This tale of an intelligent sixty-five million year old dinosaur named Henry was created by Neil Gaiman for the now defunct Tekno Comix back in the 90s. This 232 page collection is being published by Super Genius and features the writing of Paul Jenkins and Bryan Talbot, with art by David Pugh, Fred Harper and Angus McKie. Volume 1 of this collection was published last year and featured the involvement of writer Rick Veitch and artist Al Davison, with Jenkins and Talbot having a creative role in both volumes. It seems that Gaiman was mainly an ideas man for this project and the bulk of the writing was done by others – Tekno Comix had form for this with titles from the likes of Gene Roddenberry and Isaac Asimov but it’s unclear how much involvement they had in the projects.

teknophage

In this title, ‘Teknophage’ is the name given to the main character, a dinosaur who has survived for 65 million years and is the ruler of many realms. He uses a form of alchemy to manufacture his own technology in a Victorian-esque steampunk world, although not immortal he regards himself as something God-like. Phage rules from a planet called Kalighoul, which in this universe is a sister planet to earth – a planet he also wishes to rule – he has acquired allies a swell as enemies – he himself has appeared as a villain in another work by Gaiman.

In this volume, Henry the Teknophage is losing his grip on the power that allows him to rule over the worlds he controls, assassination plots are circling around him and his own sanity is in question: Has his insatiable lust for power lead to his ultimate downfall? The motivations of several other characters, such as the Freedom Fighter and the mysterious Messalina are intertwined with Phage’s own fate as challenges to his rule are piling up. In addition to Neil Gaiman’s Teknophage, this character has also featured in Neil Gaiman’s Phage: Shadow Death and Neil Gaiman’s Mr Hero the Newmatic Man – in which he is the main villain. This title is out now and is available to buy from the Super Genius Comics website.