A-TEAM

Membership: Bazkar, cyborg assassin, a trio of Nultorian iron men, Xam, among others (approximately 19 in total);
    This group was referred to as"a" Zygotean A-Team, presumably meaning it was just one such group.

Purpose: Taking out Zygotean enemies and presumably performing other tasks as needed.

Aliases: Zygotean A-Team

Affiliations: Zygoteans

Enemies: Aknaton, Byfrexians (notably Lawt), Vanth (later Dreadstar)

Base of Operations: Byfrexia (also known as Vega to those from other planets), an outer planet of the Vega star system, Milky Way galaxy, Reality-8116

First Appearance: Epic Illustrated#3 (Fall, 1980)

History:

(Epic Illustrated#3/3 - BTS) - On Byfrexia, Aknaton encountered the native Lawt; the pair was detected by the Zygoteans, and the presence of an Orsirosian led them to alert condition red, for which an A-Team mercenary squad was teleported in to dispatch the pair. 

(Epic Illustrated#3/3) - As the A-Team teleported in, Xam fired a blast -- before the A-Team's presence was detected -- that abruptly slew Lawt.

    After the A-Team fully phased in, Xam confirmed to the apparent team leader Bazkar that they were indeed dealing with an Oriosian, despite the entire Orirosian race having been wiped out. Bazkar noted that the Orsirosians would soon be extinct, and he complimented Xam on a "good tube shot." 

    Though Aknaton fought back, destroying one of their number with an energy blast, Xam stunned Aknaton with a blow to the back of the head.

    Unobserved by the A-Team, Vanth (a Byfrexian empowered by the Sword of Icy Fire) arrived on the ledges above.

(Epic Illustrated#3/10) - Vanth fired his radium laser blaster, putting a whole through the head of one of the mercenaries (possibly Bazkar), after which Aknaton obliterated another with an energy blast. 

    A pair of mercenaries rushed Aknaton from behind, but Vanth picked them both off with his blaster and directed led Aknaton to run for the forest. A pair of Nultorian iron men tackled Vanth, but he swiftly dropped them. 

    Taking out another mercenary with a blast, Aknaton stopped to marvel at Vanth's power and was struck down by a punch from behind by a third Nultorian. Vanth took out the Nultorian with a pair of blasts and then punched a whole through an attacking cyborg's chest, but the delay allowed five mercenaries to surround them. 

    Vanth dropped his blaster and raised his hands in obvious surrender; though the Zygoteans never took prisoners, the gesture gave the mercenaries sufficient pause to allow Vanth to summon his Sword of Icy Fire. 

    After absorbing the attackers' laser fire with the sword, Vanth turned that energy back on the remaining A-Team members, blasting, decapitating, or otherwise destroying them. 

    Soon Vanth and Aknaton stood over the corpses of the last of the A-Team.

Comments: Created by Jim Starlin.

    Dreadstar was a licensed character/title created by Jim Starlin starting way back with the Metamorphosis Odyssey in Epic Illustrated#1 in the Spring of 1980. The Metamorphosis Odyssey started around the modern era and affected Earth, but then swiftly destroyed the entire Milky Way galaxy and then moved on like a million years in the future. Dreadstar eventually got his own series under the Epic imprint, but Starlin later took the whole shebang over to First Comics. And in 1994, it was published under the imprint of Bravura, a creator-owned division of Malibu comics. He appeared sometime later in issues #5-7 of the Breed III series. And, there's talk of a Dreadstar television show.
    Still that earlier Marvel connection allows me to place this reality in the fringes of the Marvel Megaverse.
    Peter David took over the writing around issue#31 or so, but Starlin remained the owner. At any rate, from start to finish, it is the best series I've ever read, period! I'd love to see it continued, by Starlin, David, or both!

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Zygotean A-Team mercenary squad has no known connections to:

• The A-Team (B.A. Barrachas, the Face, Hannibal, "Howling Mad" Murdock) - a TV mercenary squad who had a show I loved in the 80s. "I told you, Hannibal, I ain't flyin' in no airplane!"

Bazkar

    Bazkar was the apparent leader of the this A-Team mercenary squad.

    His facial features were covered by some sort of gas mask or breathing apparatus, perhaps indicating that he could not breathe the atmosphere on Byfrexia, or perhaps it was just a defense against gaseous attack (or perhaps he was prone to using such attacks against others). 

    He otherwise appeared to be humanoid, with a bald head, shaved or otherwise.

    He wielded an energy blaster.

(Epic Illustrated#3/3 - BTS) - Bazkar and the rest of the A-Team were dispatched to investigate and eliminate the presence of an Orsirosian detected on Byfrexia.

(Epic Illustrated#3/3) - The A-Team teleported in and Xam slew Lawt, after which Xam confirmed to Bazkar that they were indeed dealing with an Oriosian, despite the entire Orirosian race having been wiped out. Bazkar noted that the Orsirosians would soon be extinct, and he complimented Xam on a "good tube shot." 

(Epic Illustrated#3/10) - Vanth fired his radium laser blaster, putting a whole through the head of one of the mercenaries (possibly Bazkar).

    Vanth and Aknaton (mostly Vanth) slew the rest of the A-Team.

Note: Bazkar had the look of a Zygotean, but I'm not sure if he was one or not. A later issue showed that Zygoteans ritually cut off one of their arms, but perhaps warriors were allowed to keep both arms.

    Whatever race he was, there looked to be at last three other members of the mercenary squad with a nearly identifical appearance, including the use of a facemask.

cyborg assassin

The unidentified cyborg assassin was a member of a Zygotean A-Team mercenary squad.

(Epic Illustrated#3/3 - BTS) - The cyborg and the rest of the A-Team were dispatched to investigate and eliminate the presence of an Orsirosian detected on Byfrexia.

(Epic Illustrated#3/3) - The A-Team teleported in and prepared to slay Aknaton.

(Epic Illustrated#3/10) - Vanth saved Aknaton, taking out several A-Team members while they fled into the forest. The cyborg rushed Vanth; finding his laser blaster's charge exhausted, he simply punched through the cyborg's chest, killing it.

    The delay allowed five mercenaries to surround them, but Vanth summoned his sword and swiftly slew the rest of the A-Team.

Nultorian Iron Men

    Nultorian Iron Men were reportedly as strong as any ten humans with some slightly enhanced durability paralleling their enhanced strength. They looked to be perhaps 6'8" to 7' tall, with a prominent brow and solid red eyes. They had a pale Caucasian skin tone.

    They wore some sort of headset, the purpose of which was unrevealed. They wore briefs, boots, and wristbands.

    There were three Nultorian Iron Men in this A-Team.

(Epic Illustrated#3/3 - BTS) - The cyborg and the rest of the A-Team were dispatched to investigate and eliminate the presence of an Orsirosian detected on Byfrexia.

(Epic Illustrated#3/3) - The A-Team teleported in and prepared to slay Aknaton.

(Epic Illustrated#3/10) - Vanth saved Aknaton, taking out several A-Team members while they fled into the forest. 

    A pair of Nultorian iron men tackled Vanth, but he swiftly dropped them in two strikes. A third Nultorian punched Aknaton in the back of the head, knocking him down, as he had paused to marvel at Vanth's power.

    Vanth took out the third Nultorian with a pair of blasts from his radium laser.

(Epic Illustrated#3/10 - BTS) - Vanth summoned his sword and swiftly slew the rest of the A-Team.

Note: These iron men had zero connection to any of the Iron Men from the mainstream Marvel Multiverse.

Xam

    Xam looked to be some sort of cat-man. 

    He carried a hand-blaster and was a skilled marksman.

(Epic Illustrated#3/3 - BTS) - Xam and the rest of the A-Team were dispatched to investigate and eliminate the presence of an Orsirosian detected on Byfrexia.

(Epic Illustrated#3/3) - The A-Team teleported in and Xam slew Lawt, after which Xam confirmed to Bazkar that they were indeed dealing with an Oriosian, despite the entire Orirosian race having been wiped out. Bazkar noted that the Orsirosians would soon be extinct, and he complimented Xam on a "good tube shot." 

    Aknaton fought back, destroying one of the A-Team with an energy blast, but Xam stunned Aknaton with a blow to the back of the head; unobserved by Xam or the rest of the A-Team, Vanth (a Byfrexian empowered by the Sword of Icy Fire) arrived on the ledges above.

(Epic Illustrated#3/10) - Vanth fired his radium laser blaster, putting a whole through the head of one of the mercenaries, and Aknaton fired an energy blast that obliterated another of the squad (possibly Xam, as I didn't see him again during the struggle).

images: (without ads)
Epic Illustrated#3: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapter V: Vanth,pg. 7, panel 4 (A-Team teleportaton arrival - including shots of Xam and Bazkar);
            pg. 8, panel 3 (Xam striking down Aknaton) and 4 (Xam's feet);
        chapter VI: The Meeting, pg. 1 (Vanth shoots one mercenary);
            pg. 3, panel 1-2 (Nultorian Iron Men);
            pg. 4, panel 2-3 (Vanth vs. cyborg)

Appearances:
Epic Illustrated#3: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapter V: Vanth & VI: The Meeting (Fall, 1980) - Jim Starlin (writer, artist), Stan Lee (editor/publisher), Archie Goodwin (editorial director), James Shooter (consulting editor)

First Posted: 06/16/2017
Last updated: 11/02/2018

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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