Beyonder

The Beyonder is a fictional godlike being in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by writer/editor Jim Shooter and artists Mike Zeck and John Beatty for the Secret Wars limited series (1984), although he was not given a physical form until Secret Wars II #1, which was written by Shooter and illustrated by penciller Al Milgrom and inker Steve Leialoha.

The Beyonder was the sum total of a pocket dimension called the Beyond-Realm or simply "Beyond", hence the name "Beyonder". This dimension was accidentally accessed by nebbish scientist Owen Reece. Part of the energy from the dimension escaped and imbued Reece with near-infinite powers, which he wielded as the villainous Molecule Man. The remaining energy of the pocket dimension apparently gained sentience and curiosity. Using its vast powers, the Beyonder created a planet called "Battleworld" out of pieces of various planets (one such piece being a suburb of Detroit) and abducted a number of superheroes and supervillains so that he could observe the never-ending battle between good and evil that rages within humanity writ large. Ultimately, the Beyonder's realm was breached by Galactus and Doctor Doom, and while both were repelled, Doom returned and, using the body of the sound-based villain Klaw as a medium, stole the Beyonder's power. The Beyonder's consciousness possessed Klaw's damaged mind, and manipulated Doom into unconsciously squandering his power against the superheroes, distracting him enough for the Beyonder to steal his power back. This formed the basis of the first Secret Wars twelve-issue limited series. The series sold incredibly well with circulation reaching up to 750,000 copies per issue, numbers reminiscent of the height of comicbook sales during the Golden Age of the 1940s.

Due to the high sales of the first series, a second Secret Wars series, the nine-issue Secret Wars II miniseries, was published. Intrigued by what he had witnessed during the first Secret Wars, the Beyonder came to Earth to walk among humans and study them and learn of human desire firsthand. During the course of this series and its many crossovers, which crossed over into almost every comic that Marvel was publishing at the time. He created a human body for himself, which was first based on that of Captain America, but he later patterned his hairstyle and wardrobe after Michael Jackson's look at the time. His complete lack of understanding of human biology and society led to the destruction or near-destruction of this body several times over, although each time he would repair it with his powers. For instance, he needed to learn by example the difference between edile objects and non-edible ones, and needed to be toilet trained by Spider-Man. When he learned about the monetary system from a homeless woman and Luke Cage, the hero for hire, he transformed a Manhattan office building into gold as thanks for their assistance. He later became the head of a criminal cartel and then used mind control to assume control over the entire Earth, only to reliquish control when he grew restless and frustrated with the lack of free will that the world now displayed. He had a brief love affair with the musician Dazzler, and, when pondering his place and needs in the universe, accidentally inspired a cult of meditators. Thoughout the course of the series, the demon Mephisto sought to steal his powers or to destroy him to win the favor of Death. The Beyonder ultimately died when he tried to create for himself a mortal human body that could retain his omnipotence; although he was on the verge of succeeding, he was killed in the process by the Molecule Man. The Beyonder's near-limitless power was returned to the now-empty "Beyond-Realm", wher it formed a Big Bang and created a new universe.

The tale of the Beyonder continued several years later in an issue of the Fantastic Four, where the characters learned that the energy which comprised the Beyonder and the energy that gave the Molecule Man his powers needed to be combined in order to create the basis for a mentally stable, mature nigh-omnipotent being to be born. This being, called Kosmos, expelled the Molecule Man from her form, returned him to Earth. Kosmos tutored under Kubik. When the Molecule Man's lover, Volcana, left him, Owen Reece got angry, extracted the Beyonder from Kosmos and proceded to attack him, until Kubik intervened.

At some unknown point, Kosmos went mad and assumed a female form, now calling itself the Maker. After the Maker destroyed a Shi'ar colony, the Imperial Guard managed to imprison it in the interstellar prison called the Kyln. The Maker's madness took control of several inmates, but was finally subdued by the nihilist Thanos and several of his allies among the prisoners. Thanos confronted the Maker and psychically shut down its mind.

(Aparently, Thanos had encounted the Beyonder in the past, but this was never explained, as Thanos was dead at the time of Secret Wars II. Thanos' flashback showed Thanos as a youngster. This may have been a plot Keith Giffen would have elaborated on in the future).

Behind the Scenes

The Beyonder was a controversial character amonst creators. Creators felt that Jim Shooter had abused his role as editor-in-chief, and forced the use of the omnipotent character upon other writers and editors. Some critics felt the cross-overs didn't always mesh well with the main book. One of the most vocal critics was John Byrne.

Apparently, Steve Englehart wanted to tie in the Beyonder to older characters known as the Beyonders. According to Englehart, editor Ralph Macchio hated the character and ordered the Beyonder "removed" from the Marvel Universe. Englehart did as asked but has stated that he tried to exile the character with dignity. The character was subjected to a retcon making him less potent that originally determined, and explainations of his omnipotence have been written off as the more powerful beings "playing along" because the Beyonder's role was pre-determined.