If you missed the last one…
This post is brought to you by Bearshirt #2: The Hidden World by G. W. Thomas. The second Arthan novel takes place in an underground realm filled with dinosaurs that any Edgar Rice Burroughs fan will recognize. Cavemen, too! It was fun to bring together my favorite ERB elements in an adventure that has the bear man crossing this strange realm, seeking escape from the lizard overlords who rule. Horibs, dinos and, of course, pterodons appear. One of these days I will get to the sequel, when the armies of the lizard-men come to the outer world to wage war.
Pterodactyls, or pterodons to be more accurate, haunted my dreams as a kid growing up in Alberta. I was lucky enough to see the Badlands near Brooks, AB when young, and have returned many times since, especially after the Royal Tyrell Museum was built. (I was really lucky to visit there when William Stout had his exhibition of dino-art on display!) So flying reptiles were part-and-parcel of my youth. The comics helped. Whether a superhero, a jungle lord or Sword & Sorcery warrior, the pterodactyl with its leathery wings was ready to attack from above.
So you can see why I stuck to the Bronze Age (should be the Stone Age!) Some of my favorite artists will appear here: John Buscema, Alfred Alcala, Mike Kaluta, Joe Kubert, Val Mayerik and a young and talented, John Bolton. These are comics creators who know the value of a good dino.
“Rampage!” (Astonishing Tales #5, April 1971, reprinted in black & white in Savage Tales #12, Summer 1975) was written by Gerry Conway.
“The Terror of the Pterodactyl” (Monsters on the Prowl #15, February 1972) was written by Steve Engelhart (his first professional sale).
“Jubal the Ugly One” (Weird Worlds #4, February-March 1973) was based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel At the Earth’s Core (1914) and adapted by Denny O’Neil.
“Red Swords, Black Wings”/”The Wizard of Lemuria!” (Creatures on the Loose #24-25, July/September 1973) was based on Lin Carter’s The Wizard of Lemuria (1965), adapted by George Alec Effinger and Tony Isabella. For more on Thongor. go here.
“The Fall of the Red Wizard” (Ka-zar #2, March 1974) was written by Mike Friedrich.
“Waters of Darkness, River of Doom” (Ka-zar #6, November 1974) was written by Gerry Conway.
“Thorns in the Flesh, Thorns in the Mind” (Jungle Action #15, May 1975) was written by Don McGregor.
“The Beating” (Tor #1, May-June 1975) was written by Carmine Infantino.
“Return to Pellucidar” (Tarzan #238, June 1975) was written and drawn by Russ Manning. (Originally appeared in the newspapers in 1971-72) This one really should go first, but this is the color version so it appears here. I like that the uncredited colorist chose to make the Mahars purple and the Thipdars (pterodactyls) green. The two look a lot alike. For more on the Mahars, go here.
“The Land That Time Forgot” (Marvel Movie Premiere #1, September 1975) was based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ The Land That Time Forgot (1916) and adapted by Marv Wolfman.
“Valley of Blood” (Kong the Untamed #4, December 1975-January 1976) was written by Gerry Conway.
“Flesh”(2000 A. D. #2-3, March 5-12, 1977) was written by Ken Armstrong.
“One Million Years B. C.” (House of Hammer #14, November 1977) was based on the 1966 Ray Harryhausen film One Million Years B. C. and adapted by Steve Moore.
“The Scarlet Citadel” (Savage Sword of Conan #30, June 1978) was based on Robert E. Howard’s “The Scarlet Citadel” (Weird Tales, January 1933) and adapted by Roy Thomas.
“Blood Money and Human Bondage” (Tarzan #20-21, January-February 1979) was written by David Anthony Kraft and Bill Mantlo.
“A Gauntlet of Giants!” (Weird War Tales #99, May 1981) was written by Robert Kanigher. “The War That Time Forgot” dates back to the 1960s but it still reminds me of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ The People That Time Forgot (1916) that had the first airplane versus pterodon fight.
Conclusion
Now no one knows what color pterodactyls were. Our good colorists here have chosen black to white and all the hues between, with blue, gray and fleshy pink dominating. No matter what color, these pterodons all have nasty peaks and grabbing claws. My favorite version of this image is, of course, by Frank Frazetta. In Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan at the Earth’s Core (1929), there is the scene that echoes the great Roc from Sinbad, in which a thipdar takes the apeman to its nest to feed its chicks. Tarzan has a tense moment killing these ravenous offspring then escaping the nest which is on a mountain top. Again, most pterodactyls were smaller than humans so this must be the larger pterodon. To a Pellucidarian savage, they are all “thipdars” and to be avoided or killed. These creatures were also the winged hunting dogs of the Mahars, another pterodactylian race. A more recent film that featured pterodons was Jurassic Park III (2001) that finally corrected the neglect from the first two films. We want pterodactyls!
Sword & Sorcery from RAGE machine Books
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