Space Travelling Pterodactyls!

Everyone claims dinosaurs are extinct! But not only do they exist in Pal-ul-don, Caspak, Pellucidar, Skull Island, Challenger's Plateau and the Valley of Gwangi--it also turns out that they are living on Saturn's largest moon as well!

I KNEW IT!

We learn this from the story "The Eagle of Space," from Wonder Woman #105 (April 1959). Written by Robert Kanigher and with art by Ross Andru, it shows us that there are definitely dinosaurs on Titan.

By the way, I'll get a minor annoyance out of the way upfront. When the story takes Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor to Saturn's biggest moon, it is simply referred to as "Saturn's biggest moon," never as Titan. Gee whiz, Mr. Kanigher, I realize you couldn't just google something in 1959, but couldn't you have taken a moment to crack open an encyclopedia and find moon's name?

On to the story. Unmanned rockets sent to explore Mars keep vanishing. A picture transmitted back by one rocket show a picture of a pterodactyl attacking the ship.

Steve Trevor doesn't believe this could be true, so takes a manned rocket up into space to check out the situation. Somtimes Steve isn't the brightest marble in the bag, is he? First, he thinks going up alone is a good idea. Second, his girlfriend is an immortal Amazon with super strength and an invisible plane, but he thinks a space-pterodactyl is impossible. Not just unlikely, mind you, but impossible.

Wonder Woman tails Steve in her plane, so is on hand to rescue him when the pterodactyl attacks.

Shenanigans ensue, which result in Steve joining Diana inside her plane, which in turn ends up in the jaws of the pterodactyl. Flying in a "cosmic jet stream," the creature quickly returns to Titan. This turns out to be a jungle world on which dinosaurs still live. No explanation for how at least one of them became able to survive in an airless void is ever given.

A T-Rex and the pterodactyl starts playing keep-away with the invisible plane. This results in Diana and Steve getting separated.

 Diana finds a tribe of cave people, primitive humans who are kept in perpetual fear by the dinosaurs. Diana later finds Steve, then builds a cage with giant trees to keep the tribe safe from the dinosaurs.

Wonder Woman then caps all this off by telepathically passing on all knowledge of civilization to a young caveman. She and Steve then head home.

This is a fun, delightful story. It would be easy to pick holes in it--by golly, how DID the pterodactyl become capable of breathing in space? But, though I normally prefer strong plots that follow their own internal logic, I just can't get bothered over this. The idea of dinosaurs living on Titan, combined with Ross Andru's always-fun artwork, sells the story to me hook, line and sinker.

Besides, I knew there were dinosaurs still living on Titan. I just KNEW it!

Next week, we'll return to the Wild West to visit with the Rawhide Kid.