MILLENNIA BLOOM

History:
(Captain Marvel I#41) - An intergalactic insect-form pollinated the Millennia Bloom on an asteroid near Deneb IV.

(Captain Marvel I#42) - Passing some Millennia Bloom Shabby Dayes told Mar-Vell and Rick Jones about the foolish plant, which only bloomed every thousand years. He told them it was the season of the Millennia Bloom.

(Captain Marvel I#46 (fb)) – Planned to be his final victory in the 4-stage plan to destroy Mar-Vell and Rick “Jonzz”, the Millennia Bloom was conveniently blooming exactly when the plan would come to fruition.  

    Mar-Vell and Rick arrived on Supremor’s dreadnought and were immediately separated, where they were each weakened by fighting his physical form. The plan was to then use the Bloom to remove their consciousnesses, leaving them as mindless drones to be programmed by the Supreme Intelligence. 

    Seconds before the flower was in full bloom, Rick was able to thwart Supremor's plans by launching a missile attack on Hala's sun. The attack caused a massive sun flare, stopping every Kree machine in the vicinity, including those on Kree-Lar and those on Supremor's drednaught.

(Ms. Marvel I#19) – Supremor was smart enough to lock the Bloom in stasis once it had fully bloomed, so that he was later able to attempt to use it to gain control of Mar-Vell’s power, this time within the husk of Ms. Marvel’s body. Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel were both captured by Ronan the Accuser, who then exposed Carol to the Bloom while holding Mar-Vell in custody. However, the plan did not work, as Ms. Marvel’s psyche was previously split in two by the Psyche-Magnitron, and all the Bloom was able to do was correct the split.

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont (writer), Al Milgrom (pencils) and Terry Austin (inks).

    There was never any indication as to why the Millennia Bloom's effects were stopped when all of the Kree's machines were silenced. The Bloom is said to be in a far corner of the chamber within a case of S'Dharian crystal. Yet, since the angle and positioning of the Bloom relative to Mar-Vell and Rick Jones were never shown, it is altogether possible that the Bloom and its case were actually being held in a corner of a compartment adjacent to the prisoners, and doors were held retracted to expose them. If this were true, when the Kree's machines were stopped from the sun flare, the doors would have shut, stopping the exposure, possibly placing the Bloom back in stasis so that it could be used later.

    If the Bloom was automatically placed back in stasis, and held there until it was to be used again, it could also be stipulated that Supremor had collected the Bloom long ago, and placed it in the same stasis system just before it began to bloom, so that he could use its powers at a later date.

    Really, a continuity error arises if only the panels shown are strictly considered. The Bloom should have continued to drain Mar-Vell and Rick of their souls, regardless of the status of the Kree machines. At the same time, Supremor shouldn't have disappeared once the flare had happened either. At least that error could be explained by the possibility all Kree were knocked unconscious by the flare, including both Supremor bodies that were fighting the prisoners. This idea is further supported by the fact that Mar-Vell was unconscious but Rick was not after the flare.

    Thanks to Markus Raymond for adding Captain Marvel I#41-42.

Profile by Peteparker (Nathan). Expanded by Snood

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Millennia Bloom has no known connections to:

• Millennias (New Universe) - name used by the Justice Brigade--Justice I#19
• Millennium - worked for Special Executive - killed by Wardog--Dr. Who I#57
• Millennium Monarch - extraterrestrial prophet--Thor II#23
• Millennius - powerful immortal humanoid entity--Silver Surfer/Thor Annual 1998
• Astrid Bloom - mutant who manipulated Emma Frost--Emma Frost#13
• Mr. Bloom - father of Astrid--Emma Frost#15
• Mrs. Bloom - mother of Astrid - maiden name Chilton--Emma Frost#15
• Luann Bloom - nurse to Nighthawk - actually a robot created by Tribunal--Defenders I#98
• Bloom Industries - weapons technology manufacturer--Deathlok Annual#2
• Tracer - a.k.a Richard "Rick" Bloom - cyborg with "reprogrammable" powers--Deathlok Annual#2
• Baluchistan Century Planet - bloomed once a century, seeds could be used for hallucinogenic effect--Young Allies I#20
  
• or any other "Millennia" or "Bloom" characters/items

images: (without ads)
Captain Marvel I#41, pg. 18, panel 9 (pollinated);
    #42, pg. 5, panel 2 (field)
    #46, p8, pan5 (plant);
        pg. 12, pan7-8 (plant, rainbow bloom)

Appearances:
Captain Marvel I#41 (November, 1975) - Steve Englehart (plot/script), Al Milgrom (plot/pencils), Bernie Wrightson, Craig Russell, Bob McLeod, Terry Austin & Al Milgrom (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Captain Marvel I#42 (January, 1976) - Steve Englehart (plot/script), Al Milgrom (plot/pencils), Frank Giacoia, Mike Esposito & Bernie Wrightson (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Captain Marvel I#46 (September, 1976) - Chris Claremont (script), Steve Englehart (co-plot), Al Milgrom (co-plot/breakdowns), Terry Austin (finishes), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Ms. Marvel I#19 (August, 1978) - Chris Claremont (writer), Carmine Infantino (pencils), Bob McLeod (inks), Roger Stern (editor)

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

First Posted: 06/10/2010
Last Updated: 04/09/2023

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