R'MALK'I race
Classification: Extraterrestrial sentient plants
Location/Base of Operations: R'malk'z, fourth planet out from the sun in the C'lehr'ee star system of the Milky Way galaxy
Habitat: Temperate, 81% covered by water
Gravity: 94% of Earth
Atmosphere: 77% nitrogen, 22% oxygen
Known Members:
Beppe III,
Cmar Har,
Marr Gar,
Galactic Marathon fans (names unrevealed),
Knowhere bar patrons (names unrevealed)
Estimated population: 3.6 billion
Affiliations: Squirrel Girl (Doreen Green), Members of the Mando race (employed as muscular thugs and enforcers by "Interplaneteur Inc.")
Enemies: Lamilm Gor, Rick Jones, "Silver Surfer"
First Appearance: Warlock I#15 (November, 1976);
(race identified) Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#8 (August, 1983)
Powers/Abilities: R'malk'i communicate telepathically.
R'malk'i are mobile on the roots at the bases of their bodies. However, when they wish to sleep, they must take root in their "native soil" after it has been moistened with water.
Cultural Traits: Greedily capitalistic and insensitively exploitive
Type: Plant
Eyes: Optical sensory nerves located on two stalks on the "front" of their bodies
Fingers: Three (plus opposable thumb), all having suction cups on their ends (see comments)
Toes: Inapplicable (see comments)
Skin color: Greenish brown
Hair: Inapplicable. R'malk'i have greenish leaflike growths atop their heads.
Average height: 6' 8"
Type of government: Governed by corporations, the most powerful of which is "Interplaneteur Inc." (English translation), which has established bases in different galaxies
Level of technology: Advanced warp-drive starships
History:
(The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#8: Alien Races: R'malk'i entry) - A intelligent race of
plants who called themselves the R'malk'i evolved on the fourth planet out from the sun in the planetary system
orbiting around the star C'lehr'ee in the Milky Way Galaxy. These beings called their homeworld R'malk'z.
(The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#8: Alien Races: R'malk'i entry) - At some point before the 21st century (Earth chronology), the R'malk'i race's level of technology became high enough for them to have their own advanced warp-drive starships.
(The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#8: Alien Races: R'malk'i entry) - Interplaneteur Inc. was the most powerful of the corporations that governed the R'malk'i race. It was a major intergalactic corporation that had established bases in different galaxies. It is presumed that Interplaneteur Inc. was founded and controlled by R'malk'i but this has not been confirmed.
(Warlock I#15 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Marr Gar became a certified representative of Interplaneteur Inc. Part of Gar's job involved repossessing property that had been put up as collateral for loans made by the company.
(Avengers Spotlight#24/2 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, scientist Cmar Har joined the researchers who made up the Society of Higher Interstellar Education and Logistical Development, members in good standing of the Intergalactic Institute of Advanced Learning from the planet Rus.
(Avengers Spotlight#25/2 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Beppe III joined the staff of an unspecified intergalactic auction house where he (eventually) became an auctioneer.
(Warlock I#15 (fb) - BTS) - When a prospector named Lamilm Gor missed a payment on his loan, 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) - After catching up with Gor somewhere in space, the Mandos were forcibly extricating Gor from his space cruiser when Adam Warlock arrived on the scene and intervened very forcefully. Marr Gar exited the space cruiser, introduced himself and explained the situation regarding the repossession. Warlock was not happy with some of what Marr Gar had to say and told Gor to get in his cruiser and leave, assuring him that no one would try to stop him. When Warlock asked Gar if that was correct, Gar gulped and quickly agreed in a small voice.
(Avengers Spotlight#24/2 (fb) - BTS) - Cmar Har was one of the researchers aboard the SHIELD Orbiter when it traveled to the planet Earth in the Sol system to investigate whether the haphazard disposal of an experimental by-product of a failed project by base-level pupil Yoof had caused any difficulties for any Terran sentients. They somehow traced the by-product to a Terran parahuman, Firebird (Bonita Juarez), and used teleportation probes to kidnap her to the Orbiter where they kept her confined while studying her.
(Avengers Spotlight#24/2) - Cmar Har assisted Prime Theoretician Chlree and others in the examination of Firebird. Their impertinent treatment provoked Firebird to break free and demand answers. Things got a bit fiery but, in the end, everything worked out well.
(Avengers Spotlight I#25/2 (fb) - BTS) - When it (somehow) became known that Earthling Rick Jones was about to publish his autobiography, multiple alien races were interested in acquiring it because they believed that it would contain the secret of how he had once defeated the Kree and Skrull armadas. In order to avoid any anarchy that would be caused if representatives of these races were to try to get the manuscript from Jones, an auction was arranged so that the various sentient races would all have an equal opportunity to bid on the autobiography. Beppe III was chosen to be in charge of the auction that was to be held aboard an intergalactic auction cruiser.
(Avengers Spotlight I#25/2) - After representatives from five different alien races had reneged on the arrangement, the auction craft appeared in the sky above Jones and teleported he and his two female companions, Betty Ross and Veronica, aboard it and into a vast chamber filled with would-be alien bidders. Beppe III greeted them, introduced himself and explained the situation. However, the resulting auction was a failure because Jones had no idea how he had defeated the armadas so his memoirs were considered worthless. Beppe III then had Jones and Ross beamed back down to Earth.
(Quasar#58) - At least two R'malk'i were in the stands on the planet beneath the finish line of the Galactic Marathon organized by the Elder of the Universe known as the Runner to determine who was the fastest being in the Milky Way.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
(Nova VII#2) - A pair of R'malk'i were (seated?) at a table in a bar in Knowhere when two Nova Centurions (Richard Rider and Sam Alexander) walked in and all conversation stopped. The R'malk'i later joined the rest of the bar's patrons in raising their glasses in honor of Rich Rider.
(Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#29 (fb) - BTS) - The R'malki were blackmailed by a fake Silver Surfer and his two fellow space-hunks. The R'malki complied with their demands.
(Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#29) - The R'malki joined a fleet of 76 extraterrestrial races to get revenge on the Silver Surfer.
(Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#30) - A R'malki suggested to kill the Silver Surfer until it became clear that the Silver Surfer that screwed them over was actually not the real Silver Surfer.
Comments: Marr Gar created by Jim Starlin.
R'malk'i race named/created by the staff of the first volume of The Official Handbook of the
Marvel Universe (led by Head Writer Mark Gruenwald).
Chuck D pointed out in his profile on Interplaneteur Inc. that C'lehr'ee, the
name of the star that is orbited by the R'malk'i homeworld, is pronounced the same as the word "celery." This fact
makes me think that "R'malk'i" is supposed to sound like some other plant or vegetable but I have no idea what that
plant/vegetable might be. Such jokes don't really work if the readers don't understand them.
Certainly C'lehr'ee is a play on celery...I'm not sure that
R'malk'i is a play on anything--Snood
The name "R'malk'i" is sometimes misspelled as "R'Malk'i" or "R'makl'i"
while the name of their homeworld was spelled "R'malk'z" in the original Official Handbook but "R'makl'z" in
the second volume. Ah, well, I wonder how these names have been spelled in later "official" texts? Personally, I
find the choice to include apostrophes in made-up names to be somewhat irritating because it almost seems like
an invitation to later writers to misspell them.
Agreed on that last point. Frustrating and an easy and
unnecessary source of inconsistency--Snood
Although R'malk'i are capable of movement, their roots are not considered to be legs or even very large toes. It makes me wonder what the Powers That Be choose to call them. If they are just roots, then shouldn't their number be listed under physical characteristics?
There's something odd about the images that appear in the entries for
the R'malk'i race that were presented in the first and second volumes of The Official Handbook of the Marvel
Universe. Both images show a R'malk'i with a row of downward-facing black triangles encircling their bodies just
under their armpits. Since these triangles were not seen in the story that introduced Marr Gar, they must have
been added by Paty Cockrum, the artist who drew most of the Alien Races for the original handbook. Of the seven
R'malk'i who have ever appeared in Marvel comics, only Beppe III has been drawn with those triangles. Marr Gar
and Cmar Har wore clothing that covered their bodies below their necks, the bodies of the marathon watchers were
not visible, and the duo from Knowhere were apparently naked.
Here's the odd part: Most of the aliens in those original handbook entries were drawn by Paty
with what looked like black bikini briefs covering their pelvic regions. All of the aliens in the first volume seemed to
be male and the two female aliens who did appear in the second volume were drawn wearing black bras as well as
those bikinis. So, why exactly did Paty choose to add these triangles to the R'malk'i image?
I find the idea that R'malk'i "must take root in their native soil" when they sleep a bit odd. The reference to "native soil" reminds me of how vampires supposedly can only sleep during the day when they are in the presence of some dirt from the lands of their births. However, I doubt that whoever wrote that OHotMU entry meant to imply that R'malk'i were vampires but it might be consistent with the idea that R'malk'i were parasitic in the way that they lent money and ruthlessly repossessed property.
None of the stories in which the R'malk'i appear make any reference to their gender. Even the Official Handbooks don't provide any insight. In the absence of any information, we readers are left to wonder if the R'malk'i, as plants, produce new offspring via sexual or asexual reproduction. This in turn leaves us wondering what sort of gender-identities exist in R'malk'i society and what pronouns should be used to describe individuals. Okay, maybe it's just me who's wondering.
The first member of the R'malk'i race to appear in any Marvel comic was Marr Gar whose appearance in Warlock I#15 is somewhat different from how other R'malk'i were depicted in later stories. For one thing, while Lamilm Gor was shown wearing a spacesuit, Marr Gar, his Mando minions and Adam Warlock all seemed to be existing in space without any protection. Warlock's superhuman physiology protected him and the Official Handbook claims that the skin of Mandos can withstand the vacuum of space, but what about Marr Gar? It seems to me that there are two possible explanations: Either members of the R'malk'i race are also able to survive in a vacuum or Marr Gar had some technology on his person that maintained a livable environment around his body. I prefer the latter theory but it would have been nice if Jim Starlin had made things easier by perhaps drawing a thin white aura around Gar to represent said artificial environment.
The other difference is in the way that Marr Gar communicated with others. In that scene in Warlock I#15, beings from four different species talk to each other and their speech bubbles are tinted different colors depending on their race. Lamilm Gor, the most human-looking character, has speech balloons that are plain white, the Mandos have pale blue speech balloons, Warlock's speech balloons have yellow rims and Marr Gar's speech balloons are rimmed in pink. However, Marr Gar's speech balloons lack the marks used to indicate that the speech is telepathic in nature. In later stories, these "telepathy balloons" are used when Cmar Har and Beppe III are speaking. Their absence in this comic suggests that Jim Starlin did not intend for Marr Gar and his race to be telepathic but the Official Handbook staff apparently decided otherwise.
In Warlock I#15, Adam Warlock told the old prospector to repay his loan because "Next time I may not be here to see that you're not abandoned in intergalactic space." This statement implies that they were in intergalactic space at that time but this is probably not accurate. Warlock encountered Lamilm Gor and Marr Gar soon after leaving Earth so he must have still been within the Milky Way galaxy and therefore not in INTERgalactic space. Instead, they were actually in interstellar space and Warlock was just exaggerating for dramatic effect.
The images used in the Marr Gar subprofile were scanned from the last two pages of issue #4 of the 1992 Warlock reprint miniseries. However, I've listed the pages and panels from the original story (Warlock I#15) as the source in the Images section.
Variations in their hands
In an earlier draft of this profile, I declared that the two R'malk'i seen in that
bar on Knowhere had hands that differed from those of all other R'malk'i. However, after deciding to add a subprofile
about another member of this race, I discovered that he also had hands that differed from the "norm" but in a
different way. So, I've pretty much had to rewrite this comment to accommodate this new data.
Anyway, it seems that there are actually three different "designs" for the hands of the R'malk'i. Some of them (like Mar Garr and Beppe III) have three fingers and an opposable thumb on each hand and all of their digits end in suction cups. Other R'malk'i (like Cmar Har) have three fingers and an opposable thumb on each hand but they do not have suction cups at the ends of their digits. And then there is a third group (like the two from that bar on Knowhere) who have only two fingers and an opposable thumb on each hand and none of their digits end in suction cups either. While I can't help wondering if these were artistic errors or deliberate choices, I'm more concerned about what the in-universe explanation could be. As a human being from the planet Earth, I tend to take it as a given that, although individual members of a species may look somewhat different from each other, they still share certain basic physical features, like having the same number of limbs, digits per limb, eyes, ears, and teeth. If a being who is supposedly a member of a certain species has a a different number of one or more of these features than the rest of that species does, then there should be some explanation for that difference. For the R'malk'i race, I have come up with seven possibilities which could explain the variations:
1. The two "R'malk'i" on Knowhere were actually members of a species that is somewhat related to the actual R'malk'i. A comparable real world situation would be the existence of two types of sloth: the three-toed sloths who have three digits on all four feet and the two-toed sloths who have three toes on each hind foot but only two fingers on each front foot.
2. These two R'malk'i were at a different stage of their lives than most other R'malk'i yet seen. It could be that young R’malk’i only have two fingers and a thumb on each hand and none of their digits have suction cups, and that their bodies only grow the third fingers and suction cups once they have aged out of their youngest life stage. An alternate possibility is that all R'malk'i are born with three fingers and a thumb per hand and suction cups on each digit but lose the third fingers and the suction cups once they have reached the last stage of their lives.
3. They were R'malk'i who were born with the same congenital disorders.
4. They were mutant R'malk'i.
5. They were members of a R'malk'i social group who practiced body modification.
6. The two "R'malk'i" were actually two Skrulls (or some other race of shape-shifters) who had assumed the R'malk'i form but hadn't done a perfect job of it.
7. They were R'malk'i who had both suffered accidents that (improbably) caused both of them to lose their third fingers and their suction cups on all of their hands.
I was thinking only of the duo from Knowhere when I wrote this list but I believe that any of them would also serve to explain Cmar Har's differences as well.
Anyway, I think that the first six of these theories are quite plausible but I prefer the first two. Others may disagree.
Profile by Donald Campbell.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The R'malk'i race has no known connections to
A member of the R'malk'i race who was (presumably) a professional auctioneer, little has been revealed about the life of Beppe III. His/her/its only known encounter with humans from Earth occurred after a large number of sentient races somehow learned that the Earthling Rick Jones was about to publish his autobiography which was believed to contain information about how Jones had once single-handedly defeated two entire Kree and Skrull armadas. In order to avoid the chaos that would have resulted if representatives of all the interested species had tried to obtain the manuscript separately, an auction was arranged so that the various sentient races would all have an equal opportunity to bid on the memoirs. Beppe III was chosen to be in charge of the auction that was to be held aboard an intergalactic auction cruiser.
By the time the auction cruiser had reached Earth and was hovering over the condo where Rick Jones and Betty Ross had been staying with Rick's would-be agent Veronica, members of five alien races had already reneged on the agreement and approached Jones, causing him to decide to flee the condo. However, as they left the condo, Rick, Betty and Veronica were "teleported" into the auction cruiser. depositing them in a vast chamber filled with alien would-be bidders and in front of the raised podium on which Beppe III was standing. Once the trio had arrived, Beppe telepathically greeted them as fellow sentients and introduced himself as Beppe III of the R'malk'i. Beppe told them not to be afraid and explained that they had been teleported aboard an intergalactic auction cruiser so that the sentient races assembled there could have an equal opportunity to bid on the autobiography of Rick Jones. However, Jones was angry about "being the prize bull at an auction for bug-eyed monsters" and demanded to be sent back to Earth immediately or he would unleash the power that he had used to defeat the Skrull and Kree armadas. As one of the bidders urged Beppe to carefully reason with the Earthling, Beppe expressed his sympathy for what Jones had experienced and explained that the regrettable incidents he had referenced were the reason why the auction had been arranged. Beppe then spoke of certain races that had reneged, including the Skrulls, the Megans, the Fomalhauti, the Zn'rx and the Kree, and asked "Major Vron-Ikka" to confirm this while pointing at Veronica. Jones protested that the "overgrown asparagus sprout (had) really gone to seed" but Vron-Ikka admitted that the auctioneer was correct. Dismayed by this revelation, Jones relented and gave the manuscript to Beppe.
With the auction now ready to begin, Beppe placed the manuscript within a universal translator so that all present could observe the contents of the chapter that featured the defeat of the Kree and Skrull armadas. Beppe then directed the attention of the bidders to the large screen upon which the translated words of the chapter were displayed at a fixed rate.
After twenty minutes, Beppe announced that the time was up and the floor was now open for bidding. Beppe then began calling for bids, asking if he heard a bid for 40,000 credits but there was no bid so he asked for a bid of 30,000 credits. Again receiving no bid, he lowered the amount to 20,000 credits but still received no offer. Puzzled at not hearing any offer, Beppe asked if there was some sort of problem and the bidders expressed their disappointment about the contents, with the Horusian bidder suggesting that Jones might have held back the "juicy parts" for a sequel. Beppe responded by performing a quick mind-probe of Jones to test if he had withheld anything. Once the mind-probe was completed, Beppe announced, "Nope. All clear here." Beppe went on to state that "Earthman Jones" had apparently put an end to the millennia-long Kree-Skrull War through a fluke and that Jones had no more idea than they did on how he had accomplished it! When Beppe then described the memoirs as being worthless, Jones objected, stating that there were plenty of people back on Earth who were willing to pay top-dollar for his story. Beppe tactfully agreed and said goodbye to the Earthling.
After Jones had a brief conversation with Vron-Ikka in which she told him that she was not going with him, Beppe gave instructions to set the coordinates for two to beam down, and seconds later Rick Jones and Betty Ross were materializing within the condo on Earth. With no reason to stay, the auction cruiser presumably immediately left Earth' s solar system, taking Beppe III, the crew and the frustrated would-be bidders with it.
Notes: Although Beppe introduced himself as "Beppe III" of the R'malk'i, his last name looks a bit weird since it was definitely spelt with three capital I's. This was different from the last names of Marr Gar and Cmar Har, neither of which were composed entirely of vowels. It's possible that the "III" was actually an ordinal number being used to distinguish between R'malk'i in the same family who had the same name. In that case, Beppe III would translate as "Beppe the Third." However, this is only speculation because the story itself doesn't provide any helpful information.
Although Beppe stated that Rick, Betty and Vron-Ikka had been "teleported" aboard, the illustration of what happened looked like a tractor beam pulled them up from the ground and into the cruiser. However, when Rick and Betty were returned to Earth, the illustration looked like an actual teleportation, with them disappearing from the starship and appearing out of thin air within the condo. It's an odd glitch.
Beppe III was the third R'malk'i to appear in any Marvel comic and the only one (so far) who has been depicted with those downward-facing black triangles encircling his body just under his arms. The story does not make it clear if those triangles are patterns on his skin or some form of clothing.
--Avengers Spotlight#25/2
A member of the R'malk'i race who had chosen a career in the sciences, Cmar Har eventually joined the researchers who made up the Society of Higher Interstellar Education and Logistical Development, members in good standing of the Intergalactic Institute of Advanced Learning from the planet Rus.
Cmar Har was one of the researchers aboard the SHIELD Orbiter when it traveled to the planet Earth in the Sol system to investigate whether the haphazard disposal of an experimental by-product of a failed project by base-level pupil Yoof, a member of the Yrdian race, had caused any difficulties for any Terran sentients. They somehow traced the by-product to a Terran parahuman, Firebird (Bonita Juarez), who was then fighting a forest fire in Yosemite National Park, and used teleportation probes to capture the "specimen" and instantly remand her to a laboratory on the Orbiter for study and safekeeping. Their impertinence in teleporting her aboard without permission continued when they chose not to communicate with her while they examined her in order to diagnose her condition.
As he assisted Prime Theoretician Chlree in the examination, Cmar Har observed that the specimen was "fascinating." This may have been due to the fact that sensors had indicated that Firebird was experiencing an abundance of physical discomfort but was refusing to cry out in protest. As they examined the bioform's memories of being part of the Terran parahuman peacekeeping force known as the West Coast Avengers, Hji asked if they had fought Kree and Cmar Har confirmed it.
However, the examination was soon interrupted when the angry Firebird broke free, causing Cmar Har to call for everyone to fall back. As Firebird confronted them and Chlree ordered that the translator be immediately activated, Cmar Har advised him, "Wise would you be to negotiate, Chlreee." As he activated the translator, Cmar Har added, "Opportunity afforded to you now." Now that Firebird was able to understand them, Chlree started to explain why they had abducted her but when he described her as an accident, Firebird became upset and laid down a wall of fire, prompting Cmar Har to call out, "Sentient Terran, please compose yourself." As Chlree continued to explain and Firebird realized that her powers were the result of a child's failure, Cmar Har inquired, "Considering the experiment a success, could we now not be?" Har's question caused Yoof to ask if that meant that he had passed, provoking an emotional outburst from Firebird. Fortunately, Chlree was able to calm Firebird by giving her a true understanding of her abilities, one that allowed her to see herself as a wondrous being whose powers had come from God, although not in the direct manner she had previously believed.
Notes: Cmar Har was the second R'malk'i to appear in any Marvel comic and the first to be shown using telepathy to communicate. Like some of the other SHIELD researchers, he wore a lab coat (or uniform) that covered his torso.
Unlike Marr Gar and Beppe III, Cmar Har had a Yoda-like speech pattern which caused him to sometimes rearrange words in his sentences so that they would sound different from how most people would say them. Cmar Har's hands were also unlike those of Marr Gar and Beppe III in that, although they each had three fingers and an opposable thumb, they did not appear to have any suction cups at the ends of their digits.
--Avengers Spotlight#24/2
A member of the R'malk'i race, Marr Gar was employed by Interplaneteur, Inc., the most powerful of the corporations that governed the R'malk'i. As a certified representative of that corporation, part of Gar's job involved repossessing property that had been put up as collateral by people who had taken out loans from the corporation but had failed to make their payments.
When an elderly prospector named Lamilm Gor failed to make payment on his loan of 5,000 CR, Marr Gar was assigned 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.
After catching up with Gor somewhere in space, the Mandos were forcibly extricating Gor from his space cruiser when Adam Warlock arrived on the scene. Noticing that the Mandos were manhandling the aged humanoid in a way that threatened to rupture his spacesuit, Warlock intervened and swiftly incapacitated all three of the hulking brutes. Warlock then asked the "old-timer" what was going on, prompting Marr Gar to exit the space cruiser, introduce himself and explain the situation regarding the repossession.
Although their conversation had been calm and civil, that changed after Warlock asked if they would be taking the old man with them now that they had repossessed his cruiser. Cleary surprised by the question, Marr Gar replied, "Why, no!" He then added, "Our job is to repossess space shuttles. We have no legal responsibility to supply free taxi service afterwards." Gar's reply angered Warlock who crushed a blaster in his bare hand and grabbed Gar's toga with his other hand. Warlock told Gor to get in his cruiser and prepare to take off, and to make sure that he secured the funds that he owed as soon as he reached his destination. Then, after pulling Gar close so that they were face-to-face, Warlock told Gor to go and that no one would seek to stop him. When Warlock, with green energy radiating from his Soul Gem, then asked Gar if that was correct, Gar gulped and quickly said, "Ulp! correct!"
As Gor's cruiser departed, Warlock told Marr Gar that he had met his kind of creature back on Earth, "passionless dealers of dollars and cents." As he shoved Gar away from him, Warlock stated that he w sad that Gar's "species" (not meaning the R'malk'i) was restricted to that sad planet but he had instead found their madness infesting the heavens. Warlock then flew away, leaving Marr Gar lying on the hull of his own spacecraft as the Mandos returned to it.
Notes: Marr Gar was the first R'malk'i to appear in any Marvel comic. He wore a purple toga that covered most of his body and each of his hands had three fingers and an opposable thumb, with each digit ending in a suction cup. He appeared to communicate via spoken words instead of telepathy, and could seemingly survive (and talk) in the vacuum of space without a spacesuit (see comments).
Marr Gar's name was misspelled (as "Marr Garr") in the entries on the R'malk'i that appeared in the first two volumes of the OHotMU.
--Warlock I#15
When the Galactic Marathon organized by the Runner was held to determine who was the fastest being in the Milky Way Galaxy, a large crowd of spectators gathered on the world below where the Finishing Line was in space. When the Eternal Makkari from Earth won the marathon and descended to the planet to receive his medallion, two R'malk'i were in the stands. One of them was seen raising his/her/its left hand in a fist as Makkari passed them, presumably as a salute to the winner's accomplishment.
And that is all that we know about these two R'malk'i.
Well, this is certainly a short subprofile.
Note: These two R'malk'i were the fourth and fifth members of their race to be depicted in a Marvel comic. They are not shown to be communicating, and only their heads and one of their arms can be seen clearly amidst the crowd. Although the one visible hand does have three fingers and an opposable thumb, it is closed into a fist so it cannot be determined if those digits end in suction cups.
--Quasar#58
At a bar somewhere in Knowhere, these two R'malk'i were (presumably) standing at a table having some refreshment. When Nova Centurion Rich Rider and Nova Sam Alexander walked into the bar with Cosmo, these two R'malk'i and every other patron in the bar stopped whatever they were doing and turned to stare at the newcomers.
A minute later, after Rider had ordered drinks for he and Sam, the bartender Syk refused to accept his credits. When Rider persisted in trying to pay, Syk said that he didn't think Rider understood that it was because he didn't owe them anything. Rider, Alexander and Cosmo then turned around and saw that everyone in the bar, including the two R'malk'i, had raised their glasses in honor of Rider. After a moment, Rider smiled and raised his glass back at them.
And then three murderous bounty hunters showed up and the bar got trashed. What happened to the R'malk'i and the other patrons was not revealed but the lack of bodies suggests that at least they didn't get killed.
It's not clear what these two R'malk'i were doing in the bar. As plants, they presumably ate and drank by absorbing nutrients and water from soil, so what could they consume in a bar? When they raised their glasses, one of them was holding a tall glass full of a clear liquid but the other was holding a cup full of upright red sprouts that he/she/it had had at the table when the Novas walked in. Since it wasn't a liquid, what exactly was in that cup?
Notes: These two R'malk'i were the sixth and seventh members of their race to be depicted in a Marvel comic. They are not shown to be communicating, do not have black markings on their skin, and are not wearing any clothing. These two are the only R'malk'i who (so far) have been depicted as having only two fingers (instead of three) and an opposable thumb on each hand. Also, none of their digits ended in suction cups and their finger joints seemed less knobby(?) than those of other R'malk'i.
Although some online sources claim that this bar was Starlin's Bar, its name was written in alien letters, unlike all the issues in which "Starlin's Bar" appeared and its name was shown in-story. Also, since Knowhere was a very large place that probably contained a number of bars, anyone stating that this was Starlin's Bar would only be making an assumption.
--Nova VII#2
images: (without ads)
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15, page 55, panel 2 (main image)
Avengers Spotlight#25, page 20, panel 3 (Beppe III close-up)
page 21, panel 3 (Beppe doing his job)
Avengers Spotlight#24, page 13, panel 1 (Cmar Har with Chlree observing Firebird)
page 20, panel 5 (Cmar Har with Yoof)
Warlock I#15, page 6, panel 2 (Marr Gar meets Adam Warlock)
page 7, panel 8 (Marr Gar being cowed)
Quasar#58, page 16, panel 2 (Galactic Marathon on-lookers)
Nova VII#2, page 18, panel 1 (customers in Syk's bar on Knowhere)
page 18, panel 4 (staring at the Novas)
page 20, panel 1 (raising their glasses to the Novas)
Appearances:
Warlock I#15 (November, 1976) - Jim Starlin (story and layout and finished art), Archie Goodwin (editor)
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#8 (August, 1983)
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15 (March, 1987)
Avengers Spotlight#24/2 (November, 1989) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Gavin Curtis (penciler), Steve Buccellato (inker),
Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Avengers Spotlight#25/2 (December, 1989) - Glenn Herdling & Dwight Jon Zimmerman (writers), Rod Ramos
(pencils), Don Hudson (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Quasar#58 (May, 1994) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Peter Sanderson (co-plotter), John Heebink (penciler), Aaron
McClellan (inker), Mike Rockwitz (jogger)
Nova VII#2 (March, 2017) - Jeff Loveness & Ramón Pérez (writers), Ramón Pérez (artist), Devin Lewis
(editor)
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#29-30 (April-May, 2018) - Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
First Posted: 12/28/2021
Last updated: 02/06/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
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