Time in Overdrive

Xenozoic Tales #9-12

by Mark Schultz

Step into the future as seen through the eyes of award-winning cartoonist Mark Schultz... a world where the great lizards of the past and high-powered Cadillacs of each present roar past the ruined cities of tomorrow... Where mankind plots against each other while struggling to survive this strange new era... Where shaman Jack Tenrec and scientist Hannah Dundee strive to uncover the origins of their violent world... and the growing heat of their relationship beneath the burning sun of the Xenozoic Age.

'Time in Overdrive' collects issues 9 thru 12 of Xenozoic tales, including the stories that won Mark Scultz three Harvey Awards as Best Cartoonist. Also in this volume are the additional Xenozoic stories written by Schultz and drawn by Steve Stiles, an introduction by acclaimed dinosaur artist William Stout, and a 10-page sketchbook section of never-before-printed Mark Schultz Xenozoic artwork.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1993

About the author

Mark Schultz is an American writer and illustrator of books and comics. His most widely recognized work is the creator-owned comic book series Xenozoic Tales, which describes a post-apocalyptic world where dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures coexist with humans. In 1993, Xenozoic Tales was adapted into an animated series titled Cadillacs and Dinosaurs and a video game of the same name. Schultz's other notable works include various Aliens comic book mini-series published by Dark Horse and a four-year run on the DC Comics series Superman: The Man of Steel. In 2004, Schultz took over the scripting duties of the Prince Valiant comic strip.

Reviews

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

The final volume of the original collections by Kitchen Sink Press. There would be two more issues of the comic, Xenozoic Tales, published after this volume, but they would not complete the story, and that's all there have been to date.

Ironically, it would have been less annoying to have ended after the second volume. Everything in those first two volumes are stand alone stories with only a light overall plot, but this volume begins with major changes to the status quo and ends with those changes unresolved.

We do get to see a little more of Hannah's tribe, the Wassoon, and the stories are not bad. It's just frustrating to not get an actual ending. I would be tempted to get the latest compilation volume that includes all of Mark Schultz' work from the Xenozoic tales in one volume, if I thought it would resolve anything, but it's hard to justify the cost for just two stories that don't.

I am sorry for those who just get that volume though, as they reportedly don't contain the stories drawn by Steve Stiles, and they are good stories.

[Burt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd say this is the conclusion of Cadilacs and Dinosaurs... but it isn't. The story to this day remains dangling. Unfinished. It's the only disappointment I have had in the entire series - there's no end.

Sometimes I wonder if that's preferable. Jack riding into the sunset on a dinosaur into an uncertain future, with no closure. It means he and Hannah are somewhere out there in the 27th century.

Doin' stuff.