Dinosaur Island

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Dinosaur Island is a mysterious island located in the South Pacific in the DC Comics universe. The island first appeared in Star-Spangled War Stories #90, which was cover dated April-May 1960, and was the creation of Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru, and Mike Esposito.

Dinosaur Island seems to have first been discovered by Enemy Ace in 1927 when he flew Bat Lash, Biff Bradley, General Joseph Stilwell, and "Chop-Chop" (presumably the father of the Blackhawks member) to the island on a mission for Chiang Kai-shek. The island had long been a legend to the Chinese people (known as Dragon Island at the time) and was believed to hold the mystical Swords of Fan. During this mission, the adventurers encountered Vandal Savage and Miss Fear, in addition to the dangerous dinosaurs.

During the second world war, several United States submarines seemingly disappeared after encountering an area of seismic disturbances. Marines landed on a nearby island hoping to find survivors, but instead found that the earthquakes had awakened the remote island's resident dinosaur population. The prehistoric beasts had been preserved via suspended animation for centuries. With their weapons essentially useless, the squad of Marines barely escaped to tell the tale.

Despite the presence of dinosaurs, the US Government considered the island a valuable strategic location in its war against Japan. Several expeditions and operations took place at the island. The island was also used as a proving ground for the automated soldiers designated G.I. Robot, which proved to be no match for the dinosaurs' ferocious might. The Creature Commandos, the Flying Boots, and the original Suicide Squad all took part in missions on the island during World War II. They have also made a Dic version of it in 2002. It has been theorized that the dinosaurs living on the island actually came from Skartaris and that the earthquakes opened a temporary tunnel to that realm.

Writer/Artist Darwyn Cooke set a new status for the island in his out-of-continuity series DC: The New Frontier, where he connects the island with the dawn of the Silver Age.