LIGRA
Official Name: Ligra
Location: Mandahl system, Milky Way galaxyNatives: Dragon-Men (including Dragoon, Jago, and Zoor), giant eagles (including the extra-large war-eagle), Lion-People (including Gor and Gur), giant octopi, oryx-beasts
Non-native residents: Queen Nara (Nara Gale)
Visitors: Electro, Sir Ronald Gale and his unidentified wife (surname presumably Gale), Professor Philo Zog
Population: Unrevealed; perhaps hundreds of Dragon-Men soldiers were seen, while only a few Lion-Men were seen...however, during the assault on Nara's castle, "hundreds" perished, so presumably the population is much higher.
Capital City: Inapplicable. Each nation had its own capital.
Government: The kingdoms of the Dragon-Men and Lion People were identified;
while both were monarchies, Nara was also referred to as both queen of the Lion People and Empress of Ligra;
Jago was king of the Dragon-Men before his apparent death
Languages: Unrevealed; the Dragon-Men and Nara
(who was an infant when her human parents were killed) communicated
with Professor Zog without any difficulty, but presumably had some form
of unseen communication technology
National Defense: Each race had their own defenses; see Dragon-Men and Lion-People entries.
Places of Interest: Castle of the Dragon-Men, castle of the Lion-People
History:
(Marvel Mystery Comics#8/6 (fb)
- BTS) <Perhaps 20-40 years before the main story> - Human scientist Sir Ronald Gale, along his wife and their
infant daughter, Nara, used his stratosphere-plane to become the first humans to travel to planet Ligra.
The ferocious Dragon-Men slew Sir Ronald and his wife.
Nara was rescued and raised by the peaceful Lion-People, eventually becoming their queen.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#8/6 (fb)
- BTS) - The Dragon-Men sought to overthrow Empress
Nara, leader of the peaceful Lion-People.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#8/6) <1937> - King Jago sent a number of Dragon-Men to Earth to capture the powerful terrestrial robot Electro.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#8/6 - BTS) - Jago's Dragon-Men also captured and controlled Electro's creator, Philo Zog.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5) - After torturing Zog into compliance, Jago demanded Nara's surrender. When she refused, he sent his Dragon-Men soldiers and Electro to storm the Lion-People's castle. With Electro's aid, the Dragon-Men slaughtered the Lion-People's army, killing hundreds, and Jago took Nara hostage. Jago used a giant octopus in an effort to force Nara to reveal where the Lion-People's treasures were hidden.
However, Professor Zog ultimately regained control of Electro and used him to free Nara. When Jago and his guards attempted to flee in some craft, they were swiftly overtaken by Electro, who cast their craft into the water, apparently killing them.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5 - BTS) -
Zog and Electro returned to Earth.
(Marvel Zombies Destroy! #1
(fb) - BTS) - In recent years, learning that the Nazi zombies of Earth-12591 had neared
completion of a cross-dimensional battleship (Valhalla's hammer) with
which they planned to invade and infest/infect/conquer Earth-616, A.R.M.O.R. (Alternate Reality Monitoring and Operational Response)
gathered a number of agents to destroy the battleship and thwart the
Nazi zombies' plot: Battlestar and/or Howard the Duck apparently
gathered Gur of the Lion-People and Dragoon of the Dragon-Men.
(All-New Guardians of the Galaxy Annual#1 (fb) -
BTS) - Seeking a means to break through Earth's Planetary Defense
Shield put in place via the manipulation from the reality-altered
fascist Captain America-61311, the Guardians traveled to various worlds
in deep space.
Gamora traveled to Ligra and engaged the
Lion-People's apparent king in combat in some sort of gladiatorial
arena setting.
(All-New Guardians of
the Galaxy Annual#1) - The Lion-...king noted that Gamora had honored
him with great combat, but he nonetheless refused to aid the people of
Earth.
Comments: Created by Steve Dahlman.
The 1937 date for Electro and Zog's trip to Ligra comes
from the Marvel Mystery Handbook, but it is based on the story in
Marvel Mystery Comics#8/6, which notes that Sarpo was sent to prison by
Electro and Zog for looting towns during the Great Ohio Flood. The
story in that issue follows shortly thereafter, as Sarpo gets word to
his men to seek vengeance by making Electro help their criminal
efforts. Thanks to Anthony Flamini for pointing this out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River_flood_of_1937
Queen Nara is called Empress Nara in Marvel Mystery Comics#8/6
When first described in Marvel Mystery Comics#8/6, the Lion-People were listed as the "present rulers of Ligra," when Jago
Although the Dragon-Men and Ligra only appeared in 11 pages total in these two stories, there is a LOT going on and a lot of back-story.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Ligra has no known connections to
The planet Ligra's fauna include giant eagles,
used for aerial combat by both the Dragon-Men and the Lion-People.
The eagles look to have perhaps a 14' wingspan,
standing 3' at the shoulder, with a length of 7', and weighing 140 lbs.
An eagle is strong enough to fly with a full-sized adult lion-man on its back.
Presumably carnivorous, they have sharp beaks and sharp, strong talons.
Even larger war-eagles can carry at least two adults comfortably.
Only a few eagle-riders were shown in relation to a large number of foot soldiers, presumably indicating there are not large numbers of eagles serving either the Dragon-Men or Lion-People.
The population of eagles on Ligra is unrevealed.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#8/6 - BTS / Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5 - BTS) <1937> - King Jago of the Dragon-Men captured the powerful terrestrial robot Electro and his creator, Professor Philo Zog, whose compliance they forced via torture.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5) - Jago
sent his warriors to attack the Lion-People, and an army of foot
soldiers -- aided by eagle-riders and Electro -- soon assaulted Nara's
palace, their bombs destroying its walls, and their death-rays killing
hundreds.
Eagle-riding Lion-Men swooped down on Electro, but the powerful robot grabbed them, crushed them, and hurled them into a pit.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5) - Taking Nara hostage, Jago carried her to his monstrous War-Eagle, which flew them back to his castle.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5 (fb) - BTS) - Aided by Electro, the Dragon-Men defeated the Lion-People.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5 - BTS) - Professor Zog ultimately regained control of Electro and directed him to fight off the Dragon-Men.
--Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5
Only one octopus was shown, but unless it was some sort of genetically engineered creature, there were presumably more...the existing population is unrevealed. It is similarly unrevealed whether this octopus was representative of the rest of the population.
Like terrestrial octopi, this creature was a
cephalopod (head-foot), with a central head-body and eight tentacles.
It had a pair of eyes, with blue or yellow irides (either changing in
color or miscolored at least once) and a red pupil (or perhaps the blue
or yellow was the sclera, with red irides, with an oddly shaped pupil).
It's mouth structure was not shown.
Based on how the octopus dwarfed the 8' tall Electro (see the two additional images in the main profile), I'd estimate the octopus' central body (head) to be perhaps 12' in diameter.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#8/6 - BTS / Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5 - BTS) <1937> - King Jago of the Dragon-Men captured the powerful terrestrial robot Electro and his creator, Professor Philo Zog, whose compliance they forced via torture.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5) - Jago
sent his warriors to attack the Lion-People, and an army of foot
soldiers -- aided by eagle-riders and Electro -- soon assaulted Nara's
palace, their bombs destroying its walls, and their death-rays killing
hundreds.
Eagle-riding Lion-Men swooped down on Electro, but the powerful robot grabbed them, crushed them, and hurled them into a pit.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5) - Taking Nara hostage, Jago carried her to his monstrous War-Eagle, which flew them back to his castle.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5 (fb) - BTS) - The Dragon-Men were unable to find the royal
jewels and treasures.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5) - Upon learning the royal treasures
were still unlocated, Jago rushed to Nara and demanded to know their
location. When Nara refused to tell him anything, Jago released a giant
octopus to force her compliance.
As the octopus slithered toward Nara, Zog took
advantage of the distraction to distract and then lock out the Dragon-Men guarding him.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5 (fb) - BTS) - Free to act, Zog directed Electro to rescue Nara.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5) - Smashing into the dungeon, Electro engaged the octopus, which wrapped its tentacles around him.
After a "titanic struggle," Electro extended a
blade from the lateral aspect of his palm, and he stabbed the octopus
between its eyes, incapacitating it, at least.
--Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5
Note: Given the immense size of the octopus and the sort length of Electro's blade, I wouldn't think it would have been long enough to kill the octopus. A straight, superficial incision into the the brain shouldn't be fatal...unless hemorrhage caused too much pressure, etc. Perhaps the brain was very superificial.
The population of oryx-beasts on Ligra is unrevealed.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#8/6 - BTS / Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5 - BTS) <1937> - King Jago of the Dragon-Men captured the powerful terrestrial robot Electro and his creator, Professor Philo Zog, whose compliance they forced via torture.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/6) - Jago
sent his warriors to attack the Lion-People, and an army of foot
soldiers -- aided by eagle-riders and Electro -- soon assaulted Nara's
palace, their bombs destroying its walls, and their death-rays killing
hundreds.
The Lion-People then turned loose a pair of their horned oryx beasts, but Electro slew one, hurled it down into the pit, and then threw the other oryx-beast on top of the first one's horns.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5 (fb) - BTS) - Aided by Electro, the Dragon-Men defeated the Lion-People.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5 - BTS) - Professor Zog ultimately regained control of Electro and directed him to fight off the Dragon-Men.
--Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5
Note: The plural of oyrx is either oryxes or oryx. I think the former makes it more clear that you are speaking in the plural, which is why I went with it.
Beyond the forward-facing horns, the hairy necks, and the lack of long hair on their tails, they most resemble the Gemsbok oryx to me.
Courtesy of Wikipedia:
All Oryx species prefer near-desert conditions and can survive without water for long periods. They live in herds of up to 600 animals. Newborn calves are able to run with the herd immediately after birth. Both males and females possess permanent horns. The horns are narrow, and straight except in the scimitar oryx, where they curve backwards like a scimitar. The horns can be lethal: the oryx has been known to kill lions with them, and oryxes are thus sometimes called the sabre antelope (not to be confused with the sable antelope). The horns also make the animals a prized game trophy, which has led to the near-extinction of the two northern species.
See the eagles-sub-profiles above. Beyond their
size, the war-eagle likely has similar characteristics to the other
eagles.
The war-eagle is much larger than the already
giant eagles used by the eagle-rider warriors. The war-eagle shown
appears to have perhaps a 26' wingspan, and to be perhaps 8' tall at
the shoulder, 16' long, and weighing perhaps 1600 lbs.
Only one war-eagle was shown, but unless it was some sort of genetically engineered creature, there
were presumably more...the existing population is unrevealed.
It is similarly unrevealed whether this war-eagle was representative of the rest of the population.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#8/6 - BTS / Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5 - BTS) <1937> - King Jago of the Dragon-Men captured the powerful terrestrial robot Electro and his creator, Professor Philo Zog, whose compliance they forced via torture.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5 -
BTS) - After the Lion-People were overwhelmed by the Dragon-Men and
Electro, Jago took the Lion-People's Queen Nara hostage.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5) - Jago carried Nara to his monstrous War-Eagle, which flew them back to his castle.
--Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5
Note: No known connection to Auburn University, whose mascot is the Tiger...but whose fans shout "War-Eagle"
images: (without ads)
Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5, pg. 1, panel 1 (octopus vs. Electro, side view);
panel 3 (ship (blue) returning to Ligra);
pg. 4, panel 2 (Dragon-Men army with eagle and eagle-rider);
pg. 5, panel 1 (Lion-People Eagle-Riders in flight);
panel 2 ( (Eagle-Riders falling);
panel 3 (oryx-beasts attack);
panel 4 (oryx-beasts slain)
pg. 6, panel 1 (Jago & Nara atop war eagle);
panel 7 (octopus, mostly full, in cage);
pg. 7, panel 2 (octopus close-up, approaching Nara);
pg. 8, panel 2 (Nara held by octopus);
panel 5 (Jago's ship crashing into water);
Appearances:
Marvel Mystery Comics#8/6 (June, 1940) - Steve Dahlman (writer, penciler, inker), Joe Simon (editor)
Marvel Mystery Comics#9/5 (July, 1940) - Steve Dahlman (writer, penciler, inker), Joe Simon (editor)
Marvel Mystery Handbook: 70th Anniversary Special: Dragon-Men
All-New Guardians of the Galaxy Annual#1 (2017) - Chad
Bowers and Chris Sims (writers), Danilo S. Beyruth (artist), Kathleen
Wisneski (assistant editor), Darren Shan (editor)
First posted: 04/18/2020
Last updated: 06/30/2020
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
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Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
eagles
octopus
oryx-beasts
war-eagle