This is an odd bit of Kirby- one that I remembered reading and enjoying back in the day, so when it was recently released and collected, I picked it up. Let's see what I can find to say about this.

 

I'll note that it's inked by Mike Royer, since I know that some of you folks like to compare Kirby inkers.

 

Devil Dinosaur #1 (April 1978): "Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy"

1)I'll cop to not being as much of a Kirby fan as some folks around here. Don't get me wrong - I admire him as a unique talent, I'm just not someone who feels a need to collect and read all of his stuff. I tend to like his quirkier stuff more than the cosmic stuff like the Eternals or the New Gods. I would say that Kirby's strength lies in the depiction of stuff that couldn't possibly have existed. He makes you believe in the impossible better than just about anyone.

 

2)Devil is a fun character design - what kid didn't want a pet rex at one point in their lives?  Moon-Boy is kind of a necessary evil to me - since your lead character can't speak, he has to have a spokesman. It does tend to mean that Moon-Boy has to jabber incessantly. Perhaps Devil keeps him around as an emergency food supply, like Menchi in Excel Saga.

 

3)I like that Kirby feels it necessary to point out that he's translating Moon-Boy's dialogue.

 

4)We get DD's origin - he was orphaned when his mom was killed by the Killer-Folk (Which, to be fair, is the sort of thing that you would expect people called "the  Killer-Folk" to do!) and rescued by Moon-Boy, who became his running buddy.

 

5)Heh, "DD".  Be funny if he traded places with Marvel's other "DD". "Daredevil and Moon-Boy" might have its moments, but "Devil Dinosaur and Karen Page" would be hi-larious!

 

6)Seven-Scars becomes leader of the Killer-Folk by bopping Stone-hand over the head. So, politics hasn't changed much.

 

7)Cliffhanger: Seven-Scars starts a fire, hoping to lure Devil into pit filled with ...pointed sticks!

 

8)Text piece: Kirby sez, Yeah, I've got dinosaurs and ape-men together, so what? Just read it!

 

Overall: An amusing first issue.

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  • How do the double page spreads work in the format? Does the binding swallow their middles?

  • Hmm. Good question. I don't recall noticing a problem with looking at them. I'll take another look tonight and let you know.

  • I think "Devil Dinosaur and Karen Page" would have ended up kind of like Bambi vs. Godzilla.



  • Randy Jackson said:

    I think "Devil Dinosaur and Karen Page" would have ended up kind of like Bambi vs. Godzilla.

     

     

    Either that, or we would have ended up with a drug addicted dinosaur.

  • 2)Devil is a fun character design - what kid didn't want a pet rex at one point in their lives? Moon-Boy is kind of a necessary evil to me - since your lead character can't speak, he has to have a spokesman. It does tend to mean that Moon-Boy has to jabber incessantly. Perhaps Devil keeps him around as an emergency food supply, like Menchi in Excel Saga.

    I loved Kirby's depiction of Moon-boy and DD as 'brothers' under the skin. There was something profound and ... hopeful, I guess in it, because they couldn't be more different, yet there is a real bond between them.

    Love your 'emergency snack' theory, though.  I've been meaning to join the discussions about X-statix and Howard the Duck (and Avengers and Thor) lately but, it seems a big commitment to read so many comics and then come up with some blether about them. Still, I think I'll pull out my hardback of this series and read along. I don't think I finished it yet.



  • Figserello said:

    I loved Kirby's depiction of Moon-boy and DD as 'brothers' under the skin. There was something profound and ... hopeful, I guess in it, because they couldn't be more different, yet there is a real bond between them.

     

     

    It certainly is different form the usual depiction of rexes as mindless eating machines.  To an extent, Moon-Boy is the brains of the partnership, but Devil is pretty clever himself.

     

     

     

  • Devil Dinosaur #2 (May 1978): "Devil's War!"

    Devil escapes the pit, but the Killer-Folk bury him with rocks and capture Moon-Boy.  Devil frees himself, and fights an iguanodon. Devil rescue Moon-Boy from being fed to Shelob's grandmother. The Killer-Folk are wiped out by Devil, fire and spider.

     

    We get a text piece where Kirby kind of rambles on about evolution and the inspiration behind myths.  You know, if would have wanted to, Kirby could have founded a much more entertaining UFO cult than that hack Hubbard.

     

    Overall: A fun completion for the first story.  As always, nobody makes this kind of stuff work like Kirby does. I think that's why most non-Kirby attempts to work with Kirby characters don't work for me.

  • Mike Royer is often cited as being Kirby’s “Best” inker. I don’t know about that, but I think he is certainly the “Most Faithful.” My personal “Favorite” is Joe Sinnott. Others have certainly done noteworthy jobs (such as Bill Everett and Wally Wood), but weren’t paired with him often enough to think of the as a “team.”[NOTE: I might reassess my opinion if some publisher ever sees fit to reprint Sky Masters (the Kirby/Wood newspaper strip) in its entirety.]

    Jack Kirby was reportedly a well-read individual. He certainly was aware that dinosaurs and man did not co-exist, but he wouldn’t let that stand in the way of his “Concept.” More recent (i.e, within the last 40 years) use of DD & MB has either a) used the characters as comedy relief, or b) set their adventures in an alternate reality in which dinosaurs and man did co-exist. I prefer Kirby-cosmic to Kirby-quirky, but soon this title will take a turn for the cosmic which should make us both happy.

  • Devil Dinosaur #3 (June 1978): "Giant"

    A giant comes to the valley, wreaking havoc. Devil fights him, and tricks him into a bog.  Moon-Boy works out that the giant was just looking for his lost son, and persuades Devil to rescue him. The giant collects his offspring, and pledges to leave the valley in peace.

     

    The text piece confuses me. Kirby seems to be saying that the evolution of life on Earth was a good thing for comic book fans.  Kirby reminds me of Harlan Ellison in this sense - I can never be sure whether the reason the things he says confuses me is because he's crazy and they don't make sense, or he's just that much smarters than me, and I find his statements confusing because I'm just not interlligent enough to understand.

     

    Overall: Another interesting issue - no real baddies here, and the conflict is resolved by Moon-Boy making an effort to understand the giant.

  • "You know, if would have wanted to, Kirby could have founded a much more entertaining UFO cult than that hack Hubbard."

    This statement popped into my head yesterday evening and I cracked up all over again. I was inspired to pull my DD omnibus off the shelf and re-read all the essays before going to bed. Regarding what you said directly above, I sometimes have to read a paragraph or sentence of a Kirby essay repeatedly in order to discern his meaning. Sometimes they seem to be devoid of meaning, but I know he's trying to say something. I don't think Kirby was crazier or smarter or anything; I just think his mind operated on a different wavelength than most. You know... like yours. I love it when he coins terms such as "Comic Bookeroos." If Captain Comics ever started a board softball team, we shold be the Comic Bookeroos.

    My favorite DD story is #4-5 and my favorite individual issue is #5. I'll be reading those along with you.

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