BERMUDA TRIANGLE
Type: Time/Dimensional Warp to Earth @ 250 million B.C. (in theory)
Environment: Earth, @ 250 million B.C.
Usual means of access: Traveling through air or sea in the region of the Bermuda Triangle
Dominant Life Form: Dinosaurs and indigenous life of Earth @ 250 million BC, the Jaguar Priest, Slitherogue and the robots of the Scorpians (Black Knight, Merlin, Morgan le Fay, robots representing the civilization of various time periods on Earth), the Sky-Riders, Viracocha, natives of various time periods of Earth (including cavemen and Incas).
Skull the Slayer (now Blazing Skull), Dr. Raymond Corey, Ann Reynolds, and Jeff Turner were trapped there for an uncertain period of time.
A number of extra-terrestrials were found dead outside the Tower of Time.
Features: The Tower of Time (an immense tower, each level of which is a replica of a different time period on Earth (including Camelot, ancient Egypt) and is populated by robots who believe themselves to be people native to that period);
City of Gold-home to the tribe of Aztec/Incas
First Appearance: Skull the Slayer#1 (August, 1975)
History:
(Skull the Slayer#4 (fb)) - An extraterrestrial race from Scorpius built a number of robots that transformed their world
into a virtual paradise. Running out of tasks for their robots
and not wanting them to deteriorate from disuse, the
"Scorpians" decided to find a new world on which to
give them projects. They chose Earth, @ 250 million B.C.
The Scorpians created a powerful vortex/warp that would pull anyone from any other time period, traveling in the air or sea in a triangular region surrounding the islands of Bermuda back to the time period they had colonized. This region became known as the Bermuda Triangle, where ships or planes might mysteriously disappear, never to be seen again.
(Skull the Slayer#7 (fb)) - The Scorpians built an immense tower, with many levels, which became known as the Tower of Time. As the Scorpians learned of the different civilizations of Earth, they modeled each level after a different time period on Earth, and populated it with their robots. These robots were also modeled after the natives of those time periods, and believed themselves and their habitat to be real. When enough robots had been built, the Scorpians planned to have the robots sweep forward, through all time periods, and bring all eras on Earth under their domination. The Scorpians chose one representative, Slitherogue, to stay behind and guard the Tower, and prevent those brought back through the warp from learning that not all who walked among them were human. Slitherogue directed the robots to continue to act out their lives, even engaging in wars, and then rebuild themselves and start over.
(Invaders I#4) - In 1942, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill flew through the Bermuda Triangle and had
a brief glimpse through the portal.
(Skull the Slayer#1-5) - The adventurer Skull the Slayer and his allies
who had been pulled back through the vortex encountered
Slitherogue and the Tower of Time. As a result of an encounter
with Skull, a robot in the form of the original Black Knight of
Camelot rebelled against Slitherogue and killed him. With his
death, Slitherogue caused the Tower to collapse, destroying all
of the robots in it. (Skull the Slayer#6-8) - Skull and his allies were then captured by a
tribe of Incas (or Aztecs) who had also been pulled through the
warp some time ago. The leader of the tribe, the Jaguar Priest,
sought to kill Skull the Slayer and take his belt of power.
(Marvel Two-In-One#35, 36) - However, a hero of the modern era, the Thing, was pulled back
through the warp. The Thing freed the four prisoners, and between
their two damaged planes they managed to escape the warp back to
the modern era. The Jaguar Priest and a few of his pteradons
followed them, but were defeated. Comments: Created by Marv Wolfman and
Steve Gan. I'd like to see the Scorpians investigate the destruction of the Tower of Time
and initiate another invasion of Earth. Slitherogue's race is identified as the
Scorpians in Jim Scully's entry in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel
Universe A-Z#9. It was Bill Mantlo who wiped out Slitherogue
and the Tower of Time. I'd be interested in learning what Marv
Wolfman and/or Steve Englehart had planned for them. Despite the description that Skull and his
allies spent 2 years in the warp, I'd say they were there days,
to weeks at best. The 2 years represents the "real
time" between the start of the series in 1975, and the
follow-up in MTIO in 1977. The stories in Skull were virtually
continuous over a few days, and MTIO picked up a very short time
after the last issue.
Pureheart, a being composed of the dark emotions of the world, accumulated
and took form in the Bermuda Triangle. There was a tribe in the Savage Land, @
Cyclops#3, which was formed from a group of people who came there
through a portal in space. Cyclops wonders if this is what
happened to the people who were lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
There certainly could be more than one portal, etc., but I'm
betting that no one involved in that story has ever read the
Skull the Slayer series. The Soul
Survivors of Sylos VII were life energy vampires living on an island near
the Bermuda Triangle. In She Hulk I#2, there is an appearance of a Atlantean
named Count Tupo wanting salvage rights to a spaceship that went down in the
Bermuda Triangle. Clarifications: As far as I know, there is no connection between this City of
Gold and El Dorado, the legendary City
of Gold , @ Avengers I#30. The Sky-Riders were a group of samurai
riding atop pteradons. They attacked the City of Gold, and were
fought off, but the distraction allowed the Jaguar Priest to
ambush Viracocha II and retake control of the City. --Skull#8 Last updated:
11/02/07 Any Additions/Corrections? please
let me
know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
This is also confirmed in Jim Scully's entry in the All-New
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#9
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