"Redemption" Part 3 Jurassic Park #3 (IDW) Written by Bob Shreck Art by Nate Van Dyke Covers by A) Tom Yeates B) Paul Pope

Tim and Lex begin independent investigations of the goings-on in Glen Rose.

Read a review of this issue by Patrick Hayes on PopApostle

Story Summary

Dr. Wu is dead, killed and mostly eaten by a pack of Gracilisuchus released by Dodgson last issue. Meanwhile, Tim, Lex, and Mr. Would all arrive in Glen Rose and the Carnotaurus stampedes a heard of young sauropods through town as events ratchet up.

Tim is upset with his mysterious partner when he learns that he has been illegally grazing the herbivores on Lexxcrops fields near the breeding pens at Dinosaur Valley State Park. He confronts the wheelchair-bound schemer and learns that the man is actually his disfigured (and, apparently, insane) uncle, Peter Ludlow.

CONTINUED IN JURASSIC PARK: REDEMPTION #4

Didja Notice? 

Cover B depicts a loose Dimetrodon which has made itself at home on top of a sedan in a used car lot, a scene which does not occur in the mini-series (though a Dimetrodon is seen in the breeding lab). The make or model of the car appears to say "PULPHOPE", a play on the artist's name, Paul Pope; he has a book titled Pulphope: The Art of Paul Pope. The license plate on the vehicle reads 3MARIO; I don't know what the significance is, if any.

The splashpage on Page 1 tricks the reader into thinking an armored dinosaur such as Ankylosaurus is on the loose, but the next page reveals it to be just an armadillo.

On page 2, Tim learns from his assistant, Suzie, that a Mr. L. Would outbid him for his grandfather's cane. This is a hint at the identity of the bidder, as "L. Would" is an anagram of Ludlow, who is revealed to us as Tim's mysterious partner in the dinosaur breeding venture at the end of this issue.

Tim tells Suzie that, if Lex calls, to tell her he's at the Fosse Conference in South Africa. I'm not sure what this would refer to. Possibly, "Fosse" is a misspelling of "Fossey", i.e. Dian Fossey, the American zoologist known for her extensive study of African gorillas.

On page 3, panel 1, the mystery man's vehicle appears to be a Hummer, a civilian version of the military Humvee made by AM General.

On page 3 we learn that Dr. Wu was killed by the dinosaur Dodgson let loose in the breeding center in "Redemption" Part 2, a Gracilisuchus according to Backer. Gracilisuchus was a small crurotarsan (related to crocodilians) and was only about a foot in length, so there must have been a number of them in order to overwhelm Dr. Wu so thoroughly and devour his body as Dodgson states. However, the clawed foot, which is all we saw of the creature emerging from the cage in "Redemption" Part 2 appeared much larger. Possibly, the discrepancy can be chalked up to the non-species DNA that is presumably being used to fill the gene sequence gaps as in Jurassic Park, thus making mutant animals that may be larger than their prehistoric counterparts (this mutant factor is also suggested in the Dinosaur Data cards bound into the Prey book).

On page 4, Jaamise remarks that Dinosaur World is right across the road from Dinosaur Valley State Park. Dinosaur World is a chain of dinosaur-themed amusement parks, one of which is in Glen Rose, TX, just down the road from the State Park and features numerous dinosaur statues; currently there are also Dinosaur World parks in Plant City, Florida and Cave City, Kansas.

Also on page 4, Jaamise refers to Sheriff Delgado as T.J. Hooker. This is a reference to the cop character played by William Shatner on the 1982-1986 TV series T.J. Hooker.

On page 6, Jed tells the sheriff that Lexxcrops personnel followed the animal (dinosaur) tracks, but they disappeared just before coming to Route 65. There does not appear to be a Route 65 in the Glen Rose area; perhaps he meant Route 67, which does exist there? There is a Route 65 near Stowell, TX, but that is farther south in the state.

Also on page 6, Sheriff Delgado remarks, "Now that's one big pile of shit, even for Texas!" Besides the requisite "everything is bigger in Texas" joke, the line is a reference to Ian Malcolm's similar line in Jurassic Park. Listen: big pile.wav

On page 7, Dr. Backer seems to refer to the loose Carnotaurus as "the worst the world has ever seen" in terms of predators. It seems like most people would nominate either T. rex or Velociraptor instead. Of course, Backer's not most people, he's a paleontologist...but then, what does he know about Carnotaurus that we don't?

Also on page 7, Mr. Would mentions the Mussaurus paddock. Mussaurus was a small, herbivorous dinosaur of the Late Triassic.

On page 8, notice that the ducks fly away off the body of water in panel 6, a harbinger of the emergence of the gigantic, prehistoric marine lizard that threatens the nuclear plant employee on page 9.

Page 10, panel 1 seems to establish that Tim knows his mysterious partner by the name Mr. Would. But on page 2, he said he didn't recognize the name "Mr. L. Would" when his assistant Suzie told him that was who had outbid him for his grandfather's cane!

On page 12, Sheriff Delgado says to the group preparing for their evening stakeout that he hopes they brought plenty of Wrigley's, likely a reference to the assorted brands of Wrigley's chewing gum.

On page 13, Dodgson refers to the sauropods he has to take outside for grazing as Flintstones rejects. This is a reference to the 1960-1966 animated comedy TV series about a Stone Age family and friends who coexist with dinosaurs. The Flintstone family had a youthful sauropod pet named Dino.

On page 14, Sheriff Delgado jokingly refers to the escaped rhinoceros as a Texas salamander, again invoking the "everything is bigger in Texas" rule. There is, however, a real animal known as the Texas salamander, but it only grows to 2-4 inches in length.

On page 15, we see a local bar called the High Dive. As far as I can tell, this is a fictional establishment.

At the High Dive, the cattle-truck driver from "Redemption" Part 2 refers to the out-of-towner he saw on the night his cattle were attacked as a bolillo. "Bolillo" is a slur used by some Latin Americans in reference to Anglos.

Also at the High Dive, the truck driver's friend says, "Que suda?!" I don't really understand what this means, literally meaning "What do you exude?" in Spanish. If someone has a better translation, please let me know!

On page 16, panel 1, we can see, for the first time, that Ludlow's electric wheelchair has the amber top of John Hammond's old cane on it as the joystick for steering it.

Leaving the High Dive on page 19, the truck driver says, "No manches," Spanish for "no spots", possibly referring to what he feels is his low level of inebriation. He also says he has to get to "mi casa", which is "my house" in Spanish, and "borracho", which is "drunk".

On page 20, the truck driver's friend says, "Holy guano!" as the Carnotaurus chases the young sauropods down the street.
"Guano" is the excrement of assorted types of bats and seabirds, often used as fertilizer, so he is basically saying, "Holy shit!"

On page 21, the Carnotaurus grabs up a young sauropod on the street in front of Hawken Hardware. As far as I can tell, this is a fictional establishment.

The last page of the issue finally reveals to us (and Tim) that Mr. Would is really Tim's uncle, Peter Ludlow, who was mauled by the father and son Tyrannosaurs at the end of The Lost World.