Micronauts
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- This article is about the Marvel comic series. Gordon Williams also wrote a series of novels called the Micronauts.
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Publishing History
The Micronauts was originally a Marvel comic published between 1979 and 1986. This comic was based on the Mego toy line. It was very successful despite scepticism about a comic book based on a toy line. Unlike other such comics, the Micronauts comic outlived the toy line on which it was based by almost a decade.
The comic book series was written by Bill Mantlo and later by Peter B. Gillis. The regular artists were Michael Golden, Pat Broderick, Gil Kane, Jackson Guice, and Kelley Jones.
The comic was set in a dimension known as the Microverse and quite convincingly gives characters and backgrounds to many of the toy figures and vehicles of the Mego toy line.
Characters
- Space Glider: Commander Arcturus Rann spent 1,000 years in suspended animation while exploring the Microverse with his co-pilot Biotron. He returned to Homeworld only to find that his former mentor, Baron Karza staged a coup and deposed the royal family. Karza fears what Rann may have discoverd in his travels. Indeed, Rann, because of his travels and partly because of his bloodline (he is a descendant of Wayfinder of Ithaka, the discoverer of the Microverse), Rann's becomes the template for the embodiment of the Enigma Force and its awesome emissaries, The Time Travellers. and it is this power that enables Rann to defeat Karza each time. Commander Rann is usually confident and focused but not above kidding around with his comrades when the time is right. He feels responsible for all the Micronauts and would rather admit he's unsure about a course of action rather than risk their lives. Rann is sometimes unsure of himself when it comes to fighting Baron Karza whom Rann says was once like a second father. He agonizes over what could have gone wrong while he was away exploring the Microverse. Or was Karza's former friendship with his star pupil a front? The loss of any friend who falls in battle deeply upsets him and he goes into reclusive meditation after a major defeat by Karza that resulted in the loss of many friends.
- Baron Karza: Homeworld's former chief scientist, Baron Karza was a genius in biological engineering. He bribes all of Homeworld's citizens with the promise of eternal life via the science of his body banks. Thus, not everyone is unhappy with Karza's new reign, at least not in the beginning. But Karza's rule as enforced by his endless supply of dog soldiers and bioengineered creatures proves to be a nightmare inflicted upon Homeworld. And many former Karza supporters eventually lend their aid to rebellion. In his own communion with the emissaries of the Enigma Force (The Time Travellers), Baron Karza comes to the realization that what he seeks is more than mere power. And though his science has effectively made him immortal, his essence and emotions are still that of man. Althogh Karza was able to transcend his organic body and become a being of pure energy, Karza denies the Time Travellers' offer of godhood. Karza re-evaluates his philosophy and concludes that true godhood cannot be obtained without understanding of what one needs to experience in order for one's soul (as opposed to one's mere body) to trancend physicality. Thus, Karza, in committing one unspeakably inhuman act after another, believes that he will become indifferent to the concept of wielding power over the living. And that eventually, he will achieve a fulfillment that, for the moment, he can't begin to comprehend.
- Acroyear: Crown prince of the ebon-skinned race that bears his name. For a time, Acroyear's people served Karza, led by Shaitan, Acroyear's traitorous brother. To help defeat Baron Karza Acroyear, must sacrifice the Worldmind "soul" of his home planet Spartak, thus destroying the planet. For this, he is branded traitor and cast out by his people while his bonded mate Cilicia rules as regent in his place. Acroyear vows to redeem himself and travels with the Micronauts, most of whom are themselves outcast for various reasons. Stoic in battle, yet hospitable to his comerades, Acroyear does not believe that it is weakness for a warrior to express his feelings to those he loves. He confides in the Micronauts totally and in his complex warrior philosophy often serves as spiritual nourishment to his fellow Micronauts. And he hopes to one day, make his people understand that a warrior need not become as cold as the steel he wields in battle. But for now, Acroyear must fight alone as his race eventually decides neutrality in the war against Karza.
- Marionette: Princess Mari of Homeworld, along with her brother, Prince Argon, are the only survivors of the slaughtered Royal family. They have the hapless job of initiating rebellion against Baron Karza. Argon, who becomes Force Commander, eventually dies after being temporary host for a ressurected Karza. Mari, now calls the Micronauts family and Commander Rann her love. Mari, served as nominal leader of the Micronauts during a brief, trying period that a demoralized Commander Rann, decided to remove himself from activities following a major defeat of the Micronauts by Karza. Strong willed and independent while still warm and generous, she shows no mercy to those who willingly serve Karza's evil. But she will risk her life to persuade any of the many poor souls who serve Karza only because they see no other hope. Her hand of friendship has brought one of Karza's former creatures, Huntarr into the fold.
- Bug: A master thief on the Instectivorid homeworld Kalikak, Bug is a jokester and rouge by nature but always a professional. He and Acroyear share a unique friendship as the two are totally opposite in personality. Bug's friendship with Acroyear may be responsible for Acroyear's decision to question the sometimes overly cold warrior ethic that seems to rule his people. During the period that Commander Rann becomes a recluse following a defeat by Karza, Bug appears to act as a surrogate lover for Mari. Bug's inexhautable humor and optimism is one of the things that Mari credits with preventing her from losing all hope in herself as well. Despite his jovial exterior, Bug will readily admit to feelings of inadequacy, homesickness and sometimes loneliness. By the end of the Karza war, Bug is the only Micronaut who is not left homeless and in their new voyages, he occasionally gives in to deep depression about the home he left behind.
- Huntarr: A late addition to the Micronauts, Huntarr, the Living Weapon was originally charged with guarding the body banks of Force Commander (Following Karza's initial defeat, it was thought that Argon turned against the Micronauts to rule himself as tyrant. But in truth, Argon was earlier subjected to Karza's experiments to serve as a host body in the event that Karza would be killed). Huntarr was once a young man named Iann 27 who was subject to Karza's experiments. He grieves for the citizens and their lost souls. He grieves for his lost humanity. He grieves even for Karza's Dog soldiers who serve him in the hope of achieving life eternal when all that awaits them is death and recycling of their cells. He almost kills Princess Mari in her attempt to reach Argon. Mari senses the confusion and sadness in Huntarr and convinces him that he can find peace of mind by joining the Micronauts. Huntarr travels with them for a short time, unsure of himself as he has family on Homeworld. But after a side trip to Homeworld, and witnessing the tragic suicide of his despairing mother and sister, Huntarr finally realizes that like all the Micronauts, he has lost loved ones due to Karza. Thus he is welcomed full fledged. Huntarr is probably the youngest of the Micronauts but he speaks with a maturity that belies his age.
- Biotron: Commander Rann's roboid copilot during his 1,000 year sojurn through the Microverse, Biotron served as Rann's telepathic eyes and ears while his physical body was kept in stasis. Biotron continued to serve as Rann's copilot aboard their ship H.M.S (Homeworld Micro Ship) Endeavor in their war against Baron Karza. Biotron is an unflappable foil for Commander Rann. Biotron's model series has long since become obsolete and of course, he takes this in stride with his trademark dry, erudite wit. Tragically, Biotron is the first major casualty in the Karza War. Biotron was somewhat reborn as the Micronaut's second ship, the Bioship. This Bioship's personality was based on Microtron, Nanotron, and Commander Rann's memories of the original Biotron.
- Microtron: Princess Mari's childhood roboid tutor, Microtron and Biotron of course hit it off immediately becoming somewhat of the Micronaut's comedy relief in the tradition of Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy. Microtron can be serious when he wants to. Especially when Princess Mari or later his love Nanotron are in danger. Microtron and Nanotron sacrifice themselves so that their memories can be incorporated into a giant duplicate of the late Biotron which would serve as the Micronaut's ship after Endeavor was destroyed.
Wayfinder and the Origins of The Microverse
The Homeworld region of the Microverse is located far from the region known as Sub-Atomica, a region occasionally visited by the Fantastic Four and Ant Man. It was discovered by the people of the planet Ithaka who were forced to find a new home after the death of their world. Led by one known as Wayfinder, they eventually settled on then prehistoric Earth. At the time, Earth was plagued by demons and the power of Wayfinder's star sword (as well as the three Mystic Keys) relocated them to the unoccupied Homeworld molecule of the Microverse. The various races of Ithaka populated the other local planets, thus Wayfinder and the other prominent leaders of his people became the first Micronauts and Wayfinder, the original Time Traveller. The capitol Atom of Homeworld is called First Zone and this is the former home of the Royal Family. Now it is the Power Base of Baron Karza and the location of his body banks. Other regions include Seazone (Home of Micronaut allies Aquon and Coral), Aegyptia (Home of friends Prince Pharoid and Margrace), Polaria, and Dead Zone which contains the tomb of Wayfinder, Yama, Agni, Kali, and the rest of Homeworld's original Micronauts, although it's questionable as to whether Wayfinder is truly dead. Homeworld's sector contains not only the Homeworld Molecule Planet complex, but the planets Spartak (home of the Acroyears), Kalikak (home of the Insectivorids and Bug) and Tropica (Home of Devil).
On Earth, Wayfinder and his people most likely settled for the most part in what is now India. On Earth, artifacts of Wayfinder's people were found in India, most notably, a monolith describing the three Mystic Keys. Due to some of the names and the similarity between Micronese (the Microversian written language) and Sanskrit, there is reason to believe artifacts left behind by Wayfinder and his people may have given rise to some of the Hindu Myths. (As a note of trivia, in Micronese, there is no character that represents "z". Baron Karza was in fact pronounced Baron Kartha.)
The Karza War
During the interludes between Karza's defeats, the Micronauts embarked on a number of subquests, most notably, the search for the Mystic Keys of Wayfinder. This took them from Homeworld's Dead Zone, to Seazone, and even Icy Polaria.
For an extended period, the Micronauts were marooned on Earth (having breached the spacewall ) and were involved in many situations typical of finding oneself in a land of Giants. They met a handful of Marvel heroes such as the Avengers, Doctor Strange (who also journeyed to the Microverse),Fantastic Four (who are more familiar with a different region the Microverse), Nick Fury of SHIELD, and the X-Men who aided the Micronauts and a temporarily allied Karza against The Entity who threatened to destroy the Microverse. They would also battle villains including the Man Thing, Molecule Man, Psycho Man, a miniturized Doctor Doom and Hydra. But mostly, they would battle ordinary Earth objects and animals that were deadly at the Micronauts' size. On several occasions, the servants of Baron Karza would follow the Micronauts to Earth and continue the battle there. It was here that an agent of Baron Karza killed Biotron.
For a time, it seemed that Prince Argon (aka Force Commander) turned against his former friends and allies to set himself up as dictator over the Microverse following Karza's first defeat. It was finally discovered that Argon was an unwilling host of a soon to be reborn Karza. Sadly, as soon as this was discovered, Karza returned and broke free of Argon's body killing Argon in the process.
Other notable Micronauts include Devil, Fireflyte, Pharoid, Slug, Margrace, Solitare, and later replicas of Biotron and Microtron. Devil and Fireflyte were stages of each other. Devil was killed by a Soul Survivor. Pharoid, Slug, and Margrace were killed in the Micronauts major defeat by Baron Karza. Solitare and The two roboid replicas served aboard Endeavor II during their new voyages after the final defeat of Baron Karza.
The Micronauts comic lasted up until issue #59, #58 being Mantlo's final script. The final defeat of Baron Karza was costly in that it took place only after Karza had already destroyed almost all life on Homeworld.
The New Voyages
Weary of war, the Micronauts decided to make a pilgrimage of exploration and discovery away from the ruined Homeworld. This is the basis for the series that immediately followed Micronauts #59, called simply Micronauts: The New Voyages lasted twenty issues and was written by Peter B. Gillis and mostly drawn by Kelley Jones. They discovered a starfaring race known as the Children of the Confluence of Stars and one of their representatives, Solitare became a member of the Micronauts. Together, they attempted to piece together a cosmic puzzle that pointed to the Makers, the godlike entities of the Microverse. They discovered that the Enigma Force was now an unstable force that threatened to destroy the fabric of the Microverse. The Micronauts, under the partial guidance of Scion, a self described child of the Makers, discovered that the berserk manifestation of Enigma Force was the injured Worldmind of Homeworld. Using Baron Karza's technology, the Micronauts healed Homeworld by using the cells of their own bodies to initiate a Genesis effect. They sacrificed their lives so that their primal matter would serve to seed Homeworld and eventually give rise to new life.
The Microns
In the late 1990s, following the Onslaught Saga, Cable and several others journeyed to the Microverse to find Arcturus Rann, Mari, and Bug alive and apparently fighting a war against Psycho-Man. The Micronauts (now known as The Microns due to licensing purposes), have made brief cameo appearances in several other comics (Alpha Flight and Earth X) but their appearance has never been adequately explained since the last issue of Micronauts: The New Voyages effectively brought closure to the story of the Micronauts. Several reasons have been postulated:
- Although noted for excellent writing and extremely thought provoking stories, Micronauts: The New Voyages divided Micronaut fans down the middle. Many Micronaut readers preferred the Star Wars-like nature of the majority of the first series over the cerebral Space Odyssey-like mood of New Voyages. This sentiment was also greatly felt toward the last ten issues of the earlier Micronauts series where many readers reportedly didn't care much for the heavy metaphysics themes that were injected into the story and would serve as the basis for New Voyages. It is possible that the writers of these 90s stories are either unfamiliar with or ignoring the events in Micronauts:The New Voyages.
- The Silver Surfer's speed has the ability to enter the Microverse.
- The Marvel Universe post Onslaught was generally subject to liberal and frequent retconning based on the whims of various writers and this may be one of them. The Bug one shot special mentions that the Micronauts are fighting a war. For licensing reasons, Baron Karza is not mentioned but since he was their only major enemy, he is somehow implied. With respect to the original stories, Commander Rann and Mari talked and acted in ways that were out of character for them. In their 90s Captain Marvel appearance, both characters seemed more jovial in their speech patterns. Interestingly enough, for Mari, this was inconsistent with her appearance in Cable where she was taciturn and humorless but agreeable. Bug is now mostly over the top and appears somewhat insane. In the brief Alpha Flight cameo appearance, it is clear that the unnamed Micronaut character shown was originally intended to be Acroyear as there is noticeable evidence that the character had to be redrawn at the last minute due to licensing restrictions.
Commander Rann, Mari, and Bug's usage by Marvel is still possible due to the fact that unlike most of the other popular Micronaut characters, these three were not directly based on any of the toys of the Mego toy line. Though this description fits Huntarr as well, he has not been seen again.
Given that the excellent writing of the earlier stories (especially the ending of New Voyages) is weakened by the inexplicable reappearance of the Micronauts as the Microns, many old head fans prefer to take a Krypto-revisionism approach and treat the 90s appearances of the Microns as an alternate universe. This is probably easy to do since there is very little information given in those brief appearances to explain a logical connection to the original works of Mantlo and Gillis.
During the mid to late 1990s, at least one animation company expressed an interest in developing a Micronauts animated series based around the comics characters. Character design artwork was produced and formerly available on the internet. It included character designs for Rann, Mari, Bug, Acroyear, Karza, and also Ray and Steve Coffin who were supporting characters during the Micronauts early voyages on Earth. The design for Rann borrowed from Disney's Buzz Lightyear instead of the Marvel Comic. The other characters are mostly similar to their original designs. The only exception was that Acroyear, underneath his helmet, reportedly would have caucasian instead of ebon skin. Other than character designs and rough profiles, very little was known as to how closely the animated series would have followed the comic. Failing to find a sponsor, this project was declared dead as of 1999.
It appears that in light of Devil's Due (Image Comics Division) Micronauts comic which totally re-imagines the Micronaut characters (without the benefit of characters and situations created by Mantlo and Gillis, though there are homages), that Marvel has no further plans for the characters they retain.