Devil Dinosaur #9
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeDevil Dinosaur #9 is the finale of Jack Kirby's entire run on the series — the ninth and last chapter of a nine-issue sprint that began and ended within a single calendar year (April–December 1978). The story breaks the prehistoric bubble that defined the first eight issues by sending Devil through a dimensional warp to modern-day Nevada, a formal acknowledgment that the series needed to plug into the broader Marvel universe just as it was running out of time to do so. As the concluding chapter of what fans have long regarded as a cult-classic Bronze Age curiosity, the issue closes the loop on Kirby's final self-contained creative statement at Marvel before he exited the company for good.
In "The Witch and the Warp," Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy stumble upon the enigmatic Hag, who guards strange, glowing pits said to warp space and time. When Devil accidentally falls into one, he’s hurled to Zuma City in Nevada, where his sudden appearance sends the town into chaos. Meanwhile, Moon Boy pleads with the Hag and her son to help, and their desperate efforts to trigger the pits’ energy may be the only way to bring Devil back—before the army overwhelms him. Written and illustrated by Jack Kirby, with cover art by Kirby and John Byrne, this 1978 issue blends surreal adventure with a touch of cosmic mystery.
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Marvel greenlit Devil Dinosaur during Kirby's third and final stint at Marvel (roughly 1975–1978) as a deliberate competitive response to DC's planned animated adaptation of Kirby's own Kamandi character; editorial directed Kirby to produce something similar but built around a dinosaur co-star that would appeal to the young, dinosaur-obsessed audiences of the era. Kirby scripted and penciled every one of the nine issues himself, with editor Jim Shooter overseeing the series under his role as editor-in-chief. The cover of issue #9 was inked by John Byrne — notable because Byrne would go on to script and draw the issue that brought H.E.R.B.I.E. into comics continuity (Fantastic Four #209) barely nine months later. The proposed animated series that partly inspired Devil Dinosaur's creation never moved forward, and low sales brought the title to a close with this issue.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Issue #9, titled 'The Witch and the Warp,' is the final installment of the original nine-issue Devil Dinosaur series (April–December 1978), closing with the in-story caption '…And Thus Endeth The Chronicle…'
- The story is written and penciled entirely by Jack Kirby, with inks on the interior story by Mike Royer; the cover is penciled by Kirby and inked by John Byrne.
- The plot pivots on Devil Dinosaur accidentally falling into the mysterious energy pits guarded by the Hag of the Pits on Dinosaur World and being transported to present-day Zuma City, Nevada — the first time Devil appears in the modern Marvel world within the original series.
- The series was cancelled after this issue due to poor sales; its run lasted exactly nine months (on-sale date for #9: September 19, 1978; cover-dated December 1978).
- Marvel conceived Devil Dinosaur partly as a response to DC's planned animated Kamandi series, instructing Kirby to develop a dinosaur-driven title aimed at young readers, though the planned companion animated series for Devil Dinosaur never materialized.
- H.E.R.B.I.E.'s first actual comic-book story appearance is Fantastic Four #209 (August 1979), written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by John Byrne — roughly nine months after this issue's on-sale date; any indexing of H.E.R.B.I.E. or the Fantastic Four cast to Devil Dinosaur #9 likely reflects their presence in back-matter content (Bullpen Bulletins, house ads, or Stan's Soapbox) rather than the main narrative.
- H.E.R.B.I.E. was designed by Jack Kirby himself for the 1978 New Fantastic Four animated series (where the Human Torch's rights had been separately optioned for a film), making the Kirby connection between this issue and that character historically resonant even though they appear in separate publications.
- After this series ended, Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy's next appearance was in Marvel's Godzilla, King of the Monsters in 1979, and the duo would not receive another ongoing series until Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur in 2015.
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Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy encounter the Hag, a withered old woman who guards "The Pits". These mysterious pits emit weird glowing energies. Devil Dinosaur accidentally falls into one, and finds himself transported to the present day. Appearing in Zuma City (a fictional city in Nevada), he runs amok in the town. Meanwhile Moon Boy pleads with the Hag and her son to help him get Devil back. They push small boulders into the pits to cause the energy to erupt. Devil sees this light and leaps in just as he is getting pummelled by the army. Returning home, Devil and Moon Boy return to the jungle.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
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