Xenozoic Tales

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about a comic book. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs redirects here. For the Capcom arcade game, see Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (video game). For the Rocket Science Games console and computer game, see Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (game). For the television show, see Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (TV series)

Xenozoic Tales is an underground comic book by Mark Schultz set in a post-apocalyptic future. Publication began in 1986 with the story "Xenozoic!" included in the comic anthology Death Rattle. This was shortly followed by Xenozoic Tales #1 in February 1987. The comic series ran for 14 issues, and has been reprinted by several publishers, including Kitchen Sink Press, Marvel, and Dark Horse.

The series proved moderately successful, and under the more memorable title, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, the series spawned a CBS cartoon series, action figures, trading cards, an arcade game from Capcom, a video game from Rocket Science Games, and a Twilight 2000 system role-playing game. The comic book reprints from Kitchen Sink and Marvel also used the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs title.

[edit] Setting and characters

In the storyline, the Earth was ravaged by pollution and natural disasters of all sorts. To escape the forces ravaging the planet, humanity build vast underground cities in which they lived for approximately 600 years. Upon emerging, the humans found that the world had been reclaimed by previously extinct lifeforms (most spectacularly, dinosaurs). In the new 'Xenozoic' era, technology is extremely limited and those with mechanical skills command a great deal of respect and influence.

The two chief protagonists of the series are mechanic Jack Tenrec and scientist and love interest, Hannah Dundee. Tenrec operated a garage in which he restored cars, particularly Cadillacs. Given that the post-apocalyptic world no longer possessed the ability to refine oil, Tenrec modified his cars to run on dinosaur guano. These cars, of course, are frequently chased by rampaging dinosaurs in pulp action-style adventure stories.

Other characters include various criminals, politicians, scientists, and inventors who populate the dystopian world of tomorrow. There is also a race of reptilian humanoids who cannot speak in a human language but instead communicate by spelling words with Scrabble tiles. These creatures have befriended Tenrec, and apparently have the ability to communicate telepathically with the dinosaurs. Added into the mix is Hermes, an allosaurus Jack raised, and who basically acts as the most threatening guard dog you could ask for.