Exploring The Private Lives Of Dinosaurs In Cretaceous With Tadd Galusha

New graphic novel Cretaceous launches this week from Oni Press, written and drawn by Tadd Galusha (TMNT/Ghostbusters 2, Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers). As the title suggests, this book represents a very specific journey for the reader, but it’s an uncommon one, too, that will take you deep into the dramatic lives of dinosaurs. From their minor tiffs to their major drives and struggles, these creatures becoming much more “knowable” through the lens of Galusha’s work. Particularly the central T-Rex whose attempt to be reunited with his family takes up the central narrative.
Tadd Galusha joins us today to talk about his research-based and educative, but ultimately drama-driven story.

Hannah Means-Shannon: see that you hail from the Northwest and live in Alaska. Did those environments have anything to do with the interest you developed in this period and its inhabitants? Is there much fossil record in those locations?
Tadd Galusha: I’m definitely a Northwest kid. I grew up right on the edge of cascadia, so cougar, bear, and black tail were a pretty common encounter. I always was fascinated by the secret lives that animals led, cause when you saw them or found their tracks it was a brief or accidental glimpse. There was usually some sort of story to what the animals were doing, but you never got see it play out.
As for fossils there aren’t a lot of dinosaur fossils coming out of that region. I think Washington State just had its first dinosaur find a couple years ago. I do know that in recent years they’ve been finding quite a few specimens up in Alaska, so that is exciting and maybe something that I’ll be able focus on in the future with ​Cretaceous​.

HMS: While the scope of this book is impressively sweeping, there are specific characters you focus in on, even for short vignettes. Two of the most prominent are the T-Rex and Triceratops. Were there specific reasons that you chose them, from a narrative perspective?
TG: I really wanted to start the reader off with some familiar faces. Everyone knows these two animals, so it just seemed right. Then I could bring in some animals that might not be as familiar. With the T-Rex I wanted to focus on an aspect (and theory) of the animal that we don’t typically see, it’s family structure. And with its family, its vulnerabilities, it’s motivations. I think too much the T-Rex is still depicted as this hyper aggressive alpha predator that just lives for the kill. So, I wanted to instead show it as a somewhat intelligent predator doing what it does to survive and continue its lineage.
HMS: It’s kind of a “thing” that illustrators and comic artists often say they want to draw dinosaurs. To what extent did wanting to drawing this many pages of dinosaurs fuel the project?
TG: As much as I absolutely love dinosaurs the main fuel was the story. Don’t get me wrong, if you told me I had to draw just dinosaurs for the rest of my life I’d be just fine with that. BUT what really gets me out of bed in the morning is a story. So trying to tell an engaging, natural, story with just dinosaurs is a dream come true.

HMS: Can you talk a little bit about the choices you made in terms of presenting these creatures when there does seem to still be some debate about their skin surfaces, tone, and markings among scientists?
TG: I talked to a couple of working (in the field) paleontologists in the beginning. Over all the advice was look at the evidence and don’t get too crazy. Feathers are new and fun and make great headlines especially in terms of T-Rex. The reality is some dinosaurs had feathers and some didn’t. Small theropods, like your raptors, did because it’s there in the fossils. Now T-Rex is interesting and heavily debated, but so far there is no evidence in terms of feathers have been found. Also you have to ask what purpose would feathers serve on an animal of this heavy. Thermal regulation would have been a nightmare just with its mass, so to me it seems like less might be better in terms of its physiology. I did read that the young may have had feathers when born, and that seems like that could have been probably. Reality is we don’t know as of today, so I tried to take the most modest approach possible.

HMS: This is a mostly “silent” comic, though there are plenty of drawn-in special effects. Was it your goal to make the book more accessible for younger readers or international readers?
TG: I wanted the book to be accessible to everyone and anyone who ever had or has an interest in dinosaurs, but I wanted to try and showcase the animals as how they could had lived. Like a nature documentary where the viewer gets to create their own accompanying narration or soundtrack. The story is there, but the finer details are left up to the viewer. It’s really interesting hearing kids perspectives. Some animals are good guys, others bad guys. Some animals are boys or “the dad” and to others they see it as “the mom.” I simply love seeing this because they’re making the story unique to their own perspective. I never even thought of this happening, but I view it as one of the greater attributes of the book.

HMS: What are some of the rules of portraying a dino fight accurately, in your opinion?
TG: I think the rule in depicting any kind of action sequence is that you have to stay true to the physical confines and limitations of the environment. The physicality of the characters has certain limitations as well as impact on what’s around them. So, with this in mind I try and choreograph a “dino fight” and then once that’s figured I start playing with my camera angles to see what best way or most interesting way I can show it.
HMS: This comic seems to get at the root of conflict in storytelling by definition. Fights are presented as a matter of course, always brewing, and that makes for a very active and entertaining story. Did you include any quieter moments you wanted to work in?
TG: Yeah. There are some sequences where the pace of the story slows down a bit and the beauty of nature can overtake the brutality for a while. There is a sequence with a Quetzalcoatlus flying over some swamplands that’s nice, lol. There’s another sequence with a young tyrannosaur exploring its world a bit and finding a safe place to take a nap. I like to think that I paced out the book and gave it some balance, but I guess people will just have to read it and let me know if I succeeded in that.

HMS: I love the “field guide” section that accompanies the story and helps show the scale of dinosaurs to human beings. Was that always part of the plan to include? Were you influenced by existing guides you’ve seen?
TG: Definitely. There needed to be visual context for the size and scope of the animals. Plus, there are some animals that people just might not be that familiar with, so we felt it was an essential to have this as part of the book.

Big thanks to Tadd Galusha for taking part in this interview!
Cretaceous arrives in shops on March 20th, 2019!