saurian_holmes-kiss-face-front saurian_holmes-kiss-profileSAURIAN HOLMES

Real Name: Apparently Saurian Holmes

Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Land of Leftovers) reptilian/saurian humanoid

Occupation: Detective

Group Membership: None known

Affiliations: Unidentified assistant/housekeeper;
    KISS (Cat/Peter Criss Demon/Gene Simmons, Space Ace/Ace Frehley Starchild/Paul Stanley)

Enemies: Hugs, Kisses, "Lucy," Professor Maharishi;
    an Elf with a Gun knew who he was, and these Elves generally didn't like anyone

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None known

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    apparently perished within the Maharishi's House of Cards, Land of Leftovers;
    formerly his own mansion, Land of Leftovers;
    previous home dimension/reality unrevealed

First Appearance: Marvel Comics Super Special#5 (1978)saurian_holmes-kiss-face-lat

Powers/Abilities: Saurian Holmes was apparently highly intelligent and skilled with deductive reasoning.

    Although he highly enjoyed thinking things through, he also sometimes preferred to use his computer complex for expediency.

    He was also willing to engage in physical combat, as well as to sacrifice his own life to end a great threat.

    He had sharp teeth that could do some damage, although he did not seem to be prone to biting others, and his scales may have provided some enhanced durability.

    It is unrevealed whether he was homeothermic or poikilothermic as well as whether he had any enhanced or diminished senses.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'10")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 170 lbs.)
Eyes: Orange
Hair: None
Skin/scales: Green

History:

(Marvel Comics Super Special#5 (fb) - BTS) - Under unspecified circumstances, Saurian Holmes arrived in the Land of Leftovers where -- according to an Elf with a Gun -- all of the symbolic figures of the 1960s lived out that decade again and again eternally. Holmes lived within a Victorian manor, and both his home's and his own mannerisms, which paralleled those of the 1890s, stood out and caused him to be described as a dinosaur, having outlived his own time. The fact that he actually was a humanoid dinosaur may also have contributed to that description.

(Marvel Comics Super Special#5 (fb) - BTS) - Saurian Holmes was known to an Elf with a Gun, who dropped into the Land of Leftovers periodically for a beer and some target practice.

(Marvel Comics Super Special#5 (fb) - BTS) - The locals protested the anachronistic architecture and its inhabitants, gathering outside, carrying signs, shouting threats, and even throwing rocks at Holmes' domicile.

(Marvel Comics Super Special#5 (fb) - BTS) - Via unspecified "outside sources," Saurian Holmes expected the arrival of the super-powered group known as KISS.saurian_holmes-kiss-hat

(Marvel Comics Super Special#5 (fb) - BTS) - Pursuing the wizard Khalis-Wu, the Darklord, who threatened to obtain ultimate power by harness the emotive energy at history's most famous rock concerts and convert it into mystical energy, the super-powered group known as KISS were banished from Woodstock in the 1960s by Khalis-Wu and arrived in the Land of Leftovers. After Space Ace found that he could not simply teleport them away, they encountered the Elf with a Gun who periodically visited this realm; when asked for a way out of that place, the Elf told them that if there was one man who could help them out, it was Saurian Holmes. 

(Marvel Comics Super Special#5) - Heading into town, KISS pushed aside the protesters and knocked on the door, and Holmes' presumed housekeeper answered and then led the quartet up to his study. Noting that he had been expecting them for some time, as he was not without his outside sources, Saurian Holmes greeted them and noted that he hoped the tumult outside had caused them no delay. He further explained that his method of searching after truth -- empirical investigation, was out of fashion these days, as the current society valued flippant answers, slogans, and cliches. As he stepped out of the shadows to face them, Saurian noted that he had been called a dinosaur, having outlived his time, "Imagine that."

    When Starchild (Paul Stanley) asked about their problem, Saurian informed them that he was well aware of why they had come to him and assured them that he was prepared to assist them, but first asked if he could trouble them to light his pipe, which the Demon (Gene Simmons) did with his fiery breath. Holmes then glanced out of his window at the protestors, stating that while they despised him, he would not leave, as he was an ugly reminder that the truth required a lifetime of diligence and devotion, and, even then, no answers were assured.saurian_holmes-kiss-vsmaharishi-choke

    Any further discussion by Saurian was interrupted when the door was thrown open by a woman with kaleidoscopic eyes (let's call her "Lucy" for now) who announced that she was there to kill him for her master. She warned Holmes not to move, as her eyes could follow him wherever he went; however, after Simmons blocked her blasts with his forearm guards, "Lucy" slew herself for her failure. Impressed with his would-be (would-have-been?) assassin's death via self-induced trauma, Saurian also noted that she had dropped a card, which he identified as the Fool card from the deck of Tarot.

    Considering that things were beginning to acquire an ominous significance, Saurian shifted a presumably false book in his bookshelf, causing a nearby wall panel to slide back, revealing a humming mass of circuits and wires, moving forward on hidden rollers. Acknowledging this Computer Complex to be perhaps his only concession to the sixties, Holmes admitted that it did eliminate the tedium of deductive science, as well as playing an excellent game of chess.

    Inserting the tarot card into the Computer Complex's reader, Saurian swiftly had his suspicion confirmed: His enemy was "that Napoleon of prevarications and half-truths -- Professor Maharishi! His insidious influence infests the minds of future generations!" Donning his hat and raising his left arm emotively, Holmes exclaimed, "But now arrives the moment of reckoning! Truth versus falsehood -- and only one shall survive!" Leading KISS to follow him as he dashed out of his mansion and referring to them as his friends, Saurian advised them that the game was afoot and that the solution to their own problem rested with the resolution of his own.

    Noting that Professor Maharishi's domicile should be due east of the final fog bank, Saurian led KISS to the "House of Cards" and instructed them that a frontal assault was required. After Space Ace vibrated through the locked front door and let the others in, Holmes instructed KISS to cease their banter as this place reeked of their adversary's cursed presence, and he guided them through a door to find Maharishi seated atop a hover-disc. After Maharishi greeted them and offered secrets of the ages, Saurian denounced his very existence as an affront to truth, and stated, "I spit upon you and all you represent...the sacrifice of man's precious mind for a fortune-cookie philosophy." Maharishi countered that Holmes offered endless questions with no answers, while he himself was an island of solace in a troubled sea of humanity, but Saurian denounced him as a buffoon with a messiah complex.

    As Simmons grew impatient, Starchild fired a blast to force the truth, but -- after confirming that he was a charlatan -- Professor Maharishi sent his battleaxe-wielding agents, Hugs and Kisses, to prevent them from sharing what they had learned. As KISS fought their attackers, Saurian and Maharishi grabbed the other by the throat, but Holmes nonetheless choked out, "You can no longer seek refuge behind your facade, Maharishi. Destiny has written that our clash was inevitable. Truth shall endure."

    As the conflict caused the "House of Cards" to collapse around them, Simmons chastised Starchild for risking their chances to escape from that realm by attempting a peaceful resolution.

    Meanwhile, Professor Maharishi insisted that Saurian release him at once as his collapsing house threatened to crush them. However, Holmes refused, noting that he would die happily knowing that he had eradicated Maharishi's dominance from that land.

(Marvel Comics Super Special#5 - BTS) - After the house collapsed and apparently slew Saurian and Maharishi, Ace noted that he had suspected that it was Maharishi's influence that had prevented them from teleporting them out of that realm, and he subsequently transported them to Khalis-Wu's next target at a discotheque marathon.

Comments: Created by Ralph Macchio, Alan Weiss, John Romita Jr., and Tony DeZuniga.

    Saurian Holmes originally had a sub-profile in the Earth-99476/Dino-World profile (originally published 09/28/2004), which contained a number of semi-humanoid dinosaur characters. While he was noted to be a "perhaps" inhabitant of that world, there is not evidence to support the fact that he is from that world.
    We really don't know where Saurian Holmes came from at all.

    Professor Maharishi is an homage/parody of Sherlock Holmes' arch-rival Professor Moriarty, and his name is a reference to the Sanskrit word/title Maharishi, which referred to the highest order of Indian sages or seers. He'll get his own profile in the next few years.

    At the time of this story's publication, the 1960s were less than a decade in the past.

    As the beings in the Land of Leftovers lived out the 1960s over and over again, it seems reasonably likely that Saurian Holmes and Professor Maharishi were restored to existence after KISS' departure.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Saurian Holmes should be distinguished from (and was an homage to and/or a parody of):

Holmes' home

saurian_holmes-kiss-homesaurian_holmes-kiss-house-study     Saurian Holmes' Victorian-style multi-level house stood out amongst the Hippie-styled Greenwich Village-ish housing surrounding it.

     This along with Holmes archaic (to those around him) ways (and perhaps his saurian nature) made Holmes and object of hatred to his neighbors, who protested, picketed, and hurled rocks at his home in an effort to get him to leave.

     Holmes did a lot of his thinking in front of a fireplace in his study (pictured to the right).

     The fate of Holmes' manor after his apparent death is unrevealed.

--Marvel Comics Super Special#5

Holmes' assistant/housekeeper

saurian_holmes-kiss-housekeepersaurian_holmes-kiss-housekeeper-prof-upper     A somewhat elderly woman who used a cane (although that did not stop her from climbing the stairs), she answered the door when KISS came a-knocking.

     She asked the young men how she could be of service, and when the Cat (Peter Criss) told her that they were seeking Holmes as they were lost, after which she invited them in.

     She then led them upstairs to Holmes' study, and she told the young men that she would see if Holmes was willing to be disturbed at the moment.

     She then informed Holmes that there were "four lads" here needing his assistance reaching home and asked if he would accept them.

      After Holmes agreed to see them, the housekeeper departed the room without another word, leaving Holmes to discuss things with KISS.

     Her fate following Holmes' apparent death is unrevealed.

--Marvel Comics Super Special#5

Note: Sherlock Holmes had a housekeeper named Mrs. Hudson. This woman was never named, but I wonder if she was meant as an homage to Mrs. Hudson.

     As she led them with her cane, she told KISS, "Walk this way, please."
     It reminded me of Groucho Marx (IIRC), who would have responded, "If I walked that way, I'd see a doctor!"
saurian_holmes-kiss-housekeeper-cane

Holmes' computer complex

saurian_holmes-kiss-bookcasesaurian_holmes-kiss-computercomplex     Holmes possessed a large computer bank that he used to analyze materials and receive some sort of report. He also enjoyed playing chess against the computer.

     The computer complex was kept hidden behind a wall panel, which opened when he pulled out a certain book, after which the computer moved forward on hidden rollers.

     Holmes considered it to be perhaps his only concession to the 1960s, and he noted that it did eliminate the tedium of deductive science.

     After Maharishi's agent committed suicide after failing to kill Holmes, Saurian picked up the card she dropped, the Fool from the Deck of Tarot. Noting that this would need more than a cursory examination, he brought out his computer complex and fed it into a reader, which confirmed the Maharishi to be the culprit.

--Marvel Comics Super Special#5		saurian_holmes-kiss-cardreader saurian_holmes-kiss-compviewscreen


images: (without ads)
 Marvel Comics Super Special#5, story pg. 26, panel 1 (Holmes' home);
          panel 5 (assistant);
       pg. 27, panel 3 (study);
          panel 7 (face, frontal);
          panel 9 (face, profile);
       pg. 29, panel 1 (opening secret panel);
          panel 2 (computer complex);
          panel 3 (card reader);
          panel 4 (computer screen);
          panel 5 (donning hat);
          panel 7 (full, profile)'
       pg. 31, panel 5 (vs. Maharishi);

Appearances:
 Marvel Comics Super Special#5 (1978) - by Ralph Macchio & Alan Weiss (co-scenarists), Ralph Macchio (writer), John Romita Jr. (penciler), Tony DeZuniga (inker), Richard Marschall (editor)

First posted (as sub-profile under Earth-99476/Dino-World): 09/28/2004
First posted (as own profile): 03/23/2024
Last updated: 03/24/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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