Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (& Moon-Boy, too!) – Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order

First, there are three Devil Dinosaur appearances that may be meant to predate this Kirby material:

• Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers (2009) #2 is likely meant to be the first chronological Devil Dinosaur story. The various animal Avengers encounter Devil Dinosaur in the far past of the Savage Land, which I suppose could have been where he was living in pre-historic times? In any event, Lockheed remembers him from Marvel Comics Presents (a point that’s clearly later in his own journey through time) and suggests the team avoid him to prevent any time paradoxes. No Moon-Boy in this appearance.
• Deadpool (2013) #20 is a flashback issue to earlier continuity which can only loosely be considered canonical. However, we see Deadpool make a trip to a long-ago, heavily Kirby-influenced Savage Land, where he briefly encounters Devil Dinosaur.
• Avengers (2010) #3-4 feature a random cameo from Devil Dinosaur, who is with Killraven, of all people. It doesn’t make a lot of sense and has no Moon-Boy, so we’ll assume it comes before the Kirby material.

From there, we move to material set after the end of the 1978 series.

• Fantastic Four (2013) #2: The team briefly (and mistakenly) time-naps Moon-Boy and has to return him to an irate Devil Dinosaur in the past. There aren’t really any other hints to further continuity here, so we’ll assume it’s meant to be the earliest post-Kirby tale.
• Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #161 seemingly fits first in continuity, despite being released well over a decade later. MB&DD appear for a single page as glimpsed during a madcap fight with Slapstick.
• X-Men Forever (2001) #4: A brief, non-continuity cameo under narration. No Moon-Boy.
• Unlimited Access (1997) #2: A very brief partial panel cameo in this non-continuity Marvel/DC crossover.
• Hulked-Out Heroes (2010) #1: I’m not 100% positive on this placement, but in a loosely canonical tale a Hulked-Out Deadpool is sent back in time and encounters Devil Dinosaur in his war against another tribe, which perhaps places this just before Godzilla, which brings that plot to a head.
• Godzilla (1977) #21-22: Not collected. Reed Richards uses Doom’s time platform to send a slightly miniaturized Godzilla back to the Mesozoic Era, where he might feel more at home. This seems to establish that Devil Dinosaur canonically comes from a prior time on Earth, rather than some parallel dimension. Their plan backfires when Moon Boy collaborates with the witch from Devil Dinosaur #9 to fight off savage rebels, which also somehow results in a full-size Godzilla heading back to the present day.
• Ka-Zar the Savage (1981) #34 is a non-continuity cameo as Ka-Zar is welcomed to the “Land of the Cancelled Heroes”
• Marvel Age (1983) Annual 1 features a silly single pages of non-continuity, with Moon Boy answering a red phone while Devil Dinosaur enjoys a cigar. Issue #48 has DD on the cover as part of the promotion of Fallen Angels, but he does not appear inside.
• Marvel Monsters: Devil Dinosaur (2005): A pair of Celestials send the Hulk back in time to battle against Devil Dinosaur, but the pair of monstrous combatants foil their plans.

In the next set of stories, Moon Boy & Devil Dinosaur are transported to Marvel’s present day, and they do not return to the past.

• Fallen Angels (1987) #4-8: The group of young mutant outcasts are sent back in time by Ariel and meet MB&DD in issue #4. They bring the pair back to the present day, where they slip out and roam the streets! they continue to provide comic relief and act as the cavalry for the remainder of the series, which seems to end with them still in the present day.
• Wolverine: Global Jeopardy (1993): No Moon Boy in this appearance. Devil Dinosaur briefly crashes through a mad scientist’s label in the present day Savage Land. That makes this a direct pick-up from Fallen Angels – any other series with Devil Dinosaur in the far past is a mistake or using a duplicate DD!
• Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #174 has Devil Dinosaur briefly swapping spots with Lockheed in Excalibur’s lighthouse as Technet is up to no good. It specifically references Fallen Angels; MB&DD seem to be hiding out somewhere in New Zealand eating kiwi fruit!
• Silver Sable and the Wild Pack (1992) #35 features a non-continuity appearance in a cartoonish backup feature.
• Devil Dinosaur Vol. 2 (1997) #1: See above. Thought this was released after Ghost Rider, it finds MB&DD in the present day fighting against Gladiator of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard. That places it prior to MB&DD being ported to NYC in their next appearance.
• Ghost Rider Vol. 3 (1990) #81-82: In an attempt to send Howard the Duck to his home dimension, we instead wind up with MB&DD marauding through the East Village. While the implication is that he is snatched from the past, he was not in the past at this point and was pulled from the Savage Land or some other exotic locale.
• Amazing Spider-Man/Devil Dinosaur Annual 1998: This story picks up from Ghost Rider, with DD&MB still in present day New York City. Spider-Man sees that they are sent to the Savage Land at the end of the story.

From this point forward Devil Dinosaur is treated as synonymous with the Savage Land, save for one out-of-continuity appearance that starts this period:

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. (2006) #12: It’s hard to know if we should treat this appearance in Warren Ellis’s completely bonkers series as canon. Let’s just say that Devil Dinosaur plays a very important but totally unusual role in ending this series, during which he implies that he has eaten Moon Boy.

After that puzzling appearance (later explained as occurring in a sort of pocket reality), we’re back to Savage Land status quo.

• Marvel Comics Presents (2007) #5-7: There’s not a lot of significance to this appearance outside of confirming MB&DD to still be in the Savage Land after almost 10 years without a present day appearance, although they do a lot of fighting alongside Kazar.
• Heroes For Hire (2006) #9-15: Moon Boy appears solo, first as a target for the team, and later as a member. Devil Dinosaur appears in #10 only – safe in the Savage Land.
• Avengers: The Initiative Featuring Reptil (2009): Reptile returns Moon-Boy to Kazar, who in turn returns him to a very happy Devil Dinosaur. However, they’re a background part of this issue as a whole. Reptil later has a non-canon vision of them both in Avengers Academy (2010) #6
• Skaar: King Of The Savage Land (2011) #1-5: MB&DD co-star throughout this Savage Land series.
• Avengers Academy (2010) #27-28: A follow-up to the Reptil one-shot, the team (along with the Runaways) briefly visits the Savage Land, where they encounter MB&DD for just a handful of pages.
• Avenging Spider-Man (2012) #14-15: Spider-Man encounters a very irate MB&DD in the Savage Land, but they eventually team up. It ends with Devil Dinosaur seemingly becoming a proud parent.
• Secret Wars: See Marvel Universe Events. Devil Dinosaur appears in Battleworld (2015) #3 (w/MB), Contest of Champions (2015) #1 (w/MB)  Secret Wars Too (2016) #1

#1-6: Vol. 1: BFF (2016 paperback, ISBN 978-1302900052 / digital)

#7-12: Vol. 2: Cosmic Cooties (2017 paperback, ISBN 978-1302902087 / digital)

Extraordinary X-Men (2016) Annual 1: Moon Girl And The Marvel Universe
Also, see X-Men. Moon Girl co-stars in a back-up story with Forge during or after issue #12. It’s a pity this cute story wasn’t collected along with Volume 3, which also features the X-Men! In total, this collects Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur #24 & 31; Extraordinary X-men Annual 1 (2nd story); Venom (2017) #153, Monsters Unleashed (2017) #12; and the three-page Moon Girl Marvel Legacy Primer.

After issue #12: Both Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur make a non-continuity on-screen appearance in Champions (2016) #1. Devil Dinosaur makes a brief non-continuity cameo in Mockingbird (2016) #5.

IvX: See Marvel Universe Events. As one of the youngest Inhumans, Moon Girl gets pulled into the conflict of Inhumans vs. X-Men. This comic is not appropriate for your youngest readers, as it is significantly more violent than Lunella’s own title. She appears in IvX (2017) #3-6, plus Devil Dinosaur is in Extraordinary X-Men (2016) #19 without her.

RessurrXion (2017): Not much about Moon Girl’s status quo changes in the wake of IvX in her own book, but both the Inhumans and X-Men lines relaunched all of their titles in this period (except for Ms. Marvel). As a result, Lunella finds herself more in touch with the wider Marvel Universe – including a team membership with the new Secret Warriors.

#13-18: Vol. 3: The Smartest There Is (2017 paperback, ISBN 978-1302905347 / digital)
This contains a brief continuity goof, with Lunella taking the train to visit the X-Men’s Mansion in Westchester, even though they are located in Central Park in the wake of IvX (and, prior to that, were in Limbo).

Monsters Unleashed (2017): See Guide to Marvel Universe Events – Monsters Unleashed. Of course the Kirby-designed Divil Dinosaur would take part in this massive monster mash! Both he and Moon Girl appear throughout this event in Monsters Unleashed (2017) #1-5 between issues #14-15 of Lunella’s series.

The Unstoppable Wasp (2017) #2-3: See Guide to Unstoppable Wasp. Moon Girl guest stars in this awesome STEM-oriented comic with a cast full of young women! This occurs between issues #17-18 of Lunella’s series. DD does not appear in #2.

Inhumans Prime (2017) #1: Royals, Vol. 1
Moon Girl shows up here with the amassed Inhumans (including Ms. Marvel) after issue #18, so this is likely pretty soon after IvX. It’s a brief appearance – you can easily skip it.

In America (2017) #2-3, Moon Girl guest-lectures at Ms. America’s college while DD naps. Then, Lunella is in Venom (2003) #152-153.

Secret Warriors (2017) #1-5: See Secret Warriors.

Secret Empire: See Guide to Marvel Universe Events – Secret Empire. This event is not appropriate for readers of the main series and has a very grim, dark, violent tone. MG&DD appear in only a single panel of #9, where Lunella says, “No time for hugs, just punching.” Obviously, this is a very important character moment.

MG&DD make a flashback cameo in Captain America: Sam Wilson (2015) #25. After the event, they are in a similar flashback cameo in Spider-Men II (2017) #2. Then, they are briefly in Unbelievable Gwenpool (2016) #25.

Also in this period, they make an out-of-continuity appearance in Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again (2017) #4

Marvel Legacy & Fresh Start (2018 – present): Marvel Legacy is a back-to-basics era that restored many long-running series to their original numbering. However, Moon Girl didn’t have the 9 issues of the original Devil Dinosaur added to its numbering – that would just be silly! This title officially begins its Legacy run with #25.

Secret Warriors (2017) #6-12: See Secret Warriors. Devil Dinosaur does not appear in every issue.

Between Secret Warriors #11-12, Lunella is in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015B) #29, then in Monsters Unleashed! (2017B) #12 (after having been implied in #11)

#19-24: Vol. 4: Girl-Moon (2018 paperback, ISBN 978-1302905354 / digital)
No DD in #24

#25-30: Vol. 5: Fantastic Three (2018 paperback, ISBN 978-1302910990 / digital)
I have personally confirmed this issue range in a copy of the book!

After #30, Lunella appears in Venomized (2018) #3-5 and Avengers (1963) #689

#31: Moon Girl and the Marvel Universe (2018 paperback, ISBN 978-1302913700 / digital)
For reasons of their own, Marvel decided not to include this special anti-smoking issue with Moon Girl’s full line of initial paperbacks – though it is included in her recollected digest-size editions. Collects a number of team-ups from Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2016) #24 and #31, Venom (2016) #153, Monsters Unleashed (2017B) #12, and material from The Moon Girl Marvel Legacy Primer and Extraordinary X-Men (2016) Annual 1.

#32-36: Vol. 6: Save Our School (2018 paperback, ISBN 978-1302911003 / digital)
I have personally confirmed this issue range in a copy of the book!

After #36, Lunella makes a continuity-lite appearance in Marvel Rising: Omega (2018) #1

#37-41: Vol. 7: Bad Dream (2019 paperback, ISBN 9781302914363 / digital)

#42-47: Vol. 8: Yancy Street Legends (2019 paperback, ISBN 978-1302914370 / digital)

Between #42-43: Fantastic Four (2018) #10.

Then, after the end of her series, Gwenpool Strikes Back (2019) #3-4, Fantastic Four (2018) #19, Marvel’s Voices (2020) #1, Outlawed (2020) #1 & Champions (2020) #1 & 9, Avengers (2018) #40-42, Fantastic Four (2018) #36, Marvel’s Voices: Legacy (2022) #1, Free Comic Book Day 2022: Marvel’s Voices #1