LUNATIC LEGION
Membership: Arjai-Ush, Fer-Porr, Kay-Sade, Sro-Himm, Tohn-Bil, Zarek
Agents: A Living Laser robot, Nimrod, Nitro
Purpose: Overthrowing the Supreme Intelligence, stopping the interbreeding between the Kree and other races, restoring the Blue dominance of the Kree Empire, executing Mar-Vell
Affiliations: Formerly Uatu the Watcher;
duped into false alliance with the Supreme Intelligence
Enemies: Ant-Man (Hank Pym), Captain Mar-Vell, Rick Jones, the Supreme Intelligence, Wasp, Kree interbred with other races
Base of Operations: Currently unrevealed;
last seen on planet Kree-Lar;
formerly the ancient Kree city in the "Blue Area of the Moon
," on Earth's moon
First Appearance: (Mentioned) Captain Marvel I#34
(September, 1974);
(seen (as distorted images) Captain Marvel I#37 (March,
1975);
(clearly seen, some members identified) Captain Marvel I#38
(May, 1975)
(Captain Marvel I#38 (fb) - BTS / (Captain Marvel I#39 (fb) - BTS) - The Lunatic Legion feared Uatu the Watcher, whose home was within that same city, would oppose them. However, Uatu, having become intoxicated by his recent direct involvement in the adventures of Earth heroes, had actually become jealous of Mar-Vell for having become the Protector of the Universe, the life he wished. Uatu welcomed the Legion, agreeing to help defeat Mar-Vell
(Captain Marvel I#34 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#8: Nitro / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition#9: Nitro) - The Lunatic Legion detected the broadcasts of eccentric ham radio operator Robert Hunter and chose him as their agent. They converted him (the most difficult of their converts) to their cause, promising him great power in exchange for his services in their criminals activities. They took Hunter to a hidden orbiting genetics laboratory where they genetically and atomically re-engineered his body, giving him the power to explode and re-form at will and named him Nitro the Exploding Man.
(Captain Marvel I#34 - BTS) - The Lunatic Legion contacted Nitro, sending him to acquire the dangerous nerve gas, Compound Thirteen. Captain Mar-Vell defeated Nitro by temporarily dispersing his atoms, but was exposed to the nerve gas. Initially recovering, he would eventually develop cancer from this exposure, which would prove to be fatal.
(Captain Marvel I#37 (fb) - BTS) - The Lunatic Legion created the robot Nirmod.
(Captain Marvel I#35 (fb) - BTS / Captain Marvel I#37 (fb) - BTS) - The Lunatic Legion created a robot duplicate of the Living Laser, using a processed and ground moon rock as part of its laser weapon. The robot posed as the original and served as one of their field agents.
(Captain Marvel I#35 - BTS) - The Lunatic Legion sent the Living Laser robot to kill Rick Jones (who at the time was linked to Mar-Vell, each trading places between the Earth dimension and the Negative Zone), but it was destroyed by the Wasp and Ant-Man (Hank Pym).
(Captain Marvel I#36 - BTS) - Uatu the Watcher revealed that
his own home served as the base of the Lunatic Legion. Uatu further claimed that
when Mar-Vell came there to defend himself from the Lunatic Legion, he would see
that it was actually Uatu himself that desired his demise, and that he would be
forced to murder Mar-Vell.
(Captain Marvel I#37) - Ant-Man and the Wasp told Mar-Vell
that the Living Laser had referenced serving the Lunatic Legion, and further
explained to Mar-Vell that the word Lunatic was derived from "Luna," the moon,
before showing him a ruby from the Living Laser's weapon that was actually a
processed chunk of moon rock like that brought back by astronauts.
Mar-Vell departed for the moon soon after, and was assaulted
by Nimrod as soon as entered orbit. Mar-Vell's cosmic awareness told him that
Nimrod was a robot, and Mar-Vell swiftly destroyed it. However, as he arrived on
the moon, his senses were thrown off by Rick, who had semi-unwittingly taken a
psychoactive drug a friend had given him as "Vitamin C." Uatu then confronted
and attacked Mar-Vell, easily incapacitating his off-balance form. Uatu brought
Mar-Vell to a table, and the Lunatic Legion approached from the shadows.
(Captain Marvel I#38) - Zarek and his allies strapped the
disoriented Mar-Vell into a Protonic Disintegrator, designed to destroy mind and
body alike, but Mar-Vell exchanged places with Rick Jones, and his "opposite
mental polarity" proved immune to its effects. Wishing to slay Mar-Vell via the
traditional Protonic Disintegration method, the Legion chose not to kill Rick
Jones, but rather to figure out how to retrieve Mar-Vell from the Negative Zone.
Meanwhile, Mar-Vell purged himself of his delirium and then changed places with
Rick again, catching the Legion by surprise. Deciding that killing Mar-Vell
would be even more enjoyable than an execution, Zarek and Sro-Himm allowed the
other four members to attack him. Though
initially still off-balance, Mar-Vell soon found that Rick's mind was now actually
merged with his own, further increasing his speed and strength, and he took out
the four Legion members. Waiting until Mar-Vell was distracted, Zarek and
Sro-Himm ambushed him, clanging his Nega-Bands together and forcing him to
change places with Rick again. Rick was held helpless, but he and Mar-Vell then
joined their wills and forced the exchange without clanging the Nega-Bands. Mar-Vell
broke free and ducked Zarek's punch, which knocked out Sro-Himm, and he then
decked Zarek. Zarek begged Uatu for aid, but Uatu stood passively as Mar-Vell
knocked out Zarek.
Uatu apologized for his actions and summoned other Watchers,
who brought him back to Watcherworld for a trial over his breaking the Oath of
Non-Interference.
(Captain Marvel I#41 (fb) - BTS) - The Lunatic Legion departed the moon, returning to Hala. There the Supreme Intelligence summoned them, pretending to agree to an alliance to defeat Mar-Vell, when it really knew Mar-Vell could easily defeat them. Its true motive was to bring Mar-Vell and Rick Jones to its presence, that it might assimilate the human Rick Jones via his connection to Mar-Vell in order to kick start its own dead-end evolution.
(Captain Marvel I#41) - Mar-Vell traveled to Hala, met with the Supreme Intelligence, and told him of the Lunatic Legion's plot, but the Supreme Intelligence revealed that he had known it all along as the Lunatic Legion stepped from the shadows. However, with his powers amplified by directly merging with Rick, Mar-Vell made short work of the Lunatic Legion. The Supreme Intelligence revealed its motives, but Rick and Mar-Vell thwarted its efforts, and it transported them away.
Comments: Created by Jim Starlin, Steve Englehart, Al Milgrom, and Klaus Janson.
Take a look at the two pictures of the Lunatic Legion above. Now look down at Fer-Porr. There was no one who looked like him in the Lunatic Legion. As Mar-Vell breaks free from the four other members--with Zarek and Sro-Himm watching from above--Zarek calls out to Fer-Porr. You can't see which he is talking to, but it's three bald (or shaved head) guys, and one with a skullcap. Perhaps Fer-Porr shaved his head and beard so that they could show as much blue skin as possible? But then why did one wear a skullcap? Maybe he was cold...
I don't see any reference to Nitro's origins in Captain Marvel I#34, but the OHotMU: Deluxe Edition lists that as his origin. I think it was extrapolated in the OHotMU, but I could have just missed it.
In Captain Marvel I#35-36, it seemed as if it were the real Living Laser who had been made into a cyborg by the Lunatic Legion (specifically mentioning that he was still partly human, but the Laser's OHotMU Master Edition entry confirmed that to have been merely a robot. You'd think an ol' roboticist like Hank Pym would know the difference, but I guess the advanced Kree technology could have fooled him.
Six members of the Lunatic Legion are seen in Captain Marvel I#37-38, but only three are ever identified.
The 3 unidentified members of the Lunatic Legion received names in the Lunatic Legion entry in All-New OHotMU Update#4.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Zarek's Lunatic Legion was the inspiration for, but should be distinguished
from:
Fer-Porr should be distinguished from
Next to nothing is known of Fer-Porr, though he and the three other unidentified members seemed subordinate to Zarek & Sro-Himm
-- (Behind the Scenes) Captain Marvel I#34, (unclearly seen) Captain Marvel I#37, (fully seen and identified) Captain Marvel I#38, (unshaven appearance shown) Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition#7: Kree (Captain Marvel I#38 (fb) - BTS, 34 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#8: Nitro - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition#9: Nitro - BTS, [34-36], 37-38, 41 (fb) - BTS, 41
Sro-Himm was an admiral in the Kree militia prior to joining the Lunatic Legion. He and Zarek seemed to have some degree of authority over Fer-Porr and the remaining members. It was Sro-Himm's idea to force Mar-Vell's Nega-Bands together to force him to change places with Rick Jones, who might be more easily subdued.
He wore a thin suit which granted him enhanced strength, sufficient to restrain Rick Jones even while Jones wore his strength-enhancing space armor
-- (Behind the Scenes) Captain Marvel I#34, (unclearly seen) Captain Marvel I#37, (fully seen and identified) Captain Marvel I#38 (Captain Marvel I#38 (fb) - BTS, 34 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#8: Nitro - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition#9: Nitro - BTS, [34-36], 37-38, 41 (fb) - BTS, 41
images: (without ads)
Captain Marvel I#38 cover (fighting Mar-Vell)
#41, p8, panel 3 (faces)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition#7: Kree (face shots of
Fer-Porr & Sro-Himm)
Other Appearances:
Captain Marvel I#34 (September, 1974) - Jim Starlin (script and pencils),
Steve Englehart (dialogue), Jack Abel (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Captain Marvel I#35 (November, 1974) - Steve Englehart (plot), Mike
Friedrich (script), Alfredo Alcala (artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Captain Marvel I#35 (November, 1974) - Steve Englehart (plot), Mike
Friedrich (script), Alfredo Alcala (artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Captain Marvel I#36 (January, 1975) - Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin, T.
Orzechowski, Bill Mantlo, Roy Thomas;
most of the issue is a reprint of Marvel Super-Heroes II#12
Captain Marvel I#37-38 (March-May (bi-monthly), 1975) - Steve Englehart
(author, co-plotter), Al Milgrom (artist, co-plotter), Klaus Kanson (inks), Len
Wein (editor)
Captain Marvel I#41 (November, 1975) - Steve Englehart (author,
co-plotter), Al Milgrom (artist, co-plotter), Bernie Wrightson, Russell, Bob
McLedo, Al Milgrom (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
First Posted: 06/19/2006
Last updated: 06/19/2006
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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