Devil Dinosaur
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Devil Dinosaur is a Marvel Comics character who resembles a red tyrannosaurus rex. He first appeared in Devil Dinosaur #1 (April 1978). Devil Dinosaur and his inseparable ape-like friend, Moon-Boy, are natives of "Dinosaur World", a planet where dinosaurs co-exist with tribes of humanoid beings.
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[edit] Publication history
The first and only comic book series to feature Devil Dinosaur was short lived, lasting only nine months. After the cancellation of Devil Dinosaur, the character’s appearances were relegated to one-shot comics, cameos, and supporting roles in other series.
Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy were the brainchild of artist Jack Kirby who scripted and penciled all nine issues of the first series. In Devil Dinosaur #1, Kirby in the "Dinosaur Dispatches" letters column (see image) states that the original intent was for Moon-Boy and Devil to be an early human and dinosaur from Earth's past. Kirby writes: "After all, just where the Dinosaur met his end, and when Man first stood reasonably erect, is still shrouded in mystery." Writers subsequent to Kirby have approached the character’s origin in various ways. Some have followed Kirby’s lead and portrayed the character as being from the prehistoric past of the main Marvel continunity (sometimes referred to as “Earth-616”), while others have retconned Devil as hailing from either an alien planet or a planet located in an alternate reality. Marvel’s most recent publications list Devil’s home of origin as "Dinosaur World (Earth-78411)", a primitive Earth-like planet existing in one of the many alternate universes contained within the Marvel Multiverse.[1]
[edit] Fictional character biography
Devil Dinosaur #1-9 (April – December 1978): The original Devil Dinosaur series chronicling Devil and Moon-Boy's adventures in Dinosaur World. In a flashback in issue number one, the story of Devil's origin is told. The young Devil Dinosaur was nearly burned to death by a tribe of Killer-Folk, hostile beings native to his planet, but was rescued by Moon-Boy, a young member of a rival tribe, the Small-Folk. Exposure to the Killer-folk's fire activated a mutation in the dinosaur which gave him powers greater than others of his species and turned his skin from olive green to flame red. Devil Dinosaur is fiercely loyal to his constant companion Moon-Boy and seems more intelligent than the average dinosaur (as they are portrayed in the comic).
Godzilla King of Monsters #21-22 (April - May 1979): Godzilla rampages through the Marvel Universe (Earth-616). In an attempt to stop the monster, S.H.I.E.L.D. shrinks Godzilla with Pym Particles and attempts to teleport him via a time machine to the prehistoric past. However, Godzilla's radiation distorts the time machine so that he is transported to the alternate universe of Dinosaur World instead. While there he briefly unites with Moon-Boy and Devil against a common foe before being pulled back to the main Marvel continuity.
Fallen Angels #4-8 (Limited Series, April - November 1987): Ariel, an extraterrestrial mutant with teleportion powers, teleports the Fallen Angels to Dinosaur World where the group convinces Devil and Moon-Boy to join their team and return with them to Earth-616. Devil and Moon-Boy are returned to their own universe when the Fallen Angels disband.
Marvel Comics Presents #161 (August 1994): During a conflict between Slapstick and his time manipulating foe, Doctor Yesterday, Devil and Moon-Boy are briefly teleported to Earth-616.
Marvel Comics Presents #174 (February 1995): In the midst of a tussle between Technet and Lockheed inside Excalibur's Lighthouse, Devil and Moon-Boy are once again briefly transported to Earth-616.
Ghost Rider Vol. 3 #81-82 (January – February 1997): The sorceress Jennifer Kale, in an attempt to return Howard the Duck to his homeworld, inadvertently teleports Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy into her New York apartment. The disoriented dinosaur rampages through the city before being subdued by Ghost Rider.
Devil Dinosaur Spring Fling #1 (June 1997): In this tale from the duo's days on Dinosaur World, a renegade Skrull flees to Devil's planet and uses his shape shifting ablilities to impersonate the late leader of the Killer-Folk, Seven Scars.
Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1998: Stranded in modern day Earth-616 after their teleportation there by Jennifer Kale, the pair is hypnotized into joining the Circus of Crime. After being rescued by Spider-man, Devil and Moon-Boy are relocated to the Savage Land.
Marvel Monsters: Devil Dinosaur #1 (December 2005): A one-shot comic drawn and co-written by Eric Powell in which young Celestials transport the Hulk back in time to combat Devil.
Nextwave #12 (March 2007): Devil Dinosaur is revealed to be the head of two organizations with ties to terrorism, the Beyond Corporation© and S.I.L.E.N.T., both which he created due to his growing hatred of "monkeys". Devil is depicted for the first time as having the power of speech and he claims to have eaten Moon-Boy, who "tasted bad and gave me considerable rectal distress."
Heroes for Hire #9-10 (April - May 2007): The Heroes for Hire mercenaries go on a mission to retrieve the apparently uneaten Moon-Boy from the Savage Land and encounter Devil Dinosaur in the process.[2] Exactly how this will be reconciled with Devil's appearance in Nextwave remains to be seen.
[edit] Alternate versions
- In the alternate universe of Earth X (Earth-9997), the skeletal remains of Devil and Moon-Boy are on the Blue Area of the Moon.[3]
- In the Mutant X alternate universe, a version of Devil Dinosaur who bears Daimon Hellstrom's trident and "Moon Knight Boy" are members of Earth-1298's version of the Lethal Legion.[4]
[edit] Interesting facts
- The original Devil Dinosaur series was written with the hopes of it being picked up as an animated series. [5]
- Devil Dinosaur was created during Kirby's third stint at Marvel, which ran from 1976 until the early 1980s.
- In Marvel Comics' Amazing Adventures #3 (August 1961), a time traveling couple encounter a red tyrannosaurus rex similar in appearance to Devil Dinosaur.
- In a story told in The Thing #31 (January 1986), the Thing of the Fantastic Four travels to a Pacific island where "Devil Dinosaur: The Movie" is being produced. During the Thing's visit, Godzilla appears. After battling and destroying a robot Devil Dinosaur used in the film, Godzilla disappears once again into the ocean.
[edit] References
- ^ Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters #1 (November 2005)
- ^ http://www.marvel.com/catalog/?book_id=6336, http://www.marvel.com/catalog/?id=6608
- ^ Earth X #0 (March 1999)
- ^ Mutant X Annual 2001
- ^ Allan Harvey (2006-9-5). "Introducing Devil Dinosaur", http://www.thefifthbranch.com/gorilladaze/?p=71
