A comiXologist Recommends:
Mike Isenberg recommends Devil Dinosaur

The king of comics takes on the king of the thunder lizards!

Jack “King” Kirby is inarguably one of the most influential comic creators of the last century.  By the end of the 1960s, Kirby had co-created Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, the X-Men, the Inhumans, and Black Panther, all for Marvel comics.  In the first half of the 1970s, however, Kirby left Marvel for a five-year stint at DC, where he continued to astound readers with his incredible imagination and bombastic, innovative art style.

One of Kirby’s more successful creations at DC during this period was Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth, a series about a young boy’s adventures in a post-apocalyptic wilderness.

In the latter half the 70s, Kirby returned to Marvel, and Kamandi had been optioned for an animated television series.  With the buzz for DC’s Kamandi growing, Marvel decided that they needed their own Kirby-created young-boy-in-the-wild series, and so Devil Dinosaur was born.  But instead of the last human boy in the far-flung future, Devil Dinosaur features the first human boy in the far-flung past.  And also his best friend, a bright red tyrannosaurus rex.

Devil Dinosaur only ran for 9 issues but each issue is a gem.  Kirby’s artwork is a wonder to behold.  It’s said that Kirby’s forte was his dynamic and innovative depictions of power and strength; it’s hard to get much stronger or more powerful than a big ol’ dinosaur rampaging through the jungle.

The stories themselves are also great, brimming with Kirby’s delightfully imaginative weirdness.  Over the course of nine issues, Devil and Moon Boy encounter giant neanderthals, alien invaders, super-sized ants, dinosaur tamers, and a time-warp that briefly sends Devil rampaging into 1978.

Devil Dinosaur is a fantastic adventure series from a master of the medium.  Highly recommended.

[Read Devil Dinosaur Here!]

_{Mike Isenberg is an Associate Production Coordinator at comiXology, and the co-writer of FIRST LAW OF MAD SCIENCE.  He lives in Harlem with his cats, TESLA AND EDISON}