"DEVIL-GOD"
Real Name: Inapplicable
Identity/Class: Unrevealed (see comments) (1940s era)
Occupation: Predator
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Tom Barron, Dr. Karl Strang
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: A jungle "in the heart of deepest Africa"
First Appearance: Mystic Comics I#4/text-story DEVIL-GOD (July, 1940)
Powers/Abilities: Supposedly some form of dinosaur (see comments), this gigantic four-legged reptile had immense strength and a lashing tail.
Height: 40'
Length: 60'
Weight: 30 tons
Eyes: Red
Hair: None
History:
Mystic ComicsI#4/text-story (fb) - BTS)
- The origin of this creature is unrevealed (see
comments), but it dwelt within the jungles of Africa.
Supposedly at some point in the past, it was sighted by ancestors of the
natives in the area, and they apparently built up legends of the
frightful beast, until it entered their religion as a devil, or spirit
of evil.
In 1940, naturalist Dr. Karl Strang arrived on the coast of Africa, where he heard rumors of the natives' "devil-god". Determined to discover if the legendary beast were real, Strang hired big-game hunter/explorer Tom Barron to act as his guide, although he initially didn't tell Barron about the nature of the expedition. The two men began their voyage and paddled in a boat down a river leading to the interior of the continent.
(Mystic Comics#4/text-story) - At about the midpoint of their journey, they beached their boat on a small island to eat, and Strang finally told Barron that he was in search of the weird beast that was the natives' "devil-god" -- patting his heavy big-bore rifle, Barron told Strang that he was confident he could handle whatever they found.
Some time later, they reached the river's source at a broad lake lying in a grassy upland. When they paddled to shore in the late afternoon, Barron spotted fresh footprints -- three feet in diameter -- in the mud, but the footprints disappeared on the hard ground. Since nightfall was approaching, the two men decided to investigate further in the morning, and they set up camp in a nearby cavern, where they bedded down for the evening.
The next morning, just before daybreak, Strang shook Barron awake, because the animals of the jungle were making a savage uproar; then they heard ponderous, rhythmic thuds coming from the lake shore, and the ground shook as the thunderous sound came nearer and nearer. Suddenly, a mammoth, lizard-like head thrust into the cavern, and what appeared to be a dinosaur began to squeeze its way through the mouth of the cave. The two men were forced to retreat further into the cavern, but found themselves at a dead-end, with their backs against solid rock.
Then Strang looked up and saw daylight coming from a natural shaft at the cavern's end; seeing this to be a means to escape, the two men climbed inch by inch up the rough, natural bore. Bruised, bleeding, and exhausted, they finally dragged themselves to the surface again. The incredulous Barron wondered how the dinosaur had survived extinction, and Strang theorized that some accidental combination of circumstances had kept this creature from disappearing in the cycle of evolution...but it was unquestionably the last survivor, and the natives' "devil-god".
Wanting to get proof of the monster's existence, Strang and Barron rolled boulders against the cavern mouth, to trap the creature inside; then they gathered piles of moss, soggy reeds, and pulpy stems of jungle plants -- when set afire, these exuded thick, greasy clouds of acrid smoke. The smoldering pile was then dropped down the shaft, which they plugged with a rock.
Inside the cavern, the colossal prisoner writhed in the smoke-filled chamber until the ground itself trembled. Suddenly, the boulders at the cave mouth scattered like pebbles, as the monster battered its way free! The enraged beast charged at the two men, but Barron raised his rifle and fired -- the creature fell at their very feet, with a shattering impact like the collapse of a building.
One month later, the ragged and emaciated Strang and Barron reached a coastal native village; they strode to the chieftain's hut and presented their trophies -- a three-foot square of scaly hide, eight inches thick, and a bone, seven feet long and eighteen inches thick. The two men then proclaimed to the chief that the "devil god" was no more.
Comments: Created by Andrew McWhiney and Bill Everett.
The "devil-god's" height, length, and weight were
conveniently mentioned in the story's narration.
Based on the single picture that accompanied this text-story, the
"devil-god" doesn't look like any species of dinosaur that I know,
although the spines on its back made it slightly resemble a dimetrodon.
The Deviants were known for creating dinosaurs (e.g.
HERE),
so possibly the "devil-god" was also one of theirs.
And perhaps Tom Barron was a member of the Explorers'
Club (...or maybe "Tom Barron" was just another alias once used by
Ulysses
Bloodstone).
Profile by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The "devil-god" has no known connections to:
Tom Barron has no known connections to:
Dr. Karl Strang has no known connections to:
A big-game hunter and explorer in Africa, he
carried a Mannlicher
rifle.
Barron was hired by Dr. Karl Strang to act as his guide through the
jungle -- Strang was in search of the natives' legendary "devil-god".
Barron eventually shot and killed the dinosaur-like "devil-god" with his
rifle.
(Comment: The main image above was the
only illustration in this text-story -- Barron is the one firing the
rifle.)
--Mystic Comics I#4/text-story DEVIL-GOD
A famous naturalist, he heard stories of the natives'
legendary "devil-god" while he was on the coast of Africa.
Determined to find out if the creature was real, Strang hired big-game
hunter/explorer Tom Barron to guide him to the interior of the continent.
After they found the dinosaur-like "devil-god," Barron killed it with his
high-powered rifle; as proof of the "devil-god's" existence, Strang
removed a section of the creature's hide, along with one of its bones.
(Comment:
The main image above was the only illustration in this text-story --
Strang is the one holding the pistol.)
--Mystic Comics I#4/text-storyDEVIL-GOD
images: (without ads)
Mystic Comics I#4/text-story DEVIL-GOD,
p1, pan1 (Main Image - "devil-god"; Tom Barron, Dr. Karl Strang
(foreground))
Appearances:
Mystic Comics I#4/text-story DEVIL-GOD
(July, 1940) - Andrew McWhiney (writer), Bill Everett (pencils
and inks), Martin Goodman (editor)
First Posted: 03/11/2022
Last updated: 03/11/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
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