VAL-LARR

Real Name: Val-Larr

Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Luminian) humanoid

Occupation: Warrior

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Iron Man (Tony Stark)

Enemies: Collector (Taneleer Tivan), Shadow Demons, Shar-Khan;
    formerly Iron Man

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Champion of Great Luminia

Base of Operations: Luminia, in the Dark Dimension (see comments)

First Appearance: Iron Man I#26 (June, 1970)

Powers/Abilities: Val-Larr had great strength, and was tough enough to come back from a punch in the face from Iron Man.

He wielded the Solar Sword, which may have augmented his strength.

Height: Unrevealed (7'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blond

History:
(Iron Man I#26 (fb) - BTS) - In the Dark Dimension (see comments), the Wizard-Lord Shar-Khan armed his hordes of Shadow Demons with Shadow Spikes, then sent them to conquer the Citadels of Light. One by one, the Citadels fell before the barbaric creatures, until only one Citadel remained: Luminia.

(Iron Man I#26 (fb)) - The scientists of Luminia created the Solar Sword to counter the weapons of the Shadow Demons; as the champion of champions, Val-Larr was selected to wield the Solar Sword, to defend the realm of Luminia, and to rally the Legions of Light against the forces of Shar-Khan and his Shadow Demons.

(Iron Man I#26) - The Collector captured Happy and Pepper Hogan and took them aboard his spacecraft, planning to add the Freak to his collection. But Iron Man arrived and convinced the Collector to allow him to obtain an equally worthy replacement. The Collector displayed an image of the Solar Sword, then transported Iron Man to the Dark Dimension and dispatched him to search for the Sword.

   As Iron Man began his quest, he was almost immediately beset by the Shadow Demons, who saw him as an enemy due to the light emitted from his chest-plate's vario-beam. The flying Demons damaged Iron Man's vario-beam and threatened to overwhelm him, but a reprieve came in the form of Val-Larr, who used the Solar Sword to blast the Shadow Demons off the armored Avenger. Together, Val-Larr and Iron Man drove off the Demons.

   After the battle, Val-Larr explained the history of Luminia and presented the shining city to him; but Iron Man--though it made him feel really guilty--demanded that Val-Larr surrender the Solar Sword to him.

   Suspecting Iron Man of actually being an agent of Shar-Khan, Val-Larr fought back savagely. Their struggle was observed by a pair of Shadow Demons, who realized that with Val-Larr thus occupied, he couldn't use the Sword against them. The Shadow Demons returned to Shar-Khan and notified him of this, and soon Shar-Khan was leading the forces of shadows in a full-scale attack. When Val-Larr was distracted by the sight of the Shadow Horde, Iron Man flattened him with a devastating two-handed wallop and took the Sword.

   Iron Man returned to the Collector and gave him the Solar Sword, but while the Collector did release Happy (and Pepper, too), he then proceeded to use the Sword to try to recapture the lot of them. Suddenly, the Sword began to glow brightly and lash strongly, and the Collector found himself unable to release it.

   Fearing that the brightly glowing Sword would soon explode with nova-like force, the Collector begged Iron Man for help; after the Collector had promised to honor his requests, Iron Man took him and the Sword into the realm of Luminia. Iron Man returned the Sword to Val-Larr, and its amplified energies were channeled forward in a blast that nearly unseated Shar-Khan, forcing him and his horde to retreat.

   By the time Val-Larr turned to give his tentative thanks to Iron Man, both he and the Collector were gone, having returned to Earth's dimension.

Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin and Don Heck.

Good thing the Collector betrayed Iron Man, or Stark would have been responsible for the slaughter of Val-Larr and the people of Luminia, when Shar-Khan and his forces overran them!
    That's the difference between Iron Man and most other heroes. Captain America or Spider-Man would have been much less likely to actually take the Sword. They would have found another option...in most cases.

If the Collector hadn't betrayed Iron Man, Iron Man would have kept the letter of his word to the Collector, but once his friends were safe, he could have overpowered him and returned the Sword to Val-Larr. It wouldn't have been the first time Iron Man had thusly "kept a deal" with a murderous villain; see his first battle with the Unicorn in Tales of Suspense I#56.
--Xodlirv

Val-Larr himself, the Solar Sword, the kingdom/world of Luminia, and the ghoulish big bad Shar-Khan. They seem to almost presciently hit a lot of the major checklist items that make up the "space opera barbarian hero" action toy lineups from the '80s (He-Man, Thundercats, Crystar, etc).
--astrocitizen

It was unclear if Val-Larr's Dark Dimension is related to Dormammu's Dark Dimension, although it is entirely possible that Luminia is a small city within Dormammu's realm--I'm sure a talented writer like Kurt Busiek could come up with a big story that would tie it together with some of the dimensions listed in CLARIFICATIONS, along with all the characters who utilize the Darkforce (e.g. Black Mamba, Blackout, Shroud, etc.)

And Val-Larr and his Solar Sword remind me of my favorite 1980s Saturday morning cartoon: Thundarr the Barbarian (Thundarr wielded the Sun Sword) -- both Steve Gerber and Jack Kirby worked on the production of Thundarr after they left Marvel.
--Ron Fredricks

Profile by Snood. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Val-Larr has no known connection to:

The Dark Dimension has no known connection to:

Luminia has no known connection to:

The Solar Wave has no known connections to:

Shar-Khan has no known connection to:

Dark Dimension

A gloomy realm of darkness without end, it was an extradimensional reality which could be accessed from Earth via vibrational attunement.

Although it had a breathable atmosphere and its physical properties were essentially Earth-like, the Dark Dimension had decreased levels of photonic energy compared to Earth; however, there were still particles of solar energy which existed unseen and unfelt in its dark-cloaked atmosphere.

There were humanoid inhabitants who populated an unspecified number of Citadels of Light, but the Wizard-Lord Shar-Khan had conquered them and transformed the people into Shadow Demons; the last remaining Citadel of Light was known as Luminia.

The Collector transported Iron Man to the Dark Dimension, and sent him on a quest to find the Solar Sword of Luminia, which was wielded by the warrior Val-Larr.

--Iron Man I#26 (26 (fb), 26

Luminia

The last Citadel of Light within a dimension of perpetual darkness, its inhabitants struggled to maintain its light and to fight off the evil within the shadows, specifically the Shadow Demons under the lead of Shar-Khan.

The people of the city of Luminia were human in appearance. It is unrevealed whether they possessed any additional physical abilities--Val-Larr's strength may come entirely from the Solar Sword, or he may be of abnormal power.

The other Citadels of Light had fallen before the growing ranks of Shar-Khan, but as the fist of darkness tightened around Luminia, its scientists created a counter-weapon: the Star Sword. Molded from a rare element, exhausted in its making, the blade was given to a champion of champions, Val-Larr, who used it to rally the forces of Luminia for a last stand.

The rest of the forces of Luminia wielded less powerful Lances of Light, which could still pain the shadowy beings who attacked their Citadel.

--Iron Man I#26 (26(fb), 26

Solar Sword

Created by the scientists of Luminia from an unspecified element that was rare in the Dark Dimension, it was given to Val-Larr as a counter-weapon against Shar-Khan and his Shadow Demons.

The Solar Sword absorbed ambient light and enabled its user to release it in the forms of blasts or strobes; Val-Larr was seen using it to cut through rocks, so perhaps it augmented his strength as well.

In a realm such as the light-poor Dark Dimension, it was a potent weapon; but in an Earth-like dimension, where there was so much more solar energy, it quickly became overloaded with light, and seemingly threatened all around it with the possibility of eventually exploding with nova-like force.

--Iron Man I#26 (26(fb), 26

Shadow Demons

Inhabitants of the Dark Dimension, they were formerly a barbaric race dwelling in the shadowy majority of the realm surrounding Luminia. The Wizard Lord Shar-Khan welded them into a single disciplined force, and sent them to conquer the Citadels of Light. They could fly via the wings on their backs.

They wielded Shadow Spikes, weapons devised by Shar-Khan. When they touched their victims with their Shadow Spikes, the victims were transformed into Shadow Demons themselves, and joined the very ranks of those they once fought. The Shadow Spikes were unable to penetrate Iron Man's armor, but they were able to damage his chest-plate's vario-beam.

When Val-Larr fought against Iron Man for possession of the Solar Sword, the Shadow Demons informed Shar-Khan that Luminia's champion was thus occupied,  so Shar-Khan led the Shadow Demons in an all-out assault against Luminia.

However, after Iron Man returned the Sword at the last second, Val-Larr unleashed a powerful blast that forced Shar-Khan to take his forces and flee.

--Iron Man I#26 (26(fb), 26

Shar-Khan

Wizard-Lord of the shadowy portions of the Dark Dimension outside Luminia, he welded the loose barbarian hordes of the Shadow Demons into one disciplined force, and he armed them with the deadly Shadow Spikes.

He led his horde and overwhelmed the other Citadels of Light, leaving only Luminia; however, before his forces could overcome it as well, Luminia's scientists developed the Solar Sword, which its champion Val-Larr used to rally its forces, and hold off its attackers.

When Val-Larr fought against Iron Man for possession of the Solar Sword, Shar-Khan led his shadow horde in an all-out assault against Luminia. After Iron Man had taken the Sword, Shar-Khan himself shattered Val-Larr's Lance of Light and prepared to finish him off. However, Iron Man returned the Sword at the last second, and Val-Larr unleashed a powerful blast that forced Shar-Khan to take his forces and flee.

 

Shar-Khan could possibly manipulate the Darkforce. He rode a winged lizard-beast, and carried a black battleaxe which could shatter a Lance of Light. He created the Shadow Spikes that his Shadow Demons wielded.

--Iron Man I#26 (26(fb), 26

images: (without ads)
Iron Man I#26, p9, pan1 (main image - Val-Larr)
Iron Man I#26, p10, pan8 (headshot - Val-Larr)
Iron Man I#26, p11, pan9 (Val-Larr with Solar Sword)
Iron Man I#26, p6, pan6 (Collector's ship materializes in Dark Dimension)
Iron Man I#26, p12, pan2 (Luminia; Val-Larr, Iron Man [foreground])
Iron Man I#26, p10, pan9 (in Val-Larr's narrative flashback, Luminia warrior with Lance of Light)
Iron Man I#26, p11, pan7 (in flashback, Luminia scientists create Solar Sword)
Iron Man I#26, p11, pan8 (in flashback, Val-Larr receives Solar Sword)
Iron Man I#26, p9, pan1 (Shadow Demons)
Iron Man I#26, p15, pan1 (two Shadow Demons watch as Iron Man battles Val-Larr)
Iron Man I#26, p16, pan1 (Shar-Khan leads Shadow Demons)
Iron Man I#26, p19, pan4 (Shar-Khan)
Iron Man I#26, p19, pan5 (Shar-Khan gets blasted by Val-Larr's Solar Sword; Collector, Iron Man [background])

Appearances:
Iron Man I#26 (June, 1970) - Archie Goodwin (writer), Don Heck (pencils), Johnny Craig (inks), Jean Izzo (letters), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 11/22/2003
Last updated: 02/21/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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