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Down But Not Out

by Drew Clements westofmiskatonic@gmail.com

You have no idea how much I've been itching to cover this particular book. I've held off specifically for this week! Yes, folks, this week sees the return of Jack Kirby's Devil Dinosaur to Marvel Comics for a special one-shot book as part of the ‘Marvel Monsters Month’. What's that you say? You're not familiar with Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy?? This is why I'm here, friends... this is why I'm here! Devil Dinosaur #1 - "Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy" Original Release Date: April 1978 Edited, Written, and Drawn by: Jack Kirby Letterer-Inker: Mike Rover Colorist: Petra Goldberg Editor: Archie Goodwin It's a strange scene: a small humanoid riding on the back of a large, red tyrannosaurus rex while it rages through the Valley of Flame, sending all intruders running. The humanoid is Moon-Boy, one of the Small-Folk, the Dawn-Men, who are brand new to the world. The tyrannosaurus? That's Devil Dinosaur, the most ferocious of all the creatures in the Valley of Flame. The main intruder to these two unlikely companions is the triceratops known only as Thunder-Horn! Moon-Boy leaps from the back of Devil to a nearby tree to gain a level of safety as the blood red dinosaur begins his clash with the three-horned creature. With very little trouble, Devil sends Thunder-Horn to his doom off the side of the large mountain. Moon-Boy shouts his congratulations and returns to Devil's shoulders to seek shelter for the evening. On their way to find a place to stay for the evening, Moon-Boy remembers just how fate brought the two together. One evening, while the rest of the Small-Folk slept, Moon-Boy snuck out to watch the Fire-Mountain (volcano) erupt. As he drew closer to the magnificent sight, Moon-Boy spotted the Killer-Folk, who are the Small-Folk's larger, more violent and less friendly relatives. They had captured a female "devil beast" (tyrannosaurus rex) in a fire pit and killed her. Turning their attention from the larger creature to her offspring, the Killer-Folk did not find him willing to submit to their murderous ways. In a desperate move to subdue the creature, the Killer-Folk use torches to burn him. The Fire-Mountain soon erupted and sent the Killer-Folk running. They left behind their prey, the young devil beast, badly burned across his body; the burns so bad that his skin had been scorched a bright red. Moon-Boy, concerned for the creature, approaches it and finds it unable to do much due to the wounds sustained at the hands of the Killer-Folk. Taking pity on the creature, Moon-Boy attempts to help it by encouraging it to move with him to another area. Unfortunately for the big-hearted, yet helpless Moon-Boy, a leaping dinosaur attacked. Rising to protect his new friend, the young, red dinosaur attacks and destroys the leaping dinosaur. With an understanding of friendship and protection between the two, they set out to find food and water, as well as ways to heal Devil's wounds. After finding these essential things, Moon-Boy suggests they return to visit his people, the Small-Folk. Once arriving, he found that his kin were not as welcoming of the creature as he was; they ran in terror at the sight of it. Realizing that the Small-Folk would not understand the strange relationship, Moon-Boy exiles himself. While going through the origin of their friendship in his mind, Moon-Boy and Devil come upon a place to stay for the evening. Little do they know that in the caves of the Killer-Folk, a new leader has arisen. His name is Seven-Scars and the first thing on his agenda is to rid the Valley of Flame of Devil! Awakening from a deep sleep, Moon-Boy and Devil find that the forest around them is aflame! The terrified hordes of dinosaurs are rampaging out of control through the forest. Instead of joining in the hysteria, Devil and his companion take the mountain trail, which is exactly what the Killer-Folk want; they have created a pit of deadly spikes to kill their enemy once and for all. Will they succeed? Yeah, I'm going to leave you with a cliffhanger. How evil of me! Worry not, my faithful readers (the four of you!), I will be covering the fantastic second issue of Devil Dinosaur next week, so you'll find out just what happens. I'll also be saving my comments for the next column as well. So yeah, think of this as being in class and getting out early! Btw, BUY THE NEW DEVIL DINOSAUR THIS WEEK!!!!!!