaten. Survival of the fittest...

Life during the cretaceous period belonged to the giants at large or the smaller vicious ones stealing and vying on pray in groups.

Cetaceous opens with a T-Rex hunting in a brutal scene for the next family meal. With dangers looming in every corner and vegetation, there are always those who will try to surprise attack for the next meal.

As the reader follows this wordless graphic novel solely on illustrations, it speaks volumes about survival of the fittest no matter on which side you stand. Sympathy is to be gained for either of those creatures as they are purely following instincts to survive. The circle of life is illustrated and completed with other non-reptile species that play along the sideline.

The colors and graphics are definitely gorgeous whilst brutal but not gross. A nice visual to read over and over to admire the artwork while envisioning a glimpse of what it could have been during that time.

No specific age of audience is suggested for this graphic novel. To be safe I’d recommend mature upper elementary and up. There is a nice guide of the featured dinosaurs in the back of the graphic novel.

Enjoy!


Pictures are on my blog.
https://scarlettreadzandrunz.com/clas...

I received a digital copy of the novel from Netgalley n exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you!

4.5/5

Awesome.

Cretaceous impressed me with a research-based, action-packed and heart-wrenching account of a young T-Rex separated from its family. We follow it as it tries to make its way back to its family.

Galusha showed dinosaurs’ lives and the story through illustrations only. His story needs no words to shine, thrill or terrify. He shows a savage life of the Cretaceous era and pulls no punches.

Hunters become hunted, predators become prey. Despite lack of dialogue, the story delivers a genuine and deep experience.

I loved the art that beautifully depicts the harsh, brutal life of when dinosaurs ruled the earth. Galusha brings their world to life and fills it with a sympathetic cast of savage reptilian heroes.

A must read.

The 'Cretaceous' book is enormously awesome with all those spell casting illustrations. It was a good choice to not have text. It makes for a level playing field too for kids and adults to read together, without text. There is a good story line. I was surprised to find friendship in this dino-eat-dino world.
To make it a fun reading, sift through the last pages for the names of the dinos - Dromaeosaurus Albertensis, Dakotaraptor Steini, Saurornitholestes, funny looking Pachycepalosaurus Wyomingensis with a natural bonnet and many others..

Brutal.

For a book with no words, this story is intense.

And bloody. As I assume it is when predator and prey are trying to survive.

It’s a little hard to read in digital form when you can’t see the layouts as well. But the art is pretty fantastic, and it’s still a compelling story.

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for a copy in return for an honest review.</i>

They had me at "When a Tyrannosaurus...". So, this, was absolutely amazing! It needed no dialogues, sentences, it is wordless, pure and brilliant and I think I am going to read it again, right now. Because, yeah. You could force me to choose in comic book store between any Batman book/Lemire's work/Saga book and Cretaceous, and I would take this without thinking. Twice. Because the dinosaurs.
It was action-packed, dark, gory, heartful, emotional - I cried a little for a few times; refreshing, wonderful, interesting, educational, simply it is definitely a must read if you are fascinated by dinosaurs! The artwork in this is beautifully illustrated. And I'm truly sorry for people who say there is lack of the story. You poor little blind creatures...

A graphic novel propelled entirely by the amazing artwork, the story is about dinosaurs and their lives. There are no words in this story which can be both a good and a bad thing. Lack of words make the comic feel flat story wise but the gorgeous art more than makes up for it.

It's a nice book to flip through purely to enjoy the artwork.

Not a word of dialogue, but so much was said. The pages of this graphic novel are a wonderful yet extremely bloody depiction of what life could had been in the times of the terrible (deinos) lizards (saurus): the Cretaceous.

As we follow a mama T-Rex while hunting for her youngsters, we encounter triceratops bulls fighting for dominance, then being chased by a band of hungry raptors. Keeping away from the drama, Mama reaches her nest with still enough of her meaty cargo to feed all the little ones, but what seems like a happy ending is just the start of a desperate fight for survival: the smell of fresh blood has attracted a group of Albertosaurus, and they are not afraid of mama T-rex. Now is up to papa to rescue what’s left of their litter.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. As I first said, there’s no dialogue and only a few words here and there, but the tension and the story are as strong as if we could understand the thoughts of the reptilian protagonists.

The drawings are really good. Tadd Galusha surely spent a lot of time researching the creatures he wanted to depict, and it shows, in the life like sequence and dynamism of the frames. He took his liberties in putting so many species in such close quarters. But hey, this is fiction, so I won’t hold the academic departure against him.

Interestingly, looking at this frames I wondered if mammals, who made an appearance or two, could had made to the top of the food chain without the help of that faithful meteorite.

A must read if, like me, you’re fascinated by dinosaurs. Just one word of advise, while there are not words so that even the youngest of children can follow the story, some of the pictures are perhaps to violent for them.

Cretaceous is a fascinating take on prehistoric life in the day of dinosaurs. Without using any words, Tadd Galusha weaves a story that feels immediately emotional, and genuinely painful at times.

I was under the impression when I went into this book that for some reason it was going to be kid-friendly and it definitely seems to be geared more to teens and adults (although kids who like their dinosaur stories with a bit of extra gore and feeling might find themselves enjoying this one, especially if they struggle to read usually). At times I found myself having to go over a page a few times to make sure I was seeing everything correctly, but that's more so because I personally need extra time to comprehend images without words.

The story itself was really dark and emotional, with a lot of circle of life stuff going on, but as someone who can be emotional about that sort of thing, it definitely had me teary-eyed. The way it veered in between the core story and the big picture was interesting, and I found it especially immersive, although it did make it hard for me to visually follow a couple of times.

Artistically, this story was stunning. The dinosaurs were all rendered in an incredibly believable way, and they seemed relatively true in design to what they would have been in real life based on nonfiction I have read. The scenery, in particular, was quite breathtaking. The events often got bloodier than I really anticipated going in, so there were a few scenes early on that had me cringing slightly, but mostly I adjusted to it, I just hadn't expected it.

The information section in the back that identified each of the creatures depicted and gave additional information about them was helpful and especially interesting. I didn't expect to see that in the end, but I definitely appreciated its presence.

Overall, this is something that I did find myself enjoying a lot, especially once I started really getting into the thick of it. Anyone looking for a believable dinosaur story need look no further.

Hmmm… Wordless adventure comics featuring dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasties were rather popular back in the 1950s. So I'm a bit loathe to give something so old-hat a great rating, even if this is one of the more sustained dramas to come from the genre. Yes, the colouring is great, the design is kinetic and the sense of scale well-used, but the "pteranodon flies past my research" scenes needed a red pen taken to them, and as I say it has all been done before. I'll be generous and say 4 stars, for many of the target readers of this won't know the genre's history, and they will find this very dramatic and well-executed.

I never though i feel bad for a T-rex. A wordless graphic novel about dinosaurs. I loved the illustrations but i think they are a little bit too much for little children. It was different and good.

The artwork in Cretaceous is beautifully illustrated and it’s refreshing to see a story that can be told through narrative art without the heavy dialogue so often seen in comic books today. The attention to detail is amazing and when one takes pause to truly take in the art, the depth of the story shines. I feel this is also an amazing graphic novel for those who enjoy narrative forms of art, but may struggle with reading.

The illustrations on Cretaceous are beautiful! However, the writing was lacking. I have a hard time justifying purchasing this book for our library as the story offers very little! There appears to be very little to the storyboard of this book other than dinosaurs going about their business. This might be a good pick for a younger library, however some of the scenes are too gory for elementary.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2599275226?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

no wordings, just amazing art to tell the story. what an amazing artwork!

It is a nice wordless comic book about the life of dinosaurs. I don't think the illustrations are for children but the story is about "Let the best win" in this big and dangerous world.
Thanks to Netgalley for this copy.