Ocean Renegades!: Journey through the Paleozoic Era

Earth Before Us #2

by Abby Howard

Travel back in time before the age of the dinosaurs in this installment of the hit nonfiction graphic novel series about prehistoric Earth!

When Ronnie’s parents go on a business trip and leave her with Miss Lernin for the week, Ronnie is sure she’s in for a big, dinosaur-size adventure. After all, her last trip with Miss Lernin involved real-life dinosaurs! So, when they end up at the aquarium's jellyfish exhibit, Ronnie is confused. Surely jellyfish aren’t as cool as dinosaurs, right? Wrong! Determined to show Ronnie just how interesting prehistoric life was before the age of the dinosaurs, Miss Lernin takes her back in time to the six parts of the Paleozoic era to study the earliest lifeforms on Earth, and how many left the ocean for life on land.

Want more adventures in prehistoric Earth? Check out the other books in the Earth Before Us Dinosaur Empire! and Mammal Takeover!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Science, Nonfiction, Comics, History, Palaeontology, Middle Grade

128 pages, Hardcover

First published August 14, 2018

About the author

Abby Howard grew up in North Carolina and has been drawing comics since age 13, spending her summers locked away in her room working on one project or another. She attended McGill University and studied Evolutionary Biology, but after being a contestant on the web reality show Strip Search, was able to follow her dreams of becoming a cartoonist, and ditched all that book learnin'.

She's worked as a full-time cartoonist for nearly a decade, publishing collections of both The Last Halloween and the now-retired Junior Scientist Power Hour webcomics as well as the educational book series, Earth Before Us. Iron Circus Comics has just published her first collection of short horror comics, The Crossroads At Midnight.

Abby recently made her debut in video games, having founded a game studio, Black Tabby Games, with her spouse Tony Howard-Arias. Together, they're working on Scarlet Hollow, an episodic horror game co-written and fully illustrated by Abby Howard.

Reviews

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ocean Renegades is pure delight. There's no better way to receive a prehistory education than Abby Howard's Earth Before Us series. I mean, what science textbook features lines like this when describing worm ancestors: "Sure, it's a squiggly tube, but aren't we all just squiggly tubes deep down?" Comedy gold right there.

The science is solid too, perhaps even more fascinating than the previous, dinosaur-focused volume. I knew little about the Mesozoic era going in, so I was intensely fascinated by the all the terrific alien shit that used to populate the Earth. The pages are dense with critters and info, sometimes to the point that it's hard to keep track of everything. Howard definitely does a better job of streamlining the narrative this time around, but it's still so much to take in. Kids might not enjoy Ocean Renegades as much, even though the colorful illustrations might seem appealing to them. As an adult reader, though, I was thoroughly charmed and informed.

[สฤณี อาชวานันทกุล · Rating 5 out of 5]

หนังสือการ์ตูนเกี่ยวกับชีวิตสัตว์ (ในที่นี้คือสัตว์ยุค Paleozoic) ที่สนุกที่สุดเล่มหนึ่งที่เคยอ่าน เด็กอ่านได้ผู้ใหญ่ก็อ่านดี ผู้เขียนไม่เพียงแต่วาดสัตว์ด้วยลายเส้นเรียบง่ายแต่ถูกต้องตามหลักวิทยาศาสตร์เท่านั้น แต่ยังวาดสัตว์ในอดีตในลีลาท่าทางน่าสนใจ ใช้ภาษาที่อธิบายเรื่องยากให้เข้าใจ และแตะเกร็ดเล็กเกร็ดน้อยที่น่าติดตามตลอดเล่ม เช่น ฟอสซิลมาจากไหน นักวิทยาศาสตร์จัดประเภทสัตว์ได้อย่างไรถ้าเจอแต่ฟันของมันเพียงซี่เดียว สัตว์เซลล์เดียวในทะเลวิวัฒนาการจนมาเป็นสัตว์บกได้อย่างไร ยังไม่นับว่าการเลือกใช้สีในเล่มนี้ก็สดใสและหลากหลายกว่าในเล่มแรกของซีรีส์ (ว่าด้วยไดโนเสาร์) มาก

[MechaComicReviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we look back in time, we’re often focused on dinosaurs. Perhaps it’s because they were so prevalent over millions of years, or we just have a lot of bones, or they’re the easiest to understand. Abby Howard’s second book in the Earth Before Us series “Ocean Renegades” looks back further, so far, in fact, we are almost at the origin of life with single celled organisms. The book cleverly transitions from one age to the next, and we can see the evolutionary changes that led to fish, complex animals in the ocean, and the beginnings of life leaving the sea for dry land. Dinosaurs are cool and all, but these time periods are so fascinating because we can see how life grew into what became the dinosaurs and ultimately us.

This book is more structured than the first one, and it also touches on other key points like how fossils are made and how organisms are classified when you find only a single scale or tooth. It’s very informative and the most entertaining text book you could find about these time periods condensed down into a children's to young adult book. At the same time, it never talks down to you. I’m a full fledged adult with a keen interest in evolution and science, and I still learn things in the book without feeling like I’m a child that doesn’t understand these things.

The art itself is a slight improvement as Howard’s style evolves in its own right. The art is funny and fantastical showing off some of the craziest animals in interesting positions and poses that look very well researched. The coloring also improves from the first book with a vibrant array of colors that pop rather than greens or blues drowning out the other colors. Howard’s comedic timing in both art and writing is at its best.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ocean Renegades! by Abby Howard, 121 pages. NONFICTION GRAPHIC NOVEL. Amulet (Abrams), 2018. $16.

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL – OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW

In this nonfiction graphic novel, Miss Lernin and Ronnie time warp back to the Cambrian Period where life began. Ronnie gets to see what prehistoric ocean animals looked like and how they evolved into land dwelling dinosaurs. Miss Lenin talks about the major animal groups, primitive sponges to advanced vertebrates, and the characteristics that make each group unique.

This book is more of an informative book than a novel. The dialogue consists almost exclusively of scientific information rather than true conversation. It can get tedious at times, especially with all the scientific words. It reads like a teacher delivering a lecture.

Valerie McEnroe, Media Specialist
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has it all: clever and humorous writing, adorably rendered ancient critters, and educational content that is easy to understand, but comprehensible and accurate. I wasn't certain this book would be as entertaining as the first in this series (because when you start with dinosaurs, it seems like you can only go down from there), but it proved to be a worthy sequel. I think the fact that I had read The Ends of the World since the first book helped prime me for seeing the Paleozoic era as one of equal wonder; this book acts as a sort of cute illustrated companion. Now I hope the series continues with the Cenozoic, since I know that is full of strange and interesting creatures that I think Abby Howard would do a good job of describing and illustrating.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

In OCEAN RENEGADES, Ronnie takes a trip into the Paleozoic Era with Miss Lernin. Here, she learns all there is to know about the creatures of the past. She learns about the different types like arthropods, echinoderms, crinoids, and more!

OCEAN RENEGADES is a graphic novel that makes history interesting. It has a "Magic School Bus" feel to it that's but funny and appealing to children. There are so many different creatures packed into this graphic novel that I learned quite a bit as an adult.

The colors are vibrant and I absolutely love the comedy. It makes learning even more fun. I love the depth of information and the drawings of all of the creatures. OCEAN RENEGADES also takes me back to my love of the Magic School Bus.


Final Verdict: I would recommend this to fans of history, graphic novels, learning, the Magic School Bus, and animals.

[Weatherly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so cute. I mean, it was basically just a scientific overview of the Paleozoic Era and the evolution of plants/animals/fungi in that period... But with jokes! A few jokes. Some jokes could barely qualify for the word, but SOME. OH MAN. Some were really great. I learned about a lot of creatures I'd never heard of, and I can't wait to go in a wikipedia hole about them all.
I would definitely recommend this for older kids. I think like... middle school and up. High school is better. College is perfect. Not that a younger kid wouldn't like it, but the lack of plot, and the info dump nature would make it hard to follow, I think. Though the illustrations are bomb af and any kid (or adult, clearly) would love those.

[Valerie McEnroe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I applaud this author for trying to make science fun by presenting it in a graphic novel format, but honestly it was tough to get through. There's no story. Ronnie and Miss Lernin time warp back in time to the Cambrian era when life was first evolving. It advances forward through the eras to life on land. All the different animal groups are presented along with the features that make them unique. The illustrations basically look the same throughout and there is so much information thrown at you that it isn't very entertaining.

Kids who read graphic novels aren't going to go for this and kids who like nonfiction science books will be more interested in National Geographic.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book is a bit like taking a drink from an informational fire hose. There was WAY more here than I could ever hope to remember, and I probably have a stronger biology background than your average 5th grader. That said, I did learn a few things that MIGHT stick with me, (the anapsid, synapsid, diapsid distinction is the kind of big picture knowledge I'd like to store, although I can't promise that I will). Some kids might be turned off by the information overload, but others may love it. My son would have enjoyed this book as a read aloud when he was too young to read, and probably would have remembered a lot more than I will.

[✨Neena✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

One day, I was feeling interested in history/historical fiction books, and so I came across this book in my local library.

I open it and see drawings of animals I haven't seen or heard of, so I check it out.

Totally informational and totally worth it.

I loved the characters' personalities and learning about the animals in the past was incredibly fun with all of the drawings and pictures. I realized that this one was the second of a series called Earth Before Us, so I rush to get the 1st one.

Read this back in September, 5 stars

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm on a roll today! After rushing through the first book I headed on to this second one, about the eras of life before the Mesozoic era. I knew significantly less about this topic, so it was very interesting to learn about these amazing and strange looking creatures. I'd love to see if there's more material about this time period, although I doubt I will get as wonderful drawings with the content!

[William Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent adventure with Ronnie and Miss Lernin! This one details all the bizarre creatures that lived before the time of the dinosaurs, and how some of them evolved to become animals we know today. It's really interesting to see life from the just barely multicellular level all the way through giant land animals! The whole Earth Before Us is definitely worth a read for everyone who likes evolutionary history, young and old!

[Hodgimoto · Rating 5 out of 5]

So great for all ages! Affirming and explicit about what scientists do know of life during this era, while being open and honest about science's limitations and what we still don't know. Inclusive character choices. Hilarious writing with imaginative, adorable art that makes you fall in love with every plant and creature. These are the books we should all wish we had on our shelves as children.

[Vena Meridel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is SO COOL. It's a great format, the illustrations are excellent and the story line is fun and informative without being too heavy for a little kid to stay engaged with. I would recommend this for anyone who has a kid that's interested in the natural world, there's a little bit of everything here: bugs, amphibians, weird almost dinosaurs, jellyfish and HORSESHOE CRABS.

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The companion piece to the first Earth Before Us comic, Ocean Renegades is more good tasty good facts wrapped up in Abby Howard's delightful artwork. Highly recommended for younger readers with an interest in Earth's ancient flora and fauna.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ocean Renegades is a continuation of the formula used in Dinosaur Empire and is just as successful here. Great facts, easily digestible with cool asides about evolutionary history and how it all works, and fantastic art. I hope she'll be covering the other eras as well!

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art is stunning. The colors are vibrant. Much like the first one, it is informative and cute. There is so much information packed in. It isn't necessary to read the first book in the series, but it would help provide context.

[Emma M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

After realizing huge gaps in my education, I'm working my way through history from the very beginning. This graphic novel was a fantastic supplement for my education of the Paleozoic Era! It's an absolutely fascinating read!

[Kasi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some really humorous illustrations, but also A LOT of dense, sciencey information. I don’t know many kids who could make it all the way through while still enjoying themselves, but for the kids who can, I think they’ll have fun.

[Tiffany Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT book about the Paleozoic Era! I learned so much! The artwork is amazingly detailed and kept my children enthralled, even through the bits that were a little over their heads. My son and I are both excited to dive into the next book!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great. I love dinosaurs, especially ocean creatures. This book was educational and fun. Plus, the characters are lovable. I recommend for the whole family.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is like a Magic Schoolbus book for an older crowd, but there's basically no framing story, which makes it a bit less fun than it could otherwise be. Fantastic NF graphic novel though!

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well done book, with many more early species than I want to learn to pronounce.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous science; pronunciation aids in the text; visual ‘test your skills’ at end of book.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are very interesting, and the art is adorable. I think they’re a little too dense, though? I mean, if I have trouble absorbing everything, probably a nine-year-old would, too?

[Anna Richey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spectacular illustrations and witty dialogue.

[Jasen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great pair! I love this series as I learn as much as my little one and I feel like I’m a kid exploring the ancient world. Can’t wait for #3!

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read for a tween who is interested in science and evolution. Pretty dense without too much plot development so not sure it will appeal to all kids. I learned a ton myself.

[Bria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abby Howard loves aquariums the way I love aquariums (page 2 is spot-on ME), and I love her.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much fun! I love the cartoons and that it spells out all the animal names.