History ComicBook / XenozoicTales

The series was popular enough to have several [[SpinOff spin-offs]], usually under the ''Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'' label, including a Saturday morning cartoon by Creator/{{Nelvana}}[[note]] and animated by Creator/{{APPP}}[[/note]] (now [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBZNlAa1UKF5bib4r8hP43CZOgCqOFdKr available on Youtube]] in its entirety), an RPG setting, two video games (an arcade beat 'em up ''VideoGame/CadillacsAndDinosaurs'' by Creator/{{Capcom}} and a visual novel ''The Second Cataclysm'' for the UsefulNotes/SegaCD), and even comics published by other companies during the lengthy gaps between issues of the main title.

* LicensedGame: Both an RPG and two video games, one of which was an arcade side scrolling BeatEmUp by good ol' Creator/{{Capcom}} and is considered a classic in its genre. The other is a visual novel for the UsefulNotes/SegaCD is which less well remembered.

* CoolGuns: Jack's revolver in early issues is a Colt Python.

* WhatTheHellHero: The Wassoon Old Blood rips into Jack and gives him more than one TapOnTheHead from her walking stick, for his childish and reductive view of the Balance and how it's caused all the problems afflicting the City in the Sea, particularly by helping Scharnhorst gain power.

* WhatTheHellHero: The Wassoon Old Blood rips into Jack for his childish and reductive view of the Balance and how it's caused all the problems afflicting the City in the Sea, particularly by helping Scharnhorst gain power.

* CorruptPolitician:
** Gorgostamos and Scharnhorst. Nock, already questionable, becomes more of one after Scharnorst is elected. Hannah forewarns Jack when he seeks Wassoon asylum that her own leaders are constantly power-playing against each other and shouldn't be trusted. Averted with Dahlgren, who sympathizes with the Old Bloods, and Toulouse, who simply wants what's best for the City and its people but is easily manipulated because of this.
** The rulers of Wassoon are shown not to be much better either.

* EgomaniacHunter: Lord Balclutha.
* EnemyMine: Jack and Baclutha end up realizing mid-duel that they've been set against each other by Wassoon's rulers… so they team up instead in order to pressure them into helping Jack out.

* HeelFaceTurn: The Terhunes, kinda. They still hate Tenrec and everything he stands for, but they hate Scharnhorst and her bureaucratizing even more and so begin fighting her alongside the resistance.

The world first appeared in ''Death Rattle'' #8 in a short story called ''Xenozoic!'' which introduced the characters and concepts. This was rapidly spun off into its own series under the name ''Xenozoic Tales'', which premiered in February, 1987 and ran through issue 14, published in October 1996. Never officially canceled, creator Mark Schultz (not the Christian singer ''or'' the [[Film/{{Foxcatcher}} wrestler]]) still insists he'll be getting issue 15 out at some point. Don't hold your breath. Issue 14 didn't show up until two years after issue 13, largely due to the lushly detailed artwork Schultz drew. It's somewhat better known under the label "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs", which was the title of the first trade and rapidly supplanted the actual title in the minds of many fans.

The series was popular enough to have several [[SpinOff spin-offs]], usually under the '''Cadillacs and Dinosaurs''' label, including a Saturday morning cartoon by Creator/{{Nelvana}}[[note]] and animated by Creator/{{APPP}}[[/note]] (now [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBZNlAa1UKF5bib4r8hP43CZOgCqOFdKr available on Youtube]] in its entirety), an RPG setting, two video games (an arcade beat 'em up ''VideoGame/CadillacsAndDinosaurs'' by Creator/{{Capcom}} and a visual novel ''The Second Cataclysm'' for the UsefulNotes/SegaCD), and even comics published by other companies during the lengthy gaps between issues of the main title.

The series was popular enough to have several [[SpinOff spin-offs]], usually under the ''Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'' label, including a Saturday morning cartoon by Creator/{{Nelvana}}[[note]] and animated by Creator/{{APPP}}[[/note]] (now [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBZNlAa1UKF5bib4r8hP43CZOgCqOFdKr available on Youtube]] in its entirety), an RPG setting, two video games (an arcade beat 'em up ''VideoGame/CadillacsAndDinosaurs'' by Creator/{{Capcom}} and a visual novel ''The Second Cataclysm'' for the UsefulNotes/SegaCD), and even comics published by other companies during the lengthy gaps between issues of the main title.

* MysteriousProtector: The Grith, to Hannah.

* NotGoodWithPeople: Jack. In fact, it's his Achilles heel throughout the series.

* PrehistoricMonster: Averted. The dinosaurs and various other prehistoric animals are treated as normal animals and part of the setting.

* BareYourMidriff: Hannah a majority of the time.

** Also, all the rifles are strictly bolt-action models, and absolutely no automatic weapons (assault rifles, machine guns, etc.) appear anywhere, with the closest thing being a prosthetic arm attachment wielded by a big game hunter with a score to settle with Jack in ''Maneater''.

** Also, all the rifles are strictly bolt-action models, and absolutely no automatic weapons (assault rifles, machine guns, etc.) appear anywhere.

* CoolVsAwesome: In the ''Maneater'' story arc, Jack's pet Hermes pulls a BigDamnHeroes moment against a ''T. rex'', that's more than twice his size and has chameleon-like camouflaging abilities and a NighInvulnerable hide. And he gets some decent hits in before it turns into a CurbStompBattle that Jack narrowly saves him from. For comparison, ''Xenozoic Tales'' featured a ''normal'' ''T. rex'' taking down a fully grown ''Allosaurus'' without breaking a sweat.

* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: Jack ends up destroying his own argument, turning the City against the Old Bloods, and handing Scharnhorst her victory in the election on a plate when he ends up going on an impulsive rant about how nobody in the City except him is following the Balance. Right after a tropical storm wrecked the City.

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: For obvious reasons.

* CallARabbitASmeerp: Different names have developed for the dinosaurs (slithers), which makes sense if you assume that dinosaur books weren't a priority inclusion in the underground shelters. Examples include ''Tyrannosaurus'' (shivats), ''Allosaurus''/''Deinonychus'' (cutters), ''Triceratops'' (macks), and pterosaurs (zekes). Inexplicably, every isolated city seems to have independently used the same names. Averted in the case of mammoths and sharks, which are called, respectively, mammoths and sharks.

* CoolPet: Hermes, Jack's pet [[CallARabbitASmeerp "cutter"]]. In the comics and the cartoon, he's portrayed as an adolescent ''Allosaurus''; in the toy line and the video game he's a ''Deinonychus'', probably to cash in on the ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' raptor's popularity.
* CoolVsAwesome: In the ''Maneater'' story arc, Jack's CoolPet Hermes pulls a BigDamnHeroes moment against a ''T. rex'', that's more than twice his size and has chameleon-like camouflaging abilities and a NighInvulnerable hide. And he gets some decent hits in before it turns into a CurbStompBattle that Jack narrowly saves him from. For comparison, ''Xenozoic Tales'' featured a ''normal'' ''T. rex'' taking down a fully grown ''Allosaurus'' without breaking a sweat.

* HotScientist: Hannah is a downplayed example. She is never seen actually '''doing''' anything scientific, but she represents science as a positive force in the series.

* StockDinosaurs: Averted, many, many types of dinosaurs are used in the series, beyond the commonly known few.

* WantingIsBetterThenHaving: Once Scharnhorst seizes power, the Terhunes are initially overjoyed to have Jack out of their hair and be able to poach freely as they always wanted… until they realize that poaching being legal under Scharnhorst means their profession is being bureaucratized; they not only need to be licensed to do it but they no longer have a stranglehold on the market and are being outcompeted into financial ruin. Soon enough, they're helping the resistance fight her out of sheer spite.

* CorruptPolitician: Gorgostamos and Scharnhorst. Nock, already questionable, becomes more of one after Scharnorst is elected. Hannah forewarns Jack when he seeks Wassoon asylum that her own leaders are constantly power-playing against each other and shouldn't be trusted. Averted with Dahlgren, who sympathizes with the Old Bloods, and Toulouse, who simply wants what's best for the City and its people but is easily manipulated because of this.

* EnemyMine: Jack and Baclutha end up realizing mid-duel that they've been set against each other by Wassoon's rulers… so they team up instead in order to pressure him into helping Jack out.

* BigBad: Scharnhorst, an ambitious Mole who gradually grows into populist leader determined to take over the City In The Sea.

* EnemyMine: Jack and Baclutha end up realizing mid-duel that they've been set against each other by Hannah's father… so they team up instead in order to pressure him into helping Jack out.

* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: On one of Jack's trips into the wasteland, one of his passengers turns out to be a poacher who came along to try and bag some game. After repeated warnings to stop are ignored, Jack resorts to sneakily stealing the bullets from the poacher's gun. The poacher [[TooDumbToLive tries to go hunting again]] without realizing… and is promptly mauled to death by a pissed off cave bear after he gives away his position by trying to fire his empty gun.

* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: Jack ends up handing destroying his own argument, turning the City against the Old Bloods, and handing Scharnhorst her victory in the election on a plate when he ends up going on a rant about

* AfterTheEnd: The basic setting.

* AppliedPhlebotinum: The world's random mix of wildlife from all different stages of earth's history is explained by [[spoiler:a mysterious substance found in some meteorites that [[EvolutionaryLevels "speeds up evolution"]].]]

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: While Jack is correct in that over reliance on industry and technology will simply repeat the errors made that caused the Cataclysm in the first place and that generally make the Earth a toxic place to live in any case if allowed to progress unchecked, his opponents' contend that over reliance on the mechanics to the point of fanaticism and completely shunning technology designed to make human survival easier isn't necessarily a good thing, either.

* LowerDeckEpisode: The backup stories not only allowed the comic to be filled-in with a faster artist, but gave some screen time to people besides the main characters (both minor and just new).

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: When attempting to speak on Mustapha's behalf during the gubernatorial election, Jack lets his temper get the better of him and launches into an angry tirade against Mustapha's less than scrupulous competitor, [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Scharnhorst]]. This ends up swaying the other three governors to elect Scharnhorst, which in turn leads to Jack being incarcerated (and forced to seek asylum in Wassoon after he's sprung) and Scharnhorst calling open season on the City's Old Blood population.

* UnresolvedSexualTension: Hannah and Jack.
** In the cartoon series, yes. In the comic, [[spoiler: Baclutha hunts Jack because he wants Hannah, and he caught Jack and Hannah doing the nasty (this is shown on-panel). This comes several issues after a story in which they spend the night in a tent together, and the narrator of that story says in no uncertain terms that not only were they having sex then, but that it's pretty well-accepted among their friends and acquaintances that the two run off and go at it whenever the mood strikes them. The series doesn't clearly define the boundaries of the relationship, but sex is certainly not where the tension lies for those two.]]