MANDO race
Classification: Extraterrestrial tech-users
Location/Base of Operations: Mand, eighth planet from the sun in the Tubla star system of the Andromeda Galaxy
Habitat: Unrevealed
Gravity: Unrevealed
Atmosphere: Unrevealed
Known Members: None named
Estimated population: 569 million
Affiliations: Some Mandos are employed by the intergalactic corporation known as "Interplaneteur, Inc." (English translation) that is controlled by members of the R'malk'i race
Enemies: Adam Warlock; Lamilm Gor
First Appearance: Warlock I#15 (November, 1976);
(race
and homeworld named) The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15 (March, 1987)
Powers/Abilities: Mandos are superhumanly strong, and their skin is capable of withstanding the vacuum of space for (at least) brief periods of time.
Cultural Traits: Unrevealed
Type: Semi-humanoid
Eyes: Two (no visible pupils or irises)
Fingers: Three (plus opposable thumb)
Toes: Two
Skin color: Green
Hair: None
Average height: 9' 1"
Type of government: Unrevealed
Level of technology: Mando technology is inferior to that of present-day Earth.
History:
(The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15: Alien Races: Mandos entry) - A semi-humanoid
race that called itself the Mandos evolved on the eighth planet out from the sun in the planetary system orbiting
around the star Tumbla in the Andromeda Galaxy. These beings called their homeworld Mand.
(The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15: Alien Races: Mandos entry) - At some point before the 21st century (Earth chronology), certain Mandos were employed by Interplaneteur, Inc. as thugs and enforcers. This corporation provided the technology that their Mando employees used.
(Warlock I#15 (fb) - BTS) - When a prospector named Lamilm Gor missed a payment on his loan from Interplaneteur Inc., a R'malk'i named Marr Gar was sent to repossess the space cruiser that Gor had put up as collateral. Gar took four Mandos with him in case force was needed to secure the cruiser.
(Warlock I#15 (fb) - BTS) - After catching up with Gor somewhere in space, Gar and one of the Mandos entered the cruiser and explained the situation. They may have also persuaded/forced Gor to put on a spacesuit.
(Warlock I#15) - The Mando who was still partially inside the cruiser and the one standing outside near the airlock were cooperating in forcing Gar to leave the cruiser when Adam Warlock arrived on the scene. Seeing several "hulking brutes" forcing an "aged humanoid" from the small spacecraft, Warlock decided to intervene.
As two other Mandos approached from the Interplaneteur, Inc. starship, Warlock landed on the hull of the small cruiser and delivered a powerful blow to the Mando who had Gor in his grasp, crying out, "Unhand that old man, space spawn." As that Mando went flying, Gor exclaimed that he was saved but the Mando who was just exiting the cruiser disagreed, saying, "That's not very likely, you old geezer!" as he pulled out his blaster. Then, as he prepared to fire, the Mando added, "Not while I can blast this golden twerp into next...ARG!!" but his words were cut short as Warlock fired a blast from his Soul Gem at the weapon, causing the Mando to cry out as he dropped it.
Meanwhile, a third Mando had gotten close enough to the cruiser to try to attack Warlock from behind but Warlock was well aware of the "lumbering" Mando and, with a couple of blows, swiftly rendered him incapable of doing anything.
With the three defeated Mandos floating in space, Warlock then told the "old-timer" that he hadn't wanted to handle the situation in such a manner but the way that "those hulks" had been manhandling him had caused Warlock to fear that his spacesuit would be ruptured. As Warlock asked what was going on, Marr Gar emerged from the cruiser, identified himself and explained how they were repossessing the space cruiser that Lamilm Gor had put up as collateral for a loan which he had subsequently been unable to pay back.
When Warlock asked if they were going to take the old man with them now that they had repossessed his cruiser, a surprised Gar said that they weren't because their job was to repossess space shuttles and they had no legal responsibility to provide free taxi service afterwards.
Unhappy with this callous answer, Warlock crushed the blaster in his bare hand, told the old man to get in his cruiser and go to his destination, and to make sure to get the funds that he owed immediately. As he confronted Gar with energy radiating from his Soul Gem, Warlock assured the old man that no one would seek to stop him and a cowed Gar agreed.
As the Mandos approached their employer, Warlock gave Gar a shove that propelled him through space and back to his starship, then left.
Comments: Marr Gar's thugs created by Jim Starlin.
Mandos named/created by the staff of the second volume of The Official Handbook of
the Marvel Universe (led by Writer/Producer Mark Gruenwald).
Although the Mandos in Warlock I#15 had dark green skin, the image of a Mando that was published in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15 had light green skin instead. Why? I have no idea but it may be the only time that I've noticed a OHotMU race image being miscolored.
Jim Starlin designed some rather odd-looking clothing for his Mandos to wear. Each Mando wore headgear that included a wide brown collar (or corselet) that rested on their shoulders and extended partway down their chest and back. These collars appeared to be both metallic and technological in nature. Attached to these collars were rounded metallic helmets of the same brown color that covered the sides and tops of their heads. Transparent goggles covered the upper parts of their faces but the lower parts, including the cheeks, mouths and lower jaws, were seemingly left exposed. Aside from this headgear, the only other clothing worn by these Mandos were single wide segmented strips that were attached to the collars and extended straight down the centers of their chests, passed between their legs and continued up their backs until reattaching to the backs of their collars. Every other part of their bodies (their arms, legs and the sides of their torsos and hips) were left totally unclothed.
The fact that the Mandos who assisted Marr Gar were depicted as wearing very little clothing while being active in an outer space environment is presumably what inspired the staff of the Official Handbook to state that their skin was capable of withstanding the vacuum of space. However, although exposure to that vacuum will not cause a human body to instantly explode or freeze or the blood within it to boil, such exposure does cause several negative effects. For one thing, the lack of a normal atmospheric pressure would cause the gases in a human's lungs to expand enough to rupture them. Could the strength of the Mando skin be enough to prevent that from happening?
A second problem (for humans) is that the reduced pressure of the environment lowers the boiling point of body fluids thereby causing the liquid water in the bloodstream and soft tissues to transition into water vapor. The resulting gas bubbles can cause the body to bloat (but not enough to rupture) and/or block blood vessels (which could cause a fatal embolism). Again, could the Mandos have skin that was strong enough prevent these effects?
The third problem (for humans) is that oxygen diffuses out of the bloodstream when the lungs are exposed to a vacuum. When this deoxygenated blood quickly reaches their brain, a human will lose consciousness within seconds due to oxygen deprivation. Humans have to wear helmeted spacesuits to prevent oxygen starvation but the headgear that the Mandos are shown wearing don't even cover their mouths. So, how can their bloodstreams retain enough oxygen to keep them conscious?
With these factors in mind, how exactly are the Mandos able to survive in
the vacuum of space with such minimal clothing? While their skin MIGHT be able to compensate for the lack of
external pressure, they (presumably) still need oxygen to survive. The only possible explanation that I could think
of is that those wide collars that they were all wearing and that seemed to be quite technological in nature may
have been generating livable environments around them. If so, then those collars would be like the life support belts
from Star Trek: The Animated Series that emitted personal force fields around their wearers which supplied
them with breathable atmospheres and protected them from the life-threatening conditions of naked space. Assuming
those collars did function as I have speculated, they would almost certainly be R'malk'i technology and that could
explain how Marr Gar was also able to survive in space without any visible protection.
Another possibility is that they and Marr Gar were just wearing translucent spacesuits that fit
snuggly over their bodies, like the transuits that the Legion of Super-Heroes used to wear.
Another unanswered question I have is, "Where did the blaster that the second Mando tried to use on Warlock come from?" Since none of the Mandos are wearing any sort of holster, does that mean that that Mando was holding it in his hand the entire time he was in Lamilm Gor's space cruiser?
The fact that the Mandos appeared to have to pull themselves along a cable in order to travel between Marr Gar's ship and Lamilm Gor's cruiser suggests that they were not equipped with any sort of maneuvering thrusters.
During their encounter in Warlock I#15, the speech balloons of the four beings who say anything are tinted different colors depending on their race. Lamilm Gor, the most human-looking character, has speech balloons that are plain white, Warlock's speech balloons have yellow rims, Marr Gar's speech balloons are rimmed in pink and the Mando has speech balloons with pale blue backgrounds. it's a nice way to subtly remind readers of the fact that the speakers are members of different species.
The only in-story appearance that any Mando has yet made was in Warlock I#15 (November, 1976). Since I don't have that comic, I've used images scanned from issue #4 of the 1992 Warlock reprint miniseries instead. However, I've listed the pages and panels from the original comic as the source in the Images section.
Profile by Donald Campbell.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Mando race has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15, page 55, panel 2 (main image)
Warlock I#4, page 4, panel 6 (two Mandos forcing Lamilm Gor from his small spacecraft)
page 5, panel 1 (first Mando is punched out by Warlock)
page 5, panel 2 (second Mando loses his blaster)
page 5, panel 3 (third Mando is punched)
page 5, panel 4 (second Mando is punched)
page 6, panel 1 (Mandos in space)
Appearances:
Warlock I#15 (November, 1976) - Jim Starlin (story and layout and finished art), Archie Goodwin (editor)
The
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15 (March, 1987) - Kyle Baker (Appendix: Alien Races artist)
First Posted: 04/13/2022
Last updated: 04/13/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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