unidentified alien race

Classification: Semi-humanoid extraterrestrial race 

Location/Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    the unidentified Thanos-Thrall was seen in action on one of Thanos' ships; prior to that, he was active on Titan (the largest moon of Saturn);
    the unidentified agent of Nebula (perhaps the same as the Thanos-Thrall) was last seen on Earth

Known Members: Unidentified Thanos-Thrall, unidentified agent of Nebula (possibly the same as the Thanos-Thrall)

Affiliations: Unrevealed;
    one member was an agent of Thanos and served as one of his Thanos-Thralls (alongside Jalin (a Sagittarian), the Super-Skrull (Kl'rt), Skragg and an unidentified Aakon, Alpha Centaurian, Archeopian (presumably), Astran (presumably), at least one Badoon, Haab, a Monster of Badoon (named Joonvit), Queega, Rigellian, a Shi'ar, presumably at least one other Skrull, Tribbitite (?), Xeronian, and others, including a Reality-616 version of one of the Emissaries of the Overlord), one of the Worldform, Inc. enforcers (a la Ramrod); an unidentified alien with oval-like markings around each eye; and a blue-skinned alien in a skullcap; a bald humanoid with a clear helmet around his head,  and a Shi'ar.

Enemies: Avengers (Black Panther/T'Challa, Captain America/Steve Rogers, Mantis, Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, Swordsman/Jacques DuQuesne, Thor Odinson, Vision/"Victor Shade"), Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), Eros (later aka Starfox), Rick Jones, Mentor (A'Lars), Nova (Rich Rider)

First Appearance: (Apparent reference) Amazing Spider-Man I#2 (May, 1963);
    (actual appearance) Captain Marvel I#27 (July, 1973)

Powers/Abilities: Unrevealed.
    The appearance of their "skin" may indicate that it is more tough/durable than human skin...or not

Traits: Unrevealed;
    the Thanos-Thrall was presumably either a nihilist, a mercenary, or just bellicose.

Type:  Bilaterally symmetric semi-humanoid possibly reptilian bipeds
Eyes: Two (on head; seen only in shadow, so color unrevealed)
Fingers: Four (plus opposing thumb)
Toes: Unrevealed (likely five)
Skin color: Green (possibly also yellow and/or white)
Other distinguishing features: Antennae-like projections extending from prominent brow-ridges over eyes. Rough hide on torso and limbs.
Average height: Approximately 6'1" (impossible to estimate from single image in crouching position in foreground compared to beings of known height)

History:
(Captain Marvel I#27 (fb) - BTS) - An unidentified alien was one of the Thanos-Thralls, agents of the nihilist Thanos, on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.

(Captain Marvel I#27) - When Thanos' father and brother, Mentor (A'Lars) and Eros, joined forces with the Kree Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) against Thanos and invaded the undefended Hall of Science, they took the inital force (an Aakon, a Rigellian, and possibly an Alpha Centurion), this alerted the main guard, which included the unidentified alien. While Mar-Vell departed to erase Thanos' recordings of his mind and fought the Super-Skrull, Mentor and Eros opposed the main guard. The unidentified alien was on the receiving end of a blast from Mentor. 

    After Mar-Vell caused an explosion by smashing the fiery Super-Skrull into a computer bank containing the tapes, the remaining Thanos-Thralls panicked and fled.

(Captain Marvel I#31) - Later, after Thanos had acquired the Cosmic Cube and used it to capture Mentor, Eros, Iron Man, Captain Mar-Vell, Moondragon and Drax the Destroyer, the mad Titan could not resist bragging about what he had accomplished and what he was going to do.

    As part of this boasting, Thanos showed his captives his fleet of space raiders that were ready to plunder Earth and were crewed by his personal horde of outcasts and criminals collected from throughout the galaxy. A member of this unidentiifed extraterrestrial race was shown to be part of this horde.

(Avengers I#125 (fb) - BTS) - Thanos sent a massive fleet to conquer Earth.

(Avengers I#125) - At least one of the aliens was aboard the flagship (led by a guy an alien who looked like a hybrid of a Badoon and an Alpha Centaurian (or just a gray Badoon); and also manned by an Aakon (apparently; possibly named Gromak), a Skrull, the Emissary of the Overlord character, and someone named Tuareg) in the fleet of Thanos-Thralls assaulted by the Avengers .
    Ultimately the Avengers destroyed the universal translator, which  prevented communication amongst the various alien races, leading to disarray and ultimately their defeat.

(Nova III#1) - Although colored yellow, the former Thanos-Thrall or another similar alien was one of the eight minions that the space pirate Nebula gathered to accompany her to Earth and help her to kill the being she called Nova-Prime (a.k.a. Earthling Richard Rider) to avenge the death of her father, Zorr.

    Nebula and her team attacked Nova in New York City and caused a lot of damage before Nova was able to unleash an energy pulse that dealt with most of them and motivated Nebula to abandon her team and escape to save herself.

Comments: Humans wearing costumes similar to these aliens were created by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and ;
    the actual aliens were were shown by Mike Friedrich, Jim Starlin, and Pablo Marcos.

Aliens...not aliens...aliens

• In the second story of Amazing Spider-Man I#2 (1963), the Tinkerer worked with these aliens, and then at the end of the issue, Spider-Man found a mask of the Tinkerer's face, and it appeared that the Tinkerer was one of the aliens, too. 
• The Tinkerer next showed up and revealed himself to be human in Amazing Spider-Man I#159-160 (1976). 
• A little bit later, in Spectacular Spider-Man II#50-51 (1981), it was revealed that the "aliens" from Amazing Spider-Man I#2 were human stuntmen associated with Mysterio (Quentin Beck, who was behind the scenes in #2).
• Meanwhile, however, this alien showed up in a single panel in Captain Marvel I#27 (1973) and #31 (1974)...presumably the same guy, but maybe there were two different ones
• This guy or another such alien, with a more yellow hue, showed up in Nova III#1. 
• It would seem likely that -- while it may have been meant simply as an homage -- that there is a real race of aliens that look like this, and perhaps one of them was glimpsed by someone, and Mysterio may have been inspired by them to make the costumes for his fake aliens...or something like that.
• Maybe someday a story will clarify this...or not

• The one that looks like the aliens from AmzSp I#2 is in the bottom right
• Jumping into the air and seen from behind is a Badoon.
• Below the Badoon we see the faces of a Xeronian a Haab, and a Sagittarian.
• The little guys over by Mentor's cape are even harder to see/place.
  
• Elsewhere in the issue we see an Aakon and a Rigellian, plus Super-Skrull (Kl'rt)...maybe an Alpha Centaurian...

   In Nova III#1, six of the eight minions resemble some of the Thanos-thralls who appeared in a symbolic group shot from Captain Marvel I#31. Those six were a Badoon, a Skrull, a Xeronian, a bald humanoid with a clear helmet around his head, someone wearing a differently colored version of the Emissaries of the Overlord armor, a yellow-skinned minion (one of the aliens from this profile, either miscolored yellow (perhaps based on the pale image from Avengers I#125, or perhaps the aliens come in different colors or can change color). The two minions who did not appear in CM#31 were a Monster of Badoon (named Joonvit) and a Shi'ar.

    Thanks to Donald Campbell for reminding me of the Nova III#1 appearance! Thanks to John Holstein for pointing out the appearance in Avengers I#125.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
These aliens should be distinguished from:

• The Treen, whose green color, bald heads, and slightly similar ocular structure tricked me in the past, Eagle I#30
• The ersatz aliens that look just like them, Amazing Spider-Man I#2
• other green aliens, antennaed or not...

images: (without ads)
Captain Marvel I#27, pg. 14, panel 2 (Thanos-Thrall battling Eros and Mentor)
Captain Marvel I#31, page 9, panel 4 (more Thanos-thralls)
Avengers I#125 , pg. 8, panel 7 (pale (white vs. light yellow) appearance)
Nova III#1, pages 28-29, panel 1 (Nebula's yellow-skinned minion)

Appearances:
Amazing Spider-Man I#2 (May, 1963) - Stan Lee (writer, editor), Steve Ditko (artist)
Captain Marvel I#27 (July, 1973) - Mike Friedrich (script), Jim Starlin (plot/pencils), Pablo Marcos (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Captain Marvel I#31 (March, 1974) - Jim Starlin (story & art), Green & Milgrom (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Avengers I#125 (July, 1974) - Steve Englehart (writer), John Buscema (penciler), Dave Cockrum (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Nova III#1 (May, 1999) - Erik Larsen (writer), Joe Bennett (penciler), Armando Durruthy (inker), Ruben Diaz (editor)

First posted: 5/31/2018
Last updated: 11/27/2020

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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