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Episode Studies by Clayton Barr

enik1138
-at-popapostle-dot-com
Valley of the Dinosaurs: Fight the Angry Mountain "Fight the Angry Mountain"
Valley of the Dinosaurs #1 (Charlton)
Writer and artist unknown (but story and art, including covers, for the series were by Fred Himes, according to Toons of Festology).

 

A volcanic flow threatens the village.

 

Story Summary

 

Smoke begins to billow from a nearby volcano and the village elders tell that the angry mountain demands the residents to leave or it will spew fire that will destroy all life. But Professor John Butler tells the residents they must all work together to divert the stream of lava that is sure to come. Soon, he has calculated that they have about 5 days to put a plan into motion before the eruption comes.

 

The cave-dwellers and villagers work together with the Butlers to build a pipeline of hollow bamboo tubes to carry flammable natural gas from the nearby swamp to the base of the volcano. When the volcano erupts, the pouring lava ignites the gas coming from the pipeline, causing an explosion that diverts the flow away from the valley proper and into the river, where the water cools the lava into rock and steam, saving the inhabitants.

 

THE END

 

Didja Know?

 

"Fight the Angry Mountain" is a 7-page story from Charlton's Valley of the Dinosaurs #1.

 

Didja Notice?

 

On the cover of this issue, if one looks closely at Glump, standing behind Katie and Digger, he appears to have plates only on the left-hand side of his spine! In other appearances, he has a parallel row of plates on each side of his spine.

 

The first page of this issue paraphrases the narration and images of the opening titles of the TV series. It erroneously refers to the land in which the Butlers have had to make a home as a "prehistoric continent". Since they are seemingly only in an isolated part of the Amazon rainforest, their prehistoric surroundings are not a continent in themselves.

 

In the background of the splashpage on page 1 of the story, what appear to be a Brontosaurus and Pteranodon are seen.

 

It's hard to tell from the small image, but the carnivore seen on page 2, panel 6 appears to have just two claws on its forelimbs, identifying it as a Tyrannosaurus.

 

Somehow, John has calculated that the volcano will blow in about 5 days. This seems like a typical science-fantasy trope to have the resident science character, when the story calls for it, be extremely knowledgeable about any type of science whatsoever, even outside their own specialty. "Forbidden Fruit" and "A Turned Turtle" reveal that John is simply a science teacher at a high school.

 

On page 4 of the story, Katie has somehow taught Glump to turn the waterwheel with his wagging tail. It seems unlikely there would be any way of keeping the pet engaged in that endeavor for any length of time.

 

At times throughout the story, "Greg" is spelled "Gregg" instead. Most VOTD publications use the "Greg" spelling.

 

The carnivore encountered by Greg and Katie is identified in the narrative as a Tyrannosaurus, but it is depicted with three claws on its forelimbs, so it could not be a member of genus Tyrannosaurus. 

 

Unanswered Questions

 

Why was there seemingly an extra length of bamboo gas piping already set up conveniently for Greg's use to deliver a hotfoot to the Tyrannosaur?

 

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