Earth-M
(a.k.a. "Earth-Moebius"
but that is somewhat of a misnomer and,
considering its origins, simply "M" for "Mainstream"
or "Movies" would seem appropriate)
Identified as Earth-7888 in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universes: Alternate Universes 2005
HISTORY
CHARACTERS
First
Age
First Appearance: "The Silver Surfer" -
trade paperback copyright 1978 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, 124
pages, ISBN 0-671-22821-8.
Created by: Stan Lee (writer) and Jack Kirby (artist)
History:
(fb) - At some unspecified time in the past, on far-off planet
Zenn-La, Norrin Radd agreed to serve world-destroyer Galactus to save his planet
and was turned into the Silver Surfer.
(fb) - When Shalla-Ball, Norrin Radd's
previous lover, saw him as the Surfer, she first failed to
recognize him, then became terrified of him.
(fb) - In undisclosed circumstances, Galactus acquired Shalla
Ball's DNA.
Galactus releases the Surfer in deep space; the sky-rider later
discovers Earth. In New York, he meets a woman who reminds him of
Shalla Ball. He decides to save Earth from Galactus and battles
his master; neither is able to truly vanquish the other. Galactus
sentences his herald to exile on Earth.
The Surfer modifies his appearance to look like a famous Male Model, then wanders about
the city. He is mugged by three street punks and reverts to his true
form.
Meanwhile, irked by his herald's rebellion, Galactus summons his Master of Guile, who suggests
he calls forth a female. From Shalla Ball's DNA, Galactus creates
a clone, golden-skinned Ardina, whom he imbues with
cosmic powers.
While Galactus ponders the fate on Earth from the Moon, Ardina
takes the Surfer on a tour of Earth to demonstrate the
unworthiness of the human race. His Master of Guile attempts to
convince Galactus to kill the Surfer and let him replace him, but
Galactus refuses - he grudgingly admires the Surfer's decision to
take a stand for what he believes in, even at the cost of his
life.
On Earth, the Surfer and Ardina visit a suburban neighborhood in
the Midwest. Two residents, Cosgrove and Lindstrom, are bigots who
react with hostility and aggression; not so the Kemperers who - though
incredulous at first - offer their hospitality.
The two aliens then depart; the Surfer collides into Galactus'
barrier while Ardina is summoned back by her creator and
confesses she has now fallen in love with the Surfer - something
Galactus had not planned for.
Meanwhile, the Surfer roams around Earth, being attacked by a
variety of Earthmen: Russian military, peasants, monks, South
Americans, and worshipped by an African tribe. Eventually, a
secret unit of the CIA uses "Plan Lorelei"
to begin to drain his cosmic power - with near fatal results, had
he not been rescued by Ardina at the last moment.
Ardina reveals her true feelings; they make love. In the morning,
Galactus dispatches the Matrix which created her and, despite
their attempt to escape, she is reassimilated or reabsorbed
within the Matrix and "dies".
The Surfer then bargains with Galactus that he will serve him
again if Galactus swears to spare Earth. Galactus agrees. The
Surfer rejoins his master.
Comments: Stan Lee told the undersigned that this book
was based on a treatment he had written (or conceived of) in an
attempt to sell a Silver Surfer movie to Hollywood, to which Jack
Kirby would have been attached to provide designs. Consequently,
the story took place on an ordinary Earth, with no Fantastic
Four, no Watcher, no super-heroes, no magic, no colorful past
history, and likely none of the other elements or characters that
comprise the Marvel Universe as we know it.
Interestingly, this is the ONLY Marvel book featuring Marvel
characters that was NOT copyrighted "Marvel Comics Group"
in its original edition but instead copyrighted "Stan Lee
and Jack Kirby". Unless Marvel rectified that situation in
later editions, one might consider that original characters such
as Ardina and the Master of Guile are therefore a Lee/Kirby
property, not a Marvel one.
There are certain variations between the versions of the
characters of Galactus, the Surfer and Shalla Ball as depicted in
this book and their regular Marvel Universe versions - there are
reviewed in their respective characters files.
Images: Cover by Jack Kirby, painted by Earl Norem.
Second
Age
First Appearance: "The Silver Surfer:
Parable" - hardcover copyright 1988 by Stan Lee and Moebius,
70 pages, ISBN 0-87135-491-8.
Created by: Stan Lee (writer) and Moebius (artist).
History:
(fb) A "young" Elyna saw the Silver Surfer fight
Galactus.
Astronomers discover that a giant spaceship is approaching Earth.
Panic spreads, especially in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, the Surfer leads a lonely life, passing himself off as
a homeless man, in the ghettos of Los Angeles. He is being
harassed by three LAPD officers when the ship
lands and Galactus reveals himself. He claims he has come to
offer mankind a better world if they agree to worship him.
Charismatic religious televangelist Colton Candell and his sister Elyna watch as Galactus
reveals himself. Colton sees an opportunity and declares himself
the apostle of Galactus-the-God, claiming to have summoned him to
Earth by his prayers. But the religion of Galactus is one of
chaos and society begins to crumble. Anarchy reigns.
The Surfer chooses to reveal himself to expose Galactus as a
false god. Colton rejects him, but Elyna embraces his vision. The
Surfer challenges Galactus, asking him why he broke his pledge
not to attack Earth, to which Galactus replies that he has not,
the Earthmen are destroying themselves.
While the world media watch, the Surfer and Galactus engage in
battle, causing much devastation to Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, despite Elyna's words of reasons, Colton has become
intoxicated with power and tries, in vain, to communicate
telepathically with Galactus. The Mayor of Los Angeles comes to
visit in an attempt to protect the city but is rebuffed by
Colton's fanatic Chief Disciple. Elyna steals
the Mayor's helicopter in an attempt to reach the Surfer but is
shot by one of the Disciple's guards.
Elyna, wounded, loses consciousness and dies when her helicopter
crashes; the Surfer might have rescued her if he had not been
struck by Galactus, who thus displayed his total lack of
compassion before the world media.
While the Surfer mourns Elyna, the world now rejects and turns
against Galactus. The U.S. president orders his airforce to
attack him, which they do just as Galactus was about to crush the
Surfer. Realizing he has now lost his battle for the hearts and
minds of Mankind, Galactus releases the Surfer and goes.
The U.N. would enshrine the Surfer instead, but realizing the
danger for Mankind to rely on anyone else but itself, the Surfer
instead proffers words of contempt who turn the crowd against
him; only Colton understands he has done so on purpose, and begs
him to come back, but the Surfer leaves to return to his
loneliness.
Comments: The undersigned (who was co-editor on this
book) was told by Stan Lee that he (Stan) wanted to do another
stand-alone Surfer adventure, very much like the earlier Kirby collaboration, outside the regular Marvel Universe. Vague words
about Hollywood were also mentioned.
Elyna's words about having seen the Surfer fight Galactus when
she was young (about twenty years before?), the Surfer's own
words to Galactus about their previous battle and the world
devourer's pledge to not attack Earth, are certainly evidence
that this story, if not conceived at this stage as a direct
sequel to the previous book, could be construed as one. Hence the
third book planned
in the series which made it official.
The only discrepancy would be to reconcile the fact that the
Surfer was seen rejoining Galactus at the end of the Kirby book,
while he's eking out a miserable existence on Earth when the
Moebius book opens, but certainly it is conceivable that, after
having used the Surfer, Galactus being already depicted as more
spiteful in the Kirby book, and perhaps following advice given to
him by the resentful Master of Guile, would have simply
redeposited the Surfer on Earth, exiling him once again...
We are treating the hardcover edition as the definitive edition
because (a) it was planned first, and (b) it contains an extra
page to the story, even though the story was first published as
two separate regular newsprint comic books (to humor Moebius who
wanted to see a real comic book with his name on it).
Images: Painted cover by Moebius.
Third
Age
First Appearance: Cyberspace 3000 #1 - Marvel UK
(July, 1993)
Created by: Created by Gary Russell, Steve Tappin, and
Michael Eve.
History: (Cyberspace 3000#3 (fb)) Young Kathisul Evin was able to
access ley-lines, dragon paths, and other such mystical forces.
She worked as a tracker for a survey team. She brought them to a
warrior chieftain's burial mound on Fandor Island. It was
hundreds of years old. Brushing against a drawing, she apparently
set off an explosion. She was unharmed, and was confronted by a
stony figure, possibly Fandor himself. The stony figure enslaved Kathisul
Evin. She was not freed until she became Galactus' herald, Dark
Angel.
(Cyberspace 3000#1-3) <30th Century> A dimensional rift
brought the Galactus of Earth-M to Earth-Guardians of the Galaxy.
Galactus saw the Sol III (see comments) and sent Dark
Angel to inform its crew that he would be feeding on their ship's
energies.
The Keeper (the Earth-Guardians of the Galaxy's counterpart of
the Silver Surfer) then confronted Galactus. The Keeper did not
realize that this was an alternate Earth's Galactus.
Using the power of Shan O'Meara (a crewman of
the Ark, also the "Cosmic Messiah"), Dark Angel
returned Galactus to Earth-M. However, she became stuck in the
universe of the Guardians of the Galaxy and remained there.
(Cyberspace 3000#4) - Dark Angel continued to
struggle against the Keeper, who sought to stop her from allowing
Galactus to continue to feed on planets (The Keeper had long ago
managed to satiate Galactus' appetite in his own timeline). Dark
Angel eventually revealed the truth to the Keeper, but she was
then weakened as the insectoid Trilexia began to pass through the
same wormhole through which she and Galactus had passed.
(Cyberspace 3000#5) - Dark Angel, Galactus, and
the Keeper returned to Sol III, where Dark Angel stopped the
sentient computer of the ship, which had become corrupt and was
trying to kill its crew; Dark Angel hinted that the threat might
only be over temporarily. After healing Shan from his injuries
sustained at Sol III's hands, Dark Angel and Galactus prepared to
return to Earth-M. Shan successfully opened the portal, through
which Galactus passed, but when the Trilexia returned and
attacked Shan, Dark Angel remained on the Earth-Guardians side of
the portal, saving Shan and driving off the Trilexia, but being
trapped in the Earth-Guardians dimension. She then kissed Shan,
offering to stay with him, and he accepted.
Dark Angel of Earth-Morbius's saga
continues under her sub-profile: Kathisul Evin
Comments: CYBERSPACE 3000 was a tale centered around an
Earth Space Ark called "Sol III" from Earth-691 (Guardians
of the Galaxy future). This ark left Earth around the time when the
Badoon took over and set off to find a new world. This Dark Angel
was the Dark Angel of Earth-Moebius, not the original, eponymous
Marvel UK heroine (Shevaun Haldane) who had gained her powers
from Algernon Crowe's Mys-Tech.
Footnotes in the Cyberspace series confirm
Dark Angel and Galactus as having been from Earth-Moebius.
The fact that there was magic on Earth-M, as shown in the
flashback of the creation of Dark Angel, would seem to violate
the premises set up for Earth-M, but one might theorize that the
kind of magic displayed in the story remains within the
boundaries of "credible" magic, as it may also exist on
our own Earth (e.g.: ley lines, Holy Grail, etc.), as opposed to
the more fantastic magic of the regular Marvel Universe.
Images: Cover by Steve Tappin
Fourth
Age
First Appearance: "The Silver Surfer: The
Lost Adventure" (written/partially drawn in 1998 -
unpublished - see Comments)
Created by: Jean-Marc Lofficier (writer) and J.O. Ladronn
(artist)
History:
(fb) - Even though he was eradicated from the timelines of the
regular Marvel Universe, the evil essence of the Overlord managed to survive
and reincorporate itself into the universe of Earth-M, where it
again embarked upon its past of universal conquest. As Doctor
Strange says, "EVIL such as the Overlord can never be
truly EXPUNGED! It can only be BANISHED, to reappear ELSEWHEN --
Where hate and bitterness provide a FRESH SOIL for its seeds!"
(fb) - After a gargantuan struggle, the Overlord kills Galactus,
the only being who could oppose him in that universe.
(fb) - The Overlord attacks Earth with his alien armies. Irena Candell (the daughter of
Elyna) leads the human resistance. They launch a Thunderbolt
Missile, but in vain. The Overlord captures Irena.
(fb) - The Overlord captures the Surfer of Earth-M and turns him
into a cyborg. "This SURFER should be drawn in a Moebius
style so that he looks thinner and maybe a little taller than the
regular version. The major difference, however, is that he has
spikey, Borg-like implants going into his skull." The
Surfer states: "He would have KILLED me had it not amused
him to OWN the Herald of Galactus!"
(fb) - Gaea implore Doctor Strange to go to the rescue of Earth-M:
"If ONE Earth falls, ALL life will be diminished…
ALL Earths will wither and DIE…"
Note: This takes place when Strange was still the blue-faced
"Master of the Mystic Arts" around Doctor Strange I #180.
Gaea says: "You are my ONLY hope -- my ONLY DEFENDER!"--
Strange likes the sound of that.
Strange enlists the help of the Surfer and Iron Man.
Note: This takes place just after Silver Surfer I #18 when
the Surfer had sworn revenge upon Mankind. A series of events,
not recapped here, then pit him in conflict against SHIELD and
Iron Man, but the sacrifice of a new character BILL BUTLER aka
VANADIUM, showed him that he was wrong: "I have learned
that the road to REVENGE is filled with ONLY death and MINDLESS
DESTRUCTION... And you, my friend, have shown me the quality of
MERCY!"
Strange is weakened by the energies he spent to cross the
dimensions. He tells the Surfer and Iron Man they must rescue
Irena.
In his citadel, where Los Angeles used to be, the Overlord's
entourage includes Skrulls, Aakon and the Kree Super-Sentry (from
Captain Marvel I #16). As Iron Man and the Surfer attack, the
Super-Sentry releases the Surfer-M.
While Iron Man fights the Super-Sentry, the Surfer fights the
Surfer-M. Iron Man defeats the Super-Sentry and frees Irena. The
Surfer manages to "cleanse" the Surfer-M. They escape.
Irena tells the Surfer and Iron Man the history of the coming of
the Surfer-M to her world - fb to the Kirby and Moebius books. When asked
about other super-heroes, she states, "We NEVER had any
such things on our world... My uncle once mentioned a DR.
RICHARDS, famous for his research on COSMIC RAYS. Maybe he was
the man you mean..."
Meanwhile, Doctor Strange prepares to open an Omega Warp:
"It opens onto the very end of time itself -- TOTAL
ENTROPY!"
Irena: " But who has the POWER to create such a thing?"
Strange: "Only a God -- or a GODDESS! The living spirit
of Earth spans the entire life of the Universe -- GAEA exists at
the END of time as she did at its BEGINNING! SHE will open the
warp for us!"
Strange then tells Irena: "GAEA can only respond if she
is summoned by the Mage Supreme of that dimension --YOU are this
Earth's SORCERESS SUPREME -- Your uncle's [Colton Candell] CHARISMA
came from the same source. You have the same VAST, latent, mystic
powers!"
A final battle begins. The Surfer-M sacrifices his life to
transform himself into a pure, elemental ball of sheer cosmic
energy and pushes the Overlord into the Omega Warp. "And
in that last, quantum fraction of time, as ETERNITY itself
expires, the evil flame that was the OVERLORD is finally snuffed
out."
Comments: The "Silver Surfer: The Lost Adventure"
was commissioned and contracted for by Marvel from J.M. Lofficier
(the undersigned) and J.O. Ladronn when Ladronn agreed to sign an
exclusive agreement with Marvel in 1997. The script was written,
edited and paid for. Then, Ladron drew five pages in 1998. Then
the authors were notified that Marvel had chosen to cancel the
project. Some material can be viewed on JM Lofficier's site here.
TSS:TLA officialized the fact that the Moebius book was a direct
sequel to the Kirby book, and also connected Earth-M to the
regular Marvel Universe. It also functioned as a sequel to Silver
Surfer I #6 and Silver Surfer I #18, explaining why the Surfer
had eventually decided to abandon his vow of revenge and forgive
Mankind. Finally, it also worked as a prequel to the later team
of the Defenders.
I don't know why there is not a Marvel Fanfare
series or some other venue for all of these great inventory
stories that Marvel has stacked up! I'd love to see this series
become a reality!
--Snood.
Images: Unpublished art by Ladronn.
"Profile by" Jean-Marc Lofficier (yes, that Jean-Marc
Lofficier!--Snood) and Doc Savage and Snood (Cyberspace 3000).
Last updated: 10/11/05
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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