KILGORE
SLAUGHTER
KILGORE
SLAUGHTER
Real Name: Kilgore Slaughter (see comments)
Identity/Class: Human mutate, U.K. citizen
Occupation: Adventurer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: McMurdo, Fiona McMurdo, Merlyn, Ralf
Enemies: Destruct-'Droids, Search-'Droids, a corrupt future civilization including a street gang including Gargoyle
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None (see comments)
Base of Operations: Scottish Highlands, near the village
of Bannockbrae
First Appearance: Rampage Magazine#40/3 (September 1981)
Powers/Abilities: Kilgore Slaughter could project destructive beams of an undefined energy from his hands, and could teleport others at a distance - as such, it is likely he could also teleport himself.
His physique suggested superhuman strength and his survival when faced by dozens of heavily armed future warriors suggests he possessed superhuman durability, though neither was demonstrated during his brief string of appearances.
He appeared to receive telepathic instructions from Merlin, though this might have been Merlin's power rather than Slaughter's. The rapidity with which McMurdo and the traveler warmed to him when he extended his hand in friendship might suggest that people instinctively like or fear him, depending on which emotion he wishes to engender - a sort of royal fiat whereby he easily gathers followers (cf. King Arthur).
Height: 6'8"; (pre-empowering) unrevealed, but
shorter
Weight: 220 lbs.; (pre-empowering) unrevealed, but lighter
Eyes: (When using powers) glowing yellow; (rest of time &
pre-empowering) unrevealed
Hair: Red-brown
History: (Rampage Magazine#42/1 (fb) - BTS) - Having decided that the dystopian alternate future Earth-81244 needed to be destroyed so that it could be replaced by a more worthy new age, Merlin used Captain Britain's passage through the timelines from Otherworld to Earth-238 to divert a time capsule sent from Earth-81244 to modern day Earth-616. This diversion prevented the death of the capsule's inhabitant, a convicted criminal named Ralf, and, as it entered the modern day, it empowered Merlin's chosen agent, Kilgore Slaughter.
(Rampage Magazine#40/3) - Kilgore Slaughter was potholing in a remote part of northern Scotland when he was caught up in the center of a reality storm caused by Ralf's crude timeship ripping through the fabric of time itself to arrive in the modern day. He experienced visions of violent events from across history.
(Rampage Magazine#42/1 (fb) - BTS) - Energies from the reality storm triggered a physical and mental transformation in Slaughter, its form apparently at least partially directed by Merlin from afar. With his new perception of reality, Slaughter was aware that Merlin had arranged his transformation. Not a little disoriented by the experience, Slaughter exited the caves and wandered, glowing, through the nearby woods.
(Rampage Magazine#42/1)
- Witnessing futuristic robots threatening a pair of humans (Ralf and McMurdo),
Slaughter destroyed the former. As the two men cowered, with a terrified
Ralf recognizing Slaughter as the man who would (in Ralf's past but Slaughter's
future) destroy Ralf's civilization, Slaughter gazed skyward, sending energy
into the heavens, and called on Merlin and King Arthur to hear him and show
him the way.
(Rampage Magazine#43/1) - Merlin appeared as a vision in the sky, and confirmed to Slaughter that he had arranged for the man's transformation. Supplicating himself, Slaughter requested guidance, and Merlin informed him he had an appointment with tomorrow, a destiny to fulfill. As Merlin vanished, Slaughter spotted Ralf and McMurdo trying to slip away unnoticed, and called to them to halt. Despite Ralf's terror, McMurdo stopped and waved a white handkerchief in lieu of a white flag. Slaughter defused the tense situation by offering his hand in friendship, and a supernatural calm fell on the area, dissolving their fear. The two men found themselves suddenly feeling a warmth of kinship, as if they were all old friends. McMurdo worried that Slaughter might be cold, given his ripped clothes, but Ralf was more concerned that they hide the ship before dawn, so it would not be discovered. Telling his "loyal serfs" that they had work to do for Merlyn, Slaughter led them aboard the ship, and, after a bit of figuring out the controls, Ralf found the button to extend caterpillar tracks from the ship's base, allowing them to drive it into the cover of the nearby trees. Slaughter told his allies that they needed to hurry, as his destiny beckoned, and the trio headed back to McMurdo's cottage.
(Rampage Magazine#44/1) - While Ralf and McMurdo's daughter, Fiona, worked on repairing Ralf's time capsule, McMurdo and Slaughter prepared the Droids' one. Slaughter was still half-naked, and McMurdo chided him, facetiously claiming this might upset Fiona. Since nothing of McMurdo's would fit, the astronomer gave Slaughter some overalls he found on the ship to wear. By night time the ships were ready, and McMurdo boarded the larger vessel with Slaughter, looking forward to a trip to the future. However, with just a minute to go before both capsules departed, Slaughter's eyes glowed as he received an instruction from Merlyn. Announcing that he must obey and go alone, he stared at his companion, who was instantly teleported outside; Slaughter also teleported Fiona out of Ralf's capsule, to maintain the life force balance needed for time travel. Moments later, the crafts departed, Slaughter's to Ralf's future and Ralf to the past. Arriving in Ralf's dystopian era, Slaughter eyed the world with displeasure and disembarked, to be immediately greeted by a heavily-armed gang. They advanced, lambs to the slaughter.
(Rampage Magazine#44/1 (BTS)) - In the space of thirty minutes, Slaughter laid waste to the future civilization, then returned to his craft and headed back to the modern day.
(Rampage Magazine#44/1) - Slaughter was happily greeted by McMurdo, and largely ignored by Ralf and Fiona, too busy reuniting with one another to notice anything else. McMurdo told them to break it up, as momentous events were afoot, then put his hand on Slaughter's shoulder, stating that he had much to tell them of his deeds, and then much to accomplish here, in the present day.
...and he was never seen again.
Comments: Created by Paul Neary and Mick Austin.
The 1981 date in the history is, of course, topical. The future and distant past dates, less so, though 981AD will shift slightly to maintain the thousand year timetrip length.
In some respects, Slaughter's empowerment is a typically convoluted Merlin ploy - Slaughter needed a time travel capsule to empower him, but Ralf would presumably have not been time traveling if his people had not been fleeing Slaughter in the first place; thus Slaughter's creation forms a small time loop - had he not been empowered, he could not have caused the future destruction that triggered events leading to his being empowered. Additionally, if Merlin had diverted a capsule containing someone other than Ralf, then a second capsule might not have been sent to slay the escaped convict, and without two capsules Slaughter could not have traveled to the future.
Kilgore Slaughter is, apparently, his real name, and not some bizarrely violent codename. While at first glance it might seem that he either renamed himself (it does sound like the pen name of a pretentious writer, cf Kilgore Trout), or he had truly sick parents (if your surname is Slaughter, naming your kid Kilgore is tantamount to child abuse - presumably his siblings would have been Slaymaim and Murdercripple), another option presents - both Kilgore and Slaughter are genuine and not too uncommon surnames. Kilgore is a habitational name (a name derived from where a family hailed from) originating from Kilgour in Fife, Scotland - Kilgour itself being a corruption of the Gaelic words coille (goat) and gobhar (wood), literally "goatwood." Slaughter can either be an occupational name (a name derived from the job someone did, cf Smith, Cooper, etc), in this case someone who slaughtered animals to provide meat, or a topographic name (a name derived from local geography) for someone who lived near a bog (Middle English sloghtre) or blackthorn (Old English slahtreow). And double-barreled surnames created by married couples deciding to keep both surnames post-wedding are not too uncommon, so perhaps Kilgore Slaughter is his surname, and he has first name that we never learned.
The strip is called Timesmasher, but Slaughter neither used that
name nor was it applied to him, so it isn't his codename.
Arguably he could be considered the Timesmasher of the title, since he travels forward in time to destroy an alternate future.
However, given the crude time transportation methods used by the future civilization, it is equally valid to consider Ralf or his timeship to be the titular Timesmasher, as they smash through time into the present day, causing a reality storm which empowers Slaughter.
Timesmasher is a unusual piece of Marvel UK history, appearing somewhat randomly in Rampage Magazine#40, which had been, up until that time, a purely reprint title; in the issue Timesmasher debuted, the other two stories were X-Men I#122's Cry for the Children and Marvel Two-in-One I#53's The Inner War, part one of the Project PEGASUS saga.
In terms of its connection to Captain Britain, the passage of Brian Braddock through the timestream is between the end of his involvement in the Black Knight saga in Hulk Comic, and the start of his own strip in Marvel Superheroes#377, which came out the same month the Time Smasher strip began. Whether it is before or after the other timestream adventure CB had, his encounter with the Binary Beings, is impossible to say for sure.
For Merlyn, it takes place between his involvement in the Black Knight saga, and his first appearance in Doctor Who Magazine.
The original strip was in black and white, but he got an entry
in Eaglemoss' licensed Marvel Fact Files#149, which colored some of the
art, revealing eye and hair color (at least when using his powers).
Ironically, because the art was colored after the entry was written, the entry still lists both as unrevealed.
The entry also provided the color pictures of McMurdo and Ralf below. In terms of his other physical stats, the Marvel Fact Files entry confirms his empowered height and weight, but since Slaughter bumps his head on a lowish ceiling in the time machine, it seems clear he wasn't used to being so tall, and so was shorter before gaining his powers.
Profile by Loki.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Kilgore Slaughter has no known connections to
(Rampage Magazine#40/3) - McMurdo was an astronomer based out of a small hillside observatory in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands. One night his slumber was disturbed by the dispersing fragments of a temporal wave-front which imparted images from across history straight into his sleeping mind, images of war and violence. This woke him with a start, and feeling unsettled he went to the kitchen to get a wee dram of whiskey to steady his nerves. Before he could drink it, he heard his dog, Jock, barking outside, and, taking his old blunderbuss for protection, he went outside to investigate, to find Jock sitting atop a terrified man, Ralf. Warily, McMurdo let the man come inside, and listened as Ralf explained that he was a time traveler from the distant past who had been knocked off course and crashlanded nearby. Deciding that whether the man was genuinely a time traveler or just insane, he was dangerous either way, McMurdo pointed the blunderbuss at Ralf again, and made it clear that if it hadn't been for his recent strange dream he would have called the local constable, McLaughlin, and handed Ralf over to him. As it was, after dressing, he marched Ralf at gunpoint into the woods to check the newcomer's story. Nearing where Ralf claimed he had crashed, the pair were attacked by an enraged squirrel; after Ralf swatted it away, McMurdo shot it, perplexed at its atypical behavior, and wondering if it had the same dreams of violence he had experienced. Moments later they reached Ralf's ship, and, after climbing inside through a rip in the hull, McMurdo began to believe what Ralf had told him, though he was surprised to see the interior of what should have been a highly advanced vessel was spartan and unsophisticated. Noticing straps on the chair, McMurdo queried if Ralf had been restrained, and his new acquaintance admitted he had been; time travel required two vessels, one a dummy vessel flung the opposite way through time to self destruct on arrival, which had to carry a matching number of passengers to the real ship. Ralf confessed that he had been a condemned criminal, but now, having unexpectedly survived his journey, he begged McMurdo to grant him sanctuary. Before the scientist could reply, a blinding flash of light glared in through the rip in the ship's side, and a panicked Ralf announced that it was too late - his enemies had found him.
(Rampage Magazine#42/1) - McMurdo tried to calm the panicking man, reminding the time traveler that he was armed, but the traveler informed him that his firearm was useless against a T-1 Temporal Destruction Module capable of wiping out an entire city in seconds. As the Module's passengers, a pair of Destruct-'Droids and their smaller, flying Search-'Droids, exited the other vessel, McMurdo, the traveler and Jock ran to the edge of the woods and hid. Unfortunately, one of the Search-'Droids soon came upon their location, and McMurdo desperately tried to keep the agitated Jock still and quiet. The dog slipped free of his owner's grasp and attacked the small robot, only to be blasted dead by a Destruct-'Droid. In shock, McMurdo cried out in horror and began to rise, and the time traveler desperately pulled him back down, pointing out they would be next if the robots spotted them. His warning came too late, as the Destruct-'Droid turned its head in their direction, then lit them up as it powered up its energy beam for another shot, but then, as McMurdo and his companion watched, it was destroyed by an energy blast fired by a man who now stumbled out the woods, bathed in sparkling light and wearing tattered remains of clothing. Several further bolts of energy swiftly destroyed the remaining robots, and McMurdo concluded that the strange figure must have been at the epicenter of the time traveler's reality wave. Ignored by the new figure, the pair watched as the glowing man gazed heavenward and called out to Merlin and King Arthur, saying he was theirs to command. McMurdo concluded that the man was demented, but the time traveler recoiled in sudden recognition, and in terror told McMurdo that the man would kill them all. McMurdo queried this, pointing out that the man had saved their lives, but the traveler informed McMurdo that his people fled to the prehistoric past from the far future to escape the glowing man, who had destroyed their entire civilization.
(Rampage Magazine#43/1) - The pair witnessed a face appear in the air above the glowing man, identifying itself as Merlin and explaining how Ralf's time machine had empowered the man, Kilgore Slaughter, and explaining he had an important mission to ensure a better future. McMurdo tried to calm the terrified Ralf, and pointed out they now had access to two time machines, making it possible for them to time travel, but Ralf chastised him as mad, having realized that they had made it possible for Slaughter to reach and then destroy Ralf's civilization. The pair began to flee, but McMurdo glanced back to discover they had been spotted. Slaughter called for them to halt, and McMurdo hastily waved a white handkerchief, trying to show they had surrendered. Instead of attacking as McMurdo feared, Slaughter extended an open hand, and a supernatural calm fell on them, erasing their fears. Their differences forgotten and replaced with a sense of common purpose, they agreed to hide the time machines lest dawn lead to their discovery. Ignoring Slaughter calling them his "loyal serfs" and despite believing that Slaughter was deluded to think his visions had come from Merlin, McMurdo led the others in boarding the nearest time capsule, excited to see a lifetime dream of time travel realized. Ralf activated caterpillar tracks and they drove the capsule to hide by some nearby trees. After covering it in foliage, McMurdo returned to his cottage to wake his daughter Fiona, knowing her engineering expertise would be of help, and that they needed an equal number of travelers in both capsules to make their respective journeys.
(Rampage Magazine#44/1) - While Ralf and Fiona repaired the damaged capsule door, McMurdo found some overalls for Slaughter to wear. Wanting to see the future, McMurdo that night joined Slaughter in the capsule intended to go forward in time, but his excitement was abruptly curtailed when Slaughter announced that Merlin commanded him to go alone. Slaughter's eyes glowed, and McMurdo found himself suddenly outside the capsule as it vanished. To his relief, Fiona called to him, revealing she too had been teleported out of the other capsule. The pair waited until both capsules returned, and Ralf and Fiona embraced, the joy at their re-union forcing them to acknowledge their mutual attraction. Chiding them to break it up, McMurdo told them momentous events were afoot, and greeted Slaughter, eager to learn of his deeds, and then assist him in his future missions.
Comments: The first episode notes that McMurdo is the "lone occupant" of the observatory, a detail swiftly contradicted by the revelation that he is sharing his habitation with his dog, Jock, and in later episodes when his daughter Fiona turns out to also be present. If he'd been described as "lone resident" than the discrepancy could be explained by simply saying Fiona was not a resident but a visitor, but occupant is another matter.
Presumably the observatory was built in a remote location to get away from light pollution caused by human habitation.
--Rampage Magazine#40 (Rampage Magazine#42-44
(Rampage Magazine#40/3) - Jock was McMurdo's dog. He spotted Ralf approaching McMurdo's observatory and challenged him, and despite being far smaller than the trespasser, he cowed Ralf into surrender until McMurdo arrived to investigate Ralf's barking. Later that night he accompanied Ralf and McMurdo into the woods to Ralf's time machine.
(Rampage Magazine#42/1) - After Destruct-'Droids arrived in the moderne era aboard another time machine, Ralf and McMurdo fled the woods and tried to hide, accompanied by Jock. As they lay down to hide at the edge of the trees, McMurdo grasped in tightly to Jock, trying to keep the dog calm, but when a flying Search-'Droid came too close, Jock pulled himself free and attacked it. Though Jock was able to down the small Search-'Droid, his actions drew the attention of one of the Destruct-'Droids, which swiftly slew Jock with a bolt of energy, much to McMurdo's distress.
--Rampage Magazine#40 (Rampage Magazine#42
(Rampage Magazine#43/1) - An engineer (or engineering student) from Oxford, Fiona McMurdo was visiting her father at his observatory in Scotland. On the last night of her trip, she was asleep when Ralf's time travel capsule appeared, but was woken at five a.m. by her father when he returned home. Seeing the time, she complained that she didn't need to catch her train until 8.30, but her father told her he needed her engineering skills and that they would soon have a trip to make.
(Rampage Magazine#44/1) - Fiona took Ralf into nearby Bannockbrae early that morning to collect an acetylene torch and other welding supplies. Presumably considering the equipment primitive, Ralf asked her if she imagined they could repair the vehicles with it, and she retorted that she knew fine they'd never manage it without them. Back at the capsules, Ralf watched admiringly as Fiona welded over the jagged hole one capsule had sustained, repairing it into a sound door. When he commented that the determination and strength she displayed seemed strange qualities in someone so beautiful, she warned him "stand back, tiger, or you'll be burned." Realizing he had overstepped the bounds, Ralf apologized, explaining he meant no harm but having been an outcast so long, he found strange to be among friends. Softening, Fiona responded that he was among friends - just friends. She liked him, but there was no time now for romance, as there was a job to do.
That night McMurdo told Fiona and Ralf that they would go in the capsule being sent to the past, advising them to stay inside rather than risk an encounter with superstitious natives of 981 A.D. Taking charge of her companion, Fiona told Ralf it was time to take a peek at pre-Norman Britain, unless he didn't trust her welding, prompting Ralf to respond that he had every trust in her welding. Noticing a spark between them, McMurdo made a joking comment about Ralf being the perfect man to make sure no harm came to Fiona, confusing Ralf, but Fiona assured him it was just her father's sense of humor. They boarded their vehicle, but just as they were about to depart, Slaughter teleported both the McMurdos out their respective capsules. McMurdo explained to his confused daughter that Slaughter needed to go to the future alone. They waited in apprehension until the capsules returned. Ralf and Fiona embraced, the joy at their re-union forcing them to acknowledge their mutual attraction. Chiding them to break it up, McMurdo told them momentous events were afoot, and greeted Slaughter, eager to learn of his deeds, and then assist him in his future missions.
Comments: Fiona might already be a qualified engineer or just a talented amateur, but the mention of her going back to Oxford, best known as a university town, suggests she was a student of the discipline.
--Rampage Magazine#43 (Rampage Magazine#44
(Rampage Magazine#42/1 (fb) - BTS) - Ralf's people hailed from the 30th century, but, having access to time travel, fled into the distant past to escape a powerful glowing man who had single-handedly destroyed their civilization (see comments below).
(Rampage Magazine#40/3 (fb) - BTS) - Ralf was a condemned criminal in his own time, the past era that had been settled by the future people, and was used as a counterweight in a "dummy" time ship, balancing out the "real" ship's passenger. Sent into the far future (see comments), he expected to be blown up when he arrived...
(Rampage Magazine#43/1 (fb) - BTS) - but his ship was knocked off course by the passage of Captain Britain (Brian Braddock) and Jackdaw "nearby" in the time stream, a deliberate deflection arranged by Merlin, intended to save Ralf's life and, more importantly, empower Kilgore Slaughter to become an agent of Merlin, the same glowing man behind the destruction of Ralf's civilization. The deflected Ralf was sent into the past instead.
(Rampage Magazine#40/3) - Ralf crashlanded in the modern era of Earth-616's Scotland,
the impact freeing him from his restraints. Stumbling out a rip in the ship's
side, he found his way to a nearby observatory, the only human habitation
for several miles, where he was confronted by Jock, a small dog. Despite
having the advantage of size and power, Ralf was easily subdued by Jock
(presumably both unused to dogs and still shaken from his journey), and was
found moments later by the observatory's resident, McMurdo. After telling
McMurdo part of his tale, leaving out that he was a criminal, the trio went
into the woods so McMurdo could see the ship and confirm if Ralf had been
telling the truth. A squirrel, maddened by the reality warp Ralf's vessel
had unleashed upon entering 1981, attacked him, but he swatted it away and
McMurdo shot it. After examining Ralf's ship, McMurdo realized Ralf had been
a prisoner inside it, and Ralf broke down and admitted his status, then begged
for asylum. Before McMurdo could reply, a flash of light alerted Ralf to
the arrival of another timeship, and he cowered in terror, realizing his
tormentors had found him.
(Rampage Magazine#42/1) - McMurdo tried to calm the panicking Ralf, who had recognized the new time vessel as a T-1 Temporal Destruction Module. As the Module's passengers, a pair of Destruct-'Droids and their smaller, flying Search-'Droids, exited the other vessel, McMurdo, Ralf and Jock ran to the edge of the woods and hid. Unfortunately, one of the Search-'Droids soon came upon their location, and Jock attacked the small robot, only to be blasted dead by a Destruct-'Droid. When a shocked and horrified McMurdo cried out in horror and began to rise, Ralf desperately pulled him back down, pointing out they would be next if the robots spotted them. His warning came too late, as the Destruct-'Droid turned its head in their direction, then lit them up as it powered up its energy beam for another shot, but then, as McMurdo and Ralf watched, it was destroyed by an energy blast fired by a man who now stumbled out the woods, bathed in sparkling light and wearing tattered remains of clothing. Several further bolts of energy swiftly destroyed the remaining robots, and McMurdo concluded that the strange figure must have been at the epicenter of the time traveler's reality wave. Ignored by the new figure, the pair watched as the glowing man gazed heavenward and called out to Merlin and King Arthur, saying he was theirs to command. McMurdo concluded that the man was demented, but Ralf recoiled in sudden recognition as he realized this was the man who had destroyed his home era, something he hastily informed McMurdo of.
(Rampage Magazine#43/1) - The pair witnessed a face appear in the air above the glowing man, identifying itself as Merlin and explaining how Ralf's time machine had empowered the man, Kilgore Slaughter, and explaining he had an important mission to ensure a better future. McMurdo tried to calm the terrified Ralf, and pointed out they now had access to two time machines, making it possible for them to time travel, but Ralf chastised him as mad, having realized that they had made it possible for Slaughter to reach and then destroy Ralf's civilization. The pair began to flee, but McMurdo glanced back to discover they had been spotted. Slaughter called for them to halt, and McMurdo hastily waved a white handkerchief, trying to show they had surrendered. Instead of attacking as McMurdo feared, Slaughter extended an open hand, and a supernatural calm fell on them, erasing their fears. Their differences forgotten and replaced with a sense of common purpose, they agreed to hide the time machines lest dawn lead to their discovery. McMurdo led the others in boarding the nearest time capsule, excited to see a lifetime dream of time travel realized. Ralf activated caterpillar tracks and they drove the capsule to hide by some nearby trees. After covering it foliage, McMurdo returned to his cottage to wake his daughter Fiona, knowing her engineering expertise would be of help, and that they needed an equal number of travelers in both capsules to make their respective journeys.
(Rampage Magazine#44/1) - Fiona took Ralf into nearby Bannockbrae early that morning to collect an acetylene torch and other welding supplies. Presumably considering the equipment primitive, Ralf asked her if she imagined they could repair the vehicles with it, and she retorted that she knew fine they'd never manage it without them. Back at the capsules, Ralf watched admiringly as Fiona welded over the jagged hole one capsule had sustained, repairing it into a sound door. When he commented that the determination and strength she displayed seemed strange qualities in someone so beautiful, she warned him "stand back, tiger, or you'll be burned." Realizing he had overstepped the bounds, Ralf apologized, explaining he meant no harm but having been an outcast so long, he found strange to be among friends. Softening, Fiona responded that he was among friends - just friends. She liked him, but there was no time now for romance, as there was a job to do. That night McMurdo told Fiona and Ralf that they would go in the capsule being sent to the past, advising them to stay inside rather than risk an encounter with superstitious natives of 981 A.D. Taking charge of her companion, Fiona told Ralf it was time to take a peek at pre-Norman Britain, unless he didn't trust her welding, prompting Ralf to respond that he had every trust in her welding. Noticing a spark between them, McMurdo made a joking comment about Ralf being the perfect man to make sure no harm came to Fiona, confusing Ralf, but Fiona assured him it was just her father's sense of humor. They boarded their vehicle, but just as they were about to depart, Slaughter teleported both the McMurdos out their respective capsules. Ralf traveled to the past alone, on what thankfully proved to be an uneventful trip spent inside the capsule. Upon returning, Ralf and Fiona embraced, the joy at their re-union forcing them to acknowledge their mutual attraction. Chiding them to break it up, McMurdo told them momentous events were afoot, and greeted Slaughter, eager to learn of his deeds, and then assist him in his future missions.
Comments: It isn't clear whether Ralf was born in the future, witnessed his civilization's destruction first hand, and escaped into the past with his people, or whether he was born in the past and only knew of Kilgore Slaughter's actions and appearance by reputation. Given that the future apparently only had half an hour to evacuate (based on how long it was said to take Slaughter to destroy the civilization), and Ralf's low social status in his society, he seems an unlikely person to warrant evacuation. However, it makes more sense if his time trip as a temporal counterweight was in conjunction with this evacuation.
--Rampage Magazine#40 (Rampage Magazine#42-44
Destruct-'Droids
]of Earth-81244
The Destruct-'Droids were sent find the errant capsule which contained the condemned criminal Ralf and ensure his demise after he escaped his sentenced fate. They traveled in a T-1 Temporal Destruction Module capable of wiping out an entire city in seconds, and were accompanied by smaller, flying Search-'Droids, which scoured the landing area around Ralf's capsule. One of the Search-'Droids found McMurdo and Ralf hiding nearby, but was distracted when Jock attacked it. Unfortunately for the tiny dog, this drew the attention of one of the Destruct-'Droids, which slew the canine with an energy blast. The Destruct-'Droid turned its attention to McMurdo and Ralf, but before it could fire its head was severed by an energy blast from the approaching Kilgore Slaughter. The superhuman then unleashed further bolts of incandescent lightning which destroyed the remaining robots. Their ship was subsequently commandeered by Slaughter to devastate the future timeline that had birthed the robots.
It may be that robots were sent because mechanical entities did not need a counterbalancing capsule sent the opposite way through time, or at least, not one that had to have anyone aboard.
|
|
--Rampage Magazine#42 (Rampage Magazine#40 (BTS), 42
Corrupt future
civilization /
Earth-81244
Ralf's thirtieth century was a corrupt dystopia overrun with violent gangs. Slaughter destroyed it in under thirty minutes.
--(mentioned ) Rampage Magazine#40; (seen) Rampage Magazine#44
images: (without ads)
Rampage Magazine#40, third story, p2 (p41 overall), pan 2 (main
image)
Rampage Magazine#44, first story, p2, pan 5 (headshot)
Rampage Magazine#40, third story, p2 (p41 overall), pan 2 (Slaughter
experiencing the reality warp)
Rampage Magazine#40, third story, p1 (p40 overall), pan 1 (Timesmasher
logo)
Rampage Magazine#40 cover (Timesmasher's only cover appearance)
Marvel Fact Files#149, Time Smasher entry (color version of Slaughter destroying
the Droids)
Marvel Fact Files#149, Time Smasher entry (color version of image from Rampage
Magazine#43, first story, p2, pan 6 - McMurdo)
Rampage Magazine#43, first story, p2, pan 1 (Jock)
Rampage Magazine#44, first story, p3, pan3 (Fiona)
Marvel Fact Files#149, Time Smasher entry (color version of image from Rampage
Magazine#43, first story, p2, pan 6 - Ralf)
Rampage Magazine#40, third story, p1 (p40 overall), pan 1 (Ralf's time
ship)
Rampage Magazine#43, first story, p3, pan2 (Destruct-'Droid)
Rampage Magazine#43, first story, p2, pan4 (Search-'Droid)
Rampage Magazine#43, first story, p1, pan3 (T-1 Temporal Destruction
Module)
Rampage Magazine#44, first story, p3, pan6 (corrupt future, where a local
gang confronts the arriving Slaughter)
Appearances:
Rampage#42-44 (December 1981-February 1982) - Paul Neary (writer), Mick
Austin (art), Bernie Jaye (editor)
First posted: 06/15/2018
Last updated: 06/15/2018
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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Ralf
