The X-Age. . . . .A Comic Book Bonanza

by Jack Kirby

You bet, fans! There's nothing like looking at Pre-history and finding a nice, big blank, that stretches back in time to a point where the Earth was nothing but a sterile steam bath with nary a hint of what was to come. The "Brain People" all say that when storms arose and lightning struck the seething seas, the correct amount amount of elements were present to form the molecules which led to the chain of life.

That may or may not be so, but the fact remains that when life did come (in grudgingly puny ways, of course) it was a great day for the comic book reader.

Although, most of our products to cater to present day Peter Parkers and Bruce Banners, a fair dollop of attention is being given to characters who have their beginnings in the"X-Period." Barbarians swarm out of places which have yet to see pyramid or a pharoah. Creatures of legend romp and roar with astounding reality in fanciful lands with names we can hardly pronounce. In short, the "Comic Bookeroos" are filling in the blanks and having a great time of it.

In the cause of good entertainment and healthy speculation, I can see this as a legitmate license to give graphic form to honest conjecture. After all, even "Old Wives' Tales" gave some relief from the workaday routine to the old wives contingent. That is, in essence, the role of the comic book and nothing more. With a dash of believability, the reader can share a relationship with fictional people that lasts forever.

Believability is the key word. And there's plenty of it in the X-Age. We know that it existed. We know that from its thriving core came everything that we see and all of what we've learned. It is strange indeed to realize that the period itself remains an enticing mystery, a "grab bag" for storytellers and their constituents.

In view of my own considerations, this is a fortunate fact. My storytelling centers on Devil and Moonboy who inhabit the haziest corner of "X-Age" and contend with the variety of possibilities that arise from their particular time. As the title of this essay indicates, it's a "comic book bonanza," and I could chew your ears off with the ideas that have crossed my mind. But I've already done that in the past two essays.

My point in this one, stresses the predictions, benefits and intriguing directions now open to the comic book enthusiast. The theme will grow stronger and more prevalent. We'll undoubtedly explore the past with Greek and Roman super-heroes when the more ancent ones have had their turn. The history we know will be colored by the atmosphere of fantasy the comic reader has come to accept. The galleys of Rome will sail into the Bermuda Triangle and emerge to assault Miami. The heroes of the Trojan wars will rub elbows with "Time Warp" Astronauts. And in addition the fantastic adventures of yesteryear will project a true picture of their time. For, in the process of making all this visually interesting, the writer and artist will have to reconstruct the dress and architecture of his choosing with an accuracy that brings the reader into his story-world.

The benefits arise from absorbing that world. For, despite its facet of fantasy, there should be enough fact to give the reader an intimate picture of history.

So, we're off to the past, you and I. We'll see the X-Age in DEVIL DINOSAUR and pursue the incredible without losing sight of the actual props of that world. Moonboy will communicate with us in a tongue too sophisticated for his type, yet, his behavior will of necessity reflect the problems that obviously must have been common to early man.

To quote an earlier phrase, this type of book is bound to increase in a variety of form and afford the reader a wider range of commercial literature than he's ever experienced. If you can envision a yardstick with X-Age on one end and the far distant future on the other, you may have a picture in ratio of a large balanced horizon of reading soon to be available. DEVIL DINOSAUR didn't start it, of course, but it sure will help to build it.

Devil Dinosaur © & TM 1997 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Used Without Permission.

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