Love: The Dinosaur
Written by: Frédéric Brrémaud
Illustrated by: Federico Bertolucci
Published by: Magnetic Press
Review by Stephanie Cooke
The love series is easily one of the most beautiful volumes of stories you will ever read in your lifetime. This surely seems like a big boast but once you take a look at any of the books, The Dinosaur being Volume 4, you will completely understand what I mean. It’s hard to argue the beauty behind the comics from Frédéric Brrémaud and Federico Bertolucci.
Each volume, including The Dinosaur, contains no words whatsoever. Each page is plotted and scripted out meticulously by Frédéric Brrémaud to tell a story but all of that goes on behind-the-scenes. The version that we wind up with is a meticulously constructed tale from the perspective of an animal as it tries to survive in its natural habitat. The illustrations, by Bertolucci, depict usually one “character” that we follow and see their plight. It’s never an easy story that makes you feel good. Life as an animal can be hard and they are always fighting to survive and to find their next meal. Life revolves around the food chain in the wild and The Dinosaur is no exception.
What is shown in this volume is some of the finest comic work I have ever seen. The story that is conveyed despite having no words within it is brilliant and I only hope I can be half as talented as anyone working on these books.
Verdict:
Love: the Dinosaur is a MUST BUY book. I love collecting art books to look over and not only does this have some of the best art that I’ve ever seen, but it’s a story you can enjoy over and over again. It’s the best of both worlds.
It’s admittedly not particularly cheery but in the same way you enjoy BBC’s Planet Earth or Life, you can appreciate the narrative that follows what it’s like to be anything but human.
If you haven’t read any of the other books in the series before, definitely check them out as well. You don’t need to have read one to follow the others. They’re completely standalone and are volumes in a series only in the sense that they follow a common theme: the circle of life. The other volumes: Volume 1, The Tiger, Volume 2, The Fox, and Volume 3, The Lion.
Love: The Dinosaur will be out on February 7, 2017.
