SWORD of ICY FIRE
This is a partial/starter profile to build upon as I progressively review the Dreadstar series
Classification: Magic item
Creator: Aknaton
User/Possessors: Kalla Dreadstar, Vanth Dreadstar
First Appearance: Epic Illustrated#1 (Spring, 1980)
Powers/Abilities/Functions: The Sword can absorb solar or other enegies and channel it into its wielder, granting him or her superhuman qualities, or the wielder can release the energies as devastating force as needed.
Vanth could absorb the sword within his body and then call it forth and wield it as needed.
History:
(Epic Illustrated#1/7 (fb) - BTS) - Aknaton presumably created the Sword of Icy Fire
(Epic Illustrated#1/7 (fb)) - On Byfrexia, an outer planet of Vega, Aknaton left a Sword of Icy Fire, knowing that someday one would come to claim it.
(Epic Illustrated#1/7 (fb)) -
(Epic
Illustrated#3/3 (fb) - BTS) <only inferred in this story> - In a holy place known as the Ice Demon's Lantern, Vanth found and took possession of the Sword of Icy Fire, a
powerful weapon left there 100,000 years before by Aknaton of Orsiros.
(Epic Illustrated#15/4: Dreadstar)
- The sword filled Vanth with fire and ensured his survival in the
harsh environment while increasing his strength to that of 20 normal
men.
(Epic Illustrated#3/10) - After Vanth summoned the sword and finished off the A-Team mercenary squad, Aknaton was surprised that Vanth could absorb the sword into his body and then summon it as well, as that was not something he had planned into it.
(Epic Illustrated#8: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapters XII: Dreamsend) - Within Aknaton's Hall of Death and Mercy, accessed via the planet Dreamsend, Vanth summoned the sword to hold off the Zygotean mercenaries so that Juliet, Whis'par, and Za could blow the Infinity Horn.
(Epic
Illustrated#9) - As the Zygotean mercenaries threatened to overwhelm
them, one of their blasts got
past Vanth's sword and blew off Aknaton's right arm at the elbow. After
Aknaton warned that he couldn't help much longer, Vanth -- taking a
radium laser shot into the leg in the process -- told Aknaton he had to cover him
better or they were finished.
(Epic Illustrated#9 - BTS) - Soon after, Juliet, Whis'par, and Za blew the Infinity Horn.
(Epic Illustrated#9 (fb) - BTS) - Aknaton created a mystical sphere to protect himself and Vanth from the forces being unleashed, as well as placing them into a deep state of suspended animation.
(Epic Illustrated#9 - BTS) - The
Horn destroyed the Milky Way galaxy.
(Epic
Illustrated#9/2 - BTS) - Over a million years (as the nature of Aknaton's spell
would not allow the bubble to travel as fast as the speed of light),
guided by Aknaton's astral ego, Aknaton's sphere carried he and Vanth
to the planet Caldor in the star system Chalfalon in the Empirical
galaxy, 500,000 light years from the Milky Way.
Goaded by Aknaton, Vanth slew and buried him.
(Marvel Graphic Novel#3: The Metamorphosis Odyssey Book Three: Dreadstar) - After considering that all that remained was himself, the sword that he had carried for years, and the horror that he felt for having commited galacticide, Vanth futilely hoped that leaving one behind would free him from the other, and so he stuck the sword in the ground and walked away.
(Marvel Graphic Novel#3: The Metamorphosis Odyssey Book Three: Dreadstar - BTS) - Less than a mile away, Vanth's strength deserted him, and he collapsed from a radium laser blast he had taken back in the Hall of Death and Mercy.
Located by the People, Vanth was brought to their
Village to the company of the only other "human" they knew, Delilah.
Vanth's power -- and perhaps Delilah's care -- allowed him to recover
from the radiation, and she helped him recover his sanity. They fell in
love and were married.
(Marvel Graphic Novel#3: The Metamorphosis
Odyssey Book Three: Dreadstar) - One night as Vanth lay beside Delilah,
unable to sleep due memories of his past, the sword returned to him.
Calling it "old friend" and noting that he had thought he had seen the
last of it, Vanth considered that is was perhaps better this way, as it
ws really too much a part of him to leave behind, that he may have need
of it some day, and that it was too dangerous to leave behind. As he
reabsorbed
it, he told it, "You and I will both rest better knowing that you're safely hidden away inside my soul."
As Delilah awakened, Vanth told her that he was just remembering something that he thought he had forgotten, but that it had come back to him in a dream.
Decades later, Syzygy Darklock came to Caldor, met with Vanth and
earned his interest if not trust by noting his awareness of the sword
within him. The two spent a few years regularly meeting until Monarchy
forces -- acting on decades-old and inaccurate intelligence --
slaughtered the People and slew Delilah. Confronting the sole remaining
member of First Nova Squadron, Lt. Sandorz,
whose craft had crashed, Vanth learned the reasons for the assault
before summoning his sword and shattering Sandorz's ship and tearing
his body to pieces.
Vanth spent the next two years
infiltrating the Monarchy military and rising to the rank of Captain
Dreadstar until getting promoted to the Royal Palace's military
liaison
office in Jewelcity, Jewelworld. Almost immediately after his arrival,
he made his way to King Nellor's chambers, and when the royal cyborg
guardians tackled him, Vanth summoned the sword and slaughtered them
when they refused to let him pass. Wielding the sword, Vanth shattered
Nellor's chamber doors and then vengefully and brutally slaughted
Nellor.
Vanth subsequently wielded the sword to confront
Nellor's nephew and successor and coerce him into accepting an alliance
and bringing about an end to the Monarchy-Instrumentality War.
(Epic Illustrated#15/4: Dreadstar) - On Tortorelzor (the Rock) as part of Plan M, Vanth summoned the sword when they were challenged by a quintet of the Deacons of Deltor, absorbing the energy fired from the Deacons' batons. Ultimately Vanth and Oedi successfully stole the cargo ship they sought, renaming it the Big Bundle.
Comments: Created by Jim Starlin.
Dreadstar / Reality-8116 primer
In most cases, if not shown, the
sword is behind-the-scenes in Dreadstar's appearances, as it is
absorbed into his body.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Sword of Icy Fire should be distinguished from:
images: (without ads)
Epic Illustrated#1: Metamorphosis Odyssey Chapter I: Aknaton, pg. 6, panel 1-4 (creation of "Woodworlders";
instillation of racial memory within humanity; introduction of
potential to care in Tyjorians; placement of sword on Byfrexia);
#3/10: Metamorphosis Odyssey Chapter VI: The Meeting, pg. 5, panel 1 (Vanth first shown with the sword);
pg. 6 (with Sword in action vs. A-Team mercs);
back of hardcover - black sword image
Marvel
Graphic Novel#3: The Metamorphosis Odyssey Book Three: Dreadstar, pg. 2, panel 6 (leaving sword in the ground);
pg. 11, panel 1 (sword returning to Vanth);
pg. 28, panel 1 (flyer and body destroyed)
Appearances:
Epic Illustrated#1: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapter I: Aknaton (Spring, 1980) - Jim Starlin (writer, artist), Stan Lee
(editor)
Epic Illustrated#3: Metamorphosis Odyssey VI: The Meeting (Fall, 1980) - Jim Starlin (writer, artist), Stan Lee
(editor/publisher), Archie Goodwin (editorial director), James Shooter (consulting editor)
Epic Illustrated#8: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapters XII: Dreamsend (October, 1981) - Jim Starlin (writer, artist), Stan Lee
(editor/publisher), Archie Goodwin (editorial director), James Shooter (consulting editor)
Epic Illustrated#9: Metamorphosis Odyssey, Chapter XIII: Doomsday & XIV: Aftermath (December, 1981) - Jim Starlin (writer, artist), Stan Lee
(editor/publisher), Archie Goodwin (editorial director), James Shooter (consulting editor)
Marvel Graphic Novel#3: The Metamorphosis Odyssey Book Three: Dreadstar
(1982) - Jim Starlin (writer/artist), Archie Goodwin & Jo Duffy
(editor)
Epic Illustrated#15/4: Dreadstar (December, 1982) - Jim Starlin (writer, artist), Stan Lee
(editor/publisher), Archie Goodwin (editorial director), James Shooter (consulting editor), Jo Duffy (associate editor)
First started: Sometime before 04/26/2018
First posted:
Last updated: 12/04/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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