Cosmic Blog – Realm of Kings: Inhumans

As I begin my look at the various members of the Inhumans from the Royal Family to their origins and those who effected them the most. I’m going to take a look at how the Inhumans are made with the Terrigen Mist Crystals. The Terrigen Mist is a natural mutagen, arising as a vapor from the Terrigen Crystals, which are able to alter Inhuman biology. The Mists were discovered by the Inhuman geneticist Randac approximately 25,000 years ago; he immersed himself in the Mists and gained mental powers comparable to the Eternals.[1] Sometimes the mutated subjects gain superhuman abilities; Medusa and Black Bolt are two examples of this.
However, in the past, uncontrolled exposure to the Mists (due in part to Randac wishing for all the Inhumans to undergo Terrigen treatment, or Terrigenesis) mutated the majority of the Inhuman population into hideously deformed monsters. After centuries of eugenics and birth control, the Inhumans managed to mitigate the genetic damage and cultivated a more responsible use of the Terrigen Mists. The practice they developed was to let only genetically perfect specimens undergo the random mutations provoked by the Mists. Their theory was that genetic screening could avoid the risk of hideous and animal mutations in an individual. However, there are examples throughout the Inhumans’ canon where an exposed Inhuman became a devolved, sometimes mindless, evolutionarily inferior throw-back. The term Alpha Primitives was coined for these unfortunate outcasts of Inhuman society, who would for centuries become the breeding stock of a slave race. Resentment at this caste system sometimes bubbles up, and the Alpha Primitives have tried to overthrow their rulers in multiple storylines, often as a result of manipulation by a third party.

Since the introduction of the Terrigen Mists, the inhabitants of the Marvel Comics universe have believed that Terrigen Mists were toxic for regular Homo sapiens. When the depowered mutant Quicksilver subjected himself to the Mist, he gained the ability to travel through time as an acute enhancement to his former super-speed. Luna, Quicksilver’s half-human half-inhuman daughter, gains psychic abilities from the Mists allowing her to see emotional auras emanating from individuals.
It is also shown in this series that depowered mutants, if exposed to the Terrigen Mists, gain an uncontrollable version of their former powers. For example, the Mists restore the hyperacute senses of Callisto, but all the amplified stimuli cause her to fall into a coma. However, the effect is only temporary; powers fade after a short while. As shown with Quicksilver, the bodies of those exposed to the mists for extensive periods begin to produce their own Terrigen Crystals with the same mutagenic effects. At the end of the Son of M series, the U.S. government confiscates the Terrigen Crystals dropped by Quicksilver, which leads Black Bolt, the leader of the Inhumans, to declare war on the United States.
Use on X-Cell depowered mutants provided moments of renewed powers but then caused them to explode. Use on U.S. Marines in Silent War also proved that the mists, while providing temporary powers to humans who are certain in their purpose, also causes certain death. The Inhuman Gorgon was subjected to a second exposure while imprisoned, which increased his strength, but possibly lowered his intellect.
The Inhumans have introduced the Terrigen Mists to the Kree to further their evolution. Also, they have planned on using the Utterance of Destiny, or the T-Bomb, which would spread the Mists all across the universe, making all living beings Inhumans, which to the prime group, would bring about equality and an end to war.

The Kree left the Inhumans the Xerogen crystals to use as a defense against the growing numbers of their human cousins. Whereas the Terrigen Mists enhance Inhumans with superpowers, the Xerogen mists de-evolve humans into Alpha Primitives. The deposed Inhuman king, the Unspoken, removed the crystals from Attilan. But when he was banished, he cultivated and grew the crystals. The crystals were returned to Medusa after the defeat of the Unspoken at the hands of Hank Pym.

Talk about a powerful batch of rocks.

Greetings everyone, yes I’m back from Hawaii, a bit tan, burned and feeling good. While, I’ll talk a bit about my honeymoon during the United Front Podcast in a week. I’ve decided to go right to the guts of things on a guy we’ll be seeing a lot of the rest of the year, Thanos. With help from my buds at Comicvine.com. I’ll get into the long history of this Jim Starlin character.

Born to the Eternals Mentor and Sui-San, Thanos was subject to the Deviant gene at birth. As a mutant of Titan (a moon of Saturn) he had a purple, hide-like skin along with strength and other physical abilities surpassing that of other Titans. This mutation also augments the powers he possesses as an Eternals. The most powerful Titan, his skin is able to absorb cosmic energy and transfer it to his use.

While never ostracized by his family or other Titans, Thanos distanced himself because for being different. He wondered why he was different, and as a youth he became obsessed with the occult and specifically the cosmic entity Death. At the age of ten he killed his own mother, brutally abducting her and eviscerating her, while everyone on the planet was attending to the fires of a nuclear disaster that Thanos himself created.

Still on Titan, Thanos began conducting experiments that were morally and etichally wrong. His father banished him from Titan. He left Titan to become a man on the edge of the galaxy. In order to win Death’s love he has trained to increase his power through meditation, mysticism and technology.

He returned to Titan and started killing others and then began detonating nuclear bombs through Titan, killing millions as revenge for his exile. He eventually became a tyrant to his people. His brother Eros ( Starfox) and his father, also Eternal Titans, formed a resistance against him.

From here on until near the end of his life, Thanos is constantly searching for a means of either wiping out the entire universe or merely attaining Godlike power, and he succeeds in one or the other on multiple occasions, but every time he is defeated because of his own hubris and because, psychology, he knows he does not deserve to win and subconsciously inserts the means of his own defeat into his machinations.

The Cosmic Cube
Thanos began his conquest and decimation of the galaxy by attempting to overtake Earth. He was able to acquire the Cosmic Cube, an artifact that grants the user the ability to mold reality. Thanos used the Cosmic Cube to make himself a god. It took the combined forces of Adam Warlock, Captain Marvel, the Avengers and other heroes of Earth as well as the Resistance on Titan to thwart his plans.

Magus and the Star Destroyer
He realized Adam Warlock’s powerful doppleganger, Magus, was a threat to his plans and aided Warlock in defeating him. It was during this alliance that Thanos was able to see the power of an Infinity Gem (Adam Warlock possessed the Soul Gem). He assisted Warlock in destroying the timeline which gave birth to the Magus. In this adventure Thanos had allied himself with Warlock and his two companions Pip the Troll and Gamora (who is Thanos’ adoptive daughter).

Not long after this ordeal, Warlock and his companions become separated and Thanos becomes power hungry once more. Gamora learns of Thanos’ plans and goes to warn Warlock but while en route is killed by Thanos’ nemesis Drax the Destroyer. Around this time, Pip the Troll finds himself on Thanos’ doorstep and, believing Thanos to still be an ally, boards his ship in the hopes of receiving Thanos’ assistance in locating Warlock. Thanos seizes Pip and wipes his mind, leaving his near lifeless body for Warlock to find later on.

Thanos’ next attempt was not about control, but of death. He planned to destroy the entire universe. He obtained the Infinity Gems and combined them. With this power he planned to destroy every star in the universe, one by one.

Warlock is too late to stop Thanos’ power grab and he has to resort to calling in the Avengers and Captain Mar-Vell to assist in stopping him. Their first attempt fails and Thanos kills Warlock and imprisons the Avengers. The Avengers are soon freed by reinforcements in the form of Spider-Man and the Thing, and while the Avengers battle Thanos’ army of space pirates, Spider-Man frees Warlock’s spirit from the Soul Gem and Warlock turns Thanos to stone before returning to Soul World.

Thanos remains dead for some time, though while deceased his spirit is present during the death of Captain Mar-Vell to guide him into the afterlife.

Return from Death
Thanos was returned to life by mistress Death herself. She claimed she sensed a unbalance in the universe. There were too much populations heading toward eventual disaster. She thought in time the scale would imbalance giving more death than her power could handle. Thanos set out to kill fifty percent of the population of the universe. He quickly makes a new mortal enemy in the Silver Surfer
Quick on the heels of Thanos’ rebirth, Mentor and Chronos revive Drax the Destroyer as well to track and destroy him.

Silver Surfer battles Thanos once more; seemingly defeating and killing him, though the body Surfer finds is in fact that of Geatar, the loyal henchman of Nebula (Thanos’ supposed granddaughter), dressed in Thanos’ outfit. Thanos allows himself to be thought dead for a time while he resumes his pursuit of the Infinity Gems.

Thanos Wearing The Infinity Gauntlet
The Thanos Quest & The Infinity Gauntlet
For the Dark Titan, Thanos, the Infinity Gauntlet was the Holy Grail, the ultimate prize to be coveted above all else. Although he had possessed the gems before, he admitted to not knowing how to properly use them. It was Thanos who began calling the sol gems the Infinity Gems.

With it came omnipotence: the absolute control of all aspects of time, space, power, reality, the mind, and the soul. The gaining of supreme might meant the beginning of a black nightmare for the entire universe. Now, on the edge of Armageddon and led by a mysterious Adam Warlock, Earth’s superheroes joined in a desperate attempt to thwart this nihilistic god’s insane plunge into galactic self-destruction. Should the heroes fail, the astral gods of the universe wait to step into the fray. But in such an awesome cosmic conflict will anyone prevail? Will anyone survive?

Each gem (Time, Space, Power, Soul, Mind, Reality) individually gives the user mastery over its dominion. Collectively, the wielder would possess the power to destroy and create universes and all beings in them.

He crafted a scheme to collect the Infinity Gems from those who currently held them. Each owner of a gem was themselves an Elder of The Universe, a sole survivor of one of the first intelligent races since the Big Bang. Each had attained near immortality. The exception to this was the In-Betweener, who possessed the soul gem. In an awesome display of cunning, power, speed and manipulation he was able to gather the gems from the Elders of the Universe and place them on a gauntlet. This event was dubbed ‘ The Thanos Quest’.

Drax and the Silver Surfer together battle Thanos, who easily dispatches them; sticking them in Soul World where they encounter Warlock, Pip and Gamora and set into motion the events that will soon bring them back to life. Warlock helps the pair out of soul world. With the Infinity Gauntlet now his, Thanos announced his presence to the universe once more, recruited Mephisto as his servant and, in an

Goal Achieved
attempt to impress and please his love, Lady Death, he wiped out half the life in the universe with a snap of his fingers.

To further impress Death, Thanos kidnaps his brother Starfox and his barely alive so-called descendant Nebula and tortured them horrendously. This proved not to impress Death, and Thanos’ anger creates a devastating shockwave across the universe. So to simultaneously soothe his ego and show up Death, Thanos creates new life in his image, his new lover Terraxia.

At this point, Adam Warlock gathers a strike force of the remaining superheroes of earth (and Doctor Doom) to take Thanos on, though he keeps himself and the Silver Surfer in reserve while sending Captain America and the rest under Cap’s command to their likely doom. Thanos massacres Warlock’s forces but is so distracted by his efforts to impress Death that Warlock’s true plan of having the Surfer swoop down and snatch the Infinity Gauntlet off Thanos’ hand nearly works. Woken up to his folly, Thanos wises up just in time for the next strike force, consisting entirely of cosmic entities attacks. Even the Great Powers of the Universe ( Eternity and sister Infinity, Lord Chaos and Master Order, Galactus, etc.) were unable to subdue him. Thanos’ power also surpassed Mistress Death, herself a supreme power of the universe, who turns on and attacks him at this stage.

The All Powerful Thanos
It was not that combined efforts of the universe’s heroes that led to Thanos’ downfall, but his own hubris. Thanos once again uses his power to become one with the universe, leaving his physical form behind like he did while in control of the cosmic cube, and while he was insubstantial, Nebula grabbed the Gauntlet from him and reversed everything that he had done, killing Terraxia and returning the massacred heroes to life.

Warlock tells Thanos that because he was encased in the Soul Gem that he knows Thanos’ secrets, dreams and personality better than anyone, including Thanos himself. He tells Thanos that although he seeks ultimate power he feels he does not deserve it. This is why after three chances at godlike powers he has failed. Subconsciously, Thanos always supplied the means for his own defeat. He agrees to help the heroes retrieve the gaintlet from Nebula. After a new scuffle against Nebula, the Gauntlet is claimed by Adam Warlock.

Thanos, defeated, fakes his death once more and briefly continues to serve Death. Realizing he can never please her, he secludes himself to rest, farm and meditate on an unnamed planet. His costume is used as a scarecrow and he becomes a simple farmer, although he still dabbles in the affairs of the universe.

At some point not too long from here, the Living Tribunal rules that the Infinity Gems must not be allowed to work together anymore, so Warlock is obligated to disperse them. Warlock forms the Infinity Watch, keeping the soul gem to himself but giving the others away to those he trusts (Pip, Gamora, Moondragon, Drax, and a secret unseen final person who is later revealed to be Thanos). Warlock giving Thanos the reality gem (by all means the most dangerous of them all) is never shown.

Thanos is only ever shown to use the gem but once, in a backup story, where he briefly brings Captain Mar-Vell back from the dead and simply has a chat with him before returning him to oblivion. Thanos was angered over a recent meeting with Death in which she wanted the Silver Surfer as her consort. Thanos captured the Surfer and offered him as a gift to his love, but demanded that he be the consort. Once again, Thanos was refused. She also barred him from her realm, cursing him with immortality. He planned to use the gem to create a reality where Death loved him as much as he loved her. Captain Marvel talked him out of this (which is exactly why Thanos chose Mar-Vell in the first place).

Infinity War
Thanos has sensed a great energy in the universe and decides to leave his farm to investigate. He soon discovers the source – the Magus has returned and plans to rule the universe in his own evil way. Magus believes Thanos to be similar to himself, but after some time, Thanos has thought much and changed his priorities. He believes that neither of them are meant to possess such power. The Magus casts him from his dimension.

Thanos realizes he will acquire assistance in his efforts to stop Magus once again. He goes to Adam Warlock and the Infinity Watch to form an alliance. They traveled to Death’s realm and used the Infinty Well to learn how Magus came to be and what his plans were. They soon learned of the gathering of Earth’s heroes. Thanos realized this was no coincidence and Magus must have planned all of the events thus far.

The Magus leads them all to a dimension nearby his own, in hopes of them battling. He as lead Earth’s heroes to believe Thanos and Adam Warlock are behind everything. They battle but are interrupted by Galactus, and he uses a scan to read all of their thoughts. They soon realize they are on the same side. Warlock gathers the Infinity Gems together at Thanos’ request to use the power to stop the Magus. But the gems lose their power when brought together, the doing of the Living Tribunal. The Magus then abducts Warlock.

Thanos takes command against the wishes of Earth’s heroes. He tells them that only he can save them now. He gets the Ultimate Nullifier from Galactus’ Ship. He claims that he is not pure enough to use it and whoever does will be killed. He chooses Quasar to make the sacrifice to save the universe. He know fully understands Magus’ plans and deceptions and adjusts to them. But Quasar hesitates and the Magus is able to obtain the Infinity Gauntlet when it is repowered by Eternity and the Living Tribunal.

Thanos knows he must know make his move. Captain America does not trust him and tells him they are coming too. Thanos tricks them into fighting a battle with the doppelgangers as opposed to sending them on a suicide run. He plans to face the Magus on his own.

He finds his own doppelganger, who plans to turn on the Magus. They battle each other and the true Thanos is the victor, despite his doppelgangers power advantage. It is here that Thanos overcomes his own self doubt and is able to absorb his power and knowledge to finally become whole again since the events of the Infinity Gauntlet. He stands and fights the Magus and manages to distract him long enough for Adam Warlock to break free of the Magus’ capture. Thanos had planned all along for the Magus to miss one important key – the Infinity Gauntlet had a fake Reality Gem, thus he was not omnipotent. Adam Warlock defeats the Magus but this puts him in a catatonic state.

Thanos parts ways with the Infinity Watch whose gems have been given back to them. Thanos is now a changed man, being instrumental in the defeat of Magus and saving the universe. At no point in time did Thanos attempt to take the power as his own. He returns to his farm and contemplates. He believes he is now able to handle the godly power he once could not, but does it truly want it anymore?

Infinity Crusade
Thanos was once again on the side of good when the Magus good counterpart the Goddess threatened the universe. He was sought out by Adam Warlock this time, and Adam had a plan that put much trust in Thanos, who is revealed to be the final member of the Infinity Watch in possession of the Reality Gem. For information, they make a deal with Mephisto for important information regarding the Cosmic Cubes, and agree to give him just one of the cubes after the Goddess’ defeat. Warlock entrusts Thanos with the Soul Gem so Warlock may travel back to the Soul World and speak with the Magus.

Battle on the Spiritual Plane

Meanwhile, Thanos enlists the help of the Silver Surfer and after that, the remaining heroes of Earth. He creates a distraction with the Surfer and brings out one of his older weapons created for the destruction of the universe that he calls the Dreadnaught 666. He hopes his plans to stop the Goddess succeed and gets all the pieces into place. But he remains unsure of who the victors will be.

He fires the Dreadnaught into the planet and manages to reach the Goddess, coccooned in her Cosmic Egg. With the Soul Gem and the help of Professor X he attempts to penetrate her defenses. He fails and she completes her goal, destroying the entire universe. But this was merely an illusion created by Adam Warlock. He reveals that the Cosmic Egg is not omnipotent and he, Thanos and Professor X attack the Goddess on the spiritual plane. Adam Warlock infuses himself with the Cosmic Egg and makes her vulnerable. Thanos traps her inside of the Soul Gem.

After her defeat, Thanos makes the molecular structure of the egg break down, destroying itself and the planet. He gives Mephisto his cosmic cube, but it does not have any power. He tells Mephisto that he should have specified a powered cube and that even devils should beware bargains with Thanos of Titan.

Later Events
Thanos also becomes involved in the ” Blood and Thunder” crossover wherein he proves that even a crazed Thor with the Power Gem is something he can handle. He squares off one-on-one against Odin himself, and, while he takes a mighty beating, Odin never quite manages to put him down for the count.

In a 3-issue arc in ‘ Secret Defenders’ Thanos enlists a group of super villains ( Rhino, Titanium Man, Nitro, Geatar) to steal the Oracle of Ancient Kowledge, a storehouse of vast information.

Over the next few years, Thanos is involved in multiple lesser power grasps. He begins to seek challenges worthy of his effort, only to find hollow victories. He manages to break the defenses of the Oracle of Ancient Knowledge and learns of Tyrant and his recent return. Intrigued by this opponent, he seeks more knowledge so he may face him. He first seeks out Terrax for information and is able to form a partnership with him. This begins the Cosmic Powers event.

Thanos vs Tyrant

Together they kidnap Ganymede, for she has vast information on Tyrant, being one of his oldest foes. When she learns of Thanos’ plan to destroy Tyrant she agrees to help. They arrive at Tyrant’s Fortress and engage with Morg, who is controlled by Tyrant. After his defeat, Thanos slips away for his true goal and leaved the others to face Tyrant alone.

Thanos returns with Tyrant’s containment device which he uses to store energies, in this case Morg’s Power Cosmic. He battles with Tyrant one on one and proves that even someone at Galactus’ level is not above the power of Thanos. After battling and being able to exchange blows with someone as powerful as Tyrant, Thanos is now satisfied that he has withstood such a battle and escapes with his prize, claiming himself the victor.

Some time later, after Thanos has resumed a phase of non-interference and soul searching, some experiments gone wrong from his past return in the storyline ‘The Infinity Abyss’. In this story, Thanos clones who are each spliced with DNA / misc traits from entities such as Dr. Strange, Iron Man and even Galactus seek to destroy the galaxy. Thanos enlists the aide of Warlock and other heroes in defeating his clones and saving the galaxy. Confronted with the obvious disastrous nature of having spliced his genes with Galactus’, Thanos responds, with a smile, that the opportunity was too intriguing to resist.

Epiphany and Redemption
After some soul searching, Thanos realizes he has been a pawn of circumstance. Admitting that he had no reason to be so monstrous, he tried his hand at using his powers for good. His first act was to go to New Rigel-3, to try to reconcile with the Rigellians for destroying the original Rigel-3. After helping them with their technology, he was soon asked to help with a problem on one of their other colonized world. But they had a very big problem – Galactus.

After some investigation, Thanos learned that Galactus was being fooled and used by an outside source. Galactus had collected the Infinity Gems and made a device he beleived would feed him forever. Despite Thanos’ efforts, he was unable to stop Galactus from turning on the device. Doing so allowed a being known as The Hunger to enter their universe, and it planned to consume all of their reality.

But even with the unknown, Thanos was prepared. With the help of Pip, Thanos orchestrated the defeat of the Hunger. Thanos was able to save all life itself from the entity.

After this, he would journey out as a pilgrim to the Kyln / Crunch, the mysterious and ancient prison colony at the far edge of the universe that would later factor into Annihilation. Here Thanos would encounter Skreet and take her on as his companion, and he would go on to battle the imprisoned Beyonder, and to find and brainwash Galactus’ first herald, The Fallen One, into doing his bidding.

Annihilation

Drax’ final attack on Thanos
Annihilus, ruler of the Negative Zone, has gathered his forces and has invaded the Positive Zone. His army have proven to be unstoppable, and resistance has been squelched at every turn. Terrifyingly and inexplicably, Thanos has offered his services to Annihilus to be one of his Generals. Thanos assisted Annihilus by helping to organize the capture of Galactus. With Galactus and the Silver Surfer in stasis, Thanos was able to develop technology to use Galactus to harvest cosmic energy to be stored and inevitably turning Galactus into a living weapon capable of destroying entire planets.

Moondragon (who was captured by Thanos) revealed to Thanos that Annihilus planned to use the Galactus weapon to destroy all life in both the positive and negative zones (and Annihilus’ true feelings about Thanos), he decided to show Annihilus who he was dealing with by setting Galactus and his herald free (and quickly teleporting away as to avoid the wrath of Galactus). Thanos then revealed to Moondragon that his only reason for joining Annihilus’ cause was to see how it would tip the scales, and that he had no real interest in Annihilus’ goals. Thanos also revealed that he had built in a fail-safe configured to his own power level so that he and only he could rescue Galactus and the Surfer from their stasis. Before he was able to finish keying in the release sequence, he was killed by Drax the Destroyer with his heart being ripped out from behind. To this Thanos appeared to have more curiosity or annoyance for than fear or anger, and with his dying breath saw Death in the ship with him. Thanos appeared with Death in space to witness the final battle and death of Annihilus.

However, we know that Thanos returns this month and he’ll be the only thing standing in the way between Nova, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Quasar, the Shi’ar and Kree Empires and the Magus and the Cancerverse. Will the former avatar and lover of death take back his title from Phylla-vel? Does Thanos have another agenda outside of everyone else? The most important question of all… how he is back? We’ll find out.

Well folks, I’m out of here for the next two weeks. Melissa and I are taking our long delayed honeymoon to Hawaii. We’ll be back the week of March 9th. In the mean time, enjoy the sites and sounds.

As it was recently established, the Lifestone, which is usually in the possesion of Dr. Demonicus of the Hood’s Crime Syndicate. Is a piece of the Kree Lifestone Tree. The Lifestone is a meteorite that crashed in Aleutian Islands several year ago, landing at the bottom of a dormant volcano. It was discovered by Dr. Douglas Birely, who used its power to mutate several reptiles and insects to form an army of giant monsters. Now calling himself, Dr. Demonicus, Birely sought to use the monsters to take over the world. However, he found that these monsters required regular exposure to the energy of the Lifestone to survive. Birely hired an army of mercenaries to force the Inuit tribes living there to mine the Lifestone, planning to construct an enormous arc, which he could use as a mobile forces, allowing his monsters to travelt he Earth, but never travel too far from the Lifestone. This plan was discovered and thwarted by Godzilla and SHIELD I (Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law Division).

Birely later built a second base on the moon, and created another group of monsters with which he planned to take over the Earth. This plot was broken apart by the Shogun Warriors. Birely eventually captured and enslaved his old enemy, Godzilla, using the Lifestone to mutate him further. Birely next used the Lifestone to mutate a group of humans (he himself had been mutated by prolonged exposure to its energy as well) to form the Pacific Overlords.

As for Dr. D, Douglas Birely was born in Culver City, California. As a scientist, he was studying the correlation between radioactivity and mutation when he is contaminated by a radioactive spill. As Dr. Demonicus, he is a criminal geneticist and criminal subversive who creates monsters and discovers the Lifestone. He creates numerous immense monsters mutated from animals. These include Batragon, Ghilaron, Lepirax and Centipoor. Using his monsters and his troops he raids oil tankers from his secret laboratory on the Aleutian Islands. The monsters were defeated by Godzilla, and Demonicus was defeated by Gabe Jones and taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. When Jones confronts Demonicus during this story, Demonicus is altogether willing to tell him his background, and when referencing his monsters’ creations he says “Knowing of his nuclear radiation mutation, I took my cues from Godzilla himself”, and when Godzilla begins slaying the creatures he’s made, Demonicus begins to become unstable, even claiming he would battle Godzilla directly in order to save the last of the creatures left alive at the time.

Demonics becomes an ally of the alien Myndai, Maur-Konn, who gives Demonicus his gigantic space satellite base orbiting the moon. Demonicus later uses his genetic and robot monsters Starchild, Cerberus and the Hand of Five against the Shogun Warriors Raydeen, Combatra, and Dangard Ace. Demonicus launches a meteor strike against Earth from his space station base. He is foiled by the Shogun Warriors and taken into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D. again.

He eventually captures, enslaves, and further mutates Godzilla. (However, the creature is not deliberately named as such because Marvel’s license to use the monster had by that point expired. To give readers a clue as to who the creature was, Demonicus refers to the creature as being “Once my greatest enemy”, referring to Godzilla’s defeat of his original creations. This version of Godzilla, according to G-Fan magazine, still makes occasional appearances in the Marvel universe every so often. The creature also, for reasons unknown, shrunk once Demonicus had captured and enslaved him. He sets Godzilla against the Avengers West Coast. Demonicus also salvages Iron Man’s original armor and uses it to attack the Avengers West Coast personally. He is defeated by Tony Stark. He is later mutated by the Lifestone and the demon Raksasa. It is revealed his alter ego, Douglas Birely has skin cancer which is kept under control by devices in his costume.

Demonicus is also the founder of the Pacific Overlords, and with them battles Sunfire and the Avengers West Coast. He raises a land mass from the Pacific Ocean floor just north of Hawaii, and on it founds the new nation of Demonica with himself as ruler. He attempts, unsuccessfully, to get the United Nations to recognize Demonica as a sovereign nation. However he is seemingly killed when Demonica sunk back into the Pacific.

Doctor Demonicus is eventually arrested, convicted and incarcerated for his crimes. He was sentenced to “the Raft”, a supervillain prison facility. He was among of the 43 villains that escapes during the breakout engineered by Electro.

The Hood hires him as part of his criminal organization to take advantage of the split in the superhero community caused by the Superhuman Registration Act. He helps them fight the New Avengers but is taken down by Doctor Strange. Demonicus’ particupates in the Hood’s temporarly alliance with superheros in order to battle an invading Skrull force. As seen in flashbacks, the Hood had used his powers to help Demonicus and the others escape jail. During a secretive gathering, Demonicus and the others learn of the Skrull’s attempt to infiltrate and control their orginazation. He joins with the Hood’s gang in an attack on the New Avengers, who were expecting the Dark Avengers instead.

I’m very happy that Brian Micheal Bendis finally put Dr. Demonicus to good use. Since originally he was going to be a big villain for the Fantastic Four back when Scott Lobdell was writing the book every so briefly. He’s finally getting his due.

Right now it’s up for debate since there is only one Cosmic Marvel title in May, The Thanos Imperative: Ignition. Some are thinking that Marvel is canceling Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy. Some think it’s just a month break until the main story line gets going in June. Some think that The Thanos Imperative will replace all the titles until the story ends and we get the rumored Cosmic Avengers written by Dan Slott.

Truth is, any of those things could happen but at this time, we don’t know anything for sure. I love what DnA are doing with all the Cosmic MU books and this is the best the characters have been in decades. However, it’s still too early to tell what’s going on. Either Marvel will release a statement in the next few days or weeks. Or we’ll find out in four weeks when they release June 2010 comic previews. In the meantime, I’m just sitting back and relaxing and knowing I’m saving 5 dollars in May.

Breaking a bit away from my norm as I did with the tribute to NIU. Back in 1998, Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz and Pat Officle created May “Mayday” Parker and a new hero was born. In the last few years, I created a top high Spider-Girl site. In December I closed it down for remodeling and opened the Indigo Cafe blog until I finished with the page. Well, thanks to my friend Felix Phoenix, we have reopened and made the page great. Check it out and let us know and if you like to, stop by the Indigo Cafe for the latest on Spider-Girl and the Marvel Universe. Including upcoming looks at the Heroic Age of Avengers.

Today, I’m breaking away from my normal blogs to think about my former college, Northern Illinios University. It’s been 2 years since the shootings at NIU that cost the lives of 5 students. It was a day we all remembered and when we all came together in the community. Two years later we remember those who were lost and how we must got Forward together, always.

I’ve been waiting to get to the dear Dr. Soften since I started looking into the Kree Lifestone Tree. In fact, Moonstone’s story is what open the door to the current status of all the Lifestones that have been floating around the pages of Nova and Realm of Kings lately. The time point in which Moonstone was taken by the Sphinx was from her darkest point during “Seige on Avengers’ Mansion” when Moonstone had learn the full use of her gravity powers during her Masters of Evil days.

Growing up in a California mansion, Karla watched as her father put others before himself while he worked as a butler. After her father’s death, Karla’s mother was forced to work three jobs just to put her through the best colleges. During this time, Karla vowed to always place herself first, so that she would never end up like her parents. She also vowed to only be around people that she could control. After she Graduated from high school, Karla moved onto college and attended many lectures taught by Doctor Leonard Samson. She ultimately received an M.D. in Psychiatry and built a successful practice for herself. However, Karla was still dissatisfied with having to depend on her clients for income, so she began to work with Dr. Faustus and other criminals to fulfill her lust for power and control. During this time, Doctor Faustus taught Karla some of his methods of psychology in an unofficial capacity, giving her extensive knowledge in this area. Karla was asked to help the prison board with the original Moonstone, Lloyd Bloch, due to the outlandish cost of the cell he was required to be contained in. After learning of it’s powers, she devised a way to make him reject the Moonstone, using a hallucinogenic gas which caused him to believe that he was a monster and he reject the stone. When Karla picked up the stone, it was absorbed into her body and she took on it’s powers. A new Moonstone was born. Moonstone then joined the Corporation and briefly controlled the Hulk and caused General Thunderbolt Ross to have a nervous breakdown. Craving more power, she stole the Enervator from Dr. Curt Conners in order to go to the moon to attain more Moonstones. After being recruited by Egghead and Baron Heinrich Zemo she joined the Masters Of Evil until she was jailed for her crimes.

The Masters Of Evil broke Moonstone out of the vault to join the “heroic” Thunderbolts, where took on the identity of Meteorite. After meeting Jolt she persuaded Masters Of Evil to let the young woman join the team. The two soon grew close and Karla took on an almost motherly role in the young woman’s life. When the teams true nature was revealed by Baron Heinrich Zemo to the public, Moonstone, Jolt, Mach IV and Songbird rallied against him. Wanting to continue their lives as heroes, the group defeated the brainwashed Fantastic Four and Avengers with the help of Iron Man. When the battle was over, the group decided to pay their debt to society so they could start they’re new lives as heroes. Unfortunately before they were able to do this, they were transported to an alternate dimension. Taking on leadership of the team, Karla defeated the Kosmosian Primotur Jekuakkekt which allowed them to return to Earth. Moonstone used her psychological powers to defeat Graviton, though her teammates felt that she neglected to consider the consequences of her actions. When Hawkeye promised the team pardons, Karla stepped aside allowing him to lead the team instead. Later, during the teams battle with the Masters Of Evil she considered turning on them, but quickly changed her mind.

Fighting against the Secret Empire, Karla became involved with Hawkeye but began to have nightmares about an alien woman. The team was attacked by Scourge and Jolt was unfortunately killed. Karla took her death the hardest and went in search of answers after a fight with the V-Battalion. After trying to get help from the Inhumans she went to the Kree and received the answers she was looking for. The alien woman in her dreams was the previous owner of the moonstone and was influencing Karla’s desires to be a hero. The Thunderbolts and Captain Marvel found her and attempted to help her. After talk of removing the stone from her body was rejected, the group opted to leave it in place and instead wipe all the memories of the previous owner from it. This left all of Moonstones decisions and the consequences of them to her. Returning to Earth the team found Jolt alive and well. In spite of this good news Moonstone discovered that Hawkeye’s promise of pardons were fake. She exposed him to the rest of the team and went after Scourge and the man controlling him, Henry Gyrich. Their defeat of the Redeemers lead to the revelation that Henry Gyrich was being controlled as well. The team eventually received a full pardon from Valerie Cooper once they gave up their dreams of becoming heroes.

Graviton soon emerged and hired Karla as his teacher. She taught him how to better control his powers and made him fall in love with her. He attacked and killed the Redeemers and held most of the worlds heroes in place, relocating many major cities to the sky. The Thunderbolts reformed only to find Karla at Graviton’s side in her hesitation to fight them Graviton’s powers imploded and sent the team to Counter-Earth. While there the Thunderbolts had their chance to be true heroes. They helped to save many people and Karla even reshaped the minds of the political leaders in order to give them a new way of thinking. While there, Moonstone took another moonstone from the Phantom Eagle which greatly augmented her powers. The team returned to Earth shortly after leaving the younger members there to continue their work.

Shortly after Baron Heinrich Zemo and the Thunderbolts designed a machine called the liberator in attempt to drain the world of potentially harmful energies to make way for true peace in the world; However none of the thunderbolts trusted Zemo yet. Iron Man had infiltrated the group disguised as the Cobalt Man to make sure Zemo was not attempting to control the worlds energy for himself. When Iron Man did not report back to the Avengers the Avengers arrived just after the machine was activated believing the machine was built to harm the world. When Captain America attempted to destroy the machine, the energy seemingly disappeared leading to the teams fighting about the teams distrust of each other. Moonstone soon began to writhe in pain but quickly recovered considerably more powerful than ever. Moonstone then revealed she had put a backdoor program into the liberator that would divert the energy into her just incase Zemo betrayed the Thunderbolts and the world, Captain America’s attempt to destroy the liberator caused caused Moonstone’s backdoor program to kick into affect and direct the energy towards her. Moonstone quickly became emotionally unstable. Angered by the Avengers interference and lack of trust Moonstone quickly lashed out at all of the heroes in anger. Moonstone continued to become more unstable as Captain America and Zemo continued to argue over whose to blame for the situation and a new fight arising everytime someone began to reason with moonstone. Moonstone’s emotions and anger began to deteriorate until her new power, combined with scarlet witch’s chaos magic, began to rip the fabric of space and time. Ultimately after repeated attempts to reach out and save the world and Moonstone from herself, Hawkeye had no choice but to release an arrow that would allow the avengers to separate Karla and her Moonstones, with the moonstones removed from her body Karla Sofen fell into a coma. After some time she was taken by the Commission on Superhuman Activities who used their resources to link her mind with Songbird. The stones were returned to her and she awoke from her coma.

During the Civil War Moonstone was blackmailed into becoming the leader of the team by Norman Osborn ( Green Goblin). Well aware of how important the teams public image was she was very careful to hide the more ruthless side of the team, but was still a less-than-capable leader. Moonstone often clashed with Songbird and even convinced SHIELD agents to give Norman Osbourne placebos rather than is prescribed medication. In a recent battle with American Eagle she was shot through the wrist by a crossbow and ordered Bullseye to cripple him. When four psychic super villains invade the Thunderbolts mountain, they manipulate Karla into attacking Doc Samson, who she had professed a deep seated hatred for. Moonstone managed decently against Sampson, however, when she attempted to attack Penance, he deflected her beam and knocked her through several walls. Although she did manage to survive, it was noted that Moonstone would still require nanosurgery although it would be about two weeks before her body was healthy enough to under go the operation.

Once she recovered, Moonstone was among the members of the team that were attacked by the sleeper Skrull agent known as Khn’nr, who had taken the form of Captain Marvel and rejected his original programming, choosing instead to defend the human race. Khn’nr used his power to easily shut down Moonstone’s source of power after revealing its Kree origin. After a discussion with Osborn, Khn’nr left the area and allowed the team to recover before launching an attack on a Skrull airship. Karla, along with the Swordsman and his newly cloned sister, Andrea, moved to the control center. However, Karla believed Andrea’s recent arrival clearly marked her as a Skrull, so she attacked the Swordsman, knocking him unconscious in order to negotiate a deal with the Skrulls. Unfortunately for her, Andrea was not a Skrull and brutally attacked her. Andrea was prepared to unleash another attack that would have killed Moonstone, however, she was instead killed by Bullseye when he stabbed her from behind. Bullseye then attempted to kill Moonstone, but she turned intangible before she began threatening Bullseye just to keep him in line.

After the Secret Invasion ends, Osborn leaves for Washington, allowing Moonstone and Bullseye to finally eliminate the other members of the team. Moonstone first has a therapy session with Robbie, where she makes him feel worse about himself before drugging him and stating that she has already made plans to place him in a maximum security mental institution. She then unleashes Bullseye and Venom onto Songbird after they manipulate her into sending her only true ally, the Radioactive Man, back to China. Songbird manages to evade her killers long enough to blow up a section of the Thunderbolts mountain with the Zeus before faking her death with the aide of the Swordsman. Karla then leaves, appearing to have given up on the team.

Karla was next seen meditating on Thunderbolt Mountain when Norman Osborn appeared and tossed the original costume of Ms Marvel in her lap. He then convinced her to join his new team of Avengers after he informed Karla that as “Ms Marvel” she would live in a penthouse in New York City, rather than being forced to remain in the Mountain under house arrest. Though curious as to whether she would retain her position as field leader of the team, Karla took the time to appreciate the fact that she was now officially an Avenger. Later, Karla, along with the rest of the “Dark” Avengers were revealed to the public, lead Norman Osborn as the Iron Patriot. As Ms. Marvel, Karla helped to assist Osborn in providing aid to Doctor Doom when he battled with Morgan le Fay. Karla also faced the X-Men in San Fransisco, where she and the rest of the Dark Avengers attempted to deal with the rebelling mutants before they were ultimately defeated on the resurfaced Asteroid M.

While Karla is a skilled psychiatrist herself, Norman eventually insisted she have a psychiatric evaluation just like every other member of the Dark Avengers. The psychiatrist, Dr. Gerald Wright knew of Ms. Marvel’s real identity and informed Karla that he was aware that she was not Carol Danvers. Dr. Wright then assaulted Karla’s mind with telepathy since he knew that the Dark Avengers were evil and wanted to kill them all himself. Karla, however, was not without tricks of her own. When Dr. Wright attempted to learn about her past, Karla showed him everything, including when she murdered her own mother to prevent her from learning about the villain she had become as Moonstone. This terrifying image caused the doctor to lose control of his telepathy and gave Moonstone the chance to cut off his arm which he had been using to maintain his telepathic contact. When Karla left the room, she was covered in blood stains and refused to speak with Osborn, who had been waiting for her in the hallway.

When Karla later infiltrated an AIM facility in an effort to serve as a liaison for Osborn, she was surprised when their new Storyteller system of genetically-modified MODOC fetuses telepathically asked her for help. After she destroyed the AIM splinter group by redirecting a meteor onto their building, she retrieved the “babies” and stored them at HAMMER HQ. She was later attacked by a mysterious energy being, who also seemed to seek the babies for itself. The conflict over possession of the reality-altering Storyteller fetuses grew and eventually included Deadpool, Wolverine and Spider-Man.

After Karla pursued Deadpool to the Hollywood area of LA, she encountered the New Avengers and the energy beings working together in storming yet another AIM facility, so that they could retrieve the remaining Storytellers. Although she attempted to fight off the New Avengers, Karla was unable to stop them from networking the Storytellers. This resulted in what Karla had been fearing: The Storytellers fused the energy beings back into a single entity, that of the original Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers, who everyone had believed to be deceased after she overloaded in an earlier incident. Afterward, Karla and Carol battled across the city until the two were stopped by an intervening Sentry. After a brief meeting with Norman Osborn, the War of Marvels continued after Carol confronted the two Dark Avengers in their base. During the fight, the MODOC babies attempt to assist Carol again by placing the personality of Catherine Donavan inside Moonstone. As Catherine’s personality became dominant, Karla reaffirmed her strength when she returned to her former Moonstone persona. She then continued her duel with the original Ms. Marvel until Carol ripped the moonstone from her body and instead of killing her, placed her item of power where Karla initially lost her humanity. Since Carol had intended to make this an opportunity for redemption, she placed the moonstone at the grave site of Karla’s mother. While Karla initially looked remorseful, she simply took the moonstone and destroyed her mothers headstone before walking away.

As shown in previews for Thunderbolts when the Heroic Age kicks off in May. Karla is return to not only her Moonstone persona but also back to the page of Thunderbolts with Luke Cage as her boss. Should prove very interesting for the dear doctor.

Since the snow is piling up and I’m in a writing mood today. I thought I would take a look at the inheritor of the Bloodstone, Elsa Bloodstone. Elsa was born from Ulysses and Elise Bloodstone. Ulysses distanced himself from Elise and so she moved to England with her baby. Elsa grew up without knowing anything about her father, and her mother made sure she did not find out about his monster hunting career. Before Ulysses died, he entrusted Adam (a Frankenstein-like being that works as Ulysses’ handyman) to give Elsa his Bloodgem choker. Elsa began having dreams about monsters and vampires, when they found out about Ulysses’ death they flew out to his estate in Boston.

They arrive at the Bloodstone estate and are given a tour by Charles Barnabas (secretly a good pure blood vampire), who is the lawyer and executor of the estate. Elsa would later explore the estate against her mother’s wishes to find a hidden chamber. There Adam would explain Elsa’s legacy and heritage to her and give her the choker. A genie lamp in the chamber starts flashing and Elsa rubs it. She is then transported to Bosnia right in front of Dracula who is seemingly being pursued by some sort of special-ops soldiers. Dracula recognizes the Bloodgem and starts to close in on Elsa. The Bloodgem blasts Dracula away and Dracula was staked and caught by the soldiers, who it would later be revealed were servants of Nosferatu (another vampire). Adam arrives and brings Elsa back to the estate.

Elsa accepts the mantle her father left for her and so Elsa turns into a monster hunter, but she has to keep it a secret from her mother. Adam designs a costume for Elsa tailored like her fathers (and seemingly to maximize upon her already impressive cleavage, much to Adam’s delight). The lamp would flash and Elsa and Adam begin another mission. This time the lamp teleports them to Egypt where they meet N’Kantu, the Living Mummy. They enter the pyramid to stop whatever is happening, leaving N’Kantu behind to keep guard, and giving N’Kantu the gifts of modern slang. Elsa and Adam would soon figure out that Nosferatu had Dracula captured and was trying to become powerful by sacrificing Dracula and other powerful “pure blood” vampires including their own Barnabas.. Elsa would confront Nosferatu and battle him, Nosferatu was able to bite Elsa in the neck. But the Bloodgem energy in her blood hurt him and so while Nosferatu was reeling from the pain, Dracula and Adam open a hatch in the roof to expose Nosferatu to sun light, killing him.

Elsa now lives in the Bloodstone estate with her mother and Adam. They also befriend Charles Barnabas who would help her on missions. Elsa began blogging about the monsters she has hunted and made an encyclopedia about all the monsters she killed in the Marvel Universe. Her first series of advantures ends with them setting out to combat a kraken.

Elsa would later join Nextwave and in this series she claims that she comes from a long line of near immortal monster hunters (in another Nextwave issue, she says she is “second in a long line” of monster hunters stretching back thousands of years; i.e., her dad and herself). When she talks about her past in Nextwave, it differs radically from the Bloodstone comics. In Nextwave she claims that she was trained by her father when she was young, such as dropping her into a pit with a monster as a toddler armed only with a spoon, and that when her parents were absent she was trained by a robot/torture device called “Hate Mother”. It has been noted by the writer that they know her past differs a little bit and was used for the comedy of Nextwave. ”Civil War: Damage Report” states that the memories and persoanlities of Nextwave members were altered by H.A.T.E. Elsa seems to have a strong report with N.E.X.T.W.A.V.E teammate The Captain, though whether this is just a friendly bond or anything more is open to interpretation.

Powers

Her powers are partially inherited, and partially the result of the fragment of the Bloodstone she wears. She has enhanced strength, stamina, speed and durability, and an enhanced healing factor. Her blood is toxic to vampires. It is not yet known if she is immortal like her father.

Not having any offensive powers, she carries big guns. She owns some of the magic artifacts collected by her father, such as a genie in a lamp. Due to her only having a fragment of the original Bloodstone, Elsa, while having her father’s powers cannot be controlled through the stone like her father was by the Sphinx. Hence why she was not a cadidant to be pulled from time. Even if it would have been at the point where she first got her bloodstone. Oh well, we can live with that.

Starting the week off right, I’m looking into the history of the first monster hunter, Ulysses Bloodstone. Most readers are more aware of his daughter, Elise carrying on the family tradition of hunding down monsters with the power of the bloodstone. Well, before the bombastic daughter of Bloodstone took the reigns of her father. The original was using delayed shotgun rounds and using his bare hands to fight the good fight.

In the Hyborian Age, a meteorite landed on Earth in Northern Vanaheim on the European continent, circa 8250 B.C. It was controlled by an entity called the Hellfire Helix, who wanted to take over the world. To that end, it sent its agent, Ullux’l Kwan Tae Syn, to get the meteorite and find a host for it. However, a local human hunter/gatherer found the rock, and fought Ullux’l Kwan Tae Syn. In the fight, the meteor was smashed, a part of it (also called the Bloodgem) was imbedded in the human’s chest, and the explosion killed the human’s tribe. The human vowed revenge on Ullux’l Kwan Tae Syn. Because of the gem in his chest, he became immortal, and later became known as Ulysses Bloodstone.

Ulysses Bloodstone was one of the most successful mercenaries in the world. His long life allowed him to assemble a vast fortune, which he used to set up a series of outposts, fully staffed and equipped, in various corners of the world. He gained mastery of most of the world’s weaponry, and a large portion of the world’s martial arts and languages.

Over the next 10,000 years, Bloodstone would travel all over the world, looking for Ullux’l Kwan Tae Syn. As a result, by the 20th century he had become immensely wealthy, and could speak most of the world’s languages. In his hunt for Ullux’l Kwan Tae Syn, he had become a mercenary, adventurer, and soldier-of-fortune, proficient with most of the world’s weaponry. Because of Ullux’l Kwan Tae Syn’s ability to summon monsters, Bloodstone gained a reputation as a monster hunter.

Sometime in the 1930s, he battled Nosferatu and his clan of vampires. In 1933, he gained a sidekick: Fat Cobra, who later became one of the Immortal Weapons. He embarked on a series of adventures with him that took them to the far corners of the globe, traveling to the Savage Land and Monster Island and fighting Mole People and Fin Fang Foom. In the 1950s, he became a member of the Monster Hunters whom he was a part of until they disbanded. Bloodstone met two future allies, Brad Carter and P.D.Q. Warner, who seek giant humanoid monsters to battle.

A fight between Possessor and Bloodstone occurred during this time in which he was able to defeat his foe with the help of the Bloodgem. He battled the giant undersea humanoid monster Goram while seeking another Bloodstone fragment. Goram was subdued by the technology of Bloodstone Island, and then Ulysses Bloodstone fought Killer Shrike. Bloodstone met Iron Man, then battled Goram and his master Centurius. Bloodstone then met Ullux’l Kwan Tae Syn on the astral plane. Bloodstone petitioned the United Nations to recognize the sovereignty of Bloodstone Island, and then battled Sharzan the Elemental.

Bloodstone’s vendetta against the Hellfire Helix ended when the truth came out: the Hellfire Helix had needed a host, and had chosen Bloodstone. As Bloodstone and Ullux’l Kwan Tae Syn had fought, the Helix had assembled a group called “The Conspiracy” to reassemble the meteor and gain control of Bloodstone. Bloodstone battled the Conspiracy, but they defeated him. The life-sustaining gem fragment was surgically removed from his chest by Conspiracy member Dr. Juden Bardham. The Conspiracy thought they would become immortal, but the Helix killed them to reassemble the gem. Bloodstone’s body managed to kill the gem-monster Ullux’l Kwan Tae Syn and prevent the Helix from coming to Earth by vanquishing the Hellfire Helix on the astral plane. His body then withered and died.

Bloodstone’s skeleton was later revealed to be in the possession of the American Museum of Natural History.The Hellfire Helix was later revealed to have survived, and possessed the corpse of the first Baron Zemo, which disappeared down an inactive volcano in Japan. The Ulysses that was used by the Sphinx recently was taken from the time point before Ulysses had full control over the Bloodstone. Which is why the Sphinx was able to control him.