crystal planetcrystal planet
Official Name: Unrevealed, if any
Nature: Extraterrestrial world (location unrevealed; presumably the Milky Way galaxy; see comments)
Natives: None identified; almost certainly none named if there are actually any individuals
Population: The crystals of the planet had some form of life and alien intelligence, but where there were multiple entities or a collective or something else is unrevealed
Capital City: Inapplicable
Government: Unrevealed
Languages: Unrevealed
National Defense: Unrevealed (nothing organized); the crystalline lifeform attacked invaders who damaged the planet and/or its crystals in any fashion
Places of Interest: None
Visitors: Alpha Flight (Box/Madison Jeffries, Sasquatch/Walter (Wanda) Langkowski, Vindicator/Heather Hudson), Beta Flight (Laura Dean (later Portal), Goblyn, Manikin/Whitman Knapp, Purple Girl/Kara Killgrave)
First Appearance: Alpha Flight I#57 (April, 1988)
History:
(Alpha Flight I#57 (fb) - BTS) - Blasted into
space after absorbing Bedlam's Arctic complex and converting a portion
of his mass into energy to defeat Tundra, Box (Madison Jeffries)
-- carrying members of both Alpha Flight (Box/Madison Jeffries, Sasquatch/Walter (Wanda) Langkowski, Vindicator/Heather Hudson) and Beta Flight (Laura Dean, Goblyn, Manikin/Whitman Knapp, Purple Girl/Kara Killgrave) -- subsequently exhausted almost all of Bedlam's complex
via converting it to energy/fuel to maintain the flight.
(Alpha Flight I#57) - Box dropped out of warp and landed on a crystalline planet to replenish his raw materials.
The Boxship's high-speed entry into the planet's atmosphere and it's hull's ionization apparently shed energy in the form of lightning catalyzed chemical reactions within the diverse chemical cloud in the planet's atmosphere.
Upon landing, the Boxship extended a pair of borers into the planet; through these it began to suck up raw materials from the planet's mass.
(Alpha
Flight I#57) <as theorized by Sasquatch> - This served as a spark that may have given life to the planet's
crystalline structure.
(Alpha Flight I#57) - Below the surface into which the Boxship drilled, the very clay of the planet began to come to life. As the Boxship prepared to take off, crystalline tendrils reached up and ensnared the ship, holding it on the ground.
After Sasquatch theorized that their arrival may have catalyzed life on the new planet, the crystalline tendrils continued to grow over the ship.
Wearing protective suits created by Jeffries, the other Alphans and
Betans joined Box in exiting the ship and trying to drive off the
crystals, ignoring Laura Dean's concerns that they should try to
understand this new form of life. 
The heroes sensed an inner vibrations each time their various assaults shattered the crystals, strengthening their concern that the crystals might be alive.
To test this, Purple Girl (Kara) tried to merge her mind with the crystals, but she was overwhelmed by the alien lifeform and collapsed.
Seeing Kara collapse, Laura interdimensionally traded places with her
twin sister, Goblyn, who rushed out to help Kara.
As Goblyn leap5 to attack the crystals, Kara tried to stop Goblyn -- it is not clearly stated whether this was because she didn't want Goblyn to be hurt or because she sensed the crystals were alive and shouldn't be destroyed -- and the alien "thoughts" from the crystals still in the dazed Kara's mind were imparted to Goblyn along with the command to stop.
Seconds before an onrushing sharp-edged crystal wave reached Kara, Goblyn leapt away with Kara while Vindicator carried away the nearby Whitman Knapp.
As crystal waves approached again, Goblyn sidled up next to the crystals, and her purring matched its vibrations, causing the crystals to withdraw.
The others appreciated that Goblyn was both somewhat intelligent and their ally, and they all returned to the now-freed Boxship, which departed the crystal world.
Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo, Jim Lee, and Tony DeZuniga.
Alpha left the apparently sentient crystals behind and never gave them a second thought, at least as far as what was shown on panel. The main point of the story, I think, was to show that Goblyn wasn't an unthinking animal.
We are not told where the crystal planet was, but I don't think there's any reason to think they left the Milky Way galaxy.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The crystal planet has no known connections to
Whether an aggregrate/composite entity or a single being, the crystal structure of the planet apparently came to life as Alpha Flight arrived in the Boxship, possibly catalyzed by the energies of their arrival as detailed above.
When the Boxship tried to depart, the crystals restrained it, and the crystals fought Alpha Flight as they tried to free the ship.
Purple Girl (Kara Killgrave) tried to mindmeld with the crystals, but was overwhelmed by their alien nature.
When Kara subsequently mentally influenced Goblyn, the animalistic Goblyn felt the influence of the alien intelligence still in Kara's mind, leading Goblyn to generate a purr that matched the crystals' vibrations.
The crystals then withdrew, and Alpha Flight departed.
--Alpha Flight I#57
images: (without ads)
Alpha Flight I#57, pg. 1 (upper atmosphere, Boxship arriving);
pg. 4, panel 4 (foggy surface, Boxship landing);
pg. 5, panel 1 (landscape);
pg. 11, panel 8 (first growth);
pg. 14, panel 1 (restraining Boxship);
pg. 15, panel 2 (overwhelming Boxship);
pg. 16, panel 3 (fighting Alpha Flight);
pg. 18, panel 1-2 (mindmeld);
pg. 20, panel 3 (Goblyn purring);
panel 4 (crystal withdrawing)
Appearances:
Alpha Flight I#57 (April, 1988) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Jim Lee (penciler), Tony DeZuniga (inker), Carl Potts (editor)
First posted: 04/27/2018
Last updated: 04/27/2018
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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