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Devil Dinosaur, Jack Kirby’s fearsome prehistoric hero, was a return to the classic action-filled comic stories of the Golden and Silver Ages.
As one of the forerunners of modern comics, Jack Kirby, the undisputed King of Comics, created some of the most iconic and famous characters of all time. From some of the biggest names in all of comics to the countless supporting characters alongside them, Jack Kirby created characters of all shapes and sizes from this world and beyond, including the prehistoric hero from the Jurassic era, Devil Dinosaur.
Debuting in 1978 and lasting for nine issues, Devil Dinosaur tells the tale of a giant red dinosaur and his companion, Moon-Boy. After a group of murderous hunters attempts to kill the young dinosaur, Devil manages to barely escape with its life. Moon-Boy, witnessing the cruelty from the hands of the hunters, vows to help heal Devil and keep him safe. The two make an unlikely pair, but become the closest of allies.
His skin scorched a permanent red from the fire that nearly killed him, Devil grows into a massive beast with Moon-Boy as his only friend and companion. As a dinosaur, Devil possesses immense strength and durability and an intelligence-level on par with the average human. Moon-Boy, being a member of the primitive Small-Folk, lacks any real powers but compensates with his bravery, loyalty, and ingenuity.
Together, Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy eked out an existence in the dangerous and chaotic prehistoric world they call home. Not only do they fight for their lives against other dinosaurs, but also from the land itself: treacherous forests, bottomless chasms, and explosive volcanoes are some of the common hazards they brave day-to-day. Even other tribes of different Folk attack them, some simple hunters while others power-hungry chieftains.
As fantastic Devil is to behold with his fiery red skin, there are other equally spectacular foes that he and Moon-Boy encounter. But the most dangerous force of all comes not from the Earth, but from beyond the night sky. An alien spaceship lands on Earth and its occupants waste no time in capturing every life form in sight. As the fate of Moon-Boy and all other life on Earth looks to take a turn for the worse, a last ditch plan from Devil Dinosaur defeats the technologically superior creatures.
The final issue has poor Devil falling into a temporal portal that ejects him into the modern world. Alone and confused, Devil defends himself from the world of man and only barely manages to escape back into his own time. It was from this point on that Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy took a hiatus from the printed page. A brief cameo in the 1977 Godzilla run was all Devil Dinosaur received until he and Moon-Boy were brought back to the modern day in 1987’s Fallen Angels miniseries. Since then the two made appearances in various comics but never took center stage until 2015’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (by Amy Reeder, Brandon Montclare, Natacha Bustos, and Tamra Bonvillain). In this series, Devil Dinosaur was teamed up with Lunella Lafayette, the smartest girl in the world.
The original Devil Dinosaur run exists in a way similar to its lead character, as a classic specimen caught out of time. As the Bronze Age of comics was nearing its end in the 80s and making way for the gritty 90s, Devil Dinosaur served a simple adventure story through and through. Themes such as romance, politics, and sociology took a backseat to the sheer excitement of watching a giant dinosaur battle other dinosaurs and aliens. It’s wonderful that Devil Dinosaur survived into today’s world, and with the upcoming Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur show set to release in February 2022 it looks as if Devil has quite the future ahead of him.
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