Spider-Man is fighting dinosaurs in the Savage Land while on work trip for Horizon Labs (just another day at the office), when he is attacked by a group of mutated fire-breathing pterodactyls trying to harvest his genetic material. He then runs into Devil Dinosaur (a red Tyrannosaurus Rex) and Moon Boy (an intelligent, ape-like humanoid) who, despite earlier friendly meetings, see him as an enemy and proceed to attack him. After realizing they are on the same side, Spider-Man attempts, and fails, to communicate with the prehistoric duo due to Moon Boy only speaking lizard, and Spider-Man's drawings in the dirt being indecipherable. They then proceed to attack those mutating the dinosaurs (and those who have kidnapped Peter's Horizon Labs coworkers) with all the subtlety a T. Rex and two friends can muster.
The story is simple, but the dialogue is sharp and Spider-Man's jokes are genuinely funny, so there is nothing really to complain about. Certain scenes, like those of Peter Parker being the only one of his think-tank coworkers not in awe of the Savage Land (he's been there at least a few times by now) are quite funny. It is interesting seeing Cullen Bunn take on lighter fair than that found in his current Venom run, but he handles it well and produces a genuinely fun comic.
The art is, in a word, beautiful. Gabriele Dell'Otto might just be my favorite artist in comics, and he reaffirms the reasoning behind my admiration here. Everything visual in this comic, from the Savage Land setting to Spider-Man and Devil Dinosaur, works superbly. I would have bought this comic even if there was only the art, and no writing, assuming it was Gabriel Dell'Otto drawing it.
This issue is just a fun romp in the jungle, with some good humor and some truly amazing art, if you like the character of Spider-Man (or Devil Dinosaur or Moon-Boy) it is well worth picking up, though expecting anything substantial will certainly leave you disappointed.
8/10
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