Devil Dinosaur #9

History

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.

Cast · 6 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Devil Dinosaur

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#1 1st appearance — Devil Dinosaur