2 DUMB DINOS
Nathan Hamill & Eric Filipkowski (instagram.com/2dumbdinos)
Foreword by Mark Hamill
Titan Comics (titan-comics.com)
£13.99 ($16.99)
Buy a copy from your favourite independent bookshop
They’re dumb. They’re dinos. There’s two of them!
Every once in a while, a book lands on my desk that defies all attempts at categorisation. This slim volume, collecting the first 36 strips of an internet sensation, is one such book. It is, more or less, exactly what it says on the tin…er, cover.
Meet Dingus and Scumbag, a pair of dinosaurs who live up to the rumour that their ilk were somewhat lacking in the brain department. The concept is simple: over the course of several panels, the pair have a short conversation that sometimes leaves the reader laughing out loud, sometimes with a wry smile and sometimes more than a little bewildered. In the course of these first 36 strips they cover everything from “hand shoes” to why Donald Duck bothers wearing a shirt when he doesn’t wear any trousers; from the border wall to Winnie-the-Pooh; and pretty much every stop in between. The episodes don’t always have a deeper meaning, or some connection to contemporary life, but sometimes they do and, if this small sample is anything to go by, nothing is sacred, nothing safe from the scornful eyes, and brainless wonderings, of Dingus and Scumbag.
The artwork is simple but manages to perfectly capture the reader’s imagination, drawing us in to discover what might be on the minds of our protagonists this time. One strip even skewers the comic itself, providing the perfect summary of what to expect from the 2 Dumb Dinos:
I think the fans are happy just watching us talk in profile in this featureless room that could really just be anywhere…We’ll just stick with what works: jokes that don’t make any sense or even have a punchline.
But it’s not as bad as that makes it sound: there’s something endearing about these two dinosaurs, some combination of the simplistic art style and the short, sharp dialogue that accompanies it. I mean, if the legendary Mark “Luke Skywalker” Hamill likes it enough to write a foreword to this volume (although I have a sneaking suspicion he might be biased), it must be good, right? And it is, if you have the same warped sense of humour as the authors…and me. I will freely admit that I had never heard of the 2 Dumb Dinos until I was offered a review copy of this (hopefully first) volume, but I’m an instant convert who will be reading the strips as fast as Hamill and Filipkowski can write them.
The authors have some history in the comedy (and alternative comedy) genre. Filipkowski started out as part of a sketch comedy group alongside Bill Hader (Barry) before writing for the likes of South Park and SpongeBob SquarePants (there’s something I never thought I’d reference on Reader Dad!). Hamill (son of the aforementioned Mark, in case there was any doubt), meanwhile, worked for Matt Groening (of The Simpsons fame) and created a successful line of toys. 2 Dumb Dinos isn’t their first collaboration, and it shows: they have found something that obviously amuses and entertains them, have discovered that they’re very good at it, and have put it out there for the world to see. The result is somewhat kooky (something else I never thought I’d say on this blog), often funny, sometimes thought-provoking and always just a little bit endearing. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but if it clicks for you, it will become your new obsession. If you enjoy the book, there are plenty more strips to enjoy online (see the link above). Hopefully Titan Comics will collect more selections into further volumes in the years to come – they’ll make a lovely addition to any bookshelf and a great gift for the weirdo in your life. And with luck it will be a long time before Hamill and Filipkowski grow bored of the experiment and move on to something else.
