SANDY from Pryd'ri
Real Name: Sandy Hölm (see comments)
Identity/Class: Alternate timeline (Reality-791) extraterrestrial (Pryd'rian) "Human" (see comments)
Occupation: Consort/wife to the Imperial heir, mother;
before motherhood: Pathfinder, warrior;
originally: The "best thief on Pryd'ri"
Group Membership: Imperial family;
formerly (and possibly still currently) Imperial Pathfinders
Affiliations: Emperor Jason of Sparta, Star-Lord
Enemies: Arak (deceased), Ariguans, Arion (deceased), Dirac, Prince Gareth (deceased) of Sparta, Kyras Shakati (deceased) of Cinnibar, Sith-Lord Rruothk'ar (deceased) of the Ariguan Confederacy, slavers (all deceased except Dirac), Prince Gareth's Household Guard (especially the torturer Tikos)
Known Relatives: Kip Hölm (husband), Alain (son), Rhys (son), Robyn (daughter), Emperor Jason of Sparta (adoptive father-in-law), Peter Jason Quill (Star-Lord, adoptive brother-in-law)
Aliases: "Momma" (to her children)
Base of Operations:
Sparta, the Imperial Homeworld (including
the imperial capital Calyndriar
and the palace that overlooks it);
also mobile through the galaxy (probably the Milky
Way) in which the empire was located;
originally from
Pryd'ri (homeworld, now
an uninhabitable dead husk)
First Appearance: Marvel Preview#11 (Summer/June, 1977)
Powers/Abilities: Sandy is (presumed to be) a member of the Pryd'rian race, humanoid aliens whose external appearance is identical to that of pale-skinned humans from Earth. The greatest known physical difference between a normal member of this race and a normal Terran human is that the Pryd'rians have much longer potential lifespans than Terrans. While the maximum age which has ever been attained by any of this race has not yet been revealed, it is known that Sandy resembled a Terran in her late thirties or early forties (measured in Earth years) at a time when she was almost 90 (Imperial/Sparta) years old. It is presumed that an average member of this race would possess the same physical abilities as those of a Terran human of her/his apparent age.
Another way in which this alien race differs from Terran humans is that their females (like Sandy) can become pregnant and produce viable offspring even when they are about eighty Imperial years of age.
Sandy had allegedly mastered numerous criminal skills by the time she was 17 years old. She called herself "the best thief on Pryd'ri" and, when the need arose, proved herself to be a capable and deadly warrior. She was very competent at dealing with knife-wielding attackers and could throw a knife with deadly accuracy.
As a "pathfinder extraordinaire" Sandy presumably possessed a high degree of whatever skills were needed for that profession. A talent for interstellar navigation would probably have been crucial.
Height: 5' 6" (estimated, as a teenager; possibly a bit
taller as an adult and/or a little shorter in her more senior years -- though
she didn't show signs of aging)
Weight: 150 lbs (estimated, as a teenager; possibly a bit heavier as an
adult and/or a little lighter (or heavier?) in her more senior years -- though
she didn't show signs of aging)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
History:
(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - Sandy was a "human" who was apparently born on the planet Pryd'ri,
a world which may have been known for its lawlessness. Alternatively, Pryd'ri may have been a fairly
normal world and Sandy just happened to have been born and raised in a lawless area of the planet.
(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - Sandy was "taught (her) trade [being a
thief] from the day (she) was born." Part of her training included how to defend herself
from knife-wielding attackers.
Perhaps as part of her training, Sandy learned to recognize finger
blasters, organic implants that "were all the rage on Pryd'ri."
(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - One day, when Sandy was 16 or 17 years old, Pryd'ri was attacked by slavers. Following their standard procedure, they killed everyone over 17 years of age and anyone who resisted, then herded the shocked survivors aboard their starship and into their slave-pens.
(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - Sandy used her abilities as a thief to find a way out of the slave pens and she discretely familiarized herself with the starship's slave decks.
(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - Eventually, the slavers attacked the planet Windhölme (their third target, after Pryd'ri and another world whose name has never been revealed) and wiped out most of its eight million people, leaving only a few thousand surviving children who were taken as slaves.
(Marvel Preview#11) - Once the slaver starship had lifted off from
Windhölme and entered orbit, Sandy covertly exited the slave pen to see how the
Scania would react. She watched from an air duct as one of them, Kip Hölm, tried
to fight back against the slavers but was beaten down. When Kip was brought before the
Slave-Master, Sandy took the opportunity to turn off the lights in that corridor and
then use the darkness to free Kip from the slavers restraining him and pull him into
the air ducts with her. Sandy then led Kip to one of the slave pens where, once he got
a good look at her, he was surprised to see that she was a girl. Amused by his surprise,
Sandy briefly teased him, asking if he "didn't like girls?" She then introduced herself
and revealed that she'd rescued him because she'd seen his (unsuccessful) one-man stand.
As Sandy mentioned that the ship would be flooded with knock-out gas when the slavers
reached their base on Kandahar a tocsin began to sound, one that Sandy identified as
their battle stations alarm, indicating that the ship must be under attack.
Later, in the slave pen, Sandy and Kip witnessed part of the door
being vaporized by what Sandy identified as a rifle blaster set on max. Looking out
through the gap, Kip saw "some guy in a uniform" fighting the troopers single-handedly
and winning. When Kip reported that one of the troopers had dropped his "hander"
(hand-held energy pistol) outside their pen and reached for it, Sandy warned him that
the door was still red-hot. Kip managed to retrieve the hander and then joined the
fight by shooting a trooper.
(Marvel Preview#11 - BTS) - Sandy and Kip freed the occupants of at least one of the slave pens and those who were willing to fight joined them in looking for the butchers who has killed so many of their people.
(Marvel Preview#11) - In a corridor leading to the lifeboat bay, Kip
confronted the fleeing command crew who were planning to eject in a lifeboat and then
detonate the starship's auto-destruct charges to destroy all evidence of their crimes,
including the slaves. When the captain mocked Kip's "gallant last stand" and ordered
his crewman Tak to kill Kip, the other freed slaves emerged from hiding and closed in
on the slavers. Despite having superior weapons, the outnumbered slavers found
themselves in a brutal fight to the death which they soon lost. When a bloodied Kip
observed that the slaves were tearing the slavers limb from limb and wondered why he
wasn't feeling anything, Sandy told him not to waste his tears on those scum because
they weren't worth it.
Once all the slavers were dead, the slaves cheered their "VICTORY!"
but then realized that they didn't know what to do next since none of them could crew
a starship. Star-Lord then stepped forward and suggested that they make a home for
themselves on Windhölme, which had been damaged but was still capable of supporting
life, unlike the other worlds which the slavers had conquered (including Pryd'ri) which
had all been reduced to dead husks. Star-Lord's offer to protect them from the slavers
by scattering a field of defensive satellites throughout the system was mocked by a
vengeful Kip who, with Sandy at his side, pointed out that the only way to really
protect them was to find out whoever was behind the slavery ring and put them out of
business. Ship suggested that the slaver's "passengers" should be off-loaded to the
planet quickly and then they might try something to find the slaver's base.
(Marvel Preview#11 - BTS) - Over the next two days all of the former slaves were evacuated to Windhölme and settled in on the Western Isles.
(Marvel Preview#11) - As they entered the slaver's Auxiliary Control, Kip told Sandy that he was glad she had stayed, and she replied that someone had to keep him out of trouble, to which Star-Lord told her that if that was true, then she had her work cut out for her. Ship then suggested that Kip, as a Windrunner, might be able to use his psychic talent to find the slavers' base. Although initially reluctant, Kip entered a trance in which his consciousness was drawn to a world with a hundred moons, then to a palace floating above that planet, and finally to a fat man who was master there. As their minds touched, Kip was overwhelmed by the sheer evil in the other's mind and their contact was broken as Kip shouted, "NO!!" Sandy instantly knelt down beside Kip, who was shaking from his experience, and asked what he had seen. As Kip spoke of the sheer evil which he had contacted, Ship revealed that she had monitored Kip's trance and identified the fat man as Kyras Shakati, a merchant of great renown whose homeworld was Delta Corianus IV, a.k.a. Cinnibar.
(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - Aboard Ship, Star-Lord, Sandy and Kip traveled to Cinnibar. Once there, Ship entered a parking orbit around its starport station. Sandy and Kip both donned skinsuits, and then they and Star-Lord used a skimmer to descend to Shakati's anti-gravity palace, with Ship getting them through Cinnibar's planetary defenses undetected.
(Marvel Preview#11) - Accompanied by one of Ship's widgets, the trio boarded Shakati's palace and headed towards the computer center but as they approached it they were ambushed by three statues that were actually Melyan Constructs, fighting robots who were capable of almost instantaneously repairing any damage that they received. Sandy managed to arm herself with a sword taken from one of the Constructs but the unending battle eventually forced them into a cul-de-sac. Sandy found a sliding panel that seemed like a way out, but Kip was suspicious, feeling that the robots had herded them that way. Before they could escape, the floor opened up, dropping Sandy and Kip. Star-Lord flew down and caught them but the trap-door swung shut, leaving them in absolute darkness which was quickly replaced by a blinding light that overloaded their senses.
(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - The light was a manifestation of the Telempathic Crystal which Shakati was using to probe the minds of the intruders while also hijacking their senses so as to place them within an artificial reality of his choosing.
(Marvel Preview#11) - As the light faded, the trio regained their senses
only to find themselves somewhere else. Kip was shocked to realize that they were all
apparently on Windhölme, with his parents aboard their ship, The Sea Fang,
even though they had been killed and the ship destroyed before Kip's eyes days earlier.
As they tried to understand what was happening to them, the threesome witnessed a
King Kraken erupt
from the sea under a skiff off in the distance, crushing it in its jaws. Kip revealed
that what they were experiencing was a hunt from a month earlier but this time,
instead of leaving, the Kraken charged the ship, ramming it and knocking Star-Lord
overboard. Stating that Star-Lord wouldn't have a chance against the Kraken, Kip told
Sandy to get harpoons so they could kill the Kraken before it got them. Star-Lord managed
to stab the kraken in an eye, causing the beast to go crazy, leap out of the water and
smash the ship with its massive tail. Now left floating in the sea, Sandy called out to
Kip who responded that he was still alive but probably not for long as the Kraken could
still gobble both of them down without a second thought. Sandy and Kip then watched as
Star-Lord surfaced. Seconds later, the Kraken attacked again and grabbed Sandy in its
jaws. As Sandy begged Kip and Star-Lord to help her, Star-Lord raised his (empty) hand
and fired (with nothing) at the sea-beast, causing it and the entire simulated world to
disappear.
As Sandy observed that they were "back" in Shakati's palace, Star-Lord
explained that they had never left and had just been in an artificial reality created
out of Kip's memories. Shakati ordered Arak to protect him, and Arak chose to start with
Sandy, calling her "Pretty-Pretty" and telling her that his blade was eager to be fed.
Totally unimpressed, Sandy told Arak that she had been the best thief on Pryd'ri and
had been taught her trade from the day she was born, and as she spoke she simultaneously
disarmed Arak with her right hand and snapped his neck with her left. Then, as Shakati
approached Star-Lord, begging for his life and offering valuable information, Sandy
threw Arak's knife at Shakati, impaling him in his chest and killing him instantly. When
Star-Lord asked why she had killed someone who had information they needed, Sandy
revealed that Shakati had had a finger blaster aimed at Star-Lord's heart and that if
the merchant had come another step closer he would have cut Star-Lord in half, to which
Star-Lord responded, "He would have tried."
While Star-Lord scanned the computer banks, Sandy and Kip stepped
outside to a balcony where Kip told her that he'd like to help. Sandy replied, "You
can't, sport. You don't know me at all. Or my life. Christos, a rube like you wouldn't
last ten seconds where I grew up. We're nothing alike, you and I." Kip persisted,
saying, "I'm human, Sandy. Just like you. I've lived. I've lost. I've fought. I've
killed. I've hated. I love. You. The details don't matter." Sandy agreed and the two
shared a kiss which was interrupted by near-miss blaster fire from Arion, Arak's twin
brother. Joining up with Star-Lord, the trio headed for their skimmer, but Ship
warned them that the skimmer had been booby-trapped and also that the palace's anti-grav generators
were going to explode in less than two minutes. Just barely in time, Ship arrived at
the palace and sucked the trio inside her just a moment before the generators exploded
in a multi-megaton fusion explosion which our heroes witnessed from its center. Then
Star-Lord revealed that he had learned that the profits made off the stripped worlds
were being used to finance a coup d'état that planned to replace the reigning
emperor (Jason) with his uncle, Prince Gareth.
(Marvel Preview#11) - As Ship and her passengers approached Sparta, the
Imperial Homeworld, they were attacked by an Imperial hunter-killer group and
Ship soon suffered a direct hit that caused Star-Lord, to whom she was linked in
an empathic rapport, to scream in pain. Star-Lord stated that he thought that
Ship had been mortally wounded and that it was time for Kip and Sandy to get
out. Sandy refused, saying that they weren't leaving him and that they had come
this far so they would stay 'til the end. Star-Lord countered by saying that it
was the end and that the lifeboat would drop them on Sparta where, with luck,
they might still be able to warn their emperor. Sandy replied, "To hell with
him, it's you I -- Unnngnh" as Star-Lord stopped her arguments
by knocking her out. Kip then got into the lifeboat with the unconscious Sandy and they
blasted free while a dying Ship headed towards a crash landing on Sparta's continent of
Thrace.
Aboard the Imperial fleet, Prince Gareth ordered that the occupants of
the lifeboat were to be taken alive for questioning and that the emperor was to be told
that there were no survivors so that he would believe the incident was closed.
(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - Sandy and Kip 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. Although Sandy wasn't touched, she was left hanging in chains alongside Kip, helpless, while he was being tortured.
(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. As he approached Sandy, Arion reminded the "Pretty-Pretty" that she had killed his twin on Cinnibar and said that he was grateful for the chance to repay her kind-for-kind. However, before Arion ever touched Sandy with his knife-glove, Star-Lord suddenly made his presence known. As Tikos attacked Star-Lord only to be taken down by 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 Sandy and Kip were freed from their manacles, the trio left the torture chamber, unaware that Dirac had been watching from the shadows of an upper level. The trio didn't manage to get very far before 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, Star-Lord gave the data pack to Kip and told him to take it to the emperor while he handled the villains. As Star-Lord charged his foes, Kip and Sandy ran for it with Sandy remarking on the hate she had seen on Star-Lord's face which made her think that he'd met "Lizard-beak" (Rruothk'ar) somewhere before.
(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - Sandy and Kip managed to find the emperor and (presumably) were able to use the data pack's information to convince him to at least meet with Star-Lord.
(Marvel Preview#11) - Sandy and Kip 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 Star-Lord). The emperor's arrival prevented the three troopers who had Star-Lord 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, Star-Lord 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 Star-Lord'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) - As Sandy and Kip (both in new, noble attire) entered the throneroom with Star-Lord and Emperor Jason, the emperor asked Sandy if something was bothering her. Sandy replied, "Huh? Oh...ah...No, majesty, it...oh, Hellsteeth, YES! I feel like a mark in this outfit. Gi' me a tunic an' pants an' some pockets to pick, then I'll be happy." Jason replied that he knew how she felt and revealed that in his youth he had hated court life so much that he had fled to deep space to pursue his heart's desire to explore. The emperor then 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 Star-Lord, 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 Star-Lord flew away, Jason stated that he'd give all he had to be going with him, and Kip added, "So would we." Sandy was unusually silent during this farewell but shed a tear as she watched Star-Lord fly off.
(Starlord, The Special Edition#1 (fb) - BTS) - Emperor Jason adopted Kip as his son and heir.
Sandy took advantage of the new opportunities that were now available to her to become a "pathfinder extraordinaire" who discovered new worlds beyond the rim. She also demonstrated skills that caused Emperor Jason to assess her as being "as deadly a warrior as (he had) ever seen."
Twenty years after Sandy and 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. Whether or not Sandy, as independent as she was, then adopted her husband's surname as her married name has not been revealed.
When Sandy and Kip 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 "Star-Lord 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 (but he may have told Sandy).
Throughout the hundredth year of Emperor Jason's reign (about seventy years after Sandy and Kip 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, Star-Lord.
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 their mother and
grandfather and he 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 Star-Lord, 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. As Kip was telling Jason
about how he had encountered Ship following an abortive attempt to bring Peter back,
Sandy told Kip and Jason to hush because the children had fallen asleep in Jason's
bed. As Kip complained, "So much for my vaunted skill as a balladeer," Sandy reassured
him that "anyone with the ability to quiet this brood is worth his weight in matrix
crystals." Sandy stated that she would go scrounge a grav-plate to help them carry
the children back to their apartments, but Jason said that wouldn't be necessary as he
planned to sleep on the roof. Sandy and Kip were both shocked when Jason then revealed
that he planned to announce his abdication at the next day's Council meeting. Kip was
unable to talk Jason out of his decision, and the emperor assured Kip that the empire
was his and that he had earned it.
Later that evening, Sandy and Kip were asleep in their apartments
when they were awakened by a loud BOOM! Reaching the roof in seconds with weapons in
hand, they found Jason gone and spotted the ship that took him boosting out of the
atmosphere. Sandy said that she would alert Port Control but then Kip noticed two items
on Jason's pillow: the Imperial Seal Ring and Star-Lord's helmet. Realizing that Jason
had left with his son, Sandy asked, "D'you think we'll see them again, Kip?" and her
husband replied, "Who can say? I found my heart's desire the day I met you." Sandy
agreed, "As did I." Kip then expressed his hope 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 there are several images in which Sandy and Kip appear to be the same height so I used the estimated measurements that I used in my profile on Kip. Of course, they're really only guesses. Also, Sandy was a teenager when she first met Star-Lord so her measurements when she attained her full adult size are probably greater than what I've listed. Also, her pregnancies would probably have affected her measurements as well.
Although the fact that Kip once called Sandy "My darling wife" in Starlord, The Special Edition#1 does establish that the two of them were married at the time of the Jubilee, the story contains no indication of exactly when that marriage had taken place. This means that they could have gotten married soon after Star-Lord left Sparta the first time or they could have waited until Sandy was pregnant with their first child or they could have gotten married at any time during the 70 years that had passed since they had first met. Also, as mentioned above under History, fact that they were married does not necessarily mean that Sandy adopted Kip's surname as her married name is something that I think bears repeating. Maybe she did or maybe she didn't, there's no way to tell.
Reality-791
When they were first written, the "classic" Star-Lord
stories contained no direct connections to the "mainstream" Marvel Universe so readers
were free to decide for themselves whether or not Star-Lord existed in that familiar
reality.
For over twenty years, this situation remain unchanged until the 2000 Inhumans miniseries seemingly revealed that Peter Quill's father, Jason of Spartax, DID exist within Reality-616 but that, since he was currently childless, his son (the Star-Lord-to-be) and his adventures were actually part of a possible future of Reality-616 and not part of its past.
In 2004, things changed again when the short-lived Thanos series and the subsequent Annihilation miniseries revealed that Peter Jason Quill, formerly known as Star-Lord, existed as an adult in the "present-day" MU, a contradiction that was never officially explained away.
Most recently, in early 2013, writer Brian Michael Bendis presented his "streamlined and updated" origin for the Star-Lord who existed in the "mainstream" MU. Since it was impossible to reconcile this new Bendisized origin with the "classic" origin, it was decided, officially, that these two origins had to actually relate to two different versions of Star-Lord. And since the current-day Star-Lord definitely exists in Reality-616, it was decided that the "classic" Star-Lord and his adventures (and allies) would be relegated to Reality-791.
Now that it has been established that Sandy exists
in an alternate timeline known as Reality-791, what can we determine about exactly when
she lived? This is a more difficult questions since there are no Earth-dates provided
for any of the events in her life. However, we can make some observations and use them
to come to some conclusions:
With these "facts" in hand we can make the following
deductions:
Of course, these calculations have a very high margin of error since there are two major variables which we cannot properly define. First, it has never been established how long Peter Quill operated as Star-Lord before he came into conflict with the slavers. For my calculations, I've assumed that he had at least 11 months of experience under his belt but realistically it could (and perhaps should) have been a much longer time. Second, the dating system used in the "Spartan" Empire is presumably based on a "standard year" which is the same length as a Sparta year, and given that there is no reason to assume that all inhabited planets have years that are exactly as long as an Earth year, 70 Sparta years could be significantly different than 70 Earth years. So my calculation that Jubilee Night will occur in the year 2061 could be off by years or even decades. Still, it's a start.
Although it was established that Sandy was born and
raised on the planet Pryd'ri, almost nothing has been revealed about her species. Now,
I could go on (and on and on) about the fact that six of the seven main characters in
Marvel Preview#11 are all apparently identical to Caucasian human beings from Earth.
I could point out that the fact that Jason of Sparta was able to successfully produce
a child with Meredith Quill from Earth STRONGLY suggests that "Spartans" and Terrans
must be genetically related (or that a writer thought it would make a good
story...--see my comments in Gareth's profile, as this kind of thing happens all
the time, and it's as simple as a plot device--Snood), and the fact that Sandy
could have children with Kip does the same for the Pryd'rians and the Scania (see
above--Snood). I could even theorize that the best possible explanation for this
astonishing similarity would be that these supposedly-different species must actually
be related through some common ancestor, some progenitor race who colonized numerous
planets. If that were the case, then it could well be that one group, the ones who
settled Sparta, established an interstellar empire while other groups, like the Scania
and Sandy's ancestors, went their own ways. Unfortunately, that would all be mere
speculation, with no in-story evidence to support this theory, so I'm not going to
waste my time (and yours) by propounding something that can be neither proved nor
disproved. Instead, I'm just going to point out that the fact that Kip was able to
have children with Sandy, a woman who was apparently not a member of the Scania,
could indicate that the Scania are more of a tribe of a greater "Human" species and
not actually meant to be considered as a separate species of human-type alien. Or
it could mean that the "Spartans" possess reproductive technology that makes
cross-breeding between different species possible. You decide.
--It's just not uncommon AT ALL in science fiction, or comic book
stories...if it fits the story, cross-breeding is possible between species...if
not, not--Snood.
Although Sandy and Kip (and the Scania survivors) were all identical-to-Terrans human-types, Marvel Preview#11 showed that many of the other slaves were not. The slave pen where Sandy brought Kip was shown to contain slaves from at least 10 different species, and members of at least another 7 different alien races were involved in the slave rebellion. However, Sandy told Kip that the Scania were "the third batch pulled in so far" by the slavers and when Kip used his psychic talents to backtrack the slaver starship's course he watched "two other worlds -- Sandy's among them -- die under its guns." So where did they all come from? While it's possible that those other slaves were already aboard when the slavers began their final attacks or that they were obtained during the voyage via raids on other starships, it doesn't seem likely that slavers who were planning to wipe out nearly the entire populations of several worlds would reduce the room available in their slave pens for newly-captured slaves and thus diminish the profits they could make. Accordingly, the only reasonable explanation is that those many different alien slaves must have come from one or both of the two worlds which the slavers had attacked before Windhölme, Pryd'ri or the other world whose name was never revealed, suggesting that one or both of those planets had a multi-racial population. Given Pryd'ri's apparent lawlessness, it's not hard for me to imagine that that planet was, like Mos Eisley spaceport in the Star Wars universe, a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" where criminals from many races met to conduct their business...but that's just speculation on my part. Who knows? Maybe the third planet was a monastic world which pilgrims from many species would visit in search of spiritual enlightenment. Again, who knows? Only Chris Claremont.
In my profile on Kip Hölm, I stated that when Kip mentioned that he hadn't felt a thing when he killed Arion, it was Sandy who told him that he would, "in time." However, in reviewing the relevant page, I noticed that the next person to speak, Prince Gareth, says, "I'm afraid your time's run out, Starlord." This would seem to suggest that Gareth was responding to a reference to "time" made by Star-Lord, not Sandy. Accordingly, I've removed that exchange from this profile.
Why I have a problem with extraterrestrials interbreeding
For the record, my concern
about the fact that so many alien races are depicted as being identical to
Humans from Earth is not directed at the various alien characters themselves. I
fully understand that there are real-world reasons why comic books (and other
media) tend to portray aliens as being so improbably human-like. Comic book
artists are used to drawing the human form and so it is easier and quicker for
them to create almost-human aliens instead of truly alien forms. Similarly,
comic book writers want their readers to identify with the alien characters in
their stories and it’s easier to get that desired response if the aliens look
like humans instead of bipedal reptiles or giant insects or whatever. However,
using aliens who are “too human” can create problems.
--I agree with these points completely. At the same time, I also appreciate
that while there are ethnocentrisms going on, but one might argue, for the
purpose of the story, that having the characters appear significantly different
than human might be distracting from the story or point the writer is trying to
make.
--Snood
Writer Peter David has been quoted as saying, "A shared universe, like any fictional construct, hinges on suspension of disbelief. When continuity is tossed away, it tatters the construct. Undermines it."
This statement speaks to
the importance of “continuity” in any given story but it can also be applied to
the “plausibility” of a story’s elements. If readers find part of a story to be
too implausible, then their suspension of disbelief may be stretched too far,
possibly past the breaking point, and that can ruin their enjoyment of the
story. And exactly how plausible a story element seems can sometimes be
inversely proportional to what it known about it in "reality." Consider the
following examples. Faster-than-light travel is currently impossible for any
human technology. As a result, I can read stories featuring various fictional
methods of star travel and, since it is impossible for me to “know” which of
them are “wrong” I am free to accept all of them as being possible. This allows
my suspension of disbelief to stretch quite a ways.
--I certainly appreciate all of these points, and Peter David is one of my
favorite writers. However, I apply science to comics in needed degrees. When
someone writes a story in which they fail to understand an existing medical
condition, such as diabetes, and HORRIBLY WRONGLY -- suggest that insulin is
needed when someone's blood sugar is low -- I have a problem with that. I hope
such writers realize that their misinformation could quite literally kill
people.
However, when I see Superman (or Hyperion, or Gladiator, or
whoever) fly at hundred or thousands of miles an hour and snatch someone out of
the air to save them from falling to death, my brain might react that the
inertia involved between the heroes velocity and mass/density would have pulped
the person he or she was trying to rescue...but then I appreciate that this is a
comic book and it is silly to get that worked up about something. For all we
know, the flying character has this inertia-dampening power that prevents injury
in these issues. While I REALLY appreciate when a writer provides such an
explanation, I can live without it most of the time.
--Snood.
On the
other hand, modern science currently knows a fair amount about the evolutionary
process and how genetics work. So, if I read a story which features information
which contradicts what is "known" (or. at least, what is believed to be known),
then that diminishes how far I am willing to let my suspension of disbelief
stretch. In this context, the current scientific consensus is that organisms
which evolved on alien planets would be highly unlikely (to say the least) to be
identical to any complex Earth creatures and even those which, due to convergent
evolution, might resemble Earth species would still possesses genetic codes
which would be incompatible with those of their earthly counterparts. It is for
this reason that I find the idea of identical-to-Caucasian-Humans aliens who are
able to interbreed with Terrans to be something that shreds any suspension of
disbelief which I might have on this subject.
--You want a possible explanation?
Who is to say that almost every race outside of humanity does
not practice parthenogenesis, and can reproduce asexually? Who is to say that
alien females do so, but also adopt their partner's genotype and/or phenotype
when they produce offspring following mating with a being from another species.
Who is to say that the male extraterrestrials don't induce the same activity in
human females?
With more time and effort, I could probably produce a few
more plausible explanations. But, I don't have the time or inclination. I would
really appreciate if a writer said, "though their genetics differed, these two
beings reproduced because X, Y, or Z." But, it is such a common phenomenon, that
I just don't worry about it.
And, if you need a scientific explanation of why sci-fi stuff
happens in comics or other sci-fi series, then the answer is that almost none of
it can happen, based on the information we understand at this point in time.
--Snood
However, one thing that can help strengthen one’s willingness to suspend their disbelief is a plausible explanation for why something which shouldn’t be possible actually is. Using the example above, if I were told that the various “races” of Identical-to-Caucasian-Humans were actually just different sub-groups of a single alien race, then I would have an easier time accepting their uncanny similarity to Earth Humans. And if I were told that these “aliens” were actually all descended from Humans who had long ago been abducted from Earth and taken to those other planets, then I would be very satisfied.
In short, whenever there’s a
story element which strains the reader’s willingness to suspend their disbelief,
any plausible explanation for it is better than “just because.”
--See above...Snood
Profile by Donald Campbell.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Sandy Hölm has no known connections to:
Alain Hölm has no known connections to:
Rhys Hölm has no known connections to:
Robyn Hölm has no known connections to:
The planet Pryd'ri has no known known connections to:
Alain (far left) is one of the two sons that Sandy had with Kip Hölm. He has golden hair which is unlike either of his parents.
Rhys (near left) is one of the two sons that Sandy had with Kip Hölm. He has the same blond hair as his father.
Robyn (right) is the only daughter of Sandy and Kip Hölm. She has the same red hair as her mother.
Kip and Sandy's three children were all born after Sandy was eighty years old. They appeared to all be about seven years old, suggesting that they might be triplets (although the combination of one girl and two non-identical boys is not possible with human pregnancies on Earth, at least not without artificial manipulation). Despite their young age, the trio already had a reputation as "terrors" and anyone who could quiet them was greatly admired by Sandy.
(Starlord, the Special Edition#1) - On Jubilee Night, the last night of the year-long celebration of the hundred-year anniversary of the coronation of Emperor Jason of Sparta, the three children sneaked up on their father and grandfather as they talked and then pounced, swiftly bringing their prey to the floor. Almost instantly, their mother rushed in, demanding to know what her children were doing but they ignored her, with Rhys and Alain continuing to wrestle their father while Robyn remained on her grandfather's back, pinning him to the floor. Rhys announced that they were winning but Alain complained that it was "No fair" because Daddy was tickling him. Kip implored his wife to help them but Emperor Jason, while asking Robyn to not pull his hair, said that he knew when he was beaten and surrendered. Sandy admitted that she "would sooner face an Ariguan battle fleet than these three terrors" and Kip agreed, then asked if they weren't supposed to be in bed. Hearing this, Rhys protested that it was Jubilee Night and not fair and he pleaded with Grandfather to let them stay up. Rhys (or Robyn) asked the adults to tell them a story and Alain asked Grandfather for the story about how he and Father defeated the Ariguans. Robyn objected, saying that they had heard that one and asked Momma to tell them about the new worlds she had discovered beyond the rim. At that point, Kip offered to tell them a very special story to mark that very special night. It was the story of how their mother and grandfather and he 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.
Sometime later, as Kip was finishing his story and he and Jason were discussing where Kip had heard "that ending" to their story, Sandy told them to hush as the children were asleep in Jason's bed. Kip lamented the apparent loss of his "vaunted skill as a balladeer" but Sandy reassured him that anyone with the ability to quiet that brood was "worth his weight in matrix crystals." Sandy then prepared to go scrounge a grav-plate to help them carry the children back to their apartments but Jason said that that wouldn't be necessary and that they were all welcome to stay there because it was such a lovely night that he had planned to sleep on the roof. Jason then went on to say something important to Kip and Sandy but the children were already asleep so they missed it.
All three children apparently remained asleep during the loud BOOM! that their parents later heard when Jason left with Peter aboard Ship.
--Starlord, The Special Edition#1
The planet where Sandy was taught her trade from the day she was born. The way that she was raised resulted in Sandy becoming, in her own words, "the best thief on Pryd'ri" and someone who was very capable of defending herself from knife-wielding attackers as well as throwing knives with deadly accuracy. However, it wasn't revealed if Pryd'ri was an entirely (or mostly) lawless society or if Sandy just happened to have grown up in an area where the residents were more criminally-inclined than those who lived in other regions.
Although nothing has been specifically revealed about what Pryd'ri's environment was like before the slavers rendered it uninhabitable, the fact that Sandy, Kip and Emperor Jason were all able to exist without any apparent discomfort on Sparta indicates that Pryd'ri, Windhölme and Sparta all had similar atmospheres and similar surface gravities. The fact that the half-Terran Star-Lord was equally confortable on Sparta probably indicates that the environmental conditions on all three planets were quite Earth-like.
One day, when Sandy was 16 or 17 years old, Pryd'ri was attacked by slavers. Following their standard procedure, they killed everyone over 17 years of age and anyone who resisted, then herded the shocked survivors aboard their starship and into their slave-pens. As was also part of their standard procedure, the slavers then did something to Pryd'ri that rendered the planet uninhabitable within a month and would make it a dead husk within a standard year. By the time the slavers attacked Windhölme, Pryd'ri was no longer capable of supporting life.
Aboard the slaver starship, Sandy rescued and befriended Kip Hölm, one of the recently-enslaved Scania survivors. When the slavers were distracted by Star-Lord's attack, Sandy and Kip freed themselves from the slave-pens and, with some other freed slaves, killed the command crew. When Kip's desire to put a permanent end to the slaving operation led to Star-Lord and Ship agreeing to help him find out who was behind the slavers, Sandy agreed to join their anti-slaver crusade in order to keep Kip out of trouble.
While using his psychic Windrunner talent to backtrack the slaver starship's course, Kip relived the attack on Windhölme and watched two other worlds, Sandy's among them, die under the starship's guns before that trail ended at Kyras Shakati, a powerful and corrupt Merchant Lord who lived in his own anti-gravity palace floating above the surface of the planet Delta Corianus IV (a.k.a. Cinnibar).
During their infiltration of Shakati's floating palace, Sandy,
Kip and Star-Lord were captured. Star-Lord managed to quickly free them and the trio soon found
themselves facing Shakati who ordered his aide Arak to protect him. When Arak arrogantly challenged
Sandy, calling her "Pretty-pretty" and stating that his blade was eager to be feed, Sandy was not
impressed. While disarming Arak with her right hand and snapping his neck with her left, Sandy told
him, "Sport, I was the best thief on Pryd'ri -- taught my trade from the day I was born. An'
you're going to take me?!?" Seconds later, when Shakati was seemingly trying to surrender to
Star-Lord, Sandy threw Arak's knife at the merchant, impaling him in the chest and killing him
instantly. When Star-Lord asked her why she had killed someone who had information they needed,
Sandy replied, "He had a finger blaster -- an organic implant -- aimed at your heart! They were
all the rage on Pryd'ri. Another second and he'd've cut you in half."
A few minutes later, while Star-Lord was scanning the palace's computer banks,
Kip approached Sandy and told her that he'd like to help. Sandy replied, "You can't, sport. You
don't know me at all. Or my life. Christos, a rube like you wouldn't last ten seconds where I grew
up. We're nothing alike, you and I." However, Kip then told Sandy that he was human, just like
her, that he loved her, and that any other details didn't matter, and the two began to kiss.
Days later, on the planet Sparta, after the conspiracy behind the slavers had been smashed, Emperor Jason noticed that something seemed to be bothering Sandy. When he asked her was it was, she replied, "I feel like a mark in this outfit. Gi' me a tunic an' pants and some pockets to pick, then I'll be happy." The emperor replied that he knew how she felt.
Notes: Since Sandy was the only person ever identifed as being from Pryd'ri,
certain questions about its inhabitants have gone unanswered.
While writer Chris Claremont is probably the only person who knows the answers to those questions, Marvel Preview#11 also contained "Our Alien Heritage or The Central-Casting Syndrome" by artist John Byrne. In that three-page article, Byrne acknowledged that "the aliens in STARLORD as here presented are as human as anything a Hollywood make-up man ever produced" but added that he was not entirely to blame because "the whole premise of Chris's script [necessitated] at least three races indistinguishable from Homo Sapiens." If the Scania and the "Imperial/humans" were two of those races, were the Pryd'rians meant to be the third? Inquiring minds want to know.
--mentioned (but never depicted) in Marvel Preview#11
images: (without ads)
Starlord, The Special Edition#1, page 9, panel 5 (main image)
page 14, panel 6 (head shot)
page 28, panel 3 (killing Arak)
page 29, panel 5 (with Kip)
page 40, panel 7 (at Arion's mercy)
page 3, panel 1 (as a concerned mother)
page 3, panel 4 (Alain with Kip)
page 3, panel 2 (Rhys)
page 3, panel 3 (Robyn with Jason)
page 3, panel 3 (all three asleep)
Appearances:
Marvel Preview#11 (Summer, 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 and Terry Austin (artists), Jim Salicrup (editor)
First Posted: 03/08/2014
Last updated: 04/19/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright
info
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