Creative Team: Jim Starlin story, pencils and colors; Al Milgrom inks, Tom Orzechowski letters and Roy Thomas edits.

Synopsis: At the end of last issue, Eon manifested itself to Mar-Vell. Now, we get the full conversation, as Starlin takes another hit of whatever and we turn on the Pink Floyd music.Mar-Vell faces images of old foes, then see the birth of the Titans, as Chronos battles his father, Uranus, defeating him and banishing to that planet.



Chronos has two sons, Zeus and A'lars. Chronos has sworn off war and turns to academic pursuits, including experiments with cosmic energy. A tube cracks and unleashes unimaginable power and Chronos' essence is spread among the cosmos. Zeus assumes command and banishes A'Lars. He wanders space and comes to Titan, where he meets Sui-San, another survivor of what destroyed Titan. Together, they create a paradise, giving birth to sons Eros and Thanos.

There is an interlude, as we see Thanos, with the Cosmic Cube, having re-enslaved his father and brother. Drax awakens and goes looking for Mar-Vell. Rick is still trapped under rubble, wondering about Lou-Ann, who is having a new control disc fitted by the Controller.

Back in wherever, Eon gives a dissertation on the tragedy and stupidity of war, challenging Mar-Vell's idea that there s honor in it. He confronts Mar-Vell with the notion that to protect, you must first have love, and shows him the lifeless body of Una, his lost love.



She is re-animated, only to have no emotion, as Eon tells Mar-Vell there is no life without a soul. Mar-Vell finally graks Eon's rap and says he digs. Eon transforms Mar-Vell, turning him blond, in the process...



Mar-Vell now has Cosmic Awareness, able to fully know himself and his foes and he defeats the spectres of his past enemies. Now, he is ready to fight Thanos. He manifests on Earth, in Ric's place, ready to take the fight to Thanos.

Thoughts: Starlin comes into his own, as a writer, here. This is all his baby. Starlin lays out his thesis of the futility of war, saying that it brings only death; there is no nobility or righteous war. Starlin served in the US Navy, during the Vietnam War, as a photographer, riding along in helicopters. As such, he saw a lot of death and destruction, in a war that seemed to have no defined purpose. Ground would be fought for, people died in large numbers, only for the victorious to withdraw and repeat the process. His wasn't the War of Liberation of Jack Kirby. Eon argues against the idea that Kirby's war was in any way noble, as it resulted in massive death. You can argue that much of the death could have been avoided, if everyone had been willing to stand up to the Nazis' ambitions, before war was the only recourse, rather than appease them, to avoid another conflict. That's as maybe; but, Kirby and his fellow soldiers were now fighting to eject a definite evil from conquered lands; and, for Kirby, to liberate his people from concentration camps. o do so involved deals with devils and much senseless killing of civilians and soldiers; but, it had a purpose. Starlin's war just seemed to be endless killing, with bodycounts as the only measure of success. So, war, to Starlin, is a senseless waste of life, which is the ultimate truth of war. Meanwhile, he muses about love as being the opposite, the giver of life and the true source of what life is all about. This is some pretty heady stuff. Mar-Vell, a warrior, is faced with these ideas and is transformed. No longer is he the soldier seeking glory and honor; but the protector, saving life and love. His Cosmic Awareness makes him one with the universe, allowing him to know himself and his foes, thereby stopping them. It's all very Eastern, with touches of Zen, Mindfullness, Taoism and Buddhist Truths. This was the era of the New Age philosophy/esoteric mumbo-jumbo (the commercial crap that was laid over the actual Eastern teachings). All of this occurs in pages of story that are the trippiest thing since Ditko's Dr Strange.

The transformation to blond is never really given a rationale. I suspect Starlin probably felt it looked better with Mar-Vell's color scheme.

Thanos has little part in this, as we find him back in control, thanks to the Cosmic Cube. It leaves a lot of questions; but, this is mostly about Mar-Vell's awakening. From here, he will bring the fight to Thanos.

In many ways, this is the culmination of both the Kirby epic storytelling and the Neal Adams detail schools coming together, with the weird filter of Ditko. As such, you could call it the sum total of the Marvel era influences. And, yet, the book was still just a cult favorite. It embodies the creativity that was happening at Marvel and how the market, as a whole, was largely oblivious, while a select few were enjoying something beyond the norm. Contrast with Europe, whose comics were undergoing a renaissance that was both experimental and commercially successful, with people like Moebius (various works), Druillet (Lone Sloane), and Esteban Maroto (Cinco Por Infinito) earning both praise and sales, culminating in the launch of Metal Hurlant. American comics were experimenting; but, the success wasn't there with much of the experiments, as far as the mass audience.

Reading your background on Starlin, it never ceases to be a surprise the negative effects on people that the Vietnam war had. And obviously more so by those that witnessed it first hand. The reoccurring themes of war, religion and love in Starlin's stories all point to things that must have made them such a powerful influence on him. And love is the great equalizer of hate, and is above all power, strength, weapons, money, or any other thing that man seeks.

I never knew he was raised Catholic, but having been raised Jehovah's Witness myself, I can easily relate to his themes of religion. Especially the role of the Universal Church with Warlock. I have never seen war first hand, and hope that I don't in my lifetime. But the immense toll it takes on those that have, I can see now, how and why, Starlin writes about war the way he does.

cody, where was the Eternal Saga told in? I would be interested in reading it for the part Chronos is in it.

And these two issues are some of the best tripped out Starlin we will see, until he gets his hands on Warlock. (And least of what I've read.) I don't remember him doing two much between the Thanos Saga and Warlock. But they were only a few years apart if I am remembering correctly.

ps The Vietnam generation of comics includes Starlin, Larry Hama, Don Lomax, Mike Grell, Doug Rice, Doug Murray, Dave Cockrum and Steve Englehart (who registered as a conscientious objector, which was eventually granted and he was discharged). I'm probably missing someone there; but these I know for certain. Lomax and Doug Murray saw combat and their stories reflect it. I believe Hama did, too. Grell was in the Air Force and worked as an artist; but, he has talked about preparing visual display graphics, for briefings, which featured statistics that told him a lot about the behind the scenes management of the war, including deaths that could have been avoided. He has spoken in the past about carrying around guilt about that knowledge. Not sure what branch Rice served in, but, he spoke to me, at a convention, about being in Vietnam, when we discussed Dynamo Joe and the similarities with Joe Haldeman's The Forever War 9a sci-fi novel, based on his experiences in 'Nam). Cockrum served in the Navy, in Guam, on a submarine tender (he was also an Air Force brat).

Yeah, I intend to cover those, as well as the Logan's Run story.

My first Captain Marvel was around this time. I'm a little hazy; but, I think it was Starlin's first issue. My intro to the Guardians of the Galaxy was Defenders, with Steve Gerber. Man, I love this timeframe. When I got out of college and reached my first home port, I started collecting in ernest and bought a bunch of the stuff I read in this era, plus the ones I missed, but, heard about. I picked up a lot of Captain Marvel, Deathlok and Guardians dirt cheap. By the time I was leaving the military, 4 years later, prices had skyrocketed on all of that, thanks to Infinity Gauntlet, the new Deathlok mini-series, and the Valentino Guardians series. I ended up selling that stuff for ten times what I paid; best investment I ever made. Damn good comics, too. That first Defenders comic I read (featuring Starhawk on the cover, made me a huge fan of the Guardians. I had heard they were going to have cameos in Guardians 2; but had mostly forgotten by the time I saw it, after it was on dvd. I was a bit distracted and didn't realize, at first, that Stallone was Starhawk, since I always pronounced it Stuh-kar; not Stake-ar, like Michael Rooker did. I also didn't pay that close attention to that part of the end credits scene, when they had the whole gang, sort of. I just watched both Guardians films again and realized that Stallone's little metal loops on his jacket are their nod to Starhawks solar wings and caught that Ving Rhames was Charlie 27 and noticed Martinex. Still not the same, though (but, what I expected). I wanted my originals. That was a nice cross of Avengers and Star Trek. Plus, Vance Astro was always one of my favorites, though Yondu was my number one. I was happy to see the full fin; just wished it was a bit more like my Guardians comics. Still a good film, though.

I'm curious about how much of this will filter into the Carol Danvers movie. I have heard that Mar-Vell has a modified role. How much Thanos does, remains to be seen. I suppose he will not be a caucasian Kree and that they will leave out the racial division there.

Creative Team: Jim Starlin pencils and story, Al Milgrom inks, Tom Orzechowski letters, Roy Thomas editorial kibbitzing.

Synopsis: Mar-Vell and Rick have a little confab, mentally, while Iron man jerry-rigs a tracker for the Controller's disc frequency. Mar-Vell heads off to find the Controller and Iron Man remarks (mentally) about the change in Mar-Vell, from headstrong Kree warrior to calmer, more focused protector. The Controller is monolgueing and is interrupted by his master, Thanos, who tells him to kill CM or be blasted into oblivion by the Cosmic Cube. Rick Jones has a visitor at Avengers Mansion, so Mar switches places, allowing Rick to talk to Mordecai Boggs, music agent and promoter. He cuts a deal with Rick, for a gig at a Greenwich Village nightclub and he agrees to be there (unless he dies fighting Thanos). He switches back to Mar, who flies off, allowing Rick to comment on the sparkling effect that Starlin added, when CM flies. He says it is a byproduct of the photonic energy, but has no other effect. I say it is fairy dust. You be the judge! Mar crashes through a wall and finds the Controller and calls him by his real name, Basil Sandhurst; 'cause Mar is Cosmically Aware. He offers a philosophical debate and Controller offers his fist. Mar leans down and tosses him, demonstrating that Starlin has a wonky grasp of judo, based on the body positioning. A fight ensues and everyone notices that Mar is far more formidable than last time and Starlin has everybody doing a lot of leaning and crouching. Before you can say, "KERTOOM..."



...Mar has cleaned Basil's clock and Thanos' face materializes and he unleashes the Omega Effect....er, Cosmic Cube and the Controller disappears. Mar switches to Rick, who finds the freed Lou-Ann and they commence sucking face. Thanos rants about puny idiots misusing the Cosmic Cube and that he will use it to achieve one wish....

DA-Da_DUMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and Iron Man takes some mental notes and flies off to look for Thanos' old base, in the Southwest, which will lead us into Marvel Feature #12 (EDIT:  or not, since that takes place between CM #28 and 29). And, Drax turns up at Avengers Mansion.

Thoughts: This mostly serves to demonstrate Mar-Vell's new abilities and how his Cosmic Awareness makes him a better fighter and person. It doesn't help him find Thanos or the Cube, though, or keep him from getting ambushed; so, it is a very selective "awareness." Funny, that.

Mordecai Boggs is a bit of a diversion, mostly planting seeds for after Thanos is beaten. I mean, come on, did any reader, then or now think Thanos would win? In the Bronze Age, in a Code-Approved book? Psshaw!

Starlin and Milgrom make an excellent team, though there are some panels, here and there, that seem a little "less" than other. Nothing major; just certain angles and poses. Starlin is growing quickly, though. He's also becoming very wordy, for a writer-artist. He doesn't yet seem confident enough to let the art carry more of the story. Then again, 70s comics (especially Marvel) tended to be filled with word and thought balloons (and narration boxes).

Thanos is very Darkseid, in this one, threatening subordinates (gonna have to call HR about that!) and making them disappear when they fail. He's still more background, than active villain, at this stage. Quite frankly, I always felt Thanos came into his own more in the Warlock phase, than here.