(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - Kip and Sandy were captured by Prince Gareth's household guard and secretly brought to Gareth's private wing of the Imperial Chalet on the continent of Marathon. Once there, they were both imprisoned in a "chamber of horrors" where the jailor, Tikos, began to "work on" the boy.

(Marvel Preview#11) - After three days passed, during which Kip refused to talk, Arion intervened, calling Tikos a "brute" and criticizing him for not having learned anything in those three days. After mentioning that the mind-ripper would tear Kip's secrets from him once it arrived from Kandahar, Arion stated that he would begin to break down the resistance of the prisoners with finesse, and that he would start with the girl, repaying her for having killed his twin on Cinnibar. However, before Arion could begin, Starlord suddenly made his presence known. As the jailor attacked Starlord, only to be taken down with a single punch, Arion unwittingly stepped back within reach of Kip, who wrapped his legs around Arion's neck, breaking it in an instant.
    Once Kip and Sandy were freed from their manacles, the trio left the torture chamber, unaware that Dirac had been watching from the shadows of an upper level. When Kip mentioned that his parents had taught him to revere life but that he had killed Arion as he would have a poisonous bug and hadn't felt a thing, Sandy reassured him that he would, in time. At that moment, they were intercepted by Prince Gareth who introduced himself and his companion, the Ariguan Sith-lord Rruothk'ar, and revealed that they were the trio's executioners. Realizing that he was the only one capable of fighting the two enemies, Starlord gave the data pack to Kip and told him to take it to the emperor while he handled the villains. As Starlord charged his foes, Kip and Sandy ran for it.

(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - Kip and Sandy managed to find the emperor and (presumably) were able to use the data pack's information to convince him to at least meet with Starlord. Also, Kip found time to put on a new shirt.

(Marvel Preview#11) - Kip and Sandy brought the emperor to Sky Level 4, arriving just after Prince Gareth had fallen over the edge after being impaled by his own sword (thrown by Starlord). The emperor's arrival prevented the three troopers who had Starlord in custody from doing anything rash. As they approached, Kip called out that they had found the emperor. Looking at a man who looked like an older version of himself, Starlord pulled off his cowl and asked, "But...who are you?" And Emperor Jason replied, "Peter Jason Quill...I am your father."

(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - Once the information in Starlord's data pack was confirmed, the Imperial Guard moved against Gareth's mercenaries and the fleet took up positions along the truce line to prevent any Ariguan mischief. Within a few hours of Gareth's death, the conspiracy was smashed.

(Marvel Preview#11) - Kip and Sandy (both in new, noble attire) walked with Starlord and Emperor Jason as the latter revealed how he had met Peter's mother, Meredith Quill of Earth, and how his trusted uncle Gareth had betrayed him. As Jason expressed how glad he was that his supposedly-dead son had been returned to him, Peter stated that, as Starlord, he had the universe and didn't need to be shackled to a throne. Peter then suggested that if Jason wanted a son and heir he should adopt Kip because he would make the kind of son that Peter could never be, so long as Sandy was around to keep his head on straight. Then, as Starlord flew away, Jason stated that he'd give all he had to be going with him, and Kip added, "So would we."

(Starlord, The Special Edition#1 (fb) - BTS) - Emperor Jason adopted Kip as his son and heir.

   At some point in the first twenty years after they met, Emperor Jason and Kip defeated the Ariguans.

   Twenty years after Kip first met Jason, the Empire entered a state of peace which would last for (at least) the next fifty years.

   At some point, Kip Hölm and Sandy were married.

   When Kip and Sandy were both about eighty years old, they decided to have children together. Within the space of a few years, Sandy gave birth to three children, two sons (Alain and Rhys) and one daughter (Robyn).

   At some point following an abortive attempt to bring Peter back, Kip encountered Ship who told him how "Starlord and Ship roamed from one end of the galaxy to the other - - and beyond - - always searching, never at peace, Peter driven by his insatiable curiosity, Ship by her love for him." Kip did not tell Jason about this encounter until some time later.

   Throughout the hundredth year of Emperor Jason's reign (about seventy years after Kip and Sandy and Jason all first met) the people of the empire observed the occasion with festivities as their way of thanking their monarch for all he had given them - unparalleled prosperity and a half-century of peace.

(Starlord, The Special Edition#1) - On the last night of the celebration, Jubilee Night, Kip approached Emperor Jason as he stood on an upper balcony of the imperial palace and asked him what was wrong. Kip explained that, during the last days of the jubilee, he and Sandy had noticed that Jason seemed to have been gripped by some dark mood. As a psi-sensitive, Kip had sensed that Jason seemed to be looking for something - - someone - - and not finding it, and he had concluded that Jason was seeking his true son, Starlord. Jason stated that Kip and Sandy were all the children a father could hope for, and that they were the children of his heart as Peter was the son of his body but that, while he loved them all, he had lately realized that he missed Peter. Kip agreed that he missed Peter as well, but before they could talk further they were set upon by three terrors, Kip and Sandy's children, who tackled them to the floor. Sandy then arrived, and Kip asked his darling wife for help but Jason stated that he knew when he was beaten and surrendered. When Kip asked why they weren't in bed, Rhys protested that it was Jubilee Night. Seconds later, each of the children asked to be told a story, and Kip offered to tell them a very special story to mark that very special night. It was the story of how he and their mother and grandfather first met, and of the man who had brought them together, a man whose name was Peter Jason Quill but to them -- and the wide, wonderful universe -- he was known as Star-Lord.
   Kip told his children about the slavers and their attack on his home planet, Windhölme, how he met Sandy and then Starlord, about what happened on Cinnibar, about their voyage to Sparta, and how he and Sandy and Peter first met Emperor Jason and saved him from his uncle Gareth's planned take-over. By the time he was telling Jason about how he had encountered Ship following an abortive attempt to bring Peter back, the children had fallen asleep in Jason's bed. As he made ready to go up to the roof to sleep, Jason shocked Kip by stating that he planned to announce his abdication at the next day's Council meeting. When Kip asked why, Jason revealed that he was tired and that he believed that his time of service to the empire should end. Stating that he had done all he could and that it was now the time for younger, fresher hearts and souls, Jason told Kip that the empire was his and that he had earned it.
   Later that evening, Kip and Sandy were asleep in their apartments when they were awakened by a loud BOOM! Reaching the roof in seconds, they found Jason gone and spotted the ship that took him boosting out of the atmosphere. As Sandy spoke of alerting Port Control, Kip noticed two items on Jason's pillow: the Imperial Seal Ring and Starlord's helmet. Realizing that Jason had left with his son, Kip stated that he had found his heart's desire the day that he met Sandy and hoped that Jason and Peter had finally found theirs. Speaking for himself and Sandy, Kip said, "Wherever you go, dear friends, whatever you do, we wish you well."

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin.

The Height and Weight measurements listed above are only estimates, and are derived from the fact that Kip appeared to be about a head shorter than Starlord in Marvel Preview#11. I took Starlord's measurements and reduced them to compensate. Of course, they're really only guesses. Also, Kip was a teenager when he first met Starlord so his measurements when he attained his full adult size are probably greater than what I've listed.

The fact that Kip was described as the "first-born son" of Gunnar and Marie suggests that he had siblings. However, since no brothers and/or sisters were ever mentioned, it may be that he was an only child after all.

"Human" or Humanoid?

   The story from Marvel Preview#11 (as reprinted in color in Starlord, The Special Edition#1) is one of my all-time favorite "space opera" comic book stories but it's not perfect. In my opinion, a major weakness is how overly "humanoid" most of the eight main characters are. Out of the eight, there is only one non-humanoid (Ship) and only one semi-humanoid (the Ariguan Sith-lord Rruothk'ar). The other six "alien" main characters are not just humanoid, they are "identical to Caucasian humans from Earth" humanoids.

To clarify what differences exist between the various Human-type characters in this story, I have made up this list of them, sorted as best I can. For the sake of clarity, I have removed Star-Lord (due to his nature as a hybrid) and replaced him with his mother.

1. Meredith Quill is a Caucasian Human woman from Earth. Her species is commonly known as "Terrans." So far, the Terrans are not known to have colonized any alien planets in Reality-791. Although the Terrans from Reality-616 are known to have been subjected to genetic experiments conducted millennia ago by the alien Celestials and the Kree, it has not yet been established that such experimentation also occurred on Earth-791.
2. Kip Hölm is one of the Scania, the only Human-type race in Marvel Preview#11 that was actually named. Two notable things about the Scania are that they definitely did not evolve on Windhölme (having colonized the planet as refugees from their previous home, Jaeger IV) and that the overwhelming majority of them have blond hair. The fact that Kip described himself as "human" when talking with Sandy may indicate that the Scania are more of a tribe of a greater "Human" species and not actually meant to be a separate species of human-type alien.
3. Emperor Jason and Prince Gareth are members of the (unidentified) species which rules an interstellar empire whose "Imperial Homeworld" is the planet Sparta. Accordingly, I've chosen to call them "Spartans" (in part to distinguish them from the Spartoi and Spartax races who exist in Reality-616). The fact that a slaver once described an unknown alien (Star-Lord) as "Imperial/Human" may indicate that the "Spartan" race is (or is believed to be) the source of the so-called "Human" phenotype, at least within that part of the universe influenced by the "Spartan" Empire.
   I took it to mean "Imperial" is the named used Jason's race, and that they were referring to a hybrid of an Imperial and a Human.    

       This would mean that the slavers had sensors capable of reading the genetic code of an individual at a distance. That seems a bit fantastic to me but, considering some of the other technology (Melyan Constructs, Telempathic Crystal) seen in the story, I guess it's possible. However, this idea has two other, more significant implications.
       Implication #1: If the slaver's sensors were actually able to identify Star-Lord as being a hybrid of an Imperial and a human, then that would mean that they had access to Human/Terran genetic codes for comparison. That in turn implies that the Imperials were far more familiar with Terrans than indicated in the story.
       Implication #2: If this use of the word "human" is understood to be a direct reference to "human beings" who are native to the planet Earth, then there would be no reason to assume that Kip wasn't doing the same when he described himself and Sandy as both being "Human." This would in turn imply that Kip and Sandy and their respective "races" were all descended from human/Terran stock (as opposed to Imperials who presumably originated on Sparta) and that Kip and Sandy were actually aware of their Terran origins. While I would find this concept interesting, I just don't see any evidence for it in this story.
       --Donald Campbell

   With the Imperial/Human thing, I think part of the issue would be uniform capitalization of comics text making things confusing.
   I think Quill is Imperial/Human, while Sandy and Kip are human...mortal...people.
   I really don’t think anything more than the latter was intended, though, of course, it is possible. We’d have to ask Claremont, to know for sure.
   --Snood
    

4. Sandy of Pryd'ri. Not much was ever revealed about the now-dead planet Pryd'ri aside from the fact that it was known for its lawlessness and that Sandy was born and grew up there. There was no mention of whether or not Sandy's Human-type race originated on the planet or if they were colonists from another planet but the fact that Kip once described himself and Sandy as both being "Human" may be a hint that her people were part of a more widespread species. If so, then they were presumably not Terran colonists (since that race hasn't yet left its own solar system) and Sandy's red hair indicates that she was probably not a member of the blond Scania race. The default explanation is that the Human-types on Pryd'ri were descended from a group of "Spartans" who settled on the planet at least a generation before its destruction.
5. Kyras Shakati of Cinnibar (a.k.a. Delta Corianas IV). Cinnibar is identified as being "Shakati's homeworld" but there is no evidence that he or his Human-type race actually originated on the planet. Instead, it could simply be a way of stating that Cinnibar is the world on which Shakati chose to make his home. Given that it seems that the entire population lives in its floating cities and palaces, it may be that Cinnibar has no native intelligent lifeforms. And even if a sentient native species did evolve on the planet, the fact that Shakati lives there in one of the legendary anti-gravity palaces as "first among the merchant lords who rule the commerce of an empire" is probably due to Cinnibar's reputation as the place where "the very rich and very powerful live." As with Sandy, Shakati's people were presumably neither Terrans nor Scania and so the idea that Shakati was actually a member of the "Spartan" race remains the best/default explanation.

   By analyzing this list one can come to certain conclusions:

   First, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, we could assume that Sandy and Shakati were both part of the widespread "Imperial/Human" race and were therefore (probably) members of the "Spartan" species.

   Second, the fact that Kip Hölm and Sandy were able to have children together strongly suggests that their different "races" (the Scania and the "Spartans") are actually no more than subgroups of the same species.

   Third, the fact that Kip once described himself and Sandy as both being "Human" suggests the possibility that it is generally recognized that all of the Human-type races who exist in that region of the galaxy share a common origin.

   However, one thing that is NOT explained is how Star-Lord, the offspring of a mating between a "Spartan" male and a Terran female, could ever possibly have been born. Unlike the Scania, the idea that "Spartans" and Terrans might share a common origin is not something that can be easily assumed. Since the Terran race is KNOWN to have evolved on Earth, the only way that they and the star-faring "Spartan" race could be related is if the ancestors of the "Spartans" originated on Earth but somehow left it a long time ago. Unfortunately, there has never been any evidence of such a prehistoric exodus from Earth so this explanation remains mere "fanfic."
    Human-alien breedings are VERY common in comics, and I think we just have to accept that. See the extensive notations I added in Gareth's profile. I really don't think such breedings are indicative of any common history. If you want to look for common history, look no further than the previously established Xorri explanation.

   Of course, the use of the word "Human" in this story may be misleading since the characters are almost certainly not speaking English but an alien language which has been translated into English for our benefit. So, in that context, "Human" may just be the translated form of an alien word that means "of the same basic body-type as us" and should not be taken to mean that Kip and Sandy were in any way connected to the "Human" species from Earth.

   On the other hand, there are some words which usually go unchanged by any translation process. Names of people and places often remain the same when translated (unless they are descriptive names). For example, if I were to take the phrase "My name is Kip Hölm and I am one of the Scania from the planet Windhölme" and translate it into French I would get, "Mon nom est Kip Hölm et je suis un des Scania de la planète Windhölme." So, if Kip used the word "Human" as the name of a species instead of as a description and it was therefore NOT translated, then there would be reason to believe that the "Imperial/Humans" were related to the Terran Humans after all. However, this remains mere speculation.

Chronology

   Since the stories in which Kip appears are set on various alien worlds there is no way to create an effective chronology of his life. The only actual date which we know for sure is that the slaver attack which killed Kip's parents and nearly wiped out the entire Scania race took place sometime after February 9, 1990 A.D. (because that's the day when Peter Jason Quill was transformed into the Starlord by the Master of the Sun). If we knew the Earth year when Emperor Jason was crowned and how long a Sparta year is compared to an Earth year, then we could calculate the Earth year in which the attack on Windhölme occurred. However, since we don't have that data, the best we can do is say that Kip may have first met Sandy and Starlord as much as twenty Earth-years ago OR their first meeting still hasn't happened yet.

   Although we are unable to provide Earth-dates for events in Kip's life, there are some facts presented in the two stories in which he appears which will allow us to calculate how much time elapsed between the events depicted in those stories.

1. During their attack on Windhölme the slavers killed everyone over the age of 17. Since they allowed Kip to live we can assume that he was no more than 16 or 17 years old. And if they followed the same procedure on Sandy's world, Pryd'ri, then Sandy was probably 16 or 17 years old as well.
2. On the last night of the year-long celebration of the one hundredth year anniversary of Emperor Jason's coronation, Sandy stated that she had waited "eighty years" to give birth to her three children.
3. On that night all three children appeared to be older than toddlers but younger than teenagers. To make the calculations easier, lets assume that the oldest was about 7 years old.

Combining these facts can lead to certain conclusions:

1. If Sandy gave birth to her first child when she was 80, then that birth took place at least 63 years after her 17-year-old self first met Kip.
2. If the oldest of the trio is about 7 years old, then the framing sequence takes place about 70 years after Sandy, Kip, Starlord and Emperor Jason all met each other.
3. It therefore follows that Jason's coronation took place about 30 years before he first met Peter, Kip and Sandy.

These conclusions can be used to construct a rough timeline for some of the major events in these stories.
Year 1 - Prince Jason of Sparta is crowned emperor of the Spartan Empire
Year 14 (or Year 15) - Kip Hölm is born on Windhölme; Sandy is born on Pryd'ri
Year 31 - Slavers attack three planets, including Pryd'ri and Windhölme. Kip, Sandy, Starlord and Emperor Jason all meet for the first time; Kyras Shakati and Prince Gareth are exposed and killed; Starlord learns that Jason is his true father; Starlord suggests that Jason adopt Kip as his son and heir
Before Year 51 - Emperor Jason (with help from Kip) defeats the Ariguans
Year 51 - At this time a half-century of peace for the empire begins
Year 94 - Sandy (now 80 years old) and Kip decide to have their first child together
Year 101 - The year-long celebration of the one hundredth year anniversary of Emperor Jason's coronation. Starlord returns and Jason agrees to leave with him, leaving Kip to become the new emperor.

   It is important to note that the "years" used in these stories, although never precisely defined, are (almost) certainly NOT the same length as Earth-years. As far as is known, every planet in the universe has its own orbital period, one which is different in length from those of all other planets. However, many science fiction continuities tend to overlook this basic fact. For example, in the original Star Trek series, the crew use the simple term "year" frequently and it's only rarely that Spock, when speaking with his human crewmates, specifies that the duration of an event is measured in "your Earth years." The fact that the term "year" is used so casually suggests that it actually refers to some sort of standardized year, one which has been chosen to be used across multiple worlds.

   Although I can't recall a specific example, the idea that interstellar civilizations that encompass multiple alien planets would have adopted some shared calendar system makes sense. Under such an arrangement, every planetary member of a given interstellar state would measure time using two different dating systems: A local calendar which would be different for each planet and a common calendar which would be the same for every world in the civilization. Going back to Star Trek as an example, planets like Earth and Vulcan would each have their own local calendars, ones which were tied to their orbital periods, but every member of the United Federation of Planets would also have a standardized calendar which would be used for any interactions between planets. So someone on Earth could tell time using either the local "Earth Time" or the interstellar "Federation Time."

   In regard to the Starlord stories, in Marvel Preview#11 our hero tells the freed slaves that the slavers had done something to the worlds they had conquered so that "Within a standard year, they're dead husks." While the length of this "standard year" is never specified, it seems safe to presume that it is the unit of time used within the dominant interstellar civilization of the story, which in this case is the "Spartan" Empire. In the absence of any other information, we can only assume that all temporal references to "years" in Marvel Preview#11 and in the framing sequence in Starlord, The Special Edition#1 are based on such a standardized year.

   One last comment about the "years" mentioned in these stories. It is an obvious fact that aliens in many science fiction stories are (usually) not speaking English (or ANY human language) but their own alien languages which have been translated into English for the benefit of the readers/viewers. Some people believe that this translation process should include any temporal references made by alien characters. For example, if an alien character from a planet whose year has previously been established as being 2.5 times as long as that of Earth states that it has been "two years" since he's seen his family, then in the story that temporal reference would be translated to its Earth-equivalent of "five years." I disagree with this concept. I believe that, unless determined otherwise beforehand, any translation effects should be limited to actual words and not extended to interpreting alien references into their Earth analogues.

   Fortunately, in the particular case of these Starlord stories, there is no need to worry that such an excessive translation has occurred. This is due to the framing sequence from Starlord, The Special Edition#1, which is set on the last night of the year-long celebration of the hundred year anniversary of Emperor Jason's coronation. Given that the "Spartans" apparently use the base 10 numbering system, it seems safe to assume that references to a "hundred years" actually mean 100 Sparta years and not 100 Earth years. To demonstrate this, one needs only consider how unworkable the alternative would be. For example, suppose that 1 Earth year was actually 0.97 Sparta years in length. If this were true and the translation effect did extend to temporal references, then the celebration would be for 100 Earth-years of Jason's rule which would actually be for only 97 Sparta-years. Since it would make no sense to celebrate Jason's 97th year anniversary instead of his 100th year anniversary, it follows that references to "one hundred years" must be measured in Sparta years which have not been translated into Earth years.

Profile by Donald Campbell.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Kip Hölm has no known connections to

• Ian Holman of Earth-93060, a member of the U.S. government intelligence agency Aladdin--Giant-Size Wrath#1
• Holman Correctional Center, a prison in Redemption, Alabama which held convicted murderer Joel Flood until his execution--Daredevil: Redemption#5
• Holmes, a HYDRA agent who took part in an assault on the Cranwood School for Girls in Northampton, Long Island which was thwarted by Spider-Man, Silver Sable and her Wild Pack--Silver Sable & the Wild Pack#1
• Holmes, an agent of the British intelligence agency MI-13--Captain Britain and MI: 13#8
• Sherlock Holmes, a London-based consulting detective who was active in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries and who was allegedly the grand uncle of former British Intelligence agent Clive Reston
• Holmrig, a planet in the Crynbur Pelago (in Reality-791) which is the base of General Viz Glazgon and his Iforani mercenary group--Starlord#3
• Sir Arthur Holmwood (later Lord Godalming), the fiancé of Lucy Westenra at the time of her death in 1893 who staked her after she later arose as a vampire and then assisted Abraham van Helsing against Dracula--Legion of Monsters#1
• Isadore Kipper, an employee of Philadelphia crime-boss Oswald "Ozzy" Montana whose attempt to inform on Montana's killer led to his own murder by Lonnie "Tombstone" Lincoln which was witnessed by Joseph "Robbie" Robertson--Spectacular Spider-Man#139 [not named until SSM#149]
• or any other "Kip" or "Hölm" characters

Gunnar Hölm has no known connections to

• Gun, a female follower of religious leader Saduhl Singh who worked with Fist and Blade to kill his enemies--Moon Knight II#5
• Gundar, a ruthless Viking captain in the Middle Ages who cursed his rebellious crew to remain trapped on an island until he returned for them (which he never did)--Tales of Suspense I#39
• Gundar, a sailor who was the modern-day descendant of Gundar the Viking whose arrival on the island centuries later broke the curse and freed the crew from their cursed eternal life--Tales of Suspense I#39
• Gunna, an Asgardian who was captured, raped and presumably slain and/or consumed by Magzi trolls who raised her daughter--Thunderbolts#146
• Troll (Gunna Sijurvald), an Asgardian/Rock Troll hybrid who was raised among her father's people (Magzi trolls) until Asgardian gods captured/rescued her and named her Gunna after her presumed-deceased mother--Thunderbolts#145
• General Gunna Tal of Earth-6216, a murderous late 21st Century warlord who ruled the West African republic of Kuanga until he used lethal means to try to force his army to continue a suicidal battle with Death's Head 3.0 and was shot by one of his own men--Amazing Fantasy II#18
• Gunnar, an Asgardian, one of the children of Asgard whom Frigga led away from the city of Asgard before an impending battle with Surtur--Thor I#351
• "Gunner" Gates, a fugitive gang leader whose battle with Captain America led to the Star-Spangled Avenger's decision to fake Cap's death so that Steven Rogers could begin to live--Tales of Suspense I#95/2
• Gunthar, a criminal Rigellian who served Nebula as one of her Freebooters--Avengers I#255
• Gunthar, a demon from another dimension who was summoned to Earth to help Channel Master battle the Illuminator--Illuminator#3/1
• Guntharr, an Asgardian warrior who worked with Balder the Brave to save Thor from imminent death at the hands of Mangog--Thor I#157
• Gunther, a College football player who "heroically" killed (but not permanently) Fangu, a rampaging monster from another dimension who was later revealed to be an innocent interdimensional explorer--Marvel Comics Presents I#90/4
• or any other characters whose names begin with the "Gun" sound

Marie Hölm has no known connections to

• Marie, the only companion of the reclusive and deformed Andreas Flec who was actually just a mannikin that was only alive in Flec's lonely delusions--Chamber of Darkness#4/1
• Marie, a Frenchwoman who was recruited by the Celestial Mind Control Movement's branch in Paris and was selected to become part of their inner circle due to her high degree of mental pliancy--Defenders Annual#1
• Marie, a young girl who is the sister of Billy the Monster and Donny--Incredible Hulk II#222
• Marie, a prostitute in Earth-92800's New York City who befriended that world's Ororo Munroe--What If? II#40 1992
• Marie, a woman who was vampirized by Marietta Borgezia but who gained control of her bloodlust after Jasmine Destine usurped Marietta's body and destroyed Marietta's spirit in the 1860s--Clandestine II#3
• or any other characters (or objects) named "Marie" or Mary" or any variation of the name

The Sea Fang has no known connections to

• The Sea Dragon, a Japanese submarine that was designed to look like a sea monster with strong jaws which were able to bite through the hulls of American ships but which was accidentally sunk by its creator Dr. Yokotio during a confrontation with Captain America and Bucky in the fall of 1944--Captain America Comics#43/4
• Sea Eagle, a teleport gate used by Pandemic (Dr. Richard Palance)--X-Men II#194
• The Sea Pheasant, a ship owned by a former Khitan nobleman named Kuchum during the Hyborian Age whom Thulsa Doom manipulated in an attempt to reunite his head with his body and live again--Savage Sword of Conan#190
• The Sea Queen, a Marrs Corp passenger liner which was attacked by the genetically engineered mutant human known as Sluj--Namor I#6
• The Sea Tank, an experimental deep-sea submersible created by Stark Industries which the Saboteur used against Iron Man until he destroyed it--Iron Man: The Iron Age#1
• The U.S.S. Sea Wolf, an ordinary United States Navy submarine commanded by Captain Simon Savage during World War II--Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos#10
• or any other ships (or other other forms of transportation) which have the words "Sea" or "Fang" as part of their names

Gunnar and Marie Hölm

    Gunnar Hölm was one of the Scania and was Fleet Captain of the Western Isles of Windhölme and one of the most respected mariners in all the Clans. He was also a member of the High Council, Windhölme's planetary council.

    Marie Hölm, also of the Scania, was Gunnar's wife and the mother of Kip, their "first-born son" (who appears to have been their only child, though there may have been others unseen).

    Gunnar and Marie owned the Sea Fang, a large sailing ship which was part of the Scania fleets which hunted kraken.

(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) <sometime after the Earth year 1990 A.D.> - Gunnar, Marie and Kip (with at least 5 other Scania as crew) were aboard the Sea Fang hunting kraken. At one point in the hunt, they watched (from a mile away) as a King Kraken (the biggest that Kip had ever seen) rose up from the ocean beneath one of their skiffs, crushing it in its jaws and killing the three men aboard instantly. Then, although all aboard knew that the Kraken could have charged their ship and killed them all, it chose not to and (presumably) left.

(Marvel Preview#11 (fb)) - One month later, on the day of the slaver attack, Gunnar, Marie and Kip were traveling to Skalsø aboard one of their family's smaller boats so that Gunnar could take part in a meeting of the High Council. At sunrise, they were just exiting the harbor when they heard a sound coming from the sky. Gunnar looked up and said, "That roaring - - Lords of the Deep, aircraft! What are they doing so far from the starport? They have no right - -!" He was interrupted by Kip who pointed out that they were not ordinary "'port craft" but Imperial star-fighters! A moment later, the star-fighters began firing energy bolts that raked the harbor. A direct hit reduced Gunnar and Marie to cinders while the blast concussion hurled Kip over the side of the vessel.

(Marvel Preview#11 - BTS) - A few days later, while infiltrating the sky palace of merchant Kyrus Shakati floating above the surface of the planet Cinnibar, Kip and his allies Sandy and Starlord suddenly found themselves back on Windhölme aboard the Sea Fang with Kip's parents. As they witnessed a King Kraken crush a skiff in its jaws, Kip realized that they were somehow reliving events which had happened a month ago but this time the Kraken charged the ship, causing Starlord to be thrown overboard. Despite being underwater, Starlord managed to harpoon the Kraken through one of its eyes and into its brain, causing it to go crazy. Gunnar explained that the Kraken was finished but didn't know it yet and was experiencing its death-agonies. Gunner then shouted, "Away with you, Kip!" as he pushed his son out of the way of the Kraken which had arched completely out of the water, twisted in mid-air and was now descending on the ship. Kip was saved but had to once again watch his parents die, this time crushed by the Kraken's tail. Soon afterwards, Starlord discovered that they were actually trapped in an "illusion" (what would now be called a virtual reality) and was able to "return" them to Shakati's palace where he explained that the Telempathic Crystal had tapped Kip's memories and thrown the trio into them.

Note: With his grey hair and bald crown, Gunnar was the oldest of the Scania depicted in Marvel Preview#11. Since at that time the Scania were (presumably) supposed to have normal (i.e. Terran) lifespans, I would estimate that he was meant to be in his late fifties at the time of his death. As for Marie, she appeared to be somewhat younger than Gunnar but must have been old enough to have given birth to the 17-year-old Kip. Accordingly, I would guess that she was in her late thirties or early forties when she died, making her 15-20 years younger than her husband.

   However, the revelation (in the framing sequence of Starlord, The Special Edition#1) that Kip still appeared to be fairly young even when he was almost ninety years old would seem to invalidate these estimates of their ages. In order for Gunnar to look as old as he did, he would have had to have been significantly more than one hundred years old when he died. Similarly, Marie could still have been as young as she appeared to be in Marvel Preview#11 or she could have been as old as Kip was in the framing sequence (or even older), thereby greatly expanding the range of her possible age. My revised estimate would be that Marie could have been anywhere from her late thirties to over one hundred years old when she died.

--Marvel Preview#11 (fb)

The Sea Fang

    A wooden sailing ship owned by Gunnar and Marie Hölm which they used when they hunted Kraken. During such hunts, the Sea Fang was captained by Gunnar (with help from Marie?) and its crew would include (at least) five to eight other Scania.

    The Sea Fang also carried (at least) two smaller boats ("skiffs") which were used during the Kraken hunts. Each skiff would usually be crewed by three Scania, two to man the oars and a third to be ready with a harpoon. However, these skiffs were far more vulnerable to attacks by King Kraken, which could easily crush them and their crews in their massive jaws.

(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) <A month before the slaver attack> - Gunnar, Marie and Kip (with at least 5 other Scania as crew) were aboard the Sea Fang hunting kraken. At one point in the hunt, they watched (from a mile away) as a King Kraken (the biggest that Kip had ever seen) rose up from the ocean beneath one of their skiffs, crushing it in its jaws and killing the three men aboard instantly. Then, although all aboard knew that the Kraken could have charged their ship and killed them all, it chose not to and (presumably) left.

(Marvel Preview#11 - BTS) - A few days after the slaver attack, while infiltrating the sky palace of merchant Kyrus Shakati, Kip and his allies Sandy and Starlord were suddenly trapped within a virtual reality created from Kip's memories of that actual encounter with the King Kraken. However, guided by outside forces, events in this recreation followed a different path, and the King Kraken charged the Sea Fang and, after being mortally wounded by Starlord, smashed the ship (and Kip's parents) during its death-throes. Soon afterwards, the entire simulated world was destroyed along with the Telempathic Crystal which had created it.

Note: Although Kip's words upon finding himself in the simulated reality created by the Telempathic Crystal ("The ship was destroyed, my parents killed before my eyes!") would seem to imply that the Sea Fang was destroyed in the same attack that killed Kip's parents, this cannot be true since the sailing vessel on which the Hölms were traveling to Skalsø was clearly depicted as being MUCH smaller than the Sea Fang. So, either the Sea Fang was destroyed sometime between the Kraken hunt and the slaver attack OR Kip didn't see it destroyed by the slavers but assumed that it must have been and, in the confusion of finding himself in the simulated reality, he just combined the two vessels in his mind.

    I spent some time trying to identify exactly what type of ship the Sea Fang was but eventually came to the conclusion that it was an original design created by John Byrne. Accordingly, I have made up this list of its observed characteristics:

    Judging by the comparative sizes of Starlord (7 mm tall) and the ship (9 cm long) in this sub-profile's image, I would calculate that the Sea Fang had a length (at the waterline) of about 80 feet.

    The Sea Fang appeared to have an outrigger assembly attached to its starboard side. Whether there was a similar assembly on the other side is unknown since the port side of the ship was never shown.

    Although Kip used the term "ship" when referring to the Sea Fang, its size and the fact that it had only one mast would cause some people (on Earth) to classify it as a "boat."

    Conspicuously absent from the Sea Fang is any sort of boom, a common feature on most Earthly sailing vessels (those that are not square-rigged). Its absence is part of what made it impossible for me to match its design to that of any real-world sailing vessel.

    The Sea Fang had a single mast which was footed before the cabin and which sloped backwards at an angle of about 20 degrees from the vertical. The mast had several backstays which pulled backwards on it so as to counter the forward force generated by wind in the sail. A single cable ran from the top of the mast back to the stern while a web of smaller stays were attached about halfway up the mast and connected to the rear of the cabin.

    The only sail which the Sea Fang was ever depicted flying was a large triangular one (like a spinnaker) whose top point was attached directly to the mast. As for the two lower corners, they were not connected to a boom or any part of the hull but to two ropes. Unfortunately, from the images available it's difficult to tell where the ropes were attached to the hull but one seems to be attached to a point near the bow and the other appears to be attached to some point on the aft port side.

Note: Although the Sea Fang does appear in Marvel Preview#11, the nature of its appearance is difficult to define since the actual ship doesn't appear in either the "present-day" parts of the story or in a true flashback. Instead, the Telempathic Crystal tapped Kip's mind and used his memory of the ship to recreate it as part of the virtual reality. So, the Sea Fang in that issue only existed as sensory data which the crystal projected in the minds of its targets.

--Marvel Preview#11 (fb)

images: (without ads)
Starlord, The Special Edition#1, page 42, panel 4 (full body)
Starlord, The Special Edition#1, page 23, panel 2 (head shot)
Starlord, The Special Edition#1, page 14, panel 6 (slave revolt)
Starlord, The Special Edition#1, page 17, panel 6 (using his talent)
Starlord, The Special Edition#1, page 23, panel 1 (artificial reality)
Starlord, The Special Edition#1, page 40, panel 5 ("hanging" with Sandy and Tikos)
Starlord, The Special Edition#1, page 41, panel 3 (killing Arion)
Starlord, The Special Edition#1, Page 2, panel 4 (older Kip)
Starlord, The Special Edition#1, page 6, panel 5 (Gunnar and Marie)
Starlord, The Special Edition#1, page 6, panel 6 (Gunnar dies)
Starlord, The Special Edition#1, page 23, panel 3 (Sea Fang)

Other Appearances:
Marvel Preview#11 (Summer/June, 1977) - Chris Claremont (writer), John Byrne (penciler), Terry Austin (inker), John Warner (editor)
Starlord, The Special Edition#1 (February, 1982) [framing sequence] - Chris Claremont (writer), Michael Golden (penciler), Terry Austin (inker), Jim Salicrup (editor)

First Posted: 12/21/2013
Last updated: 02/09/2015

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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