KUR
(please note that these stories are from Epic, part of a more mature line and may not be appropriate for everyone)
Official Name: Kur
Location: Novum Terra, in the region that would become New Mexico, United States of America, in North America;
active circa 10,000 - 9000 B.C. (Hyborian era)
Residents (and presumed creators): The Dark Lords (Eeyod, Hemuth,
Koth and Zepharr)
Defense: The Dark Lords' magical power, supplemented via the power of Kaok through the Living Orb
Visitors: Sacrificial victims, including Ath'agaar and Ren
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel#11: Void Indigo (1984)
History:
(Marvel Graphic Novel#11: Void
Indigo (fb) - BTS) <Perhaps 10,000 BC> - Nine gleaming citadels
-- including Erok, Baalat, Kerei, Tzerama -- arose from
desert stone and sand in the continent known, at least to some
outsiders, as Novum Terra. 
Each citadel was a kingdom unto itself, at war with all the others, until the coming
of the Dark Lords, alleged survivors of Atlantis, who conquered all
nine mighty armies with their mystic powers (described as "fire from their hands").
The Dark Lords united the citadels
in
servitude and, from the ebon towers of their stronghold, Kur, they
ruled for 1000 years. During this time, the citadel-dwellers had
nothing to fear but the Dark Lords' wrath, but they also lacked any
aspiration beyond the gratification of their dulled senses.
(Marvel Graphic Novel#11: Void
Indigo (fb) - BTS) - Barbaric tribes from
the "glaciated Northlands," seeking to avoid the advancing ice and led
by the chieftain Ath'Agaar, pillaged the enslaved cities, seizing power
by sheer, brute force. Ath'Agaar led the conquering of Kerei, Baalat, Tzerama, Erok.
(Marvel Graphic Novel#11: Void
Indigo (fb) - BTS) - Ath'Agaar established his palace and Erok, and he
proclaimed himself King of Erok.
(Marvel Graphic Novel#11: Void
Indigo (fb) - BTS) - Considering
that they had weakened with age and that Kur might fall
next, the Dark Lords -- via guidance given to Toth via the Living Orb
-- began sacrificing their followers to Kaok: They
decreed that half of the young men and young women in the five citadels
still under their rule were to make a pilgrimage to Kur. With each
sacrifice, the wizards called upon the power of Kaok and they regained
some small measure of their lost vigor. However, they ultimately found
it to be not enough, even after sacrificing
thousands.
Considering that those they had enslaved had become too tame, they
resolved to instead capture Ath'Agaar himself.
(Marvel Graphic Novel#11: Void
Indigo (fb)) - Some nights later, the Dark Lords ambushed Ath'Agaar in his bedchamber in Eerok's palace amidst
passion with his lover, Ren, transporting the pair to Kur.
The
Dark Lords fatally tortured Ren for nearly 24 hours before Koth finally
delivered the deathstroke; her vital force was expended as agony and
greedily devoured by the Dark Lords. They similarly tortured Ath'Agaar
for three days, and as death hovered over him, Koth -- ignoring
Ath'Agaar's vow to hunt down their souls and claim vengeance --
hammered a jeweled spike through his forehead and into his brain.
Wishing to maximize the power they would gain by putting Ath'Agaar
on the pyre freshly after his demise, the Dark Lords undid his chains,
but then Ath'Agaar -- while not truly conscious but animated by his
soul, which refused to abandon its mortal shell -- opened his eyes,
pulled the jeweled spike from his forehead and charged about
mindlessly. When he approached the Living Orb, Koth fired a magic bolt
that severed Ath'Agaar's hand from his wrist. However, the hand and the
jeweled spike went flying into the Living Orb, shattering it.
The ruptured Orb spewed forth a cloud of force
that engulfed the domed chamber and all within it -- their bodies
flayed and their bones ground to powder -- before similarly destroying
the walls of Kur, reducing the fragments to ebon granules. With nothing
to contain it, the dark force spread over the land, destroying all of
the nine citadels formerly ruled by
the Dark Lords, including Erok. Within hours, the entire civilization
was obliterated.
(Marvel Graphic Novel#11: Void
Indigo (fb) - BTS) - The jeweled spike artifact
that had destroyed the Living Orb was carried away almost 1000 miles,
"nearly to the sea," ending up in what is now North Hollywood, California.
Comments: Created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik.
VOID INDIGO
- The
Void Indigo stories -- creator-owned by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik --
referenced Zhered-Na and Sominus, both creations of Gerber and Mayerik
back in the (Adventure into) Fear series.
- Marvel
Graphic Novel#11 / Void Indigo has the aged Dark Lords Eeyod, Hemuth,
Koth and Zepharr invoke "Kaok, lord of Sominus, whose seed spawned
Zhered-Na in the world's dark womb" and call upon his power via blood
sacrifice. They sacrificed thousands of young men and women from their
five citadels under their rule, regaining some small measure of their
lost vigor. Seeking greater power, they then tortured and sacrificed
the barbarian chieftain Ath'agaar and his lover Ren for greater levels
of power.
- The
graphic novel Void Indigo references Atlantis and the Great Cataclysm
(with the Dark Lords being survivors of pre-Cataclysmic Atlantis) and
the above conflict took place circa 9000 BC, fitting in with the
Hyborian era. An artifact from the conflict was mystically borne nearly
1000 miles away (almost to the sea), ending up in what is now North
Hollywood, California. The region that is now North America was known
as Novum Terra
in the Hyborian era and was minimally referenced in the Conan stories.
- The glaciered northland from which Ath'Agaar originated could be northern Canada, or it could even be the Arctic.
- The
end of the Hyborian era, which featured another lesser Cataclysm (not
to be confused with the lesser Cataclysm that followed the Great
Cataclysm (circa 18,000 BC) that again affected Earth's topography, is
usually placed around 8000 BC, but it's not an even year, and it makes
sense that the rupturing of the Living Orb and the energies unleashed
that wiped out all evidence of the Dark Lords' nine citadels could have
gradually spread across Earth and contributed to the post-Hyborian
Cataclysm.
- There
was a six issue follow-up Void Indigo series planned, but it was
cancelled after only two issues. The scripts for issues #3-6 can be
found here.
- The modern portions of the Void Indigo story does not reference other modern aspects of Earth-616.
- Ultimately,
there is no official
ruling on Void Indigo...for whatever reason, I didn't review the series
until someone told me in March of 2022 that Zhered-Na was referenced in
it, which led to my appreciation of all of this material. I was
therefore unaware of this information when I wrote the Zhered-Na
profile for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.
- Having
reviewed the Void Indigo graphic novel and series/scripts, it my assessment is that there are elements of Reality-616
present in this storyline, which would either make them the same
reality or just a reality with common elements. However, there is
nothing to exclude it from being Reality-616, and when that's the case,
I would certainly not err on the side of exclusion. I think it would add nicely to the tapestry that is Reality-616..
- I think it would fit perfectly -- even if
likely not what was intended at the time of publication -- to have the modern Void Indigo stories
locked into 1984, the time in which they published, rather than being
part of the sliding timescale. That would have them taking place
decades before the Fantastic Four's space flight.
- Regardless,
it is interesting to consider Zhered-Na's connection to Kaok and
Sominus.
- Specifically, it says that Kaok's seed spawned Zhered-Na. That
would seem to make him her father, although "seed" could also refer to
his child, making Zhered-Na his granddaughter.
- Sominus being a realm of
demons puts an interesting spin on Zhered-Na, who was a benevolent
sorceress worshipping the god Valka.
- Clearly there's more to the
story, but tragically, Steve Gerber passed years ago, and we can't ask
him.
- I
talked to Val Mayerik, but unfortunately, he doesn't remember the
details. But, I'm hoping that doing these profiles may jog his
memory...
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Kur has no known connections to:
- KUR - pawn of Sphinx/Anathna-Mut--Nova I#6
- other "Kur" characters, groups, items, events, races or places...
images: (without ads)
Marvel Graphic Novel#11: Void Indigo, pg. 4, panel 4 (woman on sacrificial altar);
pg. 5, panel 1 (Citadel-dwellers traveler to Kur);
pg. 17 (Kur exploding)
Appearances:
Marvel Graphic Novel#11: Void Indigo (1984) - Steve Gerber (writer), Val Mayerik (artist), Laurie Sutton (assistant editor), Archie Goodwin (editor)
First posted: 09/01/2024
Last updated: 09/01/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please
let
me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and ©
1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff,
you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at:
http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to
www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Back
to Groups