Real Name: Inapplicable
Identity/Class: Probable Deviant mutate (1950s era ; see comments)
Occupation: Predator
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Rod (last name unrevealed)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Briefly ran amok in the jungles of Africa, near the town of Boezeke (see comments)
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense I#5/2 (September, 1959)
Powers/Abilities: The Tyrannosaurus had all the attributes common to others of its extinct species, with the exception that it had a phenomenal growth rate, able to go from a hatchling to a full-grown adult in the span of a few hours.
Height: 30' (at full growth; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Inapplicable
History:
(Tales of Suspense I#5/2 (fb) - BTS) - Under unrevealed
circumstances, an unhatched dinosaur egg was in the cave of a
small island off the coast of Africa; the cold of the subterranean
depths apparently preserved the egg for untold ages. For some reason,
natives on the mainland considered the island to be taboo, and a place
of great evil (see comments).
(Tales of Suspense I#5/2) - Rod and Kate, a married couple on vacation in Africa, were at a native village near the seacoast town of Boezeke (see comments). They noticed a small island off the shore and wanted to explore it, but the tribal chief warned them that is was taboo. Disregarding the chief's warnings, the two borrowed a boat from the natives and rowed to the island.
After walking on the island for an hour, Rod and Kate saw no signs of any animals or birds, only the usual jungle vegetation. Then they found a cave entrance and went inside to explore, where they discovered a giant dinosaur egg frozen in the damp cavern. Thinking he could sell the egg to a museum and make enough money to pay for their trip, Rod rolled the egg into the boat and they paddled back to the mainland. They unloaded the egg on the beach and left it there to get some natives to help them haul it back to the village. But the entire village was having a celebration with a ceremonial feast, and the egg was left for hours under the hot sun. Finally, after three hours, the egg hatched open, and a Tyrannosaurus emerged, looking for food.
The dinosaur's keen nostrils led it to the village, and it was continuously growing as it went along -- by the time it reached the village, it was twice as large as the egg it hatched from. The creature caused a panic amongst the natives, who evacuated their village; then the Tyrannosaurus lumbered into the jungle to stalk the animal life, growing even larger by the hour.
Rod felt responsible for bringing the monstrous beast to the village, and felt it was up to him to stop it. Despite Kate's tearful pleas that they should leave, Rod went off to find the Tyrannosaurus. As he tracked the dinosaur's footprints through the jungle -- a rather simple and terrifying task, considering it had already reached full size -- Rod was armed only with a rifle; when the dinosaur came upon him from behind, Rod fired at it, but the weapon proved to be useless against the Tyrannosaurus, and Rod felt he really didn't stand a chance against the giant reptile.
With no option but to flee for his life, Rod ran away, with the dinosaur in close pursuit. Then Rod ran to the edge of a ravine and cut a vine loose. When the Tyrannosaurus charged him, the ledge gave way under the dinosaur's weight. As Rod was left hanging on the end of the vine, he watched as the Tyrannosaurus plummeted downward, followed by an avalanche of rocks, and it was apparently killed.
When Rod was reunited with Kate, they both felt badly for what had happened to the Tyrannosaurus, but they thought that it was for the best, because the dinosaur had no place in the modern world.
Comments: Created by unidentified writer and Steve Ditko.
In regards to the Tyrannosaurus's incredible growth rate -- I'm no dinosaur expert, but it does seem rather peculiar to me that it could reach full maturity in a matter of hours. So I'm going to write this one off as being a Deviant mutate specifically bred with accelerated growth (and that would explain why the native chief thought the island was "a great evil place" -- it was once a Deviant outpost).
In the Monster Hunters storyline in Marvel Universe #'s 4-7, it was revealed that Warlord Kro of the Deviants was responsible for some of the monsters of the world, including Gorgilla and the Tyrannosaurus Rex that Gorgilla fought.
The android Human Torch and Toro once fought a giant tyrannosaur-like dinosaur in Human Torch I#36 (April, 1954) -- maybe Kro was behind that one, too.
Here's a wild thought -- I wonder if Rod could be an unknown son of Ulysses Bloodstone -- being around for 10,000+ years, he was bound to have fathered more children than just Elsa; maybe when Rod fought the Tyrannosaurus, he was just carrying on a"family tradition".
The tribal chief -- could he be one of the worshipers of the Lion God (and a potential rival of the Black Panther)?
In Mystic Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1 (October,
2009) reprinting Marvel Mystery Comics#16 (February, 1941) Vision
(Aarkus) story, circus owner Barney
Baily (possibly named after Barnum And Baily Circus) bought 2
dinosaur eggs from a man named Smith who found them in Siberian ice.
Mr.Baily hatched them (a Tyrannosaurus and a Gigantosauros, a
Sauropod)---no mention of if they grew to adulthood as fast as this
Tyrannosaurus.
It occurred to me that Smith could be Kro and he or other Deviants
could be behind other egg finds--Pre-History,
Tyrannosaurus and the Roc.
I give credit to John Kaminski for suggesting the Deviants in his
Tyrannosaurus profile.
--Gammatotem
Captain America (Jeff Mace) and Golden Girl (Betsy Ross) also encountered a tyrannosaur in the late 1940s (see clarifications).
And I tried looking up the town of Boezeke, but came up with nothing, so it's unrevealed exactly where on the continent of Africa that this story took place.--Ron Fredricks
And a big THANK YOU to Dennis Giansante for originally scanning this story for me!
Profile by John Kaminski. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Tyrannosaurus has no known connections to:
Rod and Kate have no known connections to:
The tribal chief has no known connections to:
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A married couple on vacation in Africa, they discovered a giant dinosaur egg in the cave of a forbidden island. They brought the egg back to the mainland, but it soon hatched, and a rapidly-growing Tyrannosaurus emerged. When the dinosaur menaced a native village, Rod felt responsible for bringing it back, so he went stop it. Rod eventually tricked the giant reptile by cutting a vine while he stood at the edge of a cliff. The cliff collapsed under the dinosaur's weight and it plunged to its death, but Rod saved himself by hanging on the vine. --Tales of Suspense I#5/2 |
 
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Wearing the head of a lion, he was the ruler of the unidentified tribe that dwelt in a small village in Africa. He warned Rod and Kate against going to a nearby island that he considered taboo, but they didn't heed his warning and went regardless. His village was attacked by the Tyrannosaurus, which Rod and Kate inadvertently caused to hatch when they brought its egg back from the island. --Tales of Suspense I#5/2 |
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images: (without ads)
Tales of Suspense I#5/2, p3, pan4 (main image - Tyrannosaurus; tribal chief, Kate, Rod [left])
Tales of Suspense I#5/2, p3, pan2 (headshot - Tyrannosaurus)
Tales of Suspense I#5/2, p4, pan5 (Rod shoots at Tyrannosaurus)
Tales of Suspense I#5/2, p5, pan4 (Tyrannosaurus falls off cliff; Rod swings on vine)
Tales of Suspense I#5/2, p1, pan3 (Kate and Rod find cave)
Tales of Suspense I#5/2, p2, pan3 (Rod and Kate find egg in cave)
Tales of Suspense I#5/2, p4, pan5 (Kate and Rod)
Tales of Suspense I#5/2, p1, pan1 (tribal chief warns Kate and Rod about island)
Tales of Suspense I#5/2, p5, pan6 (tribal chief)
Appearances:
Tales of Suspense I#5/2 (September, 1959) - unidentified writer, Steve Ditko (pencils/inks), Stan Goldberg (colors) Artie Simek (letters), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 10/01/2006
Last updated: 08/06/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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