OK Space Station (Stranger and Captain Marvel associated space colony)

okspacestation-dome-distant okspacestation-dome-entrance OK SPACE STATION

Official Name: OK Space Station

Nature: Extraterrestrial domed colony on an asteroid in some proximity to Deneb IV (see comments);
even outside the dome, there existed a breathable atmosphere until it became poisoned as a result of thyamite mining

Residents: Shabby Dayes, engineers, Jaqe Murania, Jaqe Murania's gang, Rusty-Paint, "ol' Smithy";
    outside the domed city, the Millennia Bloom came into season once every thousand years (obviously...);
    the Kree race and the Supreme Intelligence had some ruling presence and influence;
    the Stranger formerly had a ruling presence there, although few had ever seen him;
    formerly the Skrull race

Population: Unrevealed; presumably dozens or perhaps hundreds

Capital City: Inapplicable.

Government: Unrevealed;
formerly controlled by the Stranger (as the Big Boss)

Languages: Unrevealed

National Defense: Unrevealed

Places of Interest: Red Dog Saloon, Tuckett Inn

Resources: Thyamite

Visitors: Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), Fawn, Rick Jones, Stranger,

First Appearance: (Behind-the Scenes, unidentified) Captain Marvel I#41 (November, 1975);
(seen and identified) Captain Marvel I#42 (January, 1976)

History:

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - A colony of beings lived on an asteroid in the vicinity of the planet Deneb IV (see comments). okspacestation-predome

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - After driving the Skrulls off of Deneb IV, the Kree took over that asteroid and allegedly (according to Shabby Dayes) a hundred other asteroids. okspacestation-domed

Following this discovery, engineers arrived and swiftly created a number of metal buildings, setting up mines to obtain the thyamite, which apparently released an unidentified poison gas. The residents tried to continue as before, but eventually when the poison gas began to reach toxic levels, a dome was built over the town to filter out the poison gas.

According to Shabby Dayes, only plants and bugs could survive the poison.

Firearms were soon outlawed as one stray shot could crack the dome.

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - After too many cycles of breathing poisons, the rustic inhabitants lived "their lives of charade."

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - Coming upon the O.K. Space Station, the Stranger was fascinated by "this hamlet of madmen," and he established himself as the "Big Boss."

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#11: Stranger entry) - The Stranger studied and enjoyed the half-poisoned inhabitants and their backwards society.

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#11: Stranger entry) - The Stranger recreated the miners’ social structure to mimic Earth’s old west, with himself as boss (see comments).

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - Shabby Dayes had problems with Jaqe Murania and his gang, who threatened him and advised him to never show his face again in the O.K. Space Station. Many (most?) of the station's residents feared Murania and his gang.

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - While many people mined for thyamite, there was apparently a lot of "claim-jumping" (people would seize/steal the thyamite to which another had already laid claim)

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking thyamite and aware of the risk of claim-jumping, Shabby sent for a marshal to protect his claims.

(Captain Marvel I#41 - BTS) - Captain Marvel and Rick Jones were transported to the asteroid world by the Supreme Intelligence, and their arrival was observed by Shabby Dayes.

(Captain Marvel I#41 - BTS) - An "intergalactic insect-form" pollinated the Millennia Bloom.

(Captain Marvel I#42 - BTS) - Seeing the glint off of Mar-Vell's nega-band, Shabby thought it was thyamite and went to investigate.

(Captain Marvel I#42 - BTS) - Awakening on the asteroid, Rick and Mar-Vell choked and were swiftly rendered unconscious by the poisonous gases in the atmosphere.

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - Shabby apparently saved their lives by placing clear bubbles/helmets (which presumably either supplied oxygen or at least filtered out the poisonous gases) over their heads.

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - Seeing the star on Mar-Vell's chest, Shabby assumed him to be the marshal he had summoned, although he was surprised that a marshal had arrived so swiftly after being sent for. Shabby placed both men across the back of his steed, Rusty-Paint, and presumably began heading back to the dome.

(Captain Marvel I#42 - BTS) - As Mar-Vell awakened, Shabby explained the poisoned his atmosphere and his assumption that he was a marshal, while a reviving Rick noted that the Supremor (Supreme Intelligence) had sent them there for a reason. Additionally, while in a state of semi-consciousness under influence of the fumes, Rick had realized that he could use his Nega-Band to use mental energy to change physical his clothing into a heroic costume.

(Captain Marvel I#42) - Shabby then advised them that they should move on as they didn't want to spend too much time outside the dome in the poison air. En route back to the dome, Shabby advised Marv and Rick to avoid the Millennia Bloom, which had just come into season. okspacestation-jaqe-shabby

Soon they arrived and entered the dome, and Shabby told his guests that while it was only "pre-fab arborium," the O.K. Space Station was home to a lot of good folks. One of Jaqe's men then pointed out Shabby, leading Jaqe and his gang to confront them, and Shabby noted that there were also some folks who weren't good there. After Jaqe picked up Shabby and threw him to the ground, Mar-Vell punched Jaqe off his feet, and Jaqe ordered his gang to get "that guy." When Mar-Vell and Rick proved more than a match for Jaqe's gang, one of Jaqe's men called for reinforcements, and other locals poured out nearby buildings to join the fight against the visitors.

Wondering where Shabby had gotten "these rannies" and considering that he had thought Shabby was "afeared of us, like the rest," Jaqe pulled a hand-blaster, informing Mar-Vell (whom he also assumed to be a marshal) that while he didn't like to shoot inside the dome, he would make an exception in his case. However, before he could fire, Rick smacked the weapon out of Jaqes hand and then punched him in the face. Calling Rick "Greenhorn," Jaqe noted that his punch was "a gooder," but that he wasn't strong enough to put Jaque Murania down. While Rick noted he could get strong enough, Rusty ended the fight by kicking Jaqe in the head. The rest of the gang members acknowledged that they knew when they were beaten, but that they would be "pushing up locoweed" when the Big Boss hears about what they had done. While they then departed, Marv picked up and decided to hang onto Jaqe's blaster.

    Shabby then led Marv and Rick into the Red Dog saloon where he bought them a round of drinks and explained the origins of the dome around the O.K. Space Station. Losing interest in Shabby's story, Rick caught sight of and approached Fawn (unidentified; unknowing apparently a mental construct created by Rick via his connection to the Nega-Band), a wraith-like woman through whom he could partially see.

    Meanwhile, a group of locals approached Mar-Vell (also assuming him to be a marshal), and they told him that while they appreciated the reason he had come there (I'm not sure what they thought the reason was? To restore law and order and take down the Murania gang who were running things?), they weren't looking for trouble, and so they asked him to leave town before the Big Boss showed up. Considering Marv might need him if this confrontation got rough, Rick was surprised when he realized that the wraith-girl had vanished altogether.

    As Mar-Vell asked Shabby about the Big Boss, Shabby noted he had never seen him, as " 'round these parts, he's still a--"

okspacestation-inhabitants-collapsing

    And then, the Stranger smashed into the Red Dog Saloon and finished Shabby's clause with, "Stranger, Ho Ho Ho!"

    Mar-Vell recognized the Stranger, who explained that he had become involved with this society because of his interest in the unique, the bizarre, and the stimulating. In this same vein, the Stranger then insisted on a "gunfight" with Mar-Vell, threatening to destroy the entire installation if Mar-Vell objected.

    After the Stranger fired repeatedly on Mar-Vell, the hero reluctantly fired back with Jaqe's blaster, but the Stranger absorbed the energy and then expelled it upwardly, with the energy burst striking and cracking the top of the dome. As the poison gas began to seep in the townspeople almost instantly began to collapse, although the outworlders were scarcely bothered by the minute levels of noxious fumes.

While Jones worked to repair the crack, the Stranger continued firing blasts at Mar-Vell. When Shabby Dayes collapsed from the poison gas, Mar-Vell turned to check on him and was struck down by one of the Stranger's blasts. Upset to have inadvertently shot his enemy in the back, the Stranger considered his experience ruined and departed, passing through the dome harmlessly in energy form. okspacestation-dome-exterior-departure

    Having successfully repaired the dome, Rick also exhausted his energies and began to fall to the ground, the recovering Mar-Vell caught him and returned him to the ground safely. Shabby thanked them for saving the hole space station.

    Mar-Vell suspected that the Supreme Intelligence's mental powers had influenced the American Old West culture/structure of the O.K. Space Station, although he considered that he wouldn't know for sure until they returned to Hala and confronted the Supremor again.

    Fawn (still unidentified) then appeared again to Rick, this time speaking and telling Rick to come to her as he deserved a reward for his valiant effort.
     As he leaned in for a kiss, however, she vanished once again.

    With Shabby having agreed to loan Rusty to the two and Mar-Vell having made some adjustments, Marv and Rick donned a pair of helmets and departed the O.K. Space Station to travel to Deneb IV.

okspacestation-whowasthatmaskedman

After they departed, one of the locals asked Shabby, "Say...who was that masked man, anyhow?"

Comments: Created by Steve Englehart, Al Milgrom, and Mike Esposito.

It is unclear to me whether the O.K. Space Station received its name before or after the dome, the Kree and/or the Supreme Intelligence's involvement, and/or the Stranger's involvement.

Further, prior to the Dome, I would think that there would have had to have been some technology to provide atmosphere and warmth, as I don't think asteroids have an atmosphere.

One of Jaque Murania's gang looks a lot like an A'askvarii, which makes sense, as their homeworld, O'erlanii, is the third sun in the Deneb system (or is it...?).

Deneb IV

Deneb IV was a Skrull world before the Kree drove them off the planet. The population was oppressed by sentient war machines left behind by the Kree: the Null-Trons, which had been outlawed by the Supreme Intelligence when he came to power.

Deneb IV is Zenn-La, one of 37 planets and 93 moons in the Deneb system (as mentioned in the comments of the A'askvarri profile). Could Shabby Dayes be from Zenn-La?
--Gammatotem

I doubt the fact the planet seen in this storyline was Zenn-La because last time I checked neither the Kree nor the Skrulls had a big presence on Zenn-La and I also didn't hear about any Null-Trons terrorizing Norrin Radd back home. People at Marvel just liked the star Deneb for some reason and used it on multiple occasions and using the logic of our sun system repeatedly named the third or fourth planet as some species' homeworld. Mistakes happen!
--Markus Raymond

The idea that the A'askvarii homeworld O'erlanii is located in the Deneb star system comes from the Official Handbook...further, O'erlanii and Zenn-La are both described as "third from sun."
However, SILVER SURFER III#2 shows the Surfer going home to Zenn-La. As part of that journey, the omniscient narrative on page two reveals that his destination is a place where "shines a steely bright star - - Deneb! Around that star spin its thirty-seven planets, with their 93 moons! The fourth planet from Deneb is Zenn-La!" So, Zenn-La should actually be listed "fourth from the sun."
Also, while the Deneb shown in that issue is yellow like our sun, Sol, the Deneb which exists in the real world is a blue-white super-giant which is so young that it has absolutely zero chance of being orbited by habitable planets with sentient native lifeforms.
--Donald Campbell

As noted above, there is certainly some confusion regarding Deneb IV, etc. It seems likely that some races may identify their own star differently than what other, outside races call it, and/or there may be more than one star named Deneb in the universe. Or perhaps one of the Deneb IV's an outpost, "New Deneb IV" or something. By my notes, the earliest use of the term Deneb IV occurs in story in the Captain Marvel stories, which proceed the OHotMU entries by several years. But, it is an issue to be addressed in the future, hopefully.
--Snood

Who is behind the O.K. Space Station, or why is it like that?

Per Donald Campbell:

I noticed that you stated that Mar-Vell had suspected that the Stranger had influenced the American Old West culture/structure of the O.K. Space Station

In fact, the Stranger had come across the O.K. Space Station after its inhabitants had become "crazed from breathing too many cycles of poisons" and had begun living "lives of charades." The Stranger found their situation to be so fascinating that he had involved himself (as the "Big Boss") so that he could enjoy their madness.

Mar-Vell quickly suspected that the reason why the setting was an Earthly one was so that it would be significant to Rick Jones and he concluded that the Supremor (Supreme Intelligence) had used his mental powers to influence the form of the fantasy being lived by the miners. Mar-Vell also assumed that the Stranger was acting as an agent of the Supremor but the Stranger's ignorance of why Mar-Vell had injected himself into the experience made Mar-Vell realize that his assumption was wrong.

Per Snood

Yes, that is all true, but if you examine the "facts" as we know them

The Kree ousted the Skrulls from Deneb IV (or whatever world), which would place the associated asteroids under the domain if not the influence of the Supreme Intelligence
Shabby described the population of the asteroid as simple folks unconcerned with being ruled by Skrulls vs. Kree
The population was rendered crazy/delusional/whatever from chronic exposure to the toxic gases

We don't know exactly when this happened. Perhaps they had been chronically exposed and were already affected before the mining, which released larger amounts of the gases to know poisonous/lethal levels.

The dome was built to protect the people from the toxic gases apparently released from the thyamite mining
The Stranger encountered and was fascinated by the "hamlet of madmen," leading him to involve himself
The Supreme Intelligence sent Mar-Vell and Rick to the asteroid of the O.K. Space Station.
The "Old West" setting of the O.K. Space Station was very intriguing to Rick but overall meaningless to Mar-Vell.
The Stranger did not know why Mar-Vell involved himself in his experience.
Mar-Vell and Rick both suspected/assumed that the Supreme Intelligence's mental powers influenced the form of the fantasy.
The Supreme Intelligence's plot in sending Mar-Vell to this asteroid involved at least in part the Millennia Bloom.
While it was suspected/assumed that he Supreme Intelligence had manipulated the people of this space station into the "Old West" setting and that may well be the case, I don't believe it is ever confirmed. Maybe the Supreme Intelligence knew the existing setting would be significant to Rick...or maybe it never really cared about the Station, but just used it as a way to get Mar-Vell and Rick where he/they wanted.
The Stranger said he involved himself with the "hamlet of madmen," but it is never stated that they were an Old West-type town when he encountered them, nor is it stated that he did or did not manipulate them into the Old-West setting. The only thing we know for sure is that he set himself up as their "Big Boss."
Maybe they ended up that way on their own, without either the Stranger or the Supreme Intelligence manipulating them. Check out the planet Asylum by Gerber.

As they were a "simple people," they may have already been in an "Old West" or similar setting...maybe the toxins were already present and affecting them, while the mining made the toxins to abundant that the dome was necessary.
Or, maybe, the Skrulls who formerly had domain over the asteroid were something like the Skrulls of Kral, choosing to mimick certain time periods/cultures from Earth or other worlds.
That's how I'd write it if I had a chance to write a new story involving the OK Space Station: Somehow the Skrulls developed this culture on the asteroid, and it persisted after their departure. The Stranger got involved because it was intriguing for him, and the Supreme Intelligence sent Marv and Rick there because he/it knew it would be interesting for Rick.

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#11: Stranger entry says, "Kree Captain Mar-Vell and his associate Rick Jones later encountered the Stranger on a Kree mining asteroid, where he was studying the half-poisoned inhabitants and their backwards society. He recreated the miners’ social structure to mimic Earth’s old west, with himself as boss."

This certainly seems to say that the Stranger created this setting, but it also could be interpretted to be less clearly saying that he recreated this society (which already existed in that fashion), with himself as boss. I think the word "to" could be more clearly stated as "that" or "which."

So, my official take at this time would be that the reason the O.K. Space Station mimicked Earth's Old West Earth is unrevealed. The Supreme Intelligence and/or the Stranger may have caused it, or they may have just used the already existing society for their own ends.

And some final thoughts by Donald Campbell

First, I have always assumed that the "pizen" in the air were toxic by-products of whatever methods the Kree used to mine/process the thyamite. After all, I doubt that the Kree adhere to environmental standards, especially when only inferior, non-Kree lifeforms were at risk.
Second, I had thought that there was a specific definition for what constituted an asteroid (like how meteoroids cannot be greater than one meter in width) but it turns out that they can be any small celestial body (or minor planet) that is not a meteoroid or a comet. In Earth's solar system, asteroids range in size from 1 meter to almost 1000 kilometers in diameter. This means that none of the known asteroids are massive enough for their gravitational fields to be able to hold onto atmospheres. Even the largest asteroid, the dwarf planet Ceres, has a gravity that is only 2.9 % that of Earth. So, the fact that the "asteroid" on which the O.K. Space Station was built did once have its own breathable atmosphere suggests that it must have actually been a small planet or a large and VERY dense moon. The only other possibilities are that it was an asteroid with some VERY MASSIVE object embedded deep within it that caused its gravity to be far greater than it should be for a normal asteroid of it size; or that the atmosphere was artificially created and was maintained by some hidden technology (meaning that the asteroid had been terraformed).
Third, another problem with the idea of it being as "asteroid" is the fact that moving around in a gravitational field that was much less than that of Earth should have been very different from walking around on Earth, with every "normal" footstep being enough to propel them high into the air. It should have taken time for Mar-Vell and Rick Jones to learn how to walk properly in the lesser gravity, something that the townspeople presumably already knew how to do, but there was no sign that the gravitational field in which they were moving was any different from that of Earth. Maybe artificial gravity, like on starships, was at work here?
Fourth, I think that writer Steve Englehart probably intended that Mar-Vell's "guess" about the Supremor having used its mental powers to influence the form of the fantasy in which the townspeople were living was correct. However, I concede that it's hard to see how that could have happened. After all, the Stranger's statement that the "rustic inhabitants (had become) crazed from breathing too many cycles of poisons" suggests that the Old West fantasy had been established quite a while before Mar-Vell and Rick Jones visited. Considering that the two had only become bonded fairly recently (in Marvel Time), how could the Supremor have known about their connection in time to set up the whole O.K. Space Station scenario? Also, while I'm sure that Stainless Steve had a motive in mind for why the Supremor would have imposed that fantasy on the townspeople, I have been unable to imagine any possible way in which it could benefit for this action.
Fifth, I strongly believe that the Stranger's involvement was limited to making himself the "Big Boss" in the Old West setting and that he did not otherwise create the situation any more than he was an agent of the Supremor.
Sixth, when I received your email, I mentally reviewed what I might say about who created the Old West fantasy and I came to the conclusion that, based on the reasons mentioned in the two previous points, neither the Supreme Intelligence nor the Stranger seemed to be good candidates. In my opinion, having some (unspecified) third party be responsible seemed to make more sense. Then I actually read your profile and found that you agreed with me. Clearly, great minds think alike. However, while I couldn't think of a good suspect, you provided two possible explanations: that it was either like the Asylum planet or that (at least some of) the Skrulls had been Kralians who had indulged their fondness for role-playing while they controlled Deneb IV and the surrounding space. I favor the second theory because it seems like a more plausible (or less unlikely) reason for the incredible similarity to the American Old West. Maybe the Deneb IV Skrulls would only do business with people who played along with their own role-playing so the miners had to cooperate. Then, after the Skrulls were driven out by the Kree, the townspeople had gotten used to the role-playing and didn't bother to revert to their original lifestyle? Then the toxins from the Kree mining began to affect them and they forgot that they were role-playing?
Lastly, there's the matter of Deneb IV. This planet first appeared in this Captain Marvel storyline where it was described as being part of the "Kree galaxy." Then the Official Handbook claimed that the home planets of both the A'askvarii and Zenn-Lavian races were located in the Deneb star system in the Milky Way galaxy. Then Silver Surfer III#2 confirmed that Zenn-La was the fourth planet out from a star known as Deneb which was seemingly meant to be the star that Earth astronomers have called Deneb (a.k.a. Alpha Cygni). This created a problem because obviously all three of these planets could not possibly co-exist in the same star system. The best option is that, no matter what the OHotMU claims, the three planets must actually exist in three different star systems, with Zenn-La being the only one from the star system known on Earth as Deneb. Then again, since the real-world Deneb is a giant star whose total lifespan is far too short for life to have ever evolved on any of its planets, maybe NONE of the Denebs around which the three homeworlds orbit are actually the MU counterparts of the "real" Deneb?

We are pretty much in agreement on these points.
I do agree that Englehart presumably intended the Supremor to be behind everything, but there’s really not evidence or logic to support that.
I’d like to see Kurt Busiek write a story where Rick Jones and/or Carol Danvers is called to the OK Space Station to help out Shabby and the others, and that all of these points are clarified in his typical continuity-friendly style.
--Snood

This profile was completed 4/8/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20^th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The OK Space Station has no known connections to:

other Space Stations, Old West themed, Deneb system (or not), or otherwise...

Smithy

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - The people on this asteroid were simple folks and weren't bothered by the change in local power until "ol' Smithy" discovered the presence of thyamite on the asteroid.

--Captain Marvel I#42

Note: The above sentence represents all that has been revealed about Smithy as far as I know.

     Smithy was a resident of the asteroid prior to the creation of the dome, and he was apparently old enough that the elderly Shabby Dayes referred to him as "ol' Smithy."

     I would seem likely that his name was "Smith," and "Smithy" was a nickname for that, but he also could have been the town blacksmith, or something.

    We don't know how or when exactly -- just that it was after the Kree ousted the Skrulls and before the creation of the Dome -- but Smithy discovered the presence of thyamite on the asteroid, which led to industrialization and mining, which led to the creation of the dome.

     So, what I'm waiting for is a 12 issue maxi-series, OK Space Station: The Story of Smithy!
     --c'mon, it could happen.

thyamite

According to Shabby Dayes, only plants and bugs could survive the poison.

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - After too many cycles of breathing poisons, the rustic inhabitants lived "their lives of charade."

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - While many people mined for thyamite, there was apparently a lot of "claim-jumping" (people would seize/steal the thyamite to which another had already laid claim)

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking thyamite and aware of the risk of claim-jumping, Shabby sent for a marshal to protect his claims.

(Captain Marvel I#41 - BTS) - Captain Marvel and Rick Jones were transported to the asteroid world by the Supreme Intelligence, and their arrival was observed by Shabby Dayes.

(Captain Marvel I#42 - BTS) - Seeing the glint off of Mar-Vell's nega-band, Shabby thought it was thyamite and went to investigate

--Captain Marvel I#42

Note: We don't know anything about Thyamite other than that it was discovered on this asteroid and that it was deemed so valuable that it rapidly drew the attention of beings who mined it. Is it a valuable for monetary purposes, like diamond, or is it a fuel? Both? Neither?

The mining process and/or the thyamite itself caused the atmosphere to become so toxic that a dome had to be built to keep out the toxins.

Who were the engineers associated with? The Kree government? Others just trying to gain

Red Dog Saloon

The Red Dog Saloon is a tavern in the OK Space Station. Like everything else there, it was in the style of the American Old West. okspacestation-reddogsaloon-interior-fawn

okspacestation-reddogsaloon-interior-fawn

(Captain Marvel I#42) - After Captain Marvel and Rick Jones fought off Jaqe Murania and his gang, Shabby Dayes invited the pair to the Red Dog Saloon where he bought them drinks as he relayed the history of the OK Space Station. While Rick was drawn away by the presence of Fawn, a number of locals asked Marvel to leave to avoid causing trouble with the Big Boss.

As Shabby told Marv about the Big Boss, the Stranger confronted Marv and provoked the shootout in the streets.

--Captain Marvel I#42

Tuckett Inn

The Tuckett Inn is a lodging in the OK Space Station.

(Captain Marvel I#42) - As Captain Marvel and Rick Jones entered the OK Space Station with Shabby Dayes, the Tuckett Inn was seen relatively near the entrance.

--Captain Marvel I#42

Note: And that's all there is be said about that.

poison exterior

According to Shabby Dayes, only plants and bugs could survive the poison.

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - After too many cycles of breathing poisons, the rustic inhabitants lived "their lives of charade."

(Captain Marvel I#42 - BTS) - Awakening on the asteroid after being sent there by the Supreme Intelligence, Rick and Mar-Vell choked and were swiftly rendered unconscious by the poisonous gases in the atmosphere.

(Captain Marvel I#42 (fb) - BTS) - Shabby Dayes apparently saved their lives by placing clear bubbles/helmets (which presumably either supplied oxygen or at least filtered out the poisonous gases) over their heads.

(Captain Marvel I#42) - After the Stranger fired repeatedly on Mar-Vell, the hero reluctantly fired back with Jaqe's blaster, but the Stranger absorbed the energy and then expelled it upwardly, with the energy burst striking and cracking the top of the dome. As the poison gas began to seep in the townspeople almost instantly began to collapse, although the outworlders were scarcely bothered by the minute levels of noxious fumes.

After Rick Jones repaired the cracks, the people of the OK Space Station swiftly recovered.

--Captain Marvel I#42

Note: While the atmosphere burns and is poisonous to anyone used to an oxygen rich, Earth-like atmosphere (or Captain Marvel), minute levels of the poison gases almost instantly incapacitate the locals living within the Space Station. Outworlders were minimally affected by these minute levels.

Chronic exposure to low levels of the toxin/poison is described as the cause for people of the Space Station living out a culture similar to Earth's Old West...but there may be more to it than that.

images: (without ads)
Captain Marvel I#42, pg. 1, panel 3 (Marv and Rick choking on poisoned air);
       pg. 2, panel 9 (Shabby with Marv & Rick on Rusty; terrain);
       pg. 5, panel 1 (dome, distant);
          panel 2 (milllenia bloom field);
          panel 3 (dome exterior);
          panel 4 (interior; Tuckett Inn);
          panel 7 (setting; Jaqe calling Shabby out);
       pg. 7, panel 1 (street-setting; Jaqe picking up Shabby);
       pg. 11, panel 6 (Red Dog Saloon; exterior);
          panel 8 (first metal buildings);
       pg. 12, panel 2 (thyamite mines);
          panel 3 (dome first built);
          panel 10 (Red Dog Saloon; interior; Fawn);
          panel 13 (residents addressing Marv);
       pg. 14, panel 6 (Red Dog Saloon; interior; Stranger);
       pg. 16, panel 9 (residents dropping);
       pg. 18, panel 12 (Marv catching falling Rick, showing dome's height);
          panel 13 (cheering);
       pg. 19, panel 8 (departure);
          panel 11 (who was that masked man?)

Appearances:
Captain Marvel I#41 (November, 1975) - Steve Englehart (plot/script), Al Milgrom (plot/pencils), Bernie Wrightson, Craig Russell, Bob McLeod, Terry Austin & Al Milgrom (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Captain Marvel I#42 (January, 1976) - Steve Englehart (writer), Al Milgrom (penciler), Mike Esposito (inker), Marv Wolfman (editor)

First posted: 09/03/2021
Last updated: 08/30/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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