The Thing #31

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Earth-616 Godzilla appearances
Iron Man #196
The Thing #31
Mighty Avengers #1
"Devil Dinosaur: The Movie!"
Cover of The Thing #31 by Ron Wilson and Sam de la Rosa
Editor-in-chief Jim Shooter ("referee")
Written by Mike Carlin
Cover by Ron Wilson, Sam de la Rosa
Pencils by Ron Wilson ("breakdowns")
Inks by Kim DeMulder ("finisher")
Colors by Bob Sharen
Letters by Jack Morelli
Edits by Mark Gruenwald
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Marvel Comics
Godzilla
#1#2#3#4#5#6#7#8#9#10#11#12#13#14#15#16#17#18#19#20#21#22#23#24
Other appearances of Godzilla:
Iron Man #193Iron Man #194
Iron Man #196The Thing #31
Mighty Avengers #1

"Devil Dinosaur: The Movie!" is the 31st issue of Marvel Comics' The Thing, published in January 1986. It was the last appearance of Godzilla in a Marvel comic for over 20 years, until 2007's Mighty Avengers #1.

Plot

While training for the super-powered Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, former superhero Ben "the Thing" Grimm was distracted from his match by a government agent from the National Safety Commission coming to shut them down. Luckily, the hiatus was only set for two weeks while the NSC constructed a protective dome around the ring to protect the audience from injury during the bouts. While Grimm was initially against shutting down the federation, he conceded after learning its intention, and began looking forward to his two weeks' vacation. He decided to visit a fan by the name of Sharon Ventura who was doing stunt work in the South Pacific, despite protests from his young associate Astro, who eventually came around to the idea. After flying to Hawaii, and taking a helicopter from there to the filming location, Grimm was met by Ventura, who was glad to see him. While taking a picture of Sharon and her fellow stunt performers, he saw what appeared to be the Devil Dinosaur. Desiring to protect the girls, he rushed toward the beast and delivered a swift punch to its jaw, only to discover that it was only an animatronic. Already feeling bad for destroying the valuable prop, special effects director Mister Trimble ran out to berate Grimm, and take the cost out of Ventura's salary. Knowing that the prop was insured, and would be quickly repaired, she was not worried, and instead took Grimm for a walk on the island's beaches.

The next day, shooting began for a scene in which the prehistoric hominids fled from a menacing giant "pteradactyl." Ventura's character was picked up by the flying prop, and Grimm became concerned with her safety. As she dropped from the claws, he rushed into action, despite protests from Trimble and the director. He ran to a cliff to catch her before she fell into the valley below, but quickly learned that it was all for a stunt, and at the bottom of the ravine there was an expensive airbag waiting to catch her. After being told off by both Sharon and the crew, Grimm spent the rest of the day sitting on a beach. That evening, Ventura joined him, and apologized for being so harsh toward him earlier. Grimm still felt quite down about having ruined two scenes, and set his eyes on an odd bubbling off the coast, though he quickly dismissed it and joined Ventura for drinks. In reality, it was the horribly-mutated Godzilla taking a peek above the waves. In the morning, Grimm awoke to the sounds of the entire dismayed crew, who had just discovered that the entire set had been destroyed. Suspecting that he was suspected, Grimm resolved to spend the day in his trailer, and got a refreshing cola from the fridge. Just as filming began, Godzilla arose from the sea, distressing the entire cast and crew. While Grimm heard their cries, he remained in his trailer, sure that the shoot was going as planned. Trimble used the remote controlled Devil Dinosaur prop to break Ventura's fall, and both she and the actor playing the lead role of Moon Boy fled the scene while the special effects director created a distraction using the "pteradactyl" prop. Godzilla crunched down on the facsimile, believing it to be a real "pteradactyl" there to challenge him. Trimble then chomped the Devil Dinosaur prop's jaws down on Godzilla's leg, while the Thing remained inside, determined not to cause any more trouble for Ventura. Godzilla bit into Devil Dinosaur's back, and was shocked by the electronics and stunned by the sparks coming from the wounded robot. Wary of this odd foe, and with no others in sight, Godzilla retreated into the ocean. The entire ordeal lasted only half an hour, and when it grew suspiciously quiet, Grimm left the trailer and was greeted by Ventura, who took him to the beach and recounted the story as the sun set. He considered contacting the Fantastic Four to round the monster up, as his time in the trailer led him to reconsider their falling out. Ultimately, Grimm and Ventura decided against becoming romantically entangled, and watched the sunset over the ocean.

Appearances

Monsters

Characters

Locations

Gallery

Covers

Scans

Trivia

  • Godzilla had previously met the real Devil Dinosaur in issues #21 and 22 of Marvel's Godzilla comic.
  • Unlike Godzilla's other appearances in Marvel comics outside of his own series, he is referred to once by name: an actor responding mockingly to Trimble, "A diversion?! How can you divert Godzilla, Trimble? You gonna call his mother names??" However, this was likely not intended as a canonical acknowledgment of the creature's past, and is rather one of several instances in Marvel comics in which "Godzilla" is used as a nickname for monstrous characters.
  • The Pteranodon prop featured in the issue is consistently referred to as a "pteradactyl", a misspelling of pterodactyl, which is itself an erroneous label.

External links

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