RED SHIFT
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Extra-terrestrial mutate
Occupation: Herald of Galactus
Group Membership: Galactus' heralds (Fallen One, Silver Surfer, Air-Walker, Air-Walker android, Firelord, Destroyer, Terrax, Nova (Frankie Raye), Morg, Johnny Storm, Stardust) - not generally a formal team, but a succession
Affiliations: Galactus, United Front (Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Kree, Nova (Richard Rider), Peter Quill, many others)
Enemies: Annihilation Wave (Annihilus, Ravenous, Seekers, Centurions, Currs, etc.), Galactus, Alicia Masters, Silver Surfer
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Galactus' World Ship
First Appearance: Galactus: The Devourer #1 (September 1999)
Powers/Abilities: Red Shift possesses the power cosmic, which was granted to him by Galactus. He is able to open dimensional rifts and portals across vast distances and send things through them. He uses this to his advantage to redirect meteors, energy blasts, and even black holes. He wields two cosmic swords, which his abilities are apparently quite dependent on, and has control over the entire electromagnetic spectrum. He can fly at incredibly fast speeds, survive unaided in the vacuum of space, and presumably has incredible strength as well due to his power cosmic.
Height: 6' 4"
Weight: 250 lbs.
History: Nothing is known of Red Shift before his first
appearance, except for that at one point, for unknown reasons, he came to
Galactus and became his herald.
(Galactus: The Devourer#1) - Galactus, who was starting to go nuts and beginning to only be able to get sustenance from planets with sentient life, sent his new herald, Red Shift, to find him a planet to devour.
(Galactus: The Devourer#2) - Red Shift attacked and trapped Silver Surfer and Alicia Masters. He opened a dimensional rift, and sent a meteor, which he channeled through the portal from another place, hurtling at Surfer and Masters. The Silver Surfer blasted the meteor into pieces. Surfer then realized that he recognized Red Shift's energy. Red Shift went on to reveal that he was Galactus' new herald. Red Shift also explained that the life force Galactus had been consuming was poisoning him, yet he had to consume more and more of it. Red Shift said that he needed to find Galactus more planets, and that Earth was next. Surfer tried to blast Red Shift, but Red Shift redirected it to hit Alicia. Surfer then sent Alicia back to Earth, and Red Shift opened another portal with a black hole on the other end, and Surfer and Red Shift both entered the portal. They fought back and forth until Red Shift tried to escape and leave Surfer behind. He opened a portal to escape, but Surfer destroyed one of Red Shift's swords and held on to the other one. Surfer then escaped and left Red Shift behind.
(Galactus: The Devourer#3) - Galactus reveals that Red Shift had already set him on a course for Earth before he was destroyed.
(Annihilation: Silver Surfer#2 (fb) - BTS) - Red Shift escaped back into the physical universe.
(Annihilation: Silver Surfer#2 (fb) - BTS) - Red Shift joined forces with Firelord to oppose Annihilus' Seekers, who thought to capture and dissect them to learn of the Power Cosmic.
(Annihilation: Silver Surfer#2) - Red Shift and Firelord aided the Silver Surfer against some of the Seekers, after which they joined forces to oppose Annihilus.
(Annihilation: Silver Surfer#3) - Stardust appeared before Firelord, Red Shift, and the Silver Surfer, taking the Surfer's place alongside the others in exchange for the Surfer heeding the summons. Red Shift tried to keep the calm between Stardust and Firelord, asking the former to ignore the latter's provocation, "Firelord is an acquired taste." As soon as the Surfer departed, several ships of the Annihilation Wave arrived to attack them. The three heralds fought back fiercely
(Annihilation#1) - Red Shift, Stardust and Firelord fought in the orbit of Daedalus 5 the forces of the Annihilation Wave.
(Annihilation#2) - Red Shift and Stardust were called by Peter Quill down to the surface of Daedalus 5 to help against the Annihilation Wave forces led by Ravenous.
(Annihilation#3) - During the fight on Daedalus 5 Red Shift was the first to realize that the planet was lost to the Annihilation Wave. Together with Stardust he cleared a path to the emergency ships to give their allies the chance to escape. When Annihilus activated Galactus, who Thanos had turned into a weapon for him, Red Shift and Stardust bought their allies enough time to escape by blocking the attack for a few seconds. Red Shift was seemingly killed during this.
Comments: Created by Louise Simonson and Jon J. Muth
Red shift refers to the strategy used by astronomers to
determine if a celestial body is moving toward or away from earth. If an
astronomical object is moving away from the Earth, its light will be shifted to
longer (red) wavelengths, thus the name red shift. In my opinion, we just might
see Red Shift again, but on the other hand, I'm always the optimist.
CLARIFICATIONS: Red Shift has no connection to:
images: (without ads)
Galactus: The Devourer#2, p7, pan2 (main image)
Annihilation#3, pg. 19, panel 2 (resisting Galactus-weapon beam)
Appearances:
Galactus: The Devourer#1-3
(September-November, 1999) - Louise Simonson (writer), John Buscema
(pencils), Bill Sienkiewicz (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Annihilation: Silver Surfer#2-3 (July-August 2006) - Keith Giffen (writer),
Renato Arlem (artist), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Annihilation#1-3 (October-December, 2006) - Keith Giffen (writer), Andrea Divito (artist), Andy Schmidt (editor)
First posted: 05/06/2003
Last updated: 07/26/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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