KARTU KON

Real Name: Kartu Kon

Identity/Class: Extra-terrestrial (race unknown) (Pre-Modern Era)

Occupation: Explorer

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: His fellow explorers; Henry Morrison

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: The fourth planet orbiting the star Antares; originally from another unidentified galaxy

First Appearance: Astonishing#56/2 (December 1956)

Powers/Abilities: None clearly defined, but it seems that Kartu Kon had some form of telepathy as he was able to establish a mental link and transmit his life experiences to the sleeping mind of Earthman Henry Morrison, who interpreted the unearthly visions to be nightmares. Possibly Kartu Kon was transmitting a telepathic distress call to his comrades and Morrison just "tuned in" to it by chance.

 

 

History:
(Astonishing#56/2 - BTS) - Alien explorer Kartu Kon crashed his ship on the fourth planet orbiting the star Antares. Injured, he crawled from the wreckage and trekked through the hostile environment, where he encountered such menaces as fierce winds, searing heat, an invisible creature that appeared only as a pair of disembodied eyes, an electrically charged lake of cold fire, and creatures that were nothing more than living intelligent vibrations. All the while, Kartu Kon fought on to return to the underground base where the rest of his exploratory team was sheltered.

(Astonishing#56/2) - On Earth, Henry Morrison found himself plagued with nightmares--dreams of being lost on a world so hostile and frightening that he couldn't sleep (unbeknownst to Morrison, he was somehow reliving the experiences of Kartu Kon). As the lack of sleep was taking its toll upon him because of his fear of dreaming, Morrison consulted a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist told Morrison that no matter how much he feared his dreams, he must see his trials through to the conclusion.

The next morning, the rested Henry Morrison awoke to find his nightmares ended, and he felt like a new man.

Meanwhile on the alien planet, Kartu Kon finally returned to his home base where he was welcomed back by his companions who had given him up for lost; his nightmares were over, as well.

Comments: Created by an unknown writer and Jack Kirby..

It is unknown to what race Kartu Kon belonged; in all the story panels where they appeared, he and his compatriots were only shown in their space-suits.

Their forms were humanoid, and it was mentioned that they were from another galaxy. My guess is that they could have been Kree (and "Kartu Kon" does sound kind of like a Kree name to me).

Henry Morrison experienced Kartu Kon's telepathic SOS to his fellow explorers in nightmares due to a mental link. Similarly Professor X (Charles Xavier) experienced a nightmare of an alien spacebattle in X-Men I#97 (February, 1976) and received a vision of the alien (Lilandra Neramani) that had been haunting his dreams in X-Men I#102 (December, 1976 )---since the Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#7 (June, 1985) said Lilandra had limited telepathic abilities perhaps Henry Morrison or Kartu Kon have limited telepathic ablities too or they both could have Xavier class telepathic abilities or Kartu Kon's suit or helmet could amplify his telepathic abilities to above Xavier class telepathic abilities so that Henry Morrison only needed to have similar brainwaves (see Yandroth who can possess others whose brainwaves are similar to his) to receive Kartu Kon's SOS.
--Gammatotem

Autocron Ten-For had similar communication with someone (Mr. Price) from Earth.
--Gammatotem

Profile by John Kaminski

CLARIFICATIONS:
Kartu Kon has no known connections to:

  • Kor-Konn, an ally of Attuma @ Sub-Mariner I#4
  • or any other characters with similar sounding names

Kartu Kon's fellow explorers

An exploratory team made up of at least three other members (none identified) who took shelter underground to avoid the harsh conditions of the alien planet. They had given up on the missing Kartu Kon until he managed to make his way back to the base.

--Astonishing#56/2

 

 

 

Henry Morrison

A salesman living a seemingly ordinary life, Morrison found himself afraid to dream because of the nightmares he suffered while sleeping. Unbeknownst to Morrison, he was somehow mentally linked to Kartu Kon and his "dreams" were actually the life experiences of the alien who was lost on a hostile world in another star system. When Kartu Kon returned to his comrades, the mental link to Morrison was apparently broken and Morrison's nightmares ended.

--Astonishing#56/2

 

 

 

images:
Astonishing#56, p5 pan1 (main image)
  p5, pan3 (head shot)
  p8, pan6 (other explorers)
  p7, pan1 (Henry Morrison)

Appearances:
Astonishing#56/2 (December 1956) - Jack Kirby (artist), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 01/29/2006
Last updated: 05/31/2020

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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