You could almost begin the story of Paleocene with the words, “Once upon a time,” but that would give you the impression this was a fairy tale, and it is not. It is a tale of those animals who survived the end of the world. Not the present world as we know it, but far into the past, when a massive asteroid slammed into the Yucatán peninsula over sixty-six million years ago.

The story initially focuses on a small family of proto-primates trying to navigate a desolate and hostile environment. Waiting for her mate to return home with food, a female primate distracts her two playful babies with tales of predators and other huge animals they used to share the land with. She uses “The Hunter” as a bogeyman to keep the children in line, but when her auntie arrives, she soon realizes their own troop of primates might be a bigger threat. Meanwhile, her mate struggles to find food as he and a few others venture farther and farther away from the lone tree they call home. It isn’t long before they meet a new predator who could be just as deadly as the mysterious “The Hunter.” What they don’t realize is this new predator has survival issues of its own.

Once again, this is a comic I found on Kickstarter. I was intrigued by the premise as it dealt with a time period you don’t normally see in comics. Our hearty little family of proto-primates is charming, and I love how the artist/writer used their hands to describe the various predators that used to exist. The first issue ends with every mother’s nightmare which makes for a terrific cliffhanger. The second issue dives more deeply into the troop dynamic, and the third introduces us to the life of the new predator.

The writer also includes short introductions on the Paleocene Epoch, and the plant and animal life of the time period. The art has a more cartoon style rather than realistic which suits the storyline. What I found most interesting was the paneling – specifically, the black borders for the proto-primates and the whites borders for the new predator. I will be fascinated to see how he changes the color palette when these two worlds collide in future issues.

Creative Team: T. Michael Keesey (Writer/artist)
Publisher: Keesey Comics
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