Chapter Fifty

1978, 1986 & 1987

January-September, 1978, Devil Dinosaur Vol 1 No. 1-9 by Kirby, Royer, Sinott, Leialoha, W. Simonson, Byrne, P. Goldberg, Roussos, + Archie

February, 1987 New Mutants Vol 1 No. 52 by Leonardi, Sienkiewicz, Green, P. Scotese, Orzechowski, Claremont + Nocenti & Kavanagh

December, 1986 & February, 1987 Fallen Angels Vol 1 No. 1-2 by Gammill, Palmer, P. Scotese, Novak, J. Duffy + Nocenti

Previously on “to me my ❌-Men,” we have been yo-yoing through time, beginning in the holiday season of 1980, our telling of the ❌-Men progressed selectively to c. 1983; when, in Chapter 11, we found ourselves with Thor in c. 1972. A chapter that transitioned us back to 1983, in the pages of Dazzler. But this was a short stay in the 80’s, as the story of ❌-Men of Chapter 12 c. 1984, became a story of Patsy c. 1954 in Chapter 13, linking with the Defenders c. 1984. Things progressed within the 80’s, when Daredevil c. 1986 began Chapter 41 became a story about Weapon X c. 1974, before returning to ❌-Men c. 1986. Chapter 42 continued on, ending in X-Factor c. 1986; when Captain Britain brought us back to our beginning in c. 1981 and deliberately brought us back to c. 1986 in Chapter 43. However, the pattern was in turn ramping up, as Chapter 44 took us back to Dazzler c. 1982. Chapter 45, made this make sense, in the pages of New Mutants c. 1986, when ❌-Men c. 1986 of Chapter 47, became Daredevil c. 1964 of Chapter 48, but also Alpha Flight of c. 1987. Seemingly unable to shake the past, we last saw ourselves contained between two red devil bookends, in the primary story, set in 1972, via Chapter 49. The first of these bookends features ElektrO from 1972; while on the other end, the bookend takes place in 1986, and features some NYC 80’s kids from Longshot’s limited series by Nocenti and A. Adams, who have been popping up in Daredevil, New Mutants, and ❌-Men issues from 1985-1986. The main story of Chapter 49, set in 1972, that was being bookend by these red deviled issues centers ElektrA.

Now we turn to our current chapter, which brings us back, once gain to the past, from 1986 to 1978. Another red devil links up with us. We will find ourselves back in 1987 by the end of this chapter…the link between the two left ambiguous for now. Patience is required, as we will take one more yo-yoing expedition, subsequently into, you guessed it, 1972…the year of our first and our latest leaps. This next time, however, in the color green. Before the end of Chapter 51 and within the early parts of Chapter 52, a steadying of the ship will be attained, as we progress through time relatively sequentially. No promises on space. The Multiverse is a thing.

I transitioned out of high school from novice to professional cartoonist, in 1993. I was sending in submission penciled pages to Marvel, DC, and my primary target, Image comics. My rejection letter being a prized possession, as my first badge of failure.

My successes were these little zine mini comics I was doing. Mostly staring a stick figured character I called Olive Head. I had no idea, I was part of a larger movement and a legacy history at the time. I was simply taking rejection in stride and makin’ comics.

Phase one of my carrier, transitioned into phase two; an education. I had a solid foundation brewing from high school and community college, however, finding myself in the fourth phase of comics education (phase one: turn of the 20th century correspondence and art schools, phase two: Hogarth’s Cartoonists and Illustrators School c. 1947 AKA School of Visual Arts, phase three: The Kubert School c. 1978; phase four: Bob Pendarvis’ BFA and MFA Sequential Art program at SCAD 1990ish) I was afforded the opportunity to be broken down and rebuilt through development of craft, knowledge of history, and witness to history of the rebirth of comics; through a growing insider network. My third phase was in the wilderness of self discovery as a cartoonist. My own fourth phase found me established as an obscurity. A paradox, I developed through observation and discovery of my cartoonist voice. During this phase I gained insight at a fork in the road between pursuit of the dream and the resolve to keep my voice.

By choosing my voice, I was able to walk away from the struggles of my cartoonist past, and opened a gate that produced Tambalvidz. I am content. Here I take a brake and reflect on the moments that built the struggle. Next, I enter phase five; the final phase. An end on my terms, till dust to the wind. Where I’ll be back to the drawing board, free as a 🐦‍⬛. 😉

As my phase two transitioned into phase three, comics education began its phase five (James Sturm’s Center for Cartoonist Studies, etc…). While Sturm facilitated this transition, in Vermont, on a separate track (both our partners being Vermonters) on the other side of the state, I was contributing to the “ect.” on the heals of my second colossal failure. Debuting a self published comic at SPX. A number of my fellow Alumni were there, trying the same thing. A couple making some real sustainable progress. One who was in the same boat as I, had a comic titled, “Failure,” based on the first lesson our professor Mark Kneece provides to all his future cartoonist students. Here I was, acing the lesson, in an attempt to make inroads through an alternative path forged by others. Superheroes to slice of life. What continued to work was, make a comic and then make another comic.

This approach through the third phase, as I became familiar with Vermont, and my own voice and process as a cartoonist, organically contributed to an evolving local network. CCS on one side of the state, and folks like myself on the other, seemed to be connecting. I got the sense and at times verification, I was part of developing a scene, that had a deep history, but lacked the social connectivity and education centers that we were all creating as a community in real time. The results were established in panels, events and get togethers, confirmed our individual hunches. We made something lasting. And as individuals our work was finding meaning.

It became clear as an individual and comics community member, I had entered a fourth phase. Still on the fringes, folks were seeking me out to speak and to make. Inside and outside Vermont. Which I carried all the way through to some back up pages at one of the big three, and a project that took me a year to create. It seems small, but by this point, that had become the plan. My ideal. I had become an expert in understanding the contexts of comics through history, and in this moment. I understood my place, and had zero interest in pressing beyond it. My twilight was approaching.

Comics themselves were of course in their own phase. Not to discredit the proto-comics that date back to the beginning of mark making, the first phase was a bifurcated event with centers in Western culture and Eastern culture, some 175 years ago.

The second phase saw some lite evidence of intertwining, but showed a wide expansion of genre, utility, format, and diversity beginning around the turn of the 20th Century.

The third phase, we call here in North America, the Golden Age, introduced a centering of culture around two formats. Acceptable was the comic strip. Unacceptable became the comic book.

When the Silver age hit, our fourth phase of comics, was a reaction to government over reach, which sparked innovation and narrative, that had broad cultural influences.

But this influences was integrating into a large network of mediums, by the time Bronze Age had come; the fifth phase of comics. Comics were relegated to the side, as they created a cultural bubble, that was a source of influence obscured from popular view.

We entered the sixth phase, as a cultural bubble ballooned into view and then burst during the Chromium Age, this would align with the fourth phase of comics education, and be precisely when my own first phase would begin and become my second phase as its end was just beginning to pick up its pieces. On the fringes I was a part of this.

With the seventh phase of comics pick up after the crash on its way and education entering into our fifth phase, my third phase felt disconnected from both.

Until all the sudden it wasn’t, at the arrival of the current phase in comics, an eight phase, me in my fourth began, about a generation ago. It was in this phase, that I began to read superhero comics again, as my contemporaries were making them, and we were sharing comics across genre, peer to peer, pro to pro, through education we had broken down many of gates, and the gate keepers were more and more on the fringes. Genre and medium became a fluid space for audience and cartoonists. The results have been part of a comics without boarders, global community that intersects and integrates fluidity. My work and my reading was just as likely to be influenced by reading to The Kid as it was to being in communication with my fellow comics professionals.

One example of both aligning is with some contemporaries of mine, fellow Image creators/cartoonist wonderers Natacha Bustos, Amy Reeder, and Brandon Montclare’s Marvel comic Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Aquantence and conversation had transitioned into Social Media and in person. While I don’t collaborate much, if at all, communication exists casually and formally throughout the comics community. It’s extremely fluid and intimate at this point. You sometimes don’t know if you are just chatting, or if business is brewing. What these three developed in this environment was something I immediately became aware of because of how small the comics community is. And it allowed for quick access and an ease of accessibility for The Kid, through our nightly reading rituals and my professional and social networking. Making for a fun period that made my child feel intimately connected to the material and the cartoonists growing up.

The nostalgia of Moon Girl and Devil Dinasaur and the in real time interactions elevated the work. Natacha Bustos is dear to us through her work, and a small number of quick interactions at the time.

The original source for this, is Jack Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur.

Kirby entered into comics at the onset of the Golden Age of Comics; phase three. He is globally renowned for talking the talk and then walking the walk, as Jewish comics creators worked to sound the alarms for the rise of fascism and family rumors circled about the Shoah. Most of you are familiar with his cartooning Captain America punching Hitler. He then went to Europe to fight Nazis directly. Prior to this, he began his career by leaving the working conditions of Fleischer Studios, who ironically were adapting Elzie Crisler Segar’s Popeye. Ironic because one of the few creators of influence in history to be more progressive than Kirby is Segar. Openly critical of capitalism and pro trans, before it was much of a conversation. Kirby left Flischer animation working environment for Eisner & Iger. Will Eisner being the one who popularized the term Sequential Art and Graphic Novel, that shaped my era of cartooning and education. From there he went to Fox, where he met Joe Simon. The two of them then went to Fawcett, where he was asked to mimic CC Beck. Quickly they were picked up by Martin Goodman’s Timley comics. Where they created Captain America, and joined the creators who began the Marvel story. Stan Lee, a relative of Goodman was a gofer and kinda spy for Goodman on the men and women Lee began to learn from making the comics around Lee. Kirby being one of them. Lee was quickly promoted to editor, and in 1941 Kirby suspected Lee of betraying them. The betrayal was revealing to Goodman, Simon and Kirby’s plans to jump to National (DC), because the pay at Timley did not value their contributions. So, Kirby held a grudge against Stan, beginning in the 1941. From National, Kirby went to war, then on his return he and Simon began working at Harvey Comics. Subsequently, the duo shifted again, to creating the first romance comic, for Crestwood. Not that there wasn’t romance before this in comic…the genres name comes from Simon and Kirby here. It influenced a shift of publishers widely, including at many of those they had worked for previously. When Timely relaunched Simon and Kirby’s Captain America, they responded with thier own fighting American icon in 1954, as the Senate was coming down on comic books. This as Kirby and Simon’s attempts at creating their own publication, but in the wake of the government intervention, it failed. EC comics suffered a similar fate, and transitioned from a comic book into a magazine. Mad. The most successful comic publication of the 20the Century. Timely, now called Atlas, had cartoonist on staff who had favorable relationships with Kirby, and so he was convinced to return, only shortly after it too crashed. Ending the Golden Age.

The Silver Age; phase four, begins for Marvel with the death of Joe Maneely. Who died after a dinner meeting, by falling between two cable cars. Lee had plans to leave with Maneely, and switch to comic strips. Kirby had been working with Wally Wood on a comic strip, as well as, working for National (DC), when the work done with the comic strip and the DC work resulted in a lost law suit (strip) and a criticism (DC), driving Kirby back to Marvel, soon after Maneely’s passing. In 1958, Marvel began to develop a stream lined in-house process, related to business constraints (I have written a lot about; the crucible of creativity through distribution; art follows business), and by 1961, pieces had fallen into place to launch Fantastic Four (see my writing on Sturm). In 1966, Steve Ditko left Marvel, and Kirby for similar contexts left in 1970. Kirby left a legacy and two titles; The King of Comics and Marvel as the House that Kirby Built. It was a collaboration, but credit centering Stan Lee has always been problematic. The idea that it was entirely Ditko and Kirby doesn’t sit well with me either. But the lions share goes to Kirby. This includes the ❌-Men.

As the Bronze Age; phase five, began Kirby left again for DC and created Big Barda…and others. Like: In 1983, my friend David Whitaker and I, at age 8, picked up some comics at the used bookstore in, down the block from us, on Virginia St. We then climbed up to the roof of the building across the street and read them, overlooking the store. The same store where I picked up my first Marvel comic; a Sub-Mariner. The giant-sized Spider-Man featuring Shang-Chi was likely my second and an issue of Kamandi was my second DC comic (Amethyst on a flight was my first). This was my first exposure to Kirby. Kamandi was the last boy on Earth. A theme he carried out through to Thundarr the Barbarian. He completed Kamandi, and some other series at DC, then switched back to Marvel for the last time. He was working once again on titles he created, like Black Panther and Captain America. He also, created the focus here, the first boy on earth. A natural transition from Kamandi, would be Moon Boy. Devil Dinosaurs’ BFF, before Moon Girl.

Here begins their story. Kirby’s would end, in 1994, as the bubble was ballooning during the Chromium Age; phase six.

35¢

MARVEL COMICS GROUP

approved by the comics code authority

NOW! the fantastic FIRST ISSUE—

DEVIL DINOSAUR

also featuring: MOON-BOY, the first human!

Turn the page:

Stan Lee presentsL A TEMPEST-TOSSED TALE OUT OF TIME!

Edited, Written and Drawn by: Jack Kirby. Letterer-Inker: Mike Royer. Colorist: Petra Goldberg. Paleontologist Archie Goodwin

To it’s left, a page of advertisements for nick nacks, like: Pocket “Pen” Radio; Monster Record; X-Ray Vision; Hurcules Wrist Band; Star Trek Volcan Ears; Squirt Camera; Vibrating Shocker; Handcuffs; Ghost; Secret Book Safe…

We were let in by this:

Steve Loter, Jeffrey M Howard, Kate Kondell, and Pilar Flynn’s Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur; based off Jack Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur, and Natacha Bustos, Amy Reeder, and Brandon Montclare’s Moon-Girl and Devil Dinosaur

Kirby has three things here, in his final year at Marvel, 1978. He has editorial and writing control, he had credit, and he had a small team of contributors he seems to trust. Petra getting credit here is not something that would have happened under Stan Lee’s direct supervision. Jack really pushed for respect for creators. Jack, Mike and Petra are left to collaborate and execute Jack’s vision without publisher meddling. However, Kirby will leave unsatisfied and head to Hanna-Barbara and animation, after his last work, being his last collaboration with Stan Lee, and Marvel’s first “graphic novel,” a Silver Surfer comic. Kirby will only return to comics as the market opens up to more obscure publishers. In the end, his final work is for Image. His death would take him, before the work was completed by him.

In 2012, my local network, in Vermont, had a leading effort set off by Kubert School Alumni turned DC’s Swamp Thing cartoonist, turned inspiration for Scott McCloud’s 24-Hour Comic exercise, turned CCS professor, Vermonter, Stephen Bissette. James Sturm posted a call to action. And those of us who know Stephen and James, within a day were spreading the word. A boycott of the new film, called Marvel's The Avengers, was under way. We were mostly creators, or fans of the comics. While we were providing external pressures, inside rooms, legal action was being pressed by Kirby’s family, and the lawyer who had guided similar contexts over at DC. The external and internal pressure resulted in a settlement that satisfied Kirby’s family. What we could see was, subsequently credit was appearing in productions based off of Kirby’s work. This began to happen for other creators. We don’t know the financial resolution. We do know, that the compensations for other creators is not equitable to thier contributions still. However, this was a win.

“Thunder-horn has come to the valley! Drive him out, Devil!!”

-Jack Kirby/Moon-Boy c. 1978

The double paged splash is classic and iconic Jack Kirby. Royer faithfully inks his controlled and angular yet with curvature thick to thin lines. Every form having a sense of sturdiness and weight. A quality that has always brought a sense of power to man, monster, and woman in Kirby comics. Power play is at the foundation of Kirby’s comics. In contrast with lesser men, he seemed humble, but in reality his voice, his words, his comics all presented a sense of unwavering pursuits of a justness that was facilitated by power. His own hardscrabble life, and his time sitting at a humble drafting table, relentlessly refining, creating and utilizing his voice.

Moon-Boy rides Devil with a voice to raise the Devil up, in the face of a chaotic world, filled with Dinosaurs. Moon-Boy sees within his friend, a portion of singular leadership over this place.

And so we turn the page…to…ads for Sea-Monkey’s and Hardy Boy & Nancy Drew T’s. Sea monekey’s actually look like trilobites I guess. Which is really awesome if true. I am also, distracted by thoughts of my cousin Charlie who was obsessed with the Hardy and Drew books at this time, as well as, decades later the fact that my friend Kelly Thompson got to write Nancy Drew comics…leading to an awkward conversation I once had in Savannah with the president of her fan club.

Turning the page…some sequential art…finally.

The assertion of Kamandi as the last boy and Moon-Boy as the first human is kinda misleading. A play to make us care. Both having white faces, and centering male figures…seems not great. It felt that way back in the day too!

That noted, the assertion unravels quickly, as we learn, Moon-Boy has kin. The Small-Folk.

Kirby notes he is translating and we are being inundated with captions, dialogue and SFX…but they do not take over the pencils, inks, and coloring.

Devil and a triceratops are entangled as Moon-Boy has sought refuge in a tree.

More advertisements…oh…a switchblade comb!

Turning to a page I REALLY love! Moon-Boy in three panels flips from branch to branch towards us. In two approches from afar and then mounts Devil. A dusk panel pulls back lighting the two just enough in the envionrmnet and then pulls in as the last panel shares a view of Moon-Boy gazing upon the Moon. It goes from whimsical, to practical, to deep, to calming.

This is not the comic that blows me away amongst Kirby’s work. But it will make sense in terms of representing him in “to me my ❌-Men,” especially when you consider, his ❌-Men work to be amongst my least favorite Kirby comics. It also will connect directly to our story in 1987. That noted, even here, Kirby will have a moment or two where the page simply blows me away still. That double splash was something that evoked a thrill, but this page right here…it is wall worthy.

Moon-Boy reflects on how he approached “fire-mountain,” a volcano, and discovered the Killer-Folk, a rival ape like evolutionary humanoid species who had “baited a female Devil Beast,” “slain her.” He believes the fire-mountain can see him, but he is small and can hide amongst the shadows of the rocks. The Killer-Folk even eat the young. A line to far for Moon-Boy.

More ads.

One of the young, was cornered by the Killer-Folk. They sought to use their fire torches to kill him. But the fire-mountain itself had other plans, and blew, sending flame and rock, causing the Killer-Folk to scamper away, abandoning their kill, and this kill emerged a red Devil Dinosaur.

Moon-Boy approached to nurture the young Devil. When another dinosaur approached and in a wonderful panel Moon-Boy is alarmed:

“A leaper has found us!”

Moon-Boy asks the Devil to save himself. However, the Devil knows a good egg when he sees one, and saves Moon-Boy from the leaper.

A delightful page, has the two fast friends traversing the fields of mountains, the swampy waters, and finding nourishment in the edge of the jungle. When an avalanche of rocks, nearly overwhelm them, but Moon-Boy rides in the young Devil’s back for the first time, in an escape.

Ad tells us to buy Pizzazz, Marvel’s new magazine, which has R2 and 3PO on the cover. Oh and you can buy a flesh eating plant too! You can also write now to Dinosaur Dispatches…which includes a PO Box in Thousand Oaks…meaning you are writing to Kirby in CA, not Marvel in NYC.

Kirby writes a letter, to begin correspondence.

An ad then tells us what is available from Marvel and to subscribe: Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Captain America, Captain Marvel (Claremont’s Carol), Conan, Daredevil, The Defenders, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Four, Howard the Duck, Incredible Hulk, Invaders, Iron Man, Marvel Tales, Marvel Team Up, Marvel Two-In-One, Master of Kung Fu, Power Man, Thor, Tomb of Dracula, Spidy Super Stories.

That’s 21 comics, while they are six years into direct distribution. A uptick since the Atlas collapse brought them down to 16 by monthly. However, not overwhelming. I still wouldn’t buy them all, but if I was a bit older in 1978, I probably would be picking up seven subscriptions for less then three bucks: Howard the Duck, Spidy Super Stories, Master of Kung Fu, The Defenders, Conan, Doctor Strange, and Captain Marvel. It’s interesting what is not listed, including a bunch of Kirby titles, and Claremont’s ❌-Men.

Moon-Boy on Devil’s back arrives safely at the Small-Folks home…and they all run away from the Devil.

“Wait! Hear me!”

But they take to the trees…and “it was a sad time…the Small-Folk did not understand…they never appeared to us again…”

“I can no longer stay with my kind, but I still have a brother…and shall spend my days with him.”

Moon-Boy’s face fills a panel with thought.

We are then treated to a masterful panel of Devil standing and looking off, with Moon-Boy laying in a mossy tree, the environment lush, creatures about, and the moon in the background. Contemplation is captured.

We are left with a “meanwhile,” and Killer-Folk lurking…a fight amongst them, reveals a new leader. He seeks to destroy the Devil-Beast. He speaks in tones of fear of the Devil. They set blaze to the grass, disrupting the slumber of Moon-Boy and the Devil is threatened.

MARVEL BULLPEN BULLETINS

HOW TO DRAW THE MARVEL WAY is announced by Stan. Excelsior!

Peter and MJ are attacked at a jewelry shop…but use Hostess Cup Cakes to fool the thieves.

In a two panel delight, Moon-Boy leaps on Devil and they join a mass of Dinosaurs escaping the grassland fire.

In the mountains the Killer-Folk have left a speared trap. Next: Devils War!

The Devil jumps in our direction…I swear his left foot breaks through the fourth wall…and we stand behind a giant spider. Beast boy is tied up. The Killer-Folk occupy the background with Kirby dotted fire lighting the scene.

“IN AN AGE OF MONSTERS, HE WAS MIGHTIEST OF ALL!

DEVIL DINOSAUR

Opening the issue, you are not first struck by the Devil, with Moon-Boy mounted on his back, yelling: “you’re RUSHING into a trap!” with the Killer-Folk with a speared armament at the ready bellow. No you are struck with these words in a advertisement to the left:

LIKE BEING BORED? (in red, Captain America yells over the Susan Storm)

the white page continues with text, the word pizzazz sticks out.

DON’T READ THIS! (in blue, The Thing and Spider-Man yell in unison).

Apparently Marvel had a magazine that you could only get in the south (weird assertion, clearly regionalism), that was NOW available at “newsstands and candy stores. coast-to-coast.” This is a solution to your folks being on your are, and your adolescents hassles. Marvel went and asked what y’all needed, and is now delivering a magazine that features cartoonists work that keeps you to date on insider information in the creative industries and pop culture. A behind the scenes on how it all works. It also answers question about Marvel characters not featured in the comics. There is parody, humor, caricatures. There is dream analysis, and an advice columnist. Stories, comics, recipes, magic lessons, reviews, music, sports, TV, film, calendars, puzzles, and games.

I never picked up pizzazz, but now generations to late…I want to.

Devil cares not…he is leaping across two pages, and Moon-Boy hopes it is far enough to make it over the stakes bellow, ready to pierce them.

More ads.

One is for the Official Star Wars Fan Club. Keep in mind this is only a year after the film released and the comic by Marvel debut slightly before the film. I joined when I was six. So just three years later. It was kinda cool. You could get some bonus materials. I am pretty sure I had a poster, because I was a member. The Bantha Tracks was really well produced. I wish I still had my copies. There is an archive available of course.

Devil makes the leap and crashes through the rest. He dismantles the Killer-Folk, with ease. Only Seven Scars refuses to accept defeat, and has the mental resolve to counter with a plan. To rain down rocks and bury Devil.

More ads.

That looks like the weakest skateboard. Oh…Ft. Worth, Texas….actually…I would probably ride a Park-Rider…that wood looks nice.

As the rocks tumble on top of our two heroes, there is one panel that has this cropped off register Tetris feel that I kinda love.

More ads.

Star Wars books…honestly there sound cool…the ad is terribly hokey…but a portfolio, blue prints, sketchbook, transfer book, and what seems like a really early TPB of Star Wars comics. I want this junk!

What I con’t care for is the muscles in the other ad. I am good with my skinny are…oh wait…I am not that anymore. I got a gut now. Hmmmm….nah. I’m good. I worked hard for this dad bod.

The Killer-Folk find Moon-Boy buried, but breathing. Seven Scars has taken a leadership position and is now having them drag (nice drawing Jack) to be sacrificed slowly in the cave of the Long-Legs. This will cleanse them of their thoughts of defeat by the Devil, who remains buried.

As the move on along the burning hills away from the monsters and jungle…the Devil arises in their past steps. And we are treated to two more sequential pages of Devil battling a beast equal to him, only green and possessing a smaller head. A classic Kirby fighting scene, unfolds, that reads like top shelf storyboards of action. Devil is victorious, as is the cartooning.

More ads.

Clark: Coconut, Peanut Butter Log, Crunchy, Magnet, Mint, and the simple: CLARK. An add to become a car customizer. Our DINOSAUR DISPATCHES, Kirby still trying to get letters. Awww…An ad for Howard the Duck fills me with joy!

BUT wait! There’s more adds. The usual nonsense going back to the 30’s…”prizes or cash”…100 creepy dolls.

The Devil tracks his friend and their foes. Moon-Boy groggy, awakes tied up, presented for the mouth of the cave. Giant bugs about. The Killer-Folk wait for their sacrifice to unfold. A massive spider appears. The Killer-Folk are filled with joy. That is until Devil with a fire stick in his mouth appears from behind.

More ads.

More junk…and muscles.

Devil sets the Killer-Folk ablaze in the grass. Breaks his BFF free, as the Long Legs is about to stab him with his jaws of death. The two flee to safety.

MARVEL BULLPEN BULLETINS

An interesting column by Stan, where he reflects on a recent visit to U of Va. And was called out for not keeping it real in the soapbox any more. Stan admits he has been “huckstering,” Marvel products…and not used it as he once did.

A decade later, he was being called out for loosing his way, and falling into his persona. The Sales Man. The one Kirby himself had been portraying, with Funky Flashman in Mister Miracle at DC.

So after som promotional materials…that do name creators and a wide range of projects…

Another ad.

Thor and Sif use Twinkies to save the day.

Then the Killer-Folk are cornered by the Long Legs…and in a nice page, Moon-Boy and Devil are left to peacefully wonder the burning and jungled world…only someone is watching.

A few more ads and the issue is closed, bagged and boarded.

A furry humanoid in a ceratopsidae head swings a stegosauria by its tail. Beast-Boy rides Devil; a tyrannosaurus. The cover promises a GIANT…maybe they have a eratopsidae head? A sauropoda slinks off, not wanting anything to do with all that.

Moon-Boy: “How can one find sleep when the valley resounds with fearful SCREAMS?!”

Get the sense Kirby was at his table and perhaps a full house or one particular member of his home, was making a racket the morning he sat down to create this one.

SSSKREEE!!

Pterosaur, dromaeosauridae, and sphenacodontidae over a two page splash flee from the giant, startling Devil, with Moon-Boy on his back.

Moon=Boy calls the giant: Sleep-Killer. And seeks to guide it to its lair, so the valley may slumber in peaces once again. In Kirby’s hands this is kinda epic. This little thing. A quest for sleep.

These two pages feature panels which stand out to me; a moment of Moon-Boy keeping onto Devils head, and sitting on Devil pontificating, as well as an extreme close up of Moon-Boys face; amongst eight other panels which are clicking on a high level.

A half page of Moon-Boy leaping for a vine, with the majestic sauropoda enjoying a dip and some plants, is visually striking right off, on a subsequent page. The action increases with chaotic tensions as rocks fly around Moon-Boy “suddenly…” on the next page. Moon-Boy considers the massive harry humanoid with a ceratopsidae head to be a “demon.” This demon Sleep-Killer, has their own complaints, taking them out on what he considers to be the vermin responsible with his frustrations. The Bone-Back, stegosauria was seemingly in the wrong place at the wrong time. But in a wonderfully framed and angled panel, so is Moon-Boy, potentially.

Sleep-Killer: “Sleep Bone-Back!”

Stegosauria is swing and nocked out. The size of Sleep-Killer in proportion to Moon-Boy becomes clearer. Moon-Boy is a fraction of the size of his head, and in this panel he may not notice his smaller kin, but as time presses on through increasingly enjoyable art depicting Moon-Boy running through jungle to make his escape…the giant’s hand grabs hold from the bush. Clenching the smaller humanoid. Devil however, tracks the carnage left in their wake.

Upon page turn, it becomes clear, Devil is a match in size and skill for the giant.

The battle continues onto another however, where Sleep-Killer uses a sharp weapon ripped from a tree. Devil resorts to throwing rocks with his feet. Devil too, seeks escape from this annoyed annoyance.

“Meanwhile” Moon-Boy has been ensnared by Ruka. A giant who seems more nurturing, though placing a noose around Moon-Boy’s neck and holding him like yo-yo is not exactly welcoming. Moon-Boy is to be Ruka’s toy. And they begin to negotiate with words. Which affords Moon-Boy a plan.

Moon-Boy crying the cry of the pterosaur, bring many upon Ruka, and in the chaos Moon-Boy makes his escape. Ruka, follows to the waters edge. Moon-Boy had hoped Devil had not encountered Sleep-Killer, but unfortunately he has now brought both giants together along the water, where he and his friend are to face them. Only Devil has Sleep-Killer felled int eh water, and the two BFF’s can now work together. But first they must help the giants. As the reason for the valley’s plight is a lost cub of the giants.

MARVEL BULLPEN BULLETINS

Where Stan addresses complaints of late issues, and more titles. He defends this by saying the letters indicate this is what the people want. Variety, over constancy. Chaos, over predictability. In 1978, it was feeling overwhelming, and the bullpen couldn’t keep up on time…this issue predates my entry into this. My complaints had already been heard and addressed in this way. Oy!

Production Manager, and inker, John Verpoorten, is remembered on this same page, as he had just passed away. I will note, he inked Daredevil’s first Annual, and then went on to inking X-Men, Not Brand Echh, some horror, Fantastic Four, Milli the Model, Captain America, Frankenstein, and Eternals. He was the co-creator of Iceman’s dad, William.

Moon-Boy helps the now distraught Ruka, by convincing Devil to save the Sleep-Killer. The two giants leave after some awkward negotiations of motivations. The Valley may sleep.

OBJECTS FROM THE SKY

While many of the design and style we see here, was developed as a journeyman who had been alternating between publishers, and in the 60’s found his voice coming together, I can’t help but sense this actually happened in the 70’s. When you look at the cartooning Kirby did at DC, it seemed refined and distilled down to an ease, that does not struggle to with clarity.

Here on this cover, you get the sense that these Sky-Folk come from the Fourth World, much like you see a link with Kamandi in the Small-Folk.

In a title page that challenges the scope of the aesthetics in this comic, by use of color, design, and execution, we are confronted with something in the sky, that we don’t entirely have the language for. It in the context of this comic, it strikes me as compelling and beautiful. However, its arrival has been “foretold:”

Moon-Boy: “…a great beast has arisen to SWALLOW the MOON! Soon he will be followed by OTHERS!”

Kirby’s double page spread, comes off as an amalgam of Aztec and Kirby. There are two elements, one seems to be an eyes and mouth, while smaller, a “leviathan” fills the sky. You can see within it the universe. The sky where they come from is filled with eyeballs, while the space they have yet to cover is astrological Kirby dots and mist. There is promise “for all that we see around us shall SLIDE into a giant belly and be seen no more.” The dinosaurs, one a Devil with a Moon-Boy on his back, scamper in all directions on a sphere of “no escape.”

In the eyes and mouth of this slide to a giant belly, I am taken back to the waining years of the 90’s, and my time with Jim Woodring in Savannah, GA. When asked what my favorite comic is, or who my favorite cartoonist has been easy to retrieve. since those years. Within a year or so of meeting Jim, James Sturm shared with me a copy of Frank, and I was struck by how intimate an experience it was to read Woodring’s silent comics.

It has been more influential than the ❌-Men on my work as a cartoonist. Jim has been perhaps the most influential on my eclectic path. The exception being the musician Mike Patton.

As foundational as Star Wars and the ❌-Men are, my ambitions were directed inward, and not outward, because I could see in Frank, what Jim was gaining in life and leaving for the world, however small. Here on this page of Devil Dinosaur, Jim’s stories of the times he worked in animation, at the same studio as Jack Kirby. A competitor arose in response to Hanna-Barbera, as ABC’s Fred Silverman felt their work was diluting the products, because Hanna-Barbera was producing across networks most animation. Ruby-Spears became that counter, that actually supplemented and studied the quality of American Sturday Morning Cartoons.

Folks tend to be critical of the quality of the animation, but as someone growing up consuming it, my nostalgia isolates me from this impulsive take, and as a cartoonist accustom to looking at the intersection of art, business, and culture, I see a balance of innovation and tradition that makes for a human product worthy of celebration and admiration. Woodring, who was in it, didn’t seem to share this take. He played down its quality in his lectures, and shares a sense of vulnerability that came off as self deprecating. A comics tradition.

The elevation and reason for bringing it up, seemed to be Kirby’s work present in the space. That was notable amongst “crap.” However, to me there was not the disconnect Jim was experiencing. I see a timeline filled with aesthetic joy and utility.

Plastic-Man, which would be recreated by a vocal critic of this era, John K; a close friends of my cousin, a RISD grade and occasional cartoonist herself, he is also know for being reasonably called out in the swell of “me too,” created another influence on me, Ren & Stimpy; which only makes the story of Plastic-Man that much more colorful. Massively influential on nearly all cartoonist from his time, through to mine, Jack Cole’s Plastic-Man, already had Jack’s wonderful and tragic life, but to have in between Cole and K, this Ruby-Spears bit, had Mark Jones, Steve Gerber, and Roy Thomas working on Plastic-Man. In addition to Plastic-Man, Ruby-Spears produced work that shared associations with Hanna-Barbera, like Heathcliff and Scooby-Doo.

Another very loose connective tissue with my own life, Ruby-Spears produced the animation versions of Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour. Robin Williams show taking place in my birthplace of Boulder, has impacted me for as long as I can remember. As, it provided as much sense of place as my first two years of life. Warping my personal identity initially. Life being twisted as it is, brought Robin and I together regularly in a coffee shop, in our place, The Bay. He was a customer of mine regularly, after his bike rides across the Golden Gate in my little mountain town, a generation away from the Rockies. It was in this same town where he would perform and work through material at a small club we had. Returning to his home in The City, where he lived and eventually took his life.

Ruby-Spears produced so many cartoons like this, that bring me warm , complex, and deep feelings; Mr. T, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Dragon’s Lair, It’s Punky Brewster, Superman, Mega Man. The parts that Kirby contributed to included Centurions, and the one that I have carried into the present, a care for, in my adult life; Thundarr the Barbarian. Perhaps because of its close thematic and aesthetics to Kamandi and Devil Dinosaur. It was this art that Woodring was seeing, before we were, and was making him question the quality of the projects he was working on at Ruby-Spears.

Those projects, that I also enjoyed, and frankly represented something significant to my generation, as totems of our time and foundations for our futures. Pac-Man/Rubik the Amazing Cube/Saturday Super Arcade: Frogger, Donkey Kong, and specifically Q*Bert.

The fact that Jim Woodring worked on Rubik and Q*Bert, while Kirby worked on Thundarr the Barbarian, and that I was able to learn from Jim, and we got to share connective tissues with influences to us all, like Jack Davis, facilitated by James Sturm. I am so thankful for how this fills and informs my path in this life and as a cartoonist.

I can see Woodring’s Frank’s world in this Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur page.

A dream, Moon-Boy finds himself tossed in the air, waking with a plunge into the swamp. Devil cares not for his dreams concerns. As the Devil turns over, a panel of Moon-Boy lost in thought is afforded us a calm before the storm. As Moon-Boy has done so, looking into the sky, and an intense close up of his eye tells us he sees what his dreams have been fearing.

“WAKE UP, DEVIL! SOMETHING HAD COME FROM THE SKY!?”

Devil reacts with concern only when impact from the sky is felt. Moon-Boy is annoyed. Was he not heading his call at all!?!

These panels of Moon-Boy and Devil are delightful each, how the two figures interact, how they traverse the environment, how Kirby crops and frames the narrative.

While the Valley stirs away from the space invasion, as Moon-Boy himself wishes for more winks, the Devil seeks to meet the event head on, doing so with his BFF on his back and head.

We are treated to Kirby tech, a flying saucer of his devise.

The Sky-Demons reveal themselves by blasting our heroes. Who narrowly escape these Fourth World looking spacemen. Who clearly look to take over the world. The can shoot fire and fly. Devil is to brave for their own good.

As the action is kicking it up a notch.

An ad.

Action figures, and ships from space. Star Wars! I had all of these. I still have some.

The Sky-Demons assume they have eliminated Devil and Moon-Boy. However, Devil is only stunned, and Moon-Boy “thrown clear,” is not broken, but is bruised. The fun panel continue with a Sky-Demon flying above a Moon-Boy observes his flight. Moon-Boy looks to find out more, as risk…LOOK BEHIND YOU MOON-BOY!

Ensnared, the “illogical,” Moon-Boy must be studied. “Signs of vocal control in evidence. Probe for rudimentary speech may be indicated.”

The valley is ablaze with death from the Sky-Demons. The Killer-Folk’s former leader, before Seven-Scars, Stone-Hand, and his new tribe, the Hill-Folk, and their wise one, White-Hair are all on the run. As they do so, Stone-Hand seeks a name for those in the sky, from White-Hair, so he “may know HOW to deal with them!”

White-Hair advises caution, and advises seeking the Devil out to battle these invaders. Stone-Hand fears him already dead. White-Hair has faith in his survival. Finally discovered. They witness the Devil, groggy, intervene as the Sky-Demon is about to ‘stockpile a Thunder-Horn for chemical processing.’ Devil goes BONK BONK BONK on the Sky-Demon.

Stone Hand intervenes as, the Sky-Demon is injured, but not dead, and seeks to burn Devil as he wonders on in search of Moon-Boy. Stone-Hand, is shaken up, but successful in killing the Sky-Demon. White-Hair attempts to discern and translate Devils roars, and thinks he seems to communicate his domination and the two Hill-Folk believe they have a pact with the Devil.

The three witness out of view, the processing of the valley’s inhabitants through the machinery of the spaceship. Moon-Boy tied up for further study. A Hill-Folk makes their escape, as their peoples plead for them to stay put. This individual is turned to sunder. Stone-Hand waivers at following the Devil. White-Hairs, acknowledges communication is limited, but asks in this moment for Stone-Hand to observe where the Devil looks. He looks towards a giant anthill. “That tower.”

“Is to overwhelm the invaders.”

Devil, Stone-Hand, White-Hairs and Swarmers, oh my!

Moon-Boy is very aware of his predicament, and has concerns, as Devil has not come to his rescue. He is in a glass pill case, being handled by a Sky-Demon performing science on him.

It’s frightening.

The two page splash is best of series, and amongst Kirby’s highest achievements for a single image. There is a Mister Miracle one, that centers Big Barda and the use of a giant wrench, uses similar drafting techniques. One of my favorite images in all of comics. Here we have a page filled with Kirby technology and space energy aesthetic techniques. Kirby dots are just part of his visual lexicon. We are inside the spacecraft’s lab. Sky-Demon work the room, and appear on screen. On foot and in the air. Dinosaurs are sequestered to the left and humanoids to the right. The depth of field is deep in all directions, particularly up, as our eyes are guided towards the back and then to the front on the right, where we find Moon-Boy in his capsule. The page reads from a caption balloon on the up left and follows a French curved in perspective Kirby doted tech towards the middle and back up the top to an ideal Sky-Demon with tech in hand. Along the way we catch onto where the captured are in the space and where the words are to be returned to along the bottom, to be read in sequence, left to right. On the screen to in space, the Sky-Demon in the foreground opperating and communicating, and finally back again to Moon-Boy in thought.

Petra’s colors are a highlight.

The reptiles have not developed enough to be of much consequence to the Sky-Demon’s plans. The “hairy sapiens,” present a potential problem. Further analysis is required.

Evidence of Devil in encaved chest of a Sky-Demon, Moon-Boy’s cries for help are contained within his capsule.

Outside, Devil, Stone-Hand, and White-Hairs do attempt to approach the ship, but are driven away into the bush, and then off a cliff by the chase and fire of the Sky-Demon. Stone-Hand’s faith in Devil’s leadership is rocky from start.

Devil has brought them to a geyser, bubbling with pleasure building. His plan is exacting. He kicks boulders into the bubbles. Increasing their pressure as the Sky-Demon’s approach by air. They are splashed by moisture, with seeps into their tech, corroding it and shutting down the Sky-Demon. One is left to keep the pursuit alive. One is left, “inoperative.”

Devil, Stone-Hand, and White-Hairs arrive at the base of the ant-hill, as they are approached by the Sky-Demon.

On page turn, the Sky-Demon is overwhelmed by giant Swarmers. Left to self destruct, the Sky-Demon, takes many with them.

Back at the lab, Moon-Boy is on a table, and an effecting Kirby mask is place over his face. Wires come from it, and analysis is underway. A screen of reveals energy within his brain waves that are worthy of study, but the risk is to high. Destroying the subject is the prudent action. A “wide range ‘land crusher” is ordered to sweep the valley.

The Land Crusher is held by four Sky-Folk who guide it into the air, and it begins to blast the earth with red energy emitting from its base.

Away a Sawarmer has cornered the rescue team, so Stone-Hand becomes entangles with it. White-Hair, asks Devil to help his “stubborn” community member.

Devil uses his tail.

The Sapiens hop on his back, as the Swarmers approach in number.

Stone-Hand remains an arse.

Alarmed that they head for the hill.

Marvel produced a Beatles comic. I am not sure who is feeling desperate and out of touch here…but I am sure an aging market which is well underway with direct marketing feeding a growing comic shop culture, is thinking this is “cool.”

It is 1978. It's been eight years, since the last album drop. John will be dead in two years.

The Runaways, Ramons, Bowie, Buzzcocks, Fleetwood Mac, The Damned, T. Rex, The Clash, Judas Priest, Heart, Bob Marley, Kiss, John Williams, Motörhead, Thin Lizzy, Iggy Pop, Sex Pistols, Dead Boys, The Jam, Scorpions, Wire, XTC, Bootsy’s Rubber Band, Van Halen, Lou Reed, Blondie, Generation X, Kraftwerk…Beatles?!?

On Devils back, they enter the Swarmers home, and work their way up amongst the giant ants as the "land crusher” obliterates it from the top. Sending the Swarmers out in droves, to take down the land crusher as the three shaky alliance of heroes into a a place of passing out.

Spidy saves the day with help of hostess fruit pie.

AND we can get outfitted with fishing equipment, for under $15.

In 1973, Kirby and Royer produced issue No. 6 at DC. Introducing Flower, the first female character in the story. Here, five years later in issue No. 6, the first sapien female character, appears on this series cover. Similarly dramatic, Eev is accompanied by Stone-Hand and Devil, as they flee the valley.

“THE FALL!”

“The greatest story ever told could have begun with dinosaurs, demons, and giant ants! Of course, there had to be a man…and a woman called EEV!”

White-Hair pleads with Stone-Hand, to honor Devil’s heroics and try and help him, but Stone-Hand:

“Look to the Devil-Beast. if you like! He concerns me no longer!”

We open to a chaotic scene over two pages, within one panel. Eev fills a quarter of it. Stone-Hand rushes to her aid, despite his better sense. White-Hair encourages Devil, who rises from what seemed like near death a page turn ago. Bones and rocks scatter about. The Ants are massive and gnarly; coroner Eev, who holds a rock above her hair done up like:

Eev: “These crawling vermin DON’T frighten me! I’ll send them back to their caves with DENTED skulls!”

I swoon.

As flirty talk of empty skulls is changed between the two sapiens. Eev finds reason to clarify:

“It is my empty STOMACH that brought me here! My folk have been SLAIN! And, there is no food to be found! I’M HUNGRY!“

The sapiens valiant are overwhelmed by the swarmers, requiring the Devil to rescue them. So he does. But Eev is not content with how delicately he deals them.

The swarmers are on a path towards the Sky-Demon’s ship, leaving a “river of death.” Left behind in their destroyed towers are sweet morsels that was known to Eev, but not the others.

As the Sky-Demons have concluded the sapiens must extinct through death or sterilization, because Moon-Boy is to advanced, their ship is set into chaos.

Within six panels the swarmers have overwhelmed the Sky-Demon’s at this part of Devil’s plan has come to pass. The invaders from the sky are vanquished. Within these panels, however, we see Moon-Boy realize his opportunity and has intentions to escape, amongst many explosions. From the outside this looks like no-one survived. Devil is filled with sadness, as Stone-Hand fails to find the empathy in victory. White-Hair advises they should follow and help the dinosaur.

Stone-hand: “It is time return to our OWN haunts.”

Devil’s “great sadness” is left to roam.

Stone-hand in minimal panels, tries to exert control over the two who remain. He has White-Hair eat, thinking his empty stomach is causing him to care for the Devil. At which point, having packed up her food, Eev looks to be on her way. Stone-Hand order her to stay.

“I am EEV of the Forest-Folk and NO ONE commands me! I go when and where I please! If you cannot RESPECT my ways, then you’ll find me MORE dangerous that the Swarmers!”

Stone-Hand seeks to abuse her into submission. White-Hair recognizes her “will.” The Forest Folk were feminist. They had equity. Stone-Hand points to them no longer existing, and seeks to claim her, as he is a misogynist, from a culture of abuse. Who also are no more. In violence he speaks words of pleading clarity of attraction. Eev struggles in resistance and White-Hair supports her in desperate words. He is nocked down for his efforts by Stone-Hand. This next to panels show Stone-Hand, in the first he grips Eev’s arm. It is implied he is above her visually. In words, he intends rape and slavery.

“Meanwhile,” the space ship explodes one final time, and we see Moon-Boy make his escape from the technological nightmare into the valley he calls home.

The letters pages have correspondences from UT, IL, OH, and MI. Accompanying this an add for Kirby’s Machine Man series. On page turn we have an update of ordering directly from Marvel: Pizzazz, Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Conan, Daredevil, The Defenders, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Four, Godzilla, Howard the Duck, Human Fly, Incredible Hulk, Invaders, Iron Man, John Carter from Mars, Marvel Tales, Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Two-in-One, Master of Kung Fu, Power Man, Spectacular Spider-Man, Spidy Super-Strories, Star Wars, Tarzan, Tomb of Dracula, What If, and the X-Men.

Twenty nine…but does not mention Devil Dinosaur…and Black Panther was still being published.

Moon-Boy is startled and overwhelmed by a stampede of dinosaurs. Valley Folk run as the earth quakes. An explosion creates a crater. A technological antenna like form emerges. Demon-Tree. The Prime Computer. No longer controlled by the Sky-Demons is free to make its own “independent decisions.” An AI nightmare.

Moon-Boy seeks the advice and assistance of his BFF. However he is thwarted by other dinos. A few wonderful Moon-Boy leaping panels later, he has escaped to cave.

As he thinks of the Devil and pleads for him, a storm filled the valley. In it the Eev, who we assume has had the worst events of her life just occurs, is with her abuser and his helples wiseman, as they come across the Prime Computer. Who forms a face and reveals he is the dominant one.

Sometimes, you can see the stress in a drawing. This cover is so out of character for Jack Kirby. Now the previous cover was representative of the The King, and perhaps this is because Joe Sinnott elevating through ink, but the subsequent cover can’t all come down to switching of inking to Steve Leialoha. I really have been harsh to Steve, but being contrasted with Joe doesn’t do him, or frankly anyone any favors. Sinnott was a star going back into the 50’s. He just happened to be working with Jack Kirby. Leialoha, tends to not save pages, as an inker. I have suspected he simply gets deadlines. Which is exactly what was the goal here.

Demon-Tree!

IG-88B meets…

…Arnim Zola.

Stone-Hand has somehow taken over, or thinks he is giving orders to the Prime Computer AKA Demon-Tree. Alliances are fluid, as the three sapiens and the computer have set their sites on Devil Dinosaur and his fellow dinos. Gone are the voices of White-Hair the wise and Eev the brave. The Demon-Tree drives the Devil away.

The Demon-Tree speaks elegance to the sapiens safety. The debate is to leave (Stone-Hand), or stay (Eev). The Demon-Tree solves the issue by creating a protective dome over the sapiens, entrapping them in a protective environment. Sighting his superiority in terms of durability. He intendeds to keep them safe. Their protest is of no importance. Stone-Hand gets a small taste of his own medicine.

Our hero, Moon-Boy navigates the jungle, and leeps (great panel) into the swamp. Emerges in a wonderful large panel of plant eating dinosaurs. He is soon however hurrahed by smaller dinos along the edge of the waters.

An ad.

For a verity of “books.” One is Kirby’s final Marvel comic. Stan Lee & Jack Kirby’s Silver Surfer graphic novel. Others include a Hulk novel and calendar, a “Fun Book,” and A TPB of Electric Company Spidy Stories.

Devil appears from out of nowhere and saves Moon-Boy. Together at last.

The other three sapiens are trapped in their eden. Ideal, absence of freedom and agency. Eev and White-Hair have come to be conent. Stone-Hand, seeks freedom…control. He invited the Demon-Tree into their lives, now seems to be the alone in questioning its motives. He confronts it, and in turn the Prime Computer gasses him, so he will forget he had such thoughts.

Moon-Boy and Devil rejoice at the calm of the Valley. The speak to soon, as a dino attacks from the sky.

Ad

Roger Stern and Tom Sutton’s super sexy Doctor Strange is advertised. I have the issue this is selling. It is wonderfully illustrated and creative. The aesthetics are very 70’s.

The Moon-Boy and Devil are in great spirits, having had a work out. Four panels delight in design and vibes. The dome is off in the distance…so some fun suspicion is in Devil’s eye.

In the dome, White-Hair is on deaths door. Stone-Hand is in his feels. Eev seeks to bring the two together for healing. White-Hairs death, awakens mistrust in Stone-Hand for the Demon-Tree. Who anticipates Stone-Hand and sets fire to his wooden club. Stone-Hand does not understand his words, but we do. Radiation has taken the old wise one. A leak is now addressed.

Ad includes ad Star Wars belt buckle. Sick!

Stone-Hand attacks the Demon-Tree with enough force to cause critical damage…the tree enters into a “survival repair procedure.” Eev worries of an explosion and they run, right into Devil and Moon-Boy. The dome barrier in-between them.

Stan’s Soap Box talks of a speech at James Maddison turning into a call for definition of what a “bigot” is from the audience. So Stan responds here:

“Bigotry is one of the many stains upon the human escutcheon which must be eradicated before we can truthfully call ourselves civilized. It comes in may forms and shapes, but it’s most easily recognized in the form of cruel and mindless generalizations.”

-Stan Lee c. 1978

He goes on.

As do we.

Devil breaks the dome, and the illusion of eden goes with it. The Demon-Tree explodes. All that is left are Stone-Hand, who has contrition in his voice; Eev who seems to have no ill will towards her abuser, but has wisdom to share, they seek “the trees that grow, but never speak;” and Moon-Boy and the Devil having been thanked, are left behind in the Valley.

A Jack Kirby and Walt Simonson cover introduces us to:

DINO-RIDERS

A tail of jealous sapiens who encounter Moon-Boy riding Devil, free of harness, as he seeks his Small-Folk once again.

The nameless rider who recovered them speaks to Fire-Thrower and the conclude Moon-Boy is a Demon-Spirit. They bring the matter to Grey-Tooth.

Moon-Boy tracks the Small-Folk into a cave. Pleasing panels lead to their reuniting. They question if he is still under a spell. He reasons they have nothing to fear. Their trust is eroded by their encounter with Dino-Riders driving them into this cave. Moon-Boy still riding a dino is not comforting. As Moon-Boy promises protection by Devil, a ROARRR! echoes into the cave…and Moon-Boy emerges to see ropes being lassoed about.

PS: Micronauts Ad.

Pages of chaos result in Moon-Boy separation from his kin and BFF dino. The riders have attacked in mass and on dinos of their own. Moon-Boy finally return to the cave, where he rallies them to bravery.

Ads include a subscription to Marvel titles, result in free subscription to Star Wars…and Captain Marvel is now changing into Ms Marvel…a play at sexualization sales. The art, much like the Doctor Strange is selling solid life drawing and gestural forms, that harken to the turn of the decades Daredevil issues.

Devils face is being tied up and his face is being covered in rope and goop that makes it fully covered like a cocoon. The remove it and it is Spirit-Killer’s task to do a ceremonial magic to complete the transference of loyalty. Only the Small-Folk attack from above. Gray-Tooth is astounded at fear amongst his Riders. Higher ground of the Small-Folk seems to be working initially.

The Riders regroup and chase them, but it is to a cliffs edge and the Small-Folk keep to branches for safety as the Rider fall off the cliff with their dinos.

Moon-Boy is behind to rescue his BFF. Only he is surprised by Grey-Tooth and his Thunder Horn. Calling Moon-Boy a “Little EEL!”

Soapbox has Stan reacting to fans concerns over the Hulk and Spider-Man live action shows departure from the source material. Again this is 1978…when this was just Marvel’s first fray into this type of approach. Stan personally agrees with and has shared the fans concerns to Univeral and Danchuck, who have both voiced worry about being to “comicbooky.” The formulaic approach they are taking is praised for elevating, but he remains frustrated by the departure. He would prefer they try and make them as different from what is on TV as possible. Leaning into the oddity of Marvel comics. He mentions that a cartoon from the makers of Pink Panther, featuring the Fantastic Four is around the corner.

And here we are fifty years later…still debating.

Ad: Thor counters Hela with fruit pies.

“At that moment…” Devil rescues Moon-Boy and kills Gray-Tooth. BFF’s are together again.

John Byrne over Jack Kirby cover, is how we enter into the final issue of:

DEVIL DINOSAUR

THE LIZARD’S LAST STAND!

It introduces Hag of the Pit and a setting of Earth-616, Navada, USA.

THE WITCH AND THE WARP

Moon-Boy knows her by name as he and Devil come across her in the Valley, billions of years ago.

Hag: “Show me the ways of things BEYOND the Valley”

Moon-Boy cautions Devil, but it is not heeded. He chaises her and her threats away. We are left with a wonderful panel of the BFF in shadow of dusk.

They walk amongst pits that have been there since the beginning of Earth. One has Kirby dots about. Before they can escape by pages turn, they are driven from one revealing humans on horses with swards, shields, and armor, into a pit the BFFs stumble. Moon-Boy holds on, but Devil only falls into its depths.

Devil lands near a hunting party from 1978, who fire upon the beast. He drives them off. He comes across Zuma City, NV.

The Hag and her son pull Moon-Boy from the pit. Moon-Boy requests a rescue of Devil. Hag is offended. The son reasons the spirits will be angered if the BFFs remain apart.

Devil wonderfully terrorizes the citizens of Zuma in classic Kirby and monster in city ways.

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Avengers assemble in a cosmic comic: Beast, Vision, Hawkeye, Cap, Carol, Wanda, Wasp, Shell Head, Yellowjacket, by Shooter, David Wenzel and Pablo Marcos…Beast is great on the Avengers.

Devil bonking a firetruck is the best! As is Norman, the kid who tries to stand up to him, before his Mom grabs him and pulls him away. Devil misses his lil’ besty.

Hag and son say they must place specific stones in pits to solve the issue. An explosion occurs…it seems on both sides of time in the same location, perhaps. Devil nearly blown up by it, looks into the pits smoldering depths.

Soapbox has Stan talking about learning Japanese and Spider-Man going live action is Japan…and some other diversification of media outlets.

Devil travel back in time. Reuniting the BFFs. The Hag and Son do some arch talking nonsense…and then for the final time we get the BFF’s walking off into the dusk of night.

THE END…welllllll….

Hold up a second.

We turn to an interlude, in the pages of the New Mutants, that sets up our connective tissues. Bill illustrates an entanglement between Illyana and S’ym. In the pages, Berto and Amara encounter Greycrow in the Morlock tunnels on the back of a train car. Berto goes down. Vertigo and then Scrambler destabilize and then utilize Amara against Doug, Dani, Xuân, Sam, Rahne, and Illyana, exploding the place with fire. Regrouped, Ilyana is calling this “stupid.” She teleports away as Sabertooth was just about to slice into her. Xuân, attacks him. Harpoon takes out Warlock, just as his sensors inform him to protect his friends, his body is sacrificed. Sam flys off towards Harpoon. Rahne gets entangled with and looses to Sabertooth. Vertigo takes out Sam in the air. Phillipa finishes him off. Each Mutant remaining suffers, until Greycrow ends it. Maggie ends the Danger Room session. It took 327 seconds to take them out. Berto is upset that they had to do an ❌-Men training exercise. Maggie: “Are you not the one who is constantly maintaining that you novices are equal of the school’s senior team? When the Marauders first attacked, you were told to remain on school grounds for your own safety! You chose to defy that command. And thereby placed your lives—and possibly the ❌-Men’s—in jeopardy.” The session was derived from real life encounters with the Marauders. Xuân attempts to shoulder responsibility. Excuses are excuses. As Maggie grounds them, he realises one has already escaped. Illyana is in Limbo, where in her absence S’ym, her pet demon, has orchestrated a rebellion to take over what had been what Illyana had “absolute rule” over. S’ym mentions in winning she also looses. She retorts, all that matters is the win. And then gets annoyed when the win comes to easy, not enough S’ym suffering. She places the soul sword in the grassy knoll and teleports away. In wonderful panels, a flower down the knoll reveals itself to be S’ym. In her’s and Kitty’s room, she must concentrate to shed her Darkchilde incarnation and collapses on her bed with raggedy Ann and stuffy bear. In the stalls, Dani grooms Brightwind. She tells her steed tales of Mutants adventures through time and space. Bobby and Amara ruled a world of mutant control, where ordinary folk are enslaved worse than animals. While the other half of the team was in the past that created this future. Rahne is there in the stall, and her vantage point from the future was, she saw that Dani and Sam were the only survivors of the past. They had been turned cruel by endless war. Rahne wonders how to prevent this. Dani says, taking one day at a time. They fly on Brightwind to lighten the mood. They see Berto and Sam with the ball on the pitch. Berto has learned ❌-Men Baseball…now he teaches Sam his homes game. In Maggie’s office, he looks at the boys playing, and questions his severity of pedagogy. Xuân enters with letters to be signed. The student files are on his desk. “Anything urgent.” Well, YEAH…Leong and Nga are still missing. She wishes to leave, since he will not help as she wishes. She is not accepting his rigidity of protection. He says he is doing what he can. He is working on a portable Cerebro at his desk to help find them. She has no idea. Maggie ignores Illyana and Kitty’s keep out signs on their door and finds her in a ball on her bed. They are both inclined to force obedience through their powers, and discuss flirting with the alternatives, admitting they are not in their nature, flirting with them being learned and practiced. But first a show of strength is updated from Illyana to Maggie. She reveals the demons and hexes. He had no idea. He now knows this and that the Mutants, Kitty and Piotr also are aware. She brings him to Limbo, and Maggie is able to reveal the technoouganic nature of S’ym to Illyana. He offers to help, but she wants to take personal responsibility for her own realm. Her own messes. They return, a relationship improved. She even hugs him. She mentions the potential for loss, and he ask the existential quation: “does this mean we should not try?” She teleports down to the pitch where her friends hold the ball.

#1 IN A EIGHT-ISSUE LIMITED SERIES

FALLEN ANGELS

ONE MOMENT OF ANGER…AND THEIR LIVES ARE CHANGED FOR EVER!

Kerry Gammill & Tom Palmer’s iconic comic book cover features centered an activated Berto, in black ink of his Sunspot powers, Kirby dots abound, his eyes and teeth white, standing in raw emotion of strength over his best friend Sam, who is out cold on the ground the forground, head back, mouth gaping. Rocks, dirt, patches of grass frame the bottom of the scene, an angled trunk dramatically presses on the right, as red gradates down from above to a pink that shares space in the background with alarmed and running towards the centered scene, Sam and Berto’s classmates, the Mutants: Doug, Warlock, Amara, Illyana, Rahne, and Dani.

The corner box features a Warlock, a Berto, and a Chance, with the simple MARVEL above, and the 75¢, etc…+ comics code authority bellow. This copy has the barcode replaced with black costumed Spidy head.

We open a new series, with the DNA of Kirby embedded into it.

1978, becomes 1987.

Gammill, pencil debuted at Marvel in ‘78, and has been kicking round there with Power Man, and some Marvel-Team ups. He had done an X-Men title I had never hear of. A one off at the Texas State Fair. He had done some key issues recently, in Marvel Fanfare, Fanstastic Four, and Wonder Man Vol 1 No. 1.

Elektra Assassin editor, Jo Duffy, is the writer here. Duffy is supported by editor Ann Nocenti here. Women creating comics having always been a thing, but also a struggle, benefited from a support system that was developing essential groundwork to build up and into the 21st Centery. Where in its second decade equity began to become a possibility, as in readership it had, and amongst creators in some circles it appears to be. Veteran colorist, Petra Scotese makes this a comic equitable amongst its creators in terms of gender and authorship.

Tom Palmer began by inking Gene Colan’s Daredevil, back in ‘68, so he was there when that life drawing and gestural fluidity began to inform a looseness I mentioned in the past couple chapters. It is well suited to present Gammill’s aproach here. In what is a hijinks comic that is grounded by form and line. We saw him do similarly back in the Magik limited series.

Jim Novak, had been lettering on Elektra Assassin, as well as, Alpha Flight, so was fitting in just fine a dozen years into his career at Marvel.

Berto, age 14, is center on the title page:

RUNAWAY

An inspiration to The Runaways perhaps.

The scene is active, but not dire. Unless you simply are that passionate about futballl. Berto could certainly be that, as he kicks, what we call a soccer ball in the states. Sam struggles to engage, Dani, Illyana and other students are on the pitch, outside their school.

It’s a bright and joyful ❌-scene.

Having a clear grasp of the assignment from both Stan Lee and Chris Claremont, as well as, her sisters, Nocenti & Louise, Duffy has a clear grasp on how to engineer an on-ramp for new readers. In four pages, she establishes Berto, and her own voice, setting the scene and introducing the characters will Gammill’s help. Maggie is in charge and still struggles, so it seeking assistance from a skilled teacher, in his estimation, Moira. While outside Berto’s deCosta’s Demons take out Guthrie’s Gorillas. Demons harkening one sort and Gorillas another from the pages of Devil Dinosaur. Berto speaks of his desire, before becoming a mutant, to be like Pele. He best his friend Doug at goal. Illyana having out whit Sam, and passed for the assist. Dani’s only defense is to ask Amara if she is bothered by her boastful captain. See seems unbothered in victory. Warlock questions Rahne about her lack of involvemnet, who is content with the peaceful view from their shaded grassy knoll. Then Warlock asks permission to become, infect and then devour a dandelion for sustenance. Berto noting, Warlock, the alien is a mutant of sort, as he is the only of his kind, who cares for others. Berto is driven by a care, but the sort the ego feeds. He no longer wishes to be Pele, but rather is an X-Men, Cap, Thor, or…well his number one: Magnum P.I.

Across the pond, Theresa Cassidy, Sean’s daughter, is training, under the guidance of Moria. Jaime Maddox, multiplies himself to be a loud enough chorus to be heard by the Siryn, so Moira may be able to take Maggie’s call. He feels under qualified to record assessments and he has been concerned during this marking period with regards to their emotional trauma and its impact on grading, as well as, the individuals. He is at a loss, at how to proceed. Perhaps the Dr. can help guide him.

As they speak on the phone, the completion has continued with Sam approaching to score and Berto at goal. Berto catches the ball, but Sam clumsily bumps into Berto, pinning him agains the goal. Berto, is frustrated in the moment, and his powers kick on, sending Sam flying into a tree trunk. The moment that preceded the cover.

Gimmel’s drawings are not on model, and the flux between a cartoon and rendering in ways that stay tethered to each other, but serve and inform each panels emotional communications. Comedy and tragedy at times intertwined.

The living solar power cell, turn back into a 14-year-old boy. His friend already at Sam’s side, assessing, and then turning towards Berto in anger. Sam is not dead. But what if.

Berto, hotheaded, as always, as this situation makes evident to the new readers, is defensive and switches wildly from hope and fear of an injured BFF to a pathetic sad sack of dejected ego.

Everyone’s emotions are high, save the confusion of Warlock and the unconsciousness of Sam. Dani does not have patients for Berto’s wild swinging of feelings, and Berto, can’t take the critique…storming off, we transfer our focus from Sam and “friends,” to what may be a former mate in Berto.

As the page turns, we are back to his classmates, as Maggie approaches. Sam, humorously comes to. Concerned about Berto and the goal. Maggie sets to drive them to the doctors and return to be with Berto.

Berto, inside, is in his head. He thinks of what he has done. How he is no Magnum PI. How he comes from a broken home, where his mother is a brave archeologist back in Brazil, but his father has been seduced into the Hellfire club…and is kinda the worst. He feels misunderstood by his new family. He retains faith in Chuck. Wishes he was around. Scuff!

Berto enters into Maggie’s office, not realizing he is driving Sam to the doctors. He seeks help, and finds instead his academic file. It spells out a concern for Berto to not be influenced enough by Sam and find himself instead on a path to where his father is. A path that include joining with the murderers of Berto’s girlfriend Juliana Sandoval, the Hellfire club.

Sam is diagnosed with a concussion. A relief.

In Scotland an idyllic home is shadowed by a futuristic complex with a dome, and then mountains, amongst a field. Packing for a trip to the states is underway, in a way that continues the freshness and joy of this comic, despite Berto’s actions and struggles.

The documentation was Chucks. And so the Mutants arrive back at school, to a note that reads as an apology of someone falling on their own sword. He has left them with this. Maggie notes, those who wished for Berto to take this to heart and hurt a bit, have gotten what they asked for. He wishes them to think on that. And sends them all to bed, as he attempts to repair.

Warlock, alone, does an analysis, that results in his need for all to remain together in harmony. So he alone sets out as an entropic cartoon plane to seek out his classmate.

bbbbzzzzz

A panal not dissimilar to those at dusk moments of earned feelings in Devil Dinosaur.

In three panels, Berto narrates us through, what is hardship for his privileged existence. A street, becomes a 14-year-old shuntering on a sidewalk, becomes air catching his curls, his face shares life like wariness. A Port-Authority Bus Station bench, went from bed to a place of propositions of transactional survival in exchange for a cruelty settled in his gut. He passed, but as he kicks a can down the road, hunger consumes his principles eroding.

Chance has his mark. Stalled by a white boy hawking “oriental” pin up calendars.

The page does a nice job of literally, at its corners, and figuratively with little concern for structural restraint of juxtapositioning Berto and Chance. One who is not built from this life, and one who seems comfortably born from it. I can’t express enough, how Gimmel does a bit of magic with the balance of realism and design in a face that seems effortless with Palmers inks. While the gestural nature of form seems to fit in between life-drawing fundamentals and anthapromorpcic cartooning traditions. The environments have gone from serviceable, constrained, and relaxed, to detailed, on top of each other, and warn. Depicting a contrast between the burbs and country, with the specificity of NYC. Most lines connecting and bending to form at least one other. Sharing the moment of a hand in control while loose in fluid applications. Berto and Chance are different faces. You can see clearly who they are, as if you knew them.

I like them both.

White boy approached the wrong corner. Chance, Korean, was raised in the Glorification Church. Reverend Yune Kim Park had him out there pulling the same hustle. This white boy, not yet ten, now has shredded product, and someone who knows him better than he knows himself in his grill, finger on his chest. Chance, has no love left for his family. Chance knows the slavery and false promises. Chance has the white boys materials and pay. The white boy, outs Chance, as a “girl,” and threatens to spill to the good reverend as the white boy runs off. Chance is unshaken.

Chance makes it not far, when approached by two bigger sharks. Only, like I said, Chance is born from this. She takes one down, and makes a break for it…until, dead end.

“yipes.”

Switchblades in hand they approach. Only, there is a fourth in this dance. Berto…and his hand goes dark with Kirby dots.

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The ‘NAM

“The way it was.”

I still have my Doug Murry and Michael Golden comic.

Berto does what Berto aspires to do. Has these two fools, as they call him freak. All until…with one in the air…He looks like a 14-year-old again. And now Berto and Chance have their backs abasing the wall. No trust between them.

Back of the issue cover ad is terrible…but the product is something I still have: Marvel Super Heroes RPG.

Corner box of No. 2 adds in Ariel and Gomi. The cover features Sunspot again, in a church with Reverend and a cross at three point perspective which makes it come off as an ❌.

Duffy and Gammill given creative credit here. A distinction.

Chance and Berto are not in sink. Chance gains bravery, and only when help is required does Berto jump in. Putting himself in her shoes. When three pages in, a metal shipping door rolls up and reveals spacrkaly, lanky, colorful, pinkish styled, Ariel. Her debut brings light into this dark corner of the city that never sleeps. Ariel and Chance know each other, they know they don’t have “the power” and so despite Chance’s attempt to help Berto, they abandon him through the door that closes. Unfortunately for the muggers, it is in this moment that Warlock appears and saves his classmate. Berto’s machismo is shook, as tears form. The two friends attempt to get through the warehouse door…only to find it is simply a warehouse. No light, and no Ariel or Chance.

Back at the school, Jaime is having a fit, hearing Berto is gone. Maggie settles them down and catches them up, with his now practiced nuanced perceptiveness. Moira is focused in on the emotional well-being of the students. I am shocked to learn Jaime is still a teen. He and Theresa are provided a portable Cerebro, that comes with headphones and looks like a gun version of s sowing machine with a screen. Jaime is all about this. They head to NYC.

Berto and Warlock disguised as a P.I. (Berto approves), walk the streets. Warlock in a wonderful sequence eats garbage for sustenance and the folks who live there are shocked to find it missing.

Berto is hungry himself, and Warlock has switched to his hawk punk disguise. Berto, thinks, what is he doing…he is now a “villain” and can take what he needs. His powers are back and so he brakes into a building…it is a church. Berto immediately regrets his impulse. A Reverend wonders if they need help. They leave. The reverend is approached by “thugs” who brake in a take valuables. When Gomi shows with Bill and Don. Shadows in the broken doorway.

Gomi: ‘Much as I hate to interfere in matters that are none of my business…my companions have pointed out to me that your intentions are clearly felonious, and do not take into account the wishes of that priest you assaulted. Desist and go about you business…of Don, Bill and I will send you on your way by force.”

On occasion in the ❌-Men, a proper superhero introduction is warranted. This is one of those moments.

Gomi is a scrawny and lanky blonde haired kid, who looks like an older sibling just ruffled their hair. The clothes are two big, baggy, and wrinkled on him. Cargo pants and hoody. Construction boots for someone seven feet tall. In his glasses, we only see the reflection of light. Don and Bill are lobsters. On the large side of normal.

The room is filled with laughter. We turn our focus to the priest who takes the opportunity to put his glasses on. By the time he has, the front of his church is in shambles, as are the “thugs.”

Gomi has hightailed it out of there. On the street talking of how he and the lobsters have done what was needed in the moment and now must complete their mission. To find Sunspot and his strange friend and convince them to join them?!

Gomi: “I AM making haste as I make conversation! I suggest you two do the same!

Every panel, Gomi, Bill, and Don rise through the ranks of ❌-care.

Theresa and Jaime have tracked Berto to the Bus Station. Where we get some multiple man hijinks punctuated by a perfectly placed portable Theresa and Cerebro panel. One of the Jaime’s subsequently nearly encounters Gomi on the street. Where Don nearly enters a seafood restaurant.

Gomi: “What have Bill and I told you…”

A Jaime passing this scene, walks right up to a stoop and ask two boys if they have seen this boy…one of them being that boy. A Jaime has found Berto and Warlock. So they are now being swarmed by Jaimes. Which Gomi notices:

“Eureka!”

He request they hear his important message.

Gomi: “My name is not important…(it’s Gomi)…but my message to you is!! Forsake your destiny and come with us to Beat Street! The Fallen Angels want you! And watch your step! You almost stepped on Bill!

Berto: “Bill…?”

Berto attempts to be dismissive, as Warlock is enthused to make their acquaintance. Green Bill, and Blue Don. The Jaimes are trying to still convince Berto to come with them. Berto is saying he can’t leave his friends for the Fallen Angels, while at the same time, saying the Mutants couldn’t be bothered to show up for him on their own. Warlock the exception. This is when the Vanisher pops in to stir the pot. We last saw him in the last issue we cared to read of X-Factor. Where he was running an all girls gang that Boom Boom left upon her debut, at the end of the Mutant Massacre…well we also saw him in Fallen Angels No. 1, when Maggie was bing introduced and they mentioned his origin as the founder of the Brotherhood of Mutants…now known as Freedom Force. The Vanisher was a founding member.

Vanisher: “He’s right you know. That’s how teams are…let you down in a pinch, right when you need them most! That’s all any of my teams ever did for me. And the ones led by Magneto were the worst…”

Berto is ready for conflict always…but the Vanisher seeks to deescalate and relate as fellow outcasts. This as Jaime prime and Theresa round the corner with Cerebro to this crowded casted scene. Theresa jumps in to take on The Vanisher.

“Yipes”

I love how unsmart the Jaimes are.

Speaking of:

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for Groo.

Plink

Vanisher teleports away.

As a door opens, and Chance is in it. Gomi, Don and Bill are elated. Berto and Warlock, invited join them. The unsmart Jaime’s follow. Even the smart one. The door shuts. Theresa opens it…it’s a fancy restaurant with zero knuckleheads in sight.

The connective tissue of sapiens and demons, of Kirby dots…there is more to why Fallen Angels and Devil Dinosaur are part of one part of “to me my ❌-Men.” However, first we yo-yo once more.

Next: We see Green.

Punch Up: “To Me My ❌-Men”

Ben Cohen*
Jericho, VT
© 1975-2026

* The Ben Cohen originating from Jamestown, Boulder County, CO, USA; Raised in the Bay & Trained in Savannah.

Punch Up: “To Me My ❌-Men”