Dinosaurs Attack!
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''Dinosaurs Attack!'' is a
trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other t ...
series by
Topps The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures trading cards and other collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of Baseball card, baseball and other sports and Non-sports tradi ...
released in 1988 and containing 55 base cards and 11 sticker cards. The cards tell the story of
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...
s transported through time into the present day through a freak accident and wreaking havoc on Earth. The series is notable for its graphic violence and gore, intended to evoke memories of the successful ''
Mars Attacks ''Mars Attacks'' is a science fiction-themed trading card series released in 1962 by Topps. The cards feature artwork by science fiction artists Wally Wood and Norman Saunders. The cards form a story arc, which tells of the invasion of Earth by ...
'' trading card series of 1962.


Overview

The ''Dinosaurs Attack!'' trading cards were created as a follow-up to the successful trading card series ''Mars Attacks''. Like ''Mars Attacks'', ''Dinosaurs Attack!'' was intended as a homage and a parody of 1950s
B-movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...
s. While ''Mars Attacks'' was a parody of alien invasion movies, ''Dinosaurs Attack!'' was inspired by monster-on-the-loose movies such as ''
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms ''The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'' is a 1953 American independent monster film directed by Eugène Lourié, with stop motion animation by Ray Harryhausen. It is partly based on Ray Bradbury's 1951 short story of the same name, which was later ...
'' and ''
Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...
''. Topps veteran product developers
Art Spiegelman Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman ( ; born February 15, 1948), professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazin ...
,
Len Brown Leonard Charles Brown (born 1 October 1956)) is a former mayor of Auckland, New Zealand, and former head of the Auckland Council. He won the 2010 Auckland mayoral election on 9 October 2010 and was sworn in as Mayor of Auckland on 1 November 2 ...
(who had designed and written ''Mars Attacks'') and Gary Gerani developed the idea for the series. It was Gerani's original suggestion, and he receives a single "created by" credit in later Topps-licensed comic books and graphic novels based on the property. Gerani sketched out the 55-card storyboards, wrote the copy for the card backs, and art directed all the cards.
Herb Trimpe Herbert William Trimpe (; May 26, 1939 – April 13, 2015) was an American comics artist and occasional writer, best known as the seminal 1970s artist on '' The Incredible Hulk'' and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wol ...
adapted Gerani's storyboards into pencils, with some assistance from John Nemec and
George Evans George Evans may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George "Honey Boy" Evans (1870–1915), American songwriter and entertainer * George Evans (bandleader) (1915–1993), English jazz bandleader, arranger and tenor saxophonist * George Evans (sin ...
. Then,
Earl Norem Earl H. Norem (April 17, 1923 – June 19, 2015), who signed his work simply Norem, was an American artist primarily known for his painted covers for men's-adventure magazines published by Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin Goodman's Magazine Man ...
and XNO delivered the final paintings.
Paul Mavrides Paul Mavrides (born 1952) is an American artist, best known for his critique-laden comics, cartoons, paintings, graphics, performances and writings that encompass a disturbing yet humorous catalog of the social ills and shortcomings of human civ ...
and Harry S. Robins of the
Church of the SubGenius The Church of the SubGenius is a parody religion that satirizes better-known belief systems. It teaches a complex philosophy that focuses on J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, purportedly a salesman from the 1950s, who is revered as a prophet by the Church. SubGen ...
did the artwork for the 11 stickers. The storyline of the card series is minimal. They tell the story of a scientific time travel experiment gone horribly wrong, transporting several dinosaurs, pterosaurs, marine reptiles and other prehistoric animals of many kinds from their various prehistoric time periods into modern times, where they wreak havoc upon mankind. Most of the cards show a different scene of the dinosaurs causing chaos and death across the world. Some of the cards show the scientists frantically working to reverse the time travel effect. In the end, the Supreme Monstrosity, the patron deity of the dinosaurs (nicknamed ''"Dinosaur Satan"'' by some fans due to its resemblance to the popular culture depiction of Satan) intervenes, trying to stop the scientists. The lead scientist, Elias Thorne, sacrifices himself to the Supreme Monstrosity so his wife, Helen, can succeed and send the dinosaurs back to their own time, tearing the animals apart in the process. The artwork is intended to be shocking and graphically bloody, with one card showing schoolchildren being eaten by an ''
Allosaurus ''Allosaurus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period ( Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian ages). The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to th ...
'', a ''
Stegosaurus ''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been fo ...
'' devouring a police officer while its spiked tail gouges out the eye of another and a ''
Pteranodon ''Pteranodon'' (; from and ) is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with ''P. longiceps'' having a wingspan of over . They lived during the late Cretaceous geological period of North America in presen ...
'' tearing apart the
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
. The cards also contain gross inaccuracies in their depiction of dinosaurs; for instance, in one card,
trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinction, extinct marine arthropods that form the class (biology), class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most succ ...
s are portrayed as "flesh-eating worms" that attack humans. In reality, trilobites consumed mud for nutrients. Also, a ''
Dimetrodon ''Dimetrodon'' ( or ; ) is an extinct genus of sphenacodontid synapsid that lived during the Cisuralian (Early Permian) Epoch (geology), epoch of the Permian period, around 295–272 million years ago. With most species measuring long and ...
'' is depicted as dwarfing St. Basil's Cathedral, several herbivores are depicted as flesh-eaters and other various dinosaurs are depicted as being almost
kaiju is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju'' ...
-like. In fact, one can see references to the films '' Gorgo'' and ''
Reptilicus ''Reptilicus'' is the mutual title of two monster films about a giant, prehistoric reptile. A pair of Danish-American co-productions produced by Cinemagic and Saga Studio, the Danish-language ''Reptilicus'' was directed by Poul Bang and release ...
'', and two science-fictional dinosaurs, the '' Rhedosaurus'' and the ''
Paleosaurus ''Palaeosaurus'' (or ''Paleosaurus'') is a genus of indeterminate archosaur known from two teeth found in the Bromsgrove Sandstone Formation and also either the Magnesian Conglomerate or the Avon Fissure Fill of Clifton, Bristol, England (or ...
'', are among the depicted creatures. ''
Trachodon ''Trachodon'' (meaning "rough tooth") is a dubious genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur based on teeth from the Campanian-age Upper Cretaceous Judith River Formation of Montana, U.S.Leidy, J. (1856). "Notice of remains of extinct reptiles and fishes, ...
'' is the exception; it is correctly portrayed as a plant-eater and is never seen directly causing any deaths (it does, however, indirectly cause death when startling one man on a hunting trip so badly that he shoots another by accident). Additionally, it is the only one on the 11 stickers shown not killing a human (instead, it is trying to eat a
streetlight A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, streetlamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution b ...
). Despite the company's hopes, ''Dinosaurs Attack!'' did not achieve commercial success.
Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...
was planning on making a film version but dismissed it when ''
Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...
'' was released. Instead, he made the film ''
Mars Attacks! ''Mars Attacks!'' is a 1996 American science fiction film, science fiction black comedy, black comedy film directed by Tim Burton, who also co-produced it with Larry J. Franco. The screenplay by Jonathan Gems was based on the Topps trading ca ...
'' In 2016, Topps and
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released ''Mars Attacks: Occupation'', an all-new trading card series that contained six different subsets. One of these was a nine card subset titled "Dinosaurs Attack! vs. Mars Attacks". This was the first time that the two famous trading card series' storylines have been combined. In 2019, the collectible cards were discussed on four episodes of the popular podcast
Hello Internet ''Hello Internet'' is an audio podcast hosted by educational YouTube content creators Brady Haran and CGP Grey. The podcast debuted in 2014 and released 136 numbered episodes and 18 unnumbered episodes until February 2020, when the last episode ...
by hosts
CGP Grey CGP Grey is an American educational entertainment, educational YouTuber, podcaster, and Online streamer, live streamer based in the United Kingdom who creates explanatory videos on subjects including politics, geography, economics, sociology, h ...
and Dr. Brady Haran. In 2021, Topps and Kickstarter released ''Mars Attacks: Uprising'', another all-new trading card series that contained four different subsets. One of these was another nine-card subset (this time including a 10th card labeled "X") titled "Mars & Dinosaurs Attack".


Comic book adaptation

In 1991
Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book store, comic book specialty stor ...
began releasing a three-part miniseries based on the cards. However, due to the poor performance of both the comics and the trading cards they ended up only releasing the first issue. The comic book also included four ''Dinosaurs Attack!'' bonus cards that had never been seen before and have not been reprinted since. In July 2013,
IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...
reprinted the one issue of the Eclipse comic and finished the story as part of the series' 25th anniversary. While the original series was only meant to be three issues, IDW expanded the project into a five-part miniseries. In February 2014, the entire miniseries was reprinted as a trade paperback. The miniseries reunited writer Gary Gerani, penciler Herb Trimpe and painter Earl Norem from the original trading card series.


Characters

Throughout the cards, a small number of recurring characters were present, usually appearing as a name or a picture on a few of the cards. * Elias Thorne - One of the head scientists on the TimeScanner project, he and his wife Helen were (presumably) the last humans on the space station Prometheus. While attempting to reverse the TimeScanner's ability to materialize dinosaurs on Earth, they were attacked by a large demon dinosaur. Thorne sacrificed himself to the beast, giving his wife time to start the reverse on the Timescanner, sucking the dinosaurs back to where they came from and ripping them to pieces as they go. * Helen Thorne - The wife of Elias Thorne, she helped him build a mechanism to reverse the TimeScanner's effects. However, a large demon-like dinosaur attacked and killed Elias. Helen was able to throw the switch to the mechanism, triggering the reversal of the TimeScanner, sucking the dinosaurs back to the past and killing them. Helen narrates the back of the final story card, telling that how she and Elias only wanted to know what killed the dinosaurs. She concludes that the reason the dinosaurs were wiped out was because of us. * The Anchorman - This unnamed anchorman appeared on the back of several cards, interviewing attack survivors. He first appeared interviewing a group of rock stars who were attacked by a group of dinosaurs who ate their colorful hair. He later interviewed a man who accidentally shot his friend while fishing, after being startled by a grazing ''Trachodon''. The anchorman is later killed on another card when a dinosaur invades the newsroom and eats him, while his assistant runs off. Throughout his first appearances, the anchorman seemed skeptical of the events. * Mitchell Stevens - The Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army, he is never actually seen on any of the cards. Rather, he appears on the back of all the cards that look like a report being addressed to the military, with Stevens being the sender. * General Frank Manchester - General Frank Manchester was put in charge of U.S. Army operations after the death of the previous commander, who is ripped in two by a pair of dinosaurs (according to the front of the card in which Manchester first appears). While Manchester is only mentioned on the back of one card, he is later seen on another card crushed by a theropod, his entrails strewn on the ground around him. It is affirmed this is him by Mitchell Stevens' report on the other side of the card. * The Saurian - An evolved, benevolent dinosauroid who appears to Elias in a dream. Despite appearing only once, the Saurian is an important character in the cards; he explains that the dinosaurs' god is the one whom Elias saw through the TimeScan three weeks before and that the deity will not rest until the dinosaurs have flooded over into the present. The Saurian further elaborates that human beings possess souls—the ability to judge what is right and wrong—while the dinosaurs do not. This is the cause of the dinosaurs' ferocious, mindless savagery. * The Supreme Monstrosity - The patron deity of the dinosaurs and the main antagonist. He is a devil-like dinosaur who was brought through the TimeScan by Elias and Helen, after which he then decided that the dinosaurs should rule the present and set them on the human race. He was eventually killed when Elias sacrificed himself so Helen could reverse the TimeScan to kill both him and the dinosaurs.


Adaptation

Shortly after release of the cards, creator Gary Gerani took a proposed film treatment for ''Dinosaurs Attack!'' to
Joe Dante Joseph James Dante Jr. (; born November 28, 1946) is an American film director. His films—notably ''Gremlins'' (1984) alongside its sequel, ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990)—often mix the 1950s-style B movie genre with Counterculture of th ...
and
Michael Finnell Michael Finnell is a film producer active from the 1970s in film, 1970s to the present. He has produced several horror film, horror-comedy films, particularly with the director Joe Dante. Finnell worked for the American producer Roger Corman befo ...
who optioned the property for development. Dante and Finell rejected Gerani's initially treatment and began developing their own with
Charles S. Haas Charles Stephen Haas (born October 22, 1952), also known as Charles Haas or Charlie Haas, is an American screenwriter, actor, and novelist. Biography Haas was born in Brooklyn, the son of Eunice (née Dillon) and Philip Haas, who was an attorne ...
writing the screenplay, while
Will Vinton William Gale Vinton (November 17, 1947 – October 4, 2018) was an American animator and filmmaker. Vinton was best known for his Claymation work, alongside creating iconic characters such as The California Raisins. He won an Academy Awards, Os ...
was being eyed to direct. After the announcement of ''
Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...
'', Dante and Finell lost faith in the project believing they wouldn't be able to meet audience expectations. Dante and Finell briefly considered an alternate path for the project by retooling it as a parody of the recent glut of ''Jurassic Park'' and other dinosaur movies, but the film never happened.


References


External links


Bob Heffner's site
(illustrated database of the series)

* ttp://dinosaurs-attack.blogspot.com/ Gallery {{Non-sports trading cards Trading cards Topps Products introduced in 1988 Kaiju Dinosaurs in comic books