The initial version of Starr, appearing on Chamber of Darkness #4, was a barbarian king defending his kingdom. A 20th century writer, Len Carson, dreamed of Starr's adventures. When he was about to turn in a manuscript that would kill off Starr, Starr mysteriously appeared, killing Carson. It is unclear whether or not Starr was intended to be part of the Marvel Universe.[1]
Starr the Slayer was a trial run for Conan by Roy Thomas and Barry Smith, the original creative team of the Marvel Conan comics. Starr looks and acts like Conan but was created before Marvel Comics acquired the rights to publish stories featuring Conan.[2]
Warren Ellis's newuniversal series includes another version of Starr. In the universe of newuniversal, some areas of space are part of an artificial construct, the 'newuniversal structure', and do not entirely obey the standard laws of physics. Earth has drifted into this structure on several occasions, and was within it for at least part of Starr's lifetime.[volume&issueneeded]
When a world first moves into the newuniversal structure, a small number of inhabitants are modified in predetermined ways, endowed with abilities that will help their people to cope with these changes. The newuniversal version of Starr was one such superhuman, gifted with the Starbrand, which has been described as a planetary defense system embodied in human form.[volume&issueneeded]
An archaeological discovery on the new universal Earth reveals that Starr the Slayer, and the "prehistoric" city of Zardath actually existed in Northern Europe centuries before Uruk, the oldest known human city. Starr, accompanied by three other superhumans, had greatly accelerated the technological development of his people; excavation of Zardath's ruins revealed arc lights and possible traces of nuclear power.[volume&issueneeded]
However, Starr was betrayed by the Nightmask Trull, one of the other superhumans. Trull plotted against Starr's rule, destroyed the mind of his old friend Ukru and preyed on other superhumans before they could reveal themselves to Starr and join Zardath.[volume&issueneeded]
Stripped of their minds, Trull's victims were hideously mutated by their own uncontrolled powers, becoming monstrous beasts - which Starr regularly fought and killed, without understanding their origin. Trull was eventually exposed when one of his victims, the mute girl Gila, managed to warn Starr before her death.[3] Starr's subsequent actions are unknown.
Zardath was eventually buried beneath a rock shelf and undiscovered for approximately four and a half millennia, uncovered only when earth drifted back into the newuniversal structure and the White Event created a new batch of superhumans. Starr himself had evidently died some time before Zardath was buried, as his body was entombed deep beneath the city; the tomb survived intact until Zardath was uncovered.[volume&issueneeded]
When the tomb was excavated the Starbrand, the mark associated with a Starbrand's powers, was still visible etched into the forehead of Starr's skull.[4]
The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and many Marvel superheroes live in this universe, including characters such as Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Wolverine, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, and Captain Marvel, Blade, Black Widow, Hawkeye, among numerous others. It also contains well-known supervillains such as Doctor Doom, Magneto, Ultron, Thanos, Loki, The Green Goblin, Kang the Conqueror, Red Skull, The Kingpin, Doctor Octopus, Carnage, Apocalypse, Dormammu, Mysterio, Electro, and the Vulture. It also contains antiheroes such as Venom, Namor, Deadpool, Silver Sable, Ghost Rider, The Punisher, and Black Cat.
Richard Corben was an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in Heavy Metal magazine, especially the Den series which was featured in the magazine's first film adaptation in 1981. He was the winner of the 2009 Spectrum Grand Master Award and the 2018 Grand Prix at Angoulême. In 2012 he was elected to the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.
The Squadron Supreme is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, of which there are several notable alternate versions. The original team was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, derived from the previously created supervillain team Squadron Sinister.
Warren Kenneth Worthington III is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The X-Men #1. Angel is a founding member of the X-Men.
Planetary is an American comic book series created by writer Warren Ellis and artist John Cassaday, and published by the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics. After an initial preview issue in September 1998, the series ran for 27 issues from April 1999 to October 2009.
The New Universe is an imprint from Marvel Comics that was published in its original incarnation from 1986 to 1989. It was the first line produced by Marvel Comics utilizing a pre-conceived shared universe concept. It was created by Jim Shooter, Archie Goodwin, Eliot R. Brown, John Morelli, Mark Gruenwald, Tom DeFalco, and edited by Michael Higgins.
The Masters of Evil is a supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first version of the team appeared in The Avengers #6, with the lineup continually changing over the years.
Justice is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character appeared in the New Universe imprint of Marvel Comics, primarily as the protagonist of a 32-issue comic book series of the same name published from 1986 to 1989. Most of its run was written by Peter David and penciled by Lee Weeks, though it also featured rare 1980s Marvel work from Keith Giffen. David later reintroduced Justice as a supporting character in Spider-Man 2099, a series with a very different setting. This version of the character, also known as the Net Prophet, was older and had different powers.
The Star Brand is the name of a number of similar objects of power in the world of the Marvel Comics. The name "Star Brand" is also often adopted by the wielders of these objects. Three of these Star Brands have been prominently featured in series published by Marvel.
Egghead is an alias used by two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Nightmask is a name and identity used by several fictional characters who appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first character to bear the name, Keith Remsen, was created by writer Archie Goodwin, and first appeared in Nightmask #1, a series which was published under Marvel's New Universe imprint. Subsequent characters bearing the name were introduced in the 2006 series newuniversal, and as part of Marvel's 2012 rebranding, Marvel NOW!
Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard was first adapted into comics in 1952 in Mexico. Marvel Comics began publishing Conan comics with the series Conan the Barbarian in 1970. Dark Horse Comics published Conan from 2003 to 2018, when the rights were reacquired by Marvel Comics. Marvel published Conan comics until 2022, and Titan Comics took over the license from Heroic Signatures to begin publishing its own series.
newuniversal is a comic book series by writer Warren Ellis, artist Salvador Larroca and colorist Jason Keith. The book series was published by Marvel Comics. The series is a re-imagining of Marvel's New Universe concepts, launched to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the New Universe's creation in 1986.
Chamber of Darkness is a horror/fantasy anthology comic book published by the American company Marvel Comics. Under this and a subsequent name, it ran from 1969 to 1974. It featured work by creators such as writer-editor Stan Lee, writers Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, and Roy Thomas, and artists John Buscema, Johnny Craig, Jack Kirby, Tom Sutton, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Bernie Wrightson. Stories were generally hosted by either of the characters Digger, a gravedigger, or Headstone P. Gravely, in undertaker garb, or by one of the artists or writers.
Red Wolf is a superhero identity used by several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Those who assume the identity are Native American heroes with mystical powers and a trusted wolf companion named Lobo.
Black Spectre has two meanings for fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first Black Spectre is the name of a fictional organization which first appeared in Daredevil #108 and was created by writer Steve Gerber and penciller Bob Brown. It was a league of costumed female commandos, entranced by the Mandrill into doing his bidding, and led by Nekra. The second Black Spectre is a fictional supervillain who first appeared in Moon Knight #25 and was created by writer Doug Moench and penciller Bill Sienkiewicz. The character is one of the greatest enemies of the vigilante Moon Knight.
Conan, the sword-and-sorcery character created by Robert E. Howard, is the protagonist of seven major comic series published by Dark Horse Comics. The first series, titled simply Conan, ran for 50 issues from 2004 to 2008; the second, titled Conan the Cimmerian, began publication in 2008 and lasted 25 issues until 2010; the third series, titled Conan: Road of Kings, started publishing in December 2010 and ended in January 2012 after 12 issues; a fourth series, titled Conan the Barbarian, continuing from Road of Kings, lasted 25 issues from February 2012 to March 2014; a fifth series, titled Conan the Avenger, started publishing in April 2014 and ended in April 2016 after 25 issues; a sixth and final series, titled Conan the Slayer lasted 12 issues from July 2016 to August 2017.
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