STAR-GODS

Membership: Frobbank (Loga), Mcm-Xli (aka Hilda, Brunnhilde), Satorymho (Donar, Xepdgin (Froh)

Purpose: Presumably some unspecified scientific study; the males served as warriors under Brain Drain's control

Aliases: Star-Gods,  Brunnhilde, Donar, Froh, and Loga were aliases

Affiliations: Former pawns of Brain Drain (Werner Schmidt);
    while bereft of her memory, "Hilda" was sweet on Captain America (Steve Rogers)

Enemies: Brain Drain (Werner Schmidt), Invaders (Captain America/Steve Rogers, Human Torch/Jim Hammond, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Toro/Thomas Raymond)

Base of Operations: Currently unrevealed;
    formerly Brain Drain's base near the Siegfried Line (the World War II version, see comments);
    formerly the Tekeli-Li nebula-cruiser, mobile throughout the universe;
    formerly planet Tun (third from the sun), S'vihn-Hoont star system, Ring Nebulae (M-57)

First Appearance: Invaders I#1 (August, 1975)

History:
(Invaders I#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Axi-Tun Mcm-Xli served both as navigator of the nebula-cruiser Tekeli-Li and as mate to her three crewmen, to help relieve the monotony of their lengthy space voyage.

(Invaders I#2 (fb)) - <"Long months" before late December, 1941> - The Tekeli-Li crash-landed near Germany's Siegfried Line, and the energies released in the resultant explosion destroyed the body of Nazi soldier Werner Schmidt.

(Invaders I#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Axi-Tun crew saved Schmidt's brain and eyes, preserving them in a transparent tank and attaching it to a humanoid metal body.

(Invaders I#2 (fb)) - The Axi-Tun crew awakened Schmidt and equipped him with hearing devices, after which their discussions informed him they were from a far off nebula. Thinking Schmidt was no threat to them, they showed him their vessel's energy source, a strange glowing ring-like object (the "Ring of the Nebulas") designed to magnify the power of any mechanical device. Schmidt's cybernetic nature led the ring to increase his own brain waves, enabling him to cast the four Axi-Tun into a deep trance; he soon claimed the ring and enslaved the aliens.

Schmidt (taking the designation Operative A.1416, aka Brain Drain) renamed the male Axi-Tun after Germanic/Teutonic gods Donar, Froh, and Loga (see comments) from Wagner's Ring operas, which were Hitler's favorite operas.

(Invaders I#2 (fb)) - Enamored of Mcm-Xli, Schmidt renamed her Brunnhilde, after the Valkyrie from Wagner's Ring operas; however, Mcm-Xli either had more will power than the males, or the ring's power affected her less, and she rebuffed Schmidt, stealing the ring from him and fleeing.

(Invaders I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Schmidt retained his augmented mental powers, which allowed him to maintain control of the Axi-Tun males, and his increased intelligence made him invaluable to the Nazi party, allowing him to establish an underground bunker near the Siegfried Line.

(Invaders I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Bereft of her memories but retaining the ring, "Hilda" made her way to London, England.

(Invaders I#1) <Late December, 1941> - Amidst a Nazi bombing of London, England -- which the Invaders aided the Royal Air Force in driving off -- Bucky noticed "Hilda" standing within an imminently collapsing building, and directed Captain America to her aid. Cap tackled her out of harms way and protected her from falling debris with his shield, noticing her dropping a ring in the process. As she apparently could not recall ever having seen the ring before, Cap noted her eyes were golden and felt she was not lying. She vaguely recognized the name Brain Drain when when of the British soldiers mentioned his name, and upon being questioned, she identified herself as "Hilda" (she thought); Cap, the Torch, and Namor all noted her slight German accent while each felt differently about whether she was a German spy. As the Invaders discussed Brain Drain with the British soldiers in front of some maps, "Hilda" pointed to a familiar spot, though the charts seemed so different from her own; she asked to see the location and look for possible landmarks. Though they all suspected a trap, Cap, Torch, Namor, and Toro departed with Hilda in Namor's ship to the Siefried Mile. As they approached a crater Hilda recognized, their ship was stuck by Donar's axe, which sent the ship flying out of control and causing them to bail out: Torch, Namor, and Toro flew to safety, while Cap descended rapidly in his parachute to catch Hilda when hers failed. He saved Hilda, and the Torch saved them from a painful landing with a thermal updraft. As the ship landed on its own, Namor and the Torches were warned by Froh, Donar, and Loga to turn back or perish.

(Invaders I#2) - Namor, the Torch, and Toro squared off against Donar, Loga, and Froh, respectively and relatively ineffectively. Meanwhile, Cap took Hilda into a cave for protection, and they were drawn to a near-kiss by gazing into each other's eyes until they were taken prisoner by Nazi soldiers and brought into an underground bunker (which Hilda recognized) under Brain Drain's direction. Assuming Hilda to have betrayed him, Cap fought past the Nazi soldiers and assaulted Brain Drain who stunned him with an electric shock when Cap paused upon unveiling his transparent tank brain case. Brain Drain questioned Hilda on the Ring's location, but her memory continued to fail her, and when Cap asked what was going on, Brain Drain explained (giving Cap the time he needed to recover) how he came to command the Star-Gods. This information caused Hilda to remember her past, and she continued to resist Brain Drain's will, refusing to love any human, let alone something like him. Brain Drain then sensed and reclaimed the ring from Captain America's belt, and used the energies to drain Donar, Froh, and Loga's life energies as punishment for Hilda's contempt. The three Axi-Tun males briefly weakened and began to fall before their opponents, but Hilda then rushed forward, tore the ring from Brain Drain's hands and cast it into a tank of corrosive "eerie blue-green waters."
    As the Axi-Tun males' power returned, the dissolution of the ring's outer casing led to a rapid energy build-up from the tank. Now knowing what she had been and with her ship totally destroyed, Mcm-Xli decided she could not abide living on the backward, savage Earth, and elected instead to perish, in the process, using her powers to prevent Brain Drain from perverting their science. As she prepared for the atomic fires to consume herself and her crewmen, Mcm-Xli, Brain Drain told her he had done everything for her, and she leapt into the corrosive tank, convincing Brain Drain to join her therein. The Axi-Tun males then abandoned their battles, returned to the base, and joined Mcm-Xli within the waters, now glowing crimson with seething, barely contained energies. As the Invaders fled in Namor's ship, the four Axi-Tun willed themselves into oblivion by fusing their own latent powers with that of the now destroyed Ring of the Nebula. They seemed to almost recreate the ring for an instant, until the energies reached critical mass and a localized nuclear explosion destroyed the base and almost everything in it (see comments).

 

 

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Frank Robbins, and Vince Colletta.

    The Star-Gods were identified as members of the Axi-Tun race in original the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#5’s Appendix to Alien Races: Humanoid Aliens...which is the first time the Axi-Tun race is identified.

    Mcm-Xli = MCMXLI = Roman Numeral for 1941

    S'vihn-Hoont...schweinhund...get it?

    The two part story in Invaders#1-2 (originally intended as the second Giant-Size Invaders issue per a note at the end of Invaders#1) was entitled "The Ring of the Nebulas" - a play on Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Ring_des_Nibelungen - Roy and Dann Thomas were inspired by seeing it in Manhattan.

    Per Brain Drain's flashback, he only provided the Germanic names of the Star-Gods; they already looked and dressed the part.

    Siegfried Line - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Line

    "Tekeli-Li" is apparently the language of at least some of the Old Ones (or Great Old Ones, I can't keep track) of Lovecraftian lore: http://www.yankeeclassic.com/miskatonic/danthropology/papers/shoggoth.htm

    From the limited research I did, Donar was spelled Donner, and Loga was spelled Loge, but the names may have been anglicized/bastardized in translation or something.

    Brain Drain's brain and the transparent tank that held it survived not only the destructive fluid, but the subsequent nuclear explosion as well.

The real names for Froh, Donar and Loga were revealed in the Axi-Tun entry in FF: Fifty Fantastic Years#1 (November, 2011).

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Axi-Tun Space Gods have no known connection to:

BRUNNHILDE

 

Real Name: Mcm-Xli

    She presumably had some degree of superhuman strength and durability and may have been able to generate clouds and lightning bolts. She could fly and manipulate energies to some degree.

    Serving as both navigator of the nebula-cruiser Tekeli-Li and as mate to her three crewmen, Brunnhilde was aboard the ship when it crashed to Earth and participated in preserving Werner Schmidt's brain in a robotic body, only to have Schmidt usurp the Ring of the Nebulas and use it to mentally entrance her. Schmidt, as Brain Drain, renamed her Brunnhilde after one of the Valkyrior from Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung, but when he tried to romance her, she broke free from his control, stole the Ring of the Nebulas from him and fled to Britain, though she lost her memory of her true identity, recalling herself only to be "Hilda."
    She was saved from a collapsing building by Captain America, dropping the ring in the process, after which she didn't recall ever having seen the ring before. She then led the Invaders to investigate the Siegfried Line via some vague memory of the area. Upon being captured and confronted by Brain Drain, she recalled her past, cast the Ring into some corrosive fluid, then convinced her fellow crewmen to sacrifice themselves to destroy Brain Drain's base, preventing him from further perverting their science.

Based on one of the Valkyries from The Ring of the Nibelung.

--Invaders I#1 (2 (fb) - BTS, 2 (fb), 1, 2d)

DONAR
God of the Raging Thunder

Real Name: Unrevealed

    He was roughly comparable to a dry Namor strength- (Class 75?) and durability-wise. He wielded a glowing axe that could be thrown with great force, after which it returned to him.

    Part of the Axi-Tun crew aboard the Tekeli-Li that crashed on Earth, he participated in preserving Werner Schmidt's brain in a robotic body, only to have Schmidt usurp the Ring of the Nebulas and use it to mentally enslave him, taking the guise of the Teutonic god Donar and attacking the approaching Inhumans. He threw his axe at Namor's approaching ship, causing all aboard to abandon-ship. He proved an even match for Namor except when Brain Drain briefly siphoned his life energies, after which he suddenly stunned Namor with a burst of renewed strength. He then joined Mcm-Xli in sacrificing his life to prevent Brain Drain from further perverting their sciences.

    Despite the appearance of the cover image to the left, Donar wasn't a giant. He looked pretty close to Namor in height...maybe an inch or two taller, and certainly more stocky in build.

    Based on Donner, god of thunder, brother of Fricka (wife of Wotan, the king of the gods) from The Ring of the Nibelung.

--Invaders I#1 (2 (fb) - BTS, 2 (fb), 1, 2d)

 

 

 

 

FROH

Real  Name: Unrevealed

    Appearing as a storm or lighting god, his shield could withstand Toro's fireballs and he could project powerful lightning bolts. He presumably had superhuman strength and durability as well, as his furry-looking boots were resistant to Toro's fires.

    Part of the Axi-Tun crew aboard the Tekeli-Li that crashed on Earth, he participated in preserving Werner Schmidt's brain in a robotic body, only to have Schmidt usurp the Ring of the Nebulas and use it to mentally enslave him, taking the guise of the Teutonic god Froh and attacking the approaching Invaders. He generally outmatched Toro except when Brain Drain briefly siphoned his life energies, after which he regained his strength, knocking Toro to the ground, pinning him beneath his boot, and threatening to destroy him with a final bolt. Instead, he joined Mcm-Xli in sacrificing his life to prevent Brain Drain from further perverting their sciences.

Based on Froh, god of spring/happiness, brother of Fricka (wife of Wotan, the king of the gods) from The Ring of the Nibelung.

--Invaders I#1 (2 (fb) - BTS, 2 (fb), 1, 2d)

 

 

 

LOGA
God of Fire

 

Real Name: Unrevealed

He could project fiery blasts and absorb flames to add to his own power. He presumably had superhuman strength and durability as well.

    Part of the Axi-Tun crew aboard the Tekeli-Li that crashed on Earth, he participated in preserving Werner Schmidt's brain in a robotic body, only to have Schmidt usurp the Ring of the Nebulas and use it to mentally enslave him, taking the guise of the Teutonic god Loga and attacking the approaching Invaders. He generally proved an even match for the Human Torch (Jim Hammond) except when Brain Drain briefly siphoned his life energies, after which he regained his strength and caught the Torch in a powerful bear hug. He then  joined Mcm-Xli in sacrificing his life to prevent Brain Drain from further perverting their sciences.

 

Based on Loge, demi-god of fire, from The Ring of the Nibelung.

 

--Invaders I#1 (2 (fb) - BTS, 2 (fb), 1, 2d)

 

 

 

 

 

RING of the NEBULAS

    Energy source to the Tekeli-Li Nebula cruiser, it was designed to magnify the power of any mechanical device. After the ship crashed to Earth, the crewmen saved Werner Schmidt, injured by the energies released in their ship's explosion, preserving his brain and attaching it to a robotic body. Schmidt's cybernetic nature led the ring to increase his own brain waves, enabling him to cast the four Axi-Tun into a deep trance; he soon claimed the ring and enslaved the aliens. Schmidt (taking the designation Operative A.1416, aka Brain Drain) renamed the Axi-Tun after Brunnhilde, Donar, Froh, and Loga (see comments) from Wagner's Ring operas, which were Hitler's favorite operas. When he tried to seduce Brunnhilde, however, she rebuffed him, stole the ring and fled.
    Bereft of her memories but retaining the ring, "Hilda" made her way to London, England. There she encountered the Invaders, and Captain America claimed the ring when she dropped it while he saved her from a collapsing building. After led the Invaders towards Brain Drain's base, guided by some vague memory, Brain Drain reclaimed the Ring. Upon recovering her memories, however, Hilda destroyed the ring and led her crewmen in combining their energies with the ring's and using it to destroy Brain Drain's base, preventing him from further perverting their science.

--Invaders I#1 (2 (fb) - BTS, 2 (fb), 1, 2d)

images: (without ads)
Invaders I#1, pg. 12, panel 2 (ring)
        last page, last panel (Froh, Donah, Loga)
    #2, cover - Donar
    first page (Loga)
    pg. 3, panel 4 (Froh)
    pg. 15, 4th panel (Hilda)
        last page, first panel (gods merging with the ring)

Other Appearances:
Invaders I#1 (August, 1975) - Roy Thomas (writer, editor), Frank Robbins (penciler), Vince Colletta (inker)
Invaders I#2 (October, 1975) - Roy Thomas (writer, editor), Frank Robbins (penciler), Vince Colletta (inker)

Last updated: 05/23/12.

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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