Killraven
Encyclopedia
Killraven is a fictional
freedom fighter in several post-apocalyptic
alternate future
s of the Marvel Comics
universe
. He first appeared
in Amazing Adventures
#18 (May 1973), created by co-plotters Roy Thomas
and Neal Adams
, scripter Gerry Conway
, and penciller Adams. The series featured the first interracial kiss in American color comic books.
archetype
. This conception had been reworked by the first issue, a multiple-creator goulash in which the two originators and co-plotters turned the scripting over to another writer, and in which artist co-creator Adams penciled only the first 11 pages and Howard Chaykin
the remaining nine. The second issue was fully written by the debut's scripter, Gerry Conway, followed in the third by Marv Wolfman
.
After this, the book became the province of writer Don McGregor
for an acclaimed run from #21 (Nov. 1973) to the final issue, #39 (Nov. 1976). Pencillers were Herb Trimpe
, Rich Buckler
, Gene Colan
, and, most prominently, P. Craig Russell
from issue #27 on.
Two of its characters, Carmilla Frost and the African-American M'Shulla Scott, shared color comic books' earliest known interracial kiss, in issue #31 (July 1975), page nine, final panel.
Aside from McGregor, with whom the character became as associated as Howard the Duck
with Steve Gerber
or Tomb of Dracula
with Marv Wolfman
, other writers include Bill Mantlo
(a fill-in Amazing Adventures and a Marvel Team-Up with Killraven and a future-flung Spider-Man
); Joe Linsner
(a 2001 Marvel Knights
one-shot, Killraven, set in 2020 New York City
, at odds with the original series' locale by that fictional year); and Alan Davis
(also artist), in a 2002 parallel universe
miniseries, Killraven vol. 2.
An Essential Marvel volume reprinted all his appearances except the Alan Davis story in 2005.
McGregor and Russell, however, remain the series' signature creative team; more than two decades after the original series end, comics historian Peter Sanderson wrote that,
Some planned elements of the "Killraven" saga were incorporated into his the Eclipse Comics
series Sabre
, McGregor and Russell each said in 1983.
The character made latter-day appearances in Marvel Zombies 5 #2 (April 2010) where the war against the Martians is concluded, and in The Avengers
vol. 4, #4-6 (Aug.-Oct. 2010), the latter in the present day after time-traveling. Killraven (taken during his war with the Martians, shortly after a team-up with Spider-Man that took place in the pages of Marvel Team-Up) was one of many heroes taken from the timestream to aid Kang the Conqueror in battle against Ultron. In the end, while all of Kang's time-stolen allies are returned to their proper universes, Killraven fell through the cracks and remained in the present day, where he was offered membership in the Avengers.
Killraven features in Claws II (August 2011), drawn by Joseph Michael Linsner
where Wolverine and Black Cat meet him in the future fighting Martians.
In the mid-1990s, Grant Morrison
and Mark Millar
considered tying in Marvel's 2099
imprint, making Ravage
a descendant of Killraven. "Our idea was that the Killraven stories had actually happened, but Earth somehow got itself back together. It's now one hundred years later, and the Martians are attacking again, meaning that all the superheroes were going to have to deal with them." Galactus
then arrives, and devours Mars along with the Martians.
In 2005, writer Jim Valentino
said his aborted plans for the Marvel comic Guardians of the Galaxy
involved Killraven, in his 50s, joining the team and forming an attraction to Yellowjacket (Rita DeMara)
. Valentino said he would have established Franklin Richards
as Killraven's father.
Writer Robert Kirkman
and artist Rob Liefeld
announced in August 2007 they were creating a five-issue, alternate universe
Killraven miniseries
planned for release in 2008, but the project never went into production.
by Marvel Comics, the Martians
from H. G. Wells
' The War of the Worlds
return in 2001 for another attempt at conquering the planet. (They were later retconned as extrasolar
aliens
using Mars
as a staging area.) After humanity's enslavement, men not used as breeders or collaborators are trained and forced to battle gladiator
-style for the Martians' amusement; women are used as breeders to supply infants, eaten by the Martians as a delicacy. Jonathan Raven, dubbed Killraven as his gladiatorial nom de guerre, escaped with the help of the gladiatorial "keeper", but without his brother, Deathraven. Killraven joined the Freemen, a group of freedom fighters against Martian oppression.
From 2018 to 2020, Killraven and his companions travel across the eastern portion of North America
, from New York City
to Cape Canaveral
while searching for Killraven's lost brother. Pursued by the cyborg
Skar, the Freemen encounter various victims of Martian transhuman
experiments, as well as emotionally and psychologically scarred survivors.
Fugitives from the Martians, Killraven and his Freemen — his African-American "mud-brother" M'Shulla Scott, the cynical and bitter Native American
Hawk, and the slow-witted strongman Old Skull — meet and incorporate into their group the feisty scientist Carmilla Frost and Grok, the deformed, apelike clone of her father. The Freemen ally with the human/plant hybrid Mint Julep, and battle Abraxas, Rattack, the High Overlord, and Skar. Killraven tames a mutated serpent-horse to use as his mount, and his Freemen battle Pstun-Rage in Battle Creek, Michigan
. (In this encounter, the antagonists' names are anagrams of the Battle Creek-based Kellogg Company
's breakfast cereals). The Freeman meet the flirty and sensual Volcana Ash, who helps them battle Atalon and the Death-Breeders. After learning that his brother Joshua (Deathraven) is still alive, Killraven fights Martian slaves alongside a time-traveling Spider-Man
, The Freeman eventually reach the Everglades
, where they encounter the butterfly-like Mourning Prey.
Still later, the Freemen encounter Killraven's brother, Deathraven, and discover he has become a Martian collaborator.
In November 2020, the Martian occupation is over when Killraven unleashes a zombie plague on the Martians' food supply.
-in-training Jonathan Raven's physical prowess was heightened thanks to injections of experimental chemicals by Keeper Whitman. He was later given mental powers through Whitman's psycho-electric experiments, including the psionic ability to project his consciousness into and take over a Martian's mind, and the psychic ability to resist mental assaults and to mask his presence from robot scanners.
Killraven is also a superb hand-to-hand combatant, and a highly skilled swordsman, wrestler, and martial artist. He is a master of most hand weaponry, especially shuriken
. He is a master strategist in guerrilla warfare. Killraven possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of human history, art, and science predating the Martian invasion of A.D. 2001, implanted in his mind by Keeper Whitman.
As artist P. Craig Russell
described, "Killraven has a sort of extrasensory ability to counterbalance his gladiatorial skills. He is very much the barbarian type, yet at the same time he has this seed planted in his brain that is the history of the human race — a racial memory of everything that has been obliterated by the Martians. It's almost a magical ability.... It was what removed him from being just another sword-wielding gladiator type."
Killraven wears bulletproof fabrics and leather. He is armed with various weapons as needed, and usually carried a sword and shuriken. He sometimes rides a mutated serpent-horse, or appropriated Martian vehicles and aircraft.
There have been counterparts of Killraven in several stories:
that the company dubs Earth-616
, Jonathan Raven appears in the 2006
-2007
miniseries Wisdom. He is the son of Wisdom's MI-13 co-worker and lover, Maureen Raven, and the target of a trans-dimensional Martian Invasion because, as the Martian leader states, "On all Earths! Always! Every one of him is dangerous! Ruling council plan to invade all other Earths. So I urged this first expedition now before he is grown". Wisdom is forced to kill Maureen in order to stop the Martian invasion, while Jonathan is taken to an MI-6
safehouse in Prague and trained by martial artist Shang-Chi
.
to write a script.
trade paperback
The Essential Killraven (ISBN 0-7851-1777-6):
Alan Davis' series have also been collected into hardcover (ISBN 0-7851-2538-8) and softcover (ISBN 0-7851-2841-7) volumes.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
freedom fighter in several post-apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
alternate future
Alternate future
In science fiction stories involving time travel, an alternative future or alternate future is a possible future which never comes to pass, typically because someone travels back into the past and alters it so that the events of the alternative future cannot occur.An alternative future differs from...
s of the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. He first appeared
First appearance
In comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first occurrence to feature a fictional character.-Monetary value of first appearance issues:...
in Amazing Adventures
Amazing Adventures
Amazing Adventures is the name of several anthology comic book series, all but one published by Marvel Comics.The earliest Marvel series of that name introduced the company's first superhero of the late-1950s to early-1960s period fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books...
#18 (May 1973), created by co-plotters Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
and Neal Adams
Neal Adams
Neal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...
, scripter Gerry Conway
Gerry Conway
Gerard F. "Gerry" Conway is an American writer of comic books and television shows. He is known for co-creating the Marvel Comics vigilante The Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man...
, and penciller Adams. The series featured the first interracial kiss in American color comic books.
Publishing history
Co-creator Neal Adams' early ideas for Killraven involved the character being the son of a Doc SavageDoc Savage
Doc Savage is a fictional character originally published in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L...
archetype
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
. This conception had been reworked by the first issue, a multiple-creator goulash in which the two originators and co-plotters turned the scripting over to another writer, and in which artist co-creator Adams penciled only the first 11 pages and Howard Chaykin
Howard Chaykin
Howard Victor Chaykin is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material...
the remaining nine. The second issue was fully written by the debut's scripter, Gerry Conway, followed in the third by Marv Wolfman
Marv Wolfman
Marvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.-1960s:...
.
After this, the book became the province of writer Don McGregor
Don McGregor
Donald Francis McGregor is an American comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics, and the author of one of the first graphic novels.-Early life and career:...
for an acclaimed run from #21 (Nov. 1973) to the final issue, #39 (Nov. 1976). Pencillers were Herb Trimpe
Herb Trimpe
Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe (b. May 26, 1939, is an American comic book artist and occasional writer, best known for his work on The Incredible Hulk and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wolverine, who later became a breakout...
, Rich Buckler
Rich Buckler
Rich Buckler is an American comic book artist and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four in the mid-1970s and, with writer Doug Moench, co-creating the character Deathlok in Astonishing Tales #25...
, Gene Colan
Gene Colan
Eugene Jules "Gene" Colan was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series, Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series...
, and, most prominently, P. Craig Russell
P. Craig Russell
Philip Craig Russell , also known as P. Craig Russell, is an American comic book writer, artist, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards...
from issue #27 on.
Two of its characters, Carmilla Frost and the African-American M'Shulla Scott, shared color comic books' earliest known interracial kiss, in issue #31 (July 1975), page nine, final panel.
Aside from McGregor, with whom the character became as associated as Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck is a comic book character in the Marvel Comics universe created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik. The character first appeared in Adventure into Fear #19 and several subsequent series have chronicled the misadventures of the ill-tempered, anthropomorphic, "funny...
with Steve Gerber
Steve Gerber
Stephen Ross "Steve" Gerber was an American comic book writer best known as co-creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck....
or Tomb of Dracula
Tomb of Dracula
The Tomb of Dracula is a horror comic book series published by Marvel Comics from April 1972 to August 1979. The 70-issue series featured a group of vampire hunters who fought Count Dracula and other supernatural menaces...
with Marv Wolfman
Marv Wolfman
Marvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.-1960s:...
, other writers include Bill Mantlo
Bill Mantlo
Bill Mantlo is an American comic-book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics, best known for his work on two licensed toy properties whose adventures occurred in the Marvel Universe: the Eagle Award-winning Micronauts and the long-running Rom. An attorney, he also worked as a public defender...
(a fill-in Amazing Adventures and a Marvel Team-Up with Killraven and a future-flung Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
); Joe Linsner
Joseph Michael Linsner
Joseph Michael Linsner is an American comic book writer-artist-colorist best known for his mature-audiences supernatural character Dawn, who first appeared in Cry for Dawn #1 , self-published by his Cry for Dawn Productions....
(a 2001 Marvel Knights
Marvel Knights
Marvel Knights is an imprint of Marvel Worldwide, Inc. that contains material taking place within the mainstream Marvel Universe .-Production:...
one-shot, Killraven, set in 2020 New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, at odds with the original series' locale by that fictional year); and Alan Davis
Alan Davis
Alan Davis is an English writer and artist of comic books, known for his work on titles such as Captain Britain, The Uncanny X-Men, ClanDestine, Excalibur, JLA: The Nail and JLA: Another Nail.-UK work:...
(also artist), in a 2002 parallel universe
Multiverse (Marvel Comics)
Within Marvel Comics, most tales take place within the fictional Marvel Universe, which in turn is part of a larger multiverse. Starting with issues of Captain Britain, the main continuity in which most Marvel storylines take place was designated Earth-616, and the multiverse was established as...
miniseries, Killraven vol. 2.
An Essential Marvel volume reprinted all his appearances except the Alan Davis story in 2005.
McGregor and Russell, however, remain the series' signature creative team; more than two decades after the original series end, comics historian Peter Sanderson wrote that,
Some planned elements of the "Killraven" saga were incorporated into his the Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...
series Sabre
Sabre (graphic novel)
Sabre , published in August 1978, is one of the first modern graphic novels and the first to be distributed in comic book shops...
, McGregor and Russell each said in 1983.
The character made latter-day appearances in Marvel Zombies 5 #2 (April 2010) where the war against the Martians is concluded, and in The Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
vol. 4, #4-6 (Aug.-Oct. 2010), the latter in the present day after time-traveling. Killraven (taken during his war with the Martians, shortly after a team-up with Spider-Man that took place in the pages of Marvel Team-Up) was one of many heroes taken from the timestream to aid Kang the Conqueror in battle against Ultron. In the end, while all of Kang's time-stolen allies are returned to their proper universes, Killraven fell through the cracks and remained in the present day, where he was offered membership in the Avengers.
Killraven features in Claws II (August 2011), drawn by Joseph Michael Linsner
Joseph Michael Linsner
Joseph Michael Linsner is an American comic book writer-artist-colorist best known for his mature-audiences supernatural character Dawn, who first appeared in Cry for Dawn #1 , self-published by his Cry for Dawn Productions....
where Wolverine and Black Cat meet him in the future fighting Martians.
Unrealized projects
In the late 1980s, Don McGregor wrote 50 to 60 pages and P. Craig Russell began illustrating a final story, "Killraven: Final Battles, Final Lies, Final Truths" (also referred to as "Final Lies, Final Truths, Final Battles"). The story never saw print, according to McGregor, because Marvel would not assure Russell the company would print the story in Marvel's best format at the time. In this intended finale to McGregor's story, "Killraven would take that war back to the intruders" on Mars itself.In the mid-1990s, Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
and Mark Millar
Mark Millar
Mark Millar is a Scottish comic book writer, known for his work on books such as The Authority, The Ultimates, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Civil War, Wanted, and Kick-Ass, the latter two of which have been adapted into feature films...
considered tying in Marvel's 2099
Marvel 2099
Marvel 2099 is a Marvel Comics imprint, started in 1992, that explores one possible future of the Marvel Universe. It was originally announced by Stan Lee in his "Stan's Soapbox" column as a single series entitled The Marvel World of Tomorrow, which was being developed by Lee and John Byrne...
imprint, making Ravage
Ravage 2099
Ravage 2099 is a Marvel Comics superhero, a fictional character created by Stan Lee in 1992 for Marvel's Marvel 2099 imprint...
a descendant of Killraven. "Our idea was that the Killraven stories had actually happened, but Earth somehow got itself back together. It's now one hundred years later, and the Martians are attacking again, meaning that all the superheroes were going to have to deal with them." Galactus
Galactus
Galactus is a fictional character appearing in comic books and other publications published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character debuted in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue story later known as "The Galactus...
then arrives, and devours Mars along with the Martians.
In 2005, writer Jim Valentino
Jim Valentino
Jim Valentino is an American writer, penciler, editor and publisher of comic books.-1970s - 1992:Valentino began his career in the late 1970s creating small press and mostly autobiographical comics. The early-mid 1980s saw normalman which first appeared as a back-up story in Aardvark-Vanaheim's...
said his aborted plans for the Marvel comic Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy
The original Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Guardians first appear in Marvel Super-Heroes #18 .-Publication history:...
involved Killraven, in his 50s, joining the team and forming an attraction to Yellowjacket (Rita DeMara)
Yellowjacket (Rita DeMara)
Yellowjacket is a fictional character, as initial reluctant supervillainess and later superheroine in the Marvel Comics universe...
. Valentino said he would have established Franklin Richards
Franklin Richards
Franklin Richards is a fictional comic book character appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in Fantastic Four.Franklin is an Omega-Level mutant with vast psionic and reality-manipulating powers...
as Killraven's father.
Writer Robert Kirkman
Robert Kirkman
Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead and Invincible for Image Comics, and Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt...
and artist Rob Liefeld
Rob Liefeld
Rob Liefeld is an American comic book writer, illustrator, and publisher. A prominent artist in the 1990s, he has since become a controversial figure in the medium....
announced in August 2007 they were creating a five-issue, alternate universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
Killraven miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
planned for release in 2008, but the project never went into production.
Fictional character biography
On the alternate-future Earth designated Earth-691Earth-691
In the fictional Marvel Comics multiverse, Earth 691 or Earth-691 is the name used to identify a secondary continuity inhabited by Killraven and the original Guardians of the Galaxy.-Overview:...
by Marvel Comics, the Martians
Martian (War of the Worlds)
The Martians, also known as the Invaders, are the fictional race of extraterrestrials from the H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds. They are the antagonists of the novel, and their efforts to exterminate the populace of Earth and claim the planet for themselves drive the plot and present...
from H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
' The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
return in 2001 for another attempt at conquering the planet. (They were later retconned as extrasolar
Extrasolar planet
An extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is a planet outside the Solar System. A total of such planets have been identified as of . It is now known that a substantial fraction of stars have planets, including perhaps half of all Sun-like stars...
aliens
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
using Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
as a staging area.) After humanity's enslavement, men not used as breeders or collaborators are trained and forced to battle gladiator
Gladiator
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...
-style for the Martians' amusement; women are used as breeders to supply infants, eaten by the Martians as a delicacy. Jonathan Raven, dubbed Killraven as his gladiatorial nom de guerre, escaped with the help of the gladiatorial "keeper", but without his brother, Deathraven. Killraven joined the Freemen, a group of freedom fighters against Martian oppression.
From 2018 to 2020, Killraven and his companions travel across the eastern portion of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral, from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic coast. Known as Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River.It is part of a region known as the...
while searching for Killraven's lost brother. Pursued by the cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
Skar, the Freemen encounter various victims of Martian transhuman
Transhumanism
Transhumanism, often abbreviated as H+ or h+, is an international intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally transforming the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human...
experiments, as well as emotionally and psychologically scarred survivors.
Fugitives from the Martians, Killraven and his Freemen — his African-American "mud-brother" M'Shulla Scott, the cynical and bitter Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
Hawk, and the slow-witted strongman Old Skull — meet and incorporate into their group the feisty scientist Carmilla Frost and Grok, the deformed, apelike clone of her father. The Freemen ally with the human/plant hybrid Mint Julep, and battle Abraxas, Rattack, the High Overlord, and Skar. Killraven tames a mutated serpent-horse to use as his mount, and his Freemen battle Pstun-Rage in Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Calhoun county...
. (In this encounter, the antagonists' names are anagrams of the Battle Creek-based Kellogg Company
Kellogg Company
Kellogg Company , is a producer of cereal and convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles, and vegetarian foods...
's breakfast cereals). The Freeman meet the flirty and sensual Volcana Ash, who helps them battle Atalon and the Death-Breeders. After learning that his brother Joshua (Deathraven) is still alive, Killraven fights Martian slaves alongside a time-traveling Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, The Freeman eventually reach the Everglades
Everglades
The Everglades are subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee...
, where they encounter the butterfly-like Mourning Prey.
Still later, the Freemen encounter Killraven's brother, Deathraven, and discover he has become a Martian collaborator.
In November 2020, the Martian occupation is over when Killraven unleashes a zombie plague on the Martians' food supply.
Powers and abilities
As a youth, gladiatorGladiator
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...
-in-training Jonathan Raven's physical prowess was heightened thanks to injections of experimental chemicals by Keeper Whitman. He was later given mental powers through Whitman's psycho-electric experiments, including the psionic ability to project his consciousness into and take over a Martian's mind, and the psychic ability to resist mental assaults and to mask his presence from robot scanners.
Killraven is also a superb hand-to-hand combatant, and a highly skilled swordsman, wrestler, and martial artist. He is a master of most hand weaponry, especially shuriken
Shuriken
A shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing...
. He is a master strategist in guerrilla warfare. Killraven possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of human history, art, and science predating the Martian invasion of A.D. 2001, implanted in his mind by Keeper Whitman.
As artist P. Craig Russell
P. Craig Russell
Philip Craig Russell , also known as P. Craig Russell, is an American comic book writer, artist, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards...
described, "Killraven has a sort of extrasensory ability to counterbalance his gladiatorial skills. He is very much the barbarian type, yet at the same time he has this seed planted in his brain that is the history of the human race — a racial memory of everything that has been obliterated by the Martians. It's almost a magical ability.... It was what removed him from being just another sword-wielding gladiator type."
Killraven wears bulletproof fabrics and leather. He is armed with various weapons as needed, and usually carried a sword and shuriken. He sometimes rides a mutated serpent-horse, or appropriated Martian vehicles and aircraft.
Other versions
- Following minor controversy among fans whether the Killraven of Amazing Adventures is the same as that depicted in the past of the Guardians of the GalaxyGuardians of the GalaxyThe original Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Guardians first appear in Marvel Super-Heroes #18 .-Publication history:...
, the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005Official Handbook of the Marvel UniverseThe Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is an encyclopedic guide which details the fictional universe featured in Marvel Comics publications...
states that Killraven and the Guardians share the same timeline, set on the parallel universeParallel universe (fiction)A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
Marvel Comics designates "Earth-691".
- The 19981998 in comics-Spring:* Gay Comix , with issue #25, publishes its final issue -October:* Toy Biz buys Marvel Comics* Excalibur is canceled by Marvel with issue #125.-November:...
-19991999 in comics-February:* February 3: Pioneering editor Vin Sullivan dies at age 87.* February 26: John L. Goldwater, co-founder of Archie Comics, dies at age 82.-March:* Incredible Hulk is canceled by Marvel with issue #474.-May:...
miniseriesMiniseriesA miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Avengers ForeverAvengers ForeverAvengers Forever is a twelve-issue comic book limited series published from December 1998 to November 1999 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern and drawn by Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino.-Publication history:...
depicts Killraven as a member of an alternate futureAlternate futureIn science fiction stories involving time travel, an alternative future or alternate future is a possible future which never comes to pass, typically because someone travels back into the past and alters it so that the events of the alternative future cannot occur.An alternative future differs from...
AvengersAvengers (comics)The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
(Earth-9930) led by the Black PantherBlack Panther (comics)The Black Panther is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and penciller-co-plotter Jack Kirby, he first appeared in Fantastic Four #52...
.
- Alan Davis' 20022002 in comics-March:* Adventures of Superman #600: super-sized anniversary issue by Joe Casey, Mike Wieringo, and Jose Marzan, Jr. -April:* Batman #600: "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive," part one, 64-page giant, written by Ed Brubaker.-January:...
miniseries Killraven depicted an alternate-future variation of the original series, set on the parallel universe Marvel Comics designates "Earth-2120".
- John Raven is Will of the People in Earth-7305 a Captain Britain CorpsCaptain Britain CorpsIn Marvel Comics, the Captain Britain Corps is a league of super-heroes all known as, or appear as an alternative version of, Captain Britain. They are all essentially the same hero except they each come from an alternative reality.-Fictional team history:...
member who featured in Excalibur #50.
- In an alternate future shown in Guardians of the Galaxy #18 (2009), Killraven leads the Guardians against the Martians in the year 3009.
- In 1975, Marvel UKMarvel UKMarvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US produced stories for the British weekly comic market, though it later did produce original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dillon and Grant Morrison.Panini Comics obtained the...
's Planet of the ApesPlanet of the Apes (franchise)Planet of the Apes is a United States media franchise with seven films , two television series, and comic books. The series began with the 1968 science fiction film Planet of the Apes, which was based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle.-Background:The original series of...
comic reprinted Killraven as "Apeslayer", with alterations to substitute the Martians for apes and place the strip in the Planet of the Apes universe.
Mainstream Marvel continuity
In the mainstream Marvel universeMarvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
that the company dubs Earth-616
Earth-616
In the fictional Marvel Comics multiverse, Earth-616 or Earth 616 is the name used to identify the primary continuity in which most Marvel Comics titles take place.-Origin of Earth-616:...
, Jonathan Raven appears in the 2006
2006 in comics
-January:*January 1, 2006: Newsweek offer a look back at 2005 through editorial cartoons. *January 2, 2006: The Cincinnati Enquirer cartoonist Jim Borgman starts a blog to detail his creative process...
-2007
2007 in comics
-January:*January 10: Superman & Batman vs. Aliens & Predator released.*January 24: The Boys is canceled with issue #6.-February:*February 2: Newsarama reports that The Boys has been picked up by Dynamite Entertainment....
miniseries Wisdom. He is the son of Wisdom's MI-13 co-worker and lover, Maureen Raven, and the target of a trans-dimensional Martian Invasion because, as the Martian leader states, "On all Earths! Always! Every one of him is dangerous! Ruling council plan to invade all other Earths. So I urged this first expedition now before he is grown". Wisdom is forced to kill Maureen in order to stop the Martian invasion, while Jonathan is taken to an MI-6
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
safehouse in Prague and trained by martial artist Shang-Chi
Shang-Chi
Shang-Chi is a Marvel Comics character, often called the "Master of Kung Fu". He was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin....
.
Parodies
- In Marvel's Howard the DuckHoward the DuckHoward the Duck is a comic book character in the Marvel Comics universe created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik. The character first appeared in Adventure into Fear #19 and several subsequent series have chronicled the misadventures of the ill-tempered, anthropomorphic, "funny...
#2 (March 1976), Howard dreams he is "Killmallard", a freedom fighter battling alien overlords who use tripods identical to those of Killraven's Martian opponents.
Movie
Hollywood trade stories in 2005 reported plans to adapt Killraven for a theatrical motion picture, with Marvel and Sony Pictures in negotiations with Robert SchenkkanRobert Schenkkan
Robert Frederic Schenkkan, Jr. is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor, perhaps most recognizable as the character of Lieutenant Commander Dexter Remmick in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
to write a script.
Collected editions
The original Killraven's complete adventures, listed here, were collected in the 20052005 in comics
- January :* January 3: Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit, dies at age 87.-April:*April 13:**DC Comics announces the discontinuation of its Humanoids and 2000 A.D. titles....
trade paperback
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
The Essential Killraven (ISBN 0-7851-1777-6):
- Amazing AdventuresAmazing AdventuresAmazing Adventures is the name of several anthology comic book series, all but one published by Marvel Comics.The earliest Marvel series of that name introduced the company's first superhero of the late-1950s to early-1960s period fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books...
#18-39 (May 19731973 in comics-Year overall:* Dell Comics, after 44 years in the comics business, ceases publication; a few of the company's former titles moving to Gold Key Comics....
- Nov. 19761976 in comicsThis is a list of comics-related events in 1976.- Year overall :* American Splendor, Harvey Pekar's long-running autobiographical comic book title, publishes its debut issue.* Fantagraphics Books, Inc. founded by Gary Groth and Michael Catron....
) - Marvel Team-UpMarvel Team-UpMarvel Team-Up is the name of several American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series featured two or more Marvel characters in one story...
#45 (May 1976) - Marvel Graphic NovelMarvel Graphic NovelMarvel Graphic Novel was a series of graphic novel trade paperbacks published from 1982 to 1993 by Marvel Comics. The books were published in oversized format, 8.5" x 11", similar to French albums...
#7: Killraven, Warrior of the Worlds (19831983 in comics-Events and publications:* Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird found Northampton, Massachusetts-based Mirage Studios.* Chicago-based First Comics makes a strong entree into the publishing field, putting out four ongoing titles, American Flagg!, E-Man, Jon Sable Freelance, and Warp!; featuring the talents...
, ISBN 0939766590) - Killraven #1 (Marvel KnightsMarvel KnightsMarvel Knights is an imprint of Marvel Worldwide, Inc. that contains material taking place within the mainstream Marvel Universe .-Production:...
, Feb. 20012001 in comics-Year overall:* Marvel Comics withdraws from the Comics Code Authority and established its own rating system for its publications.- January :* January 23: Fred Ray, Superman's primary cover artist of the 1940s, passes away at age 80.- September :...
)
Alan Davis' series have also been collected into hardcover (ISBN 0-7851-2538-8) and softcover (ISBN 0-7851-2841-7) volumes.
External links
- Killraven, War of the Worlds (1973-2003) (fan site)
- Archive of Killraven Appearances in Publication Order (fan site). Original link