Killraven, Warrior Of The Worlds! (Featuring: the Martians!)

 

The "War Of The Worlds" feature in Amazing Adventures began in the title's eighteenth issue in May of 1973 and was published bimonthly for the entirety of its run, finally having its plug pulled near the end of 1976 after twenty-two issues--nineteen of which were scripted by writer Don McGregor, who worked with a number of artists before pairing with Craig Russell and putting their joint stamp on the book and the principal character of Killraven.

With Killraven and his band of Freemen leading the charge against the invaders and their human and once-human collaborators, it became clear almost immediately how the series was being crafted to appeal to its readers. For instance, when the guns of Killraven and his compatriot, M'Shulla, are depleted of energy (simultaneously, mind you), both men shift to a more daring approach and reach for swords and other such weapons (scooped up in a convenient museum they find themselves in) that must be wielded with a strong arm, and never look back--tools and methods reminiscent of their days in the gladiatorial pens of their youth. "Sword vs. Science Gone Mad!" declares one cover caption on its second issue (and repeated almost word for word nine issues later). It was also at that point I began seeing the Earth's Martian conquerors being pushed to the background, with the bulk of Killraven's vengeance spent on those who were imprisoning and/or experimenting on human survivors located in this complex or that.

As a result, the Martians become collectively relegated to the two-dimensional role of evil conquerors--known to feed off of humans while enjoying the spoils of conquest as they rule in tyranny. It's a rather black-and-white view of this invasion, and the invaders, that even McGregor seems to be on board with, judging by the opening page of his initial issue:

There is only a single issue in the series where McGregor and Russell would explore the Martians (or two of them, at least) in greater depth (more on that shortly); but in an effort to briefly shift the focus back to the beings who started this "war" (though at this stage it could more accurately be referred to as an "occupation"), let's collate what limited scenes are available in regard to their direct involvement, while taking a look as well at those chosen few who are unswerving loyalists to their demands.

To better put this occupation in perspective, it might help to examine the timeline of how the human race all but lost their homeworld over a span of roughly 117 years:

• 1901: First attack, in a horse-and-buggy time period that could offer negligible resistance to the Martian invaders, who nevertheless perished from exposure to Earth-born microbes to which humans had built up an immunity.
  
• 2001: Second attack, exactly 100 years later. (Why not 97 years, or 104? Were the Martians aiming for a psychological advantage by adhering to our calendar and planning their retribution to the day? It seems as absurd as it sounds.) The invasion is decisively won by the Martians, who it seemed were far better planners and certainly experts in biding their time. (No, I don't know why all of that abandoned equipment from the first invasion, ripe for studying and analysis, wasn't pored over by scientists and world governments for decades after the fact. Did it all just end up on scrap heaps?)
  
• 2017: Killraven escapes his gladiator training facility, where he'd been kept since childhood.
  
• 2018: Killraven returns to take vengeance against one of the human "Keepers," Whitman, who is nevertheless grateful for his attacker's fatal intervention and recounts to him the specifics of both Martian invasions.

In the years between and following, certain humans interested in their own well-being had chosen to cooperate with their Martian "masters"--and with Killraven's recent attack drawing scrutiny, steps are taken that lead to his capture and coming face-to- ... eh, face with one of the invaders he's learned about.

Grooming human gladiators for their amusement lowers the bar further for these Martians even at this earliest stage of this series, arguably bringing them to the level of the Brotherhood of the Badoon in terms of a lack of sophistication and/or enlightenment. As for Killraven, when he escapes his captivity and proceeds to find and release the others of his band of Freemen, the series' focus becomes clear for all to see.

From here, Killraven goes on to face a host of humans who have been experimented on and end up either serving the Martians or escaping them. In the beginning, however, we would meet those who made up an informal inner circle of loyal servants who facilitated the Martians' desire for gladiatorial contests and other petty preoccupations. One such individual, Abraxas, acts as, of all things, an auctioneer who accepts bids from those Martians in attendance who take pleasure in one-upping their fellows for a meal. (Heaven only knows what they use for currency.)

Killraven escapes his fate, but falls into the clutches of the High Overlord--by all indications, a Martian himself, encased in a metal shell that grants him mobility. The Overlord, for all intents and purposes, lives up to his name as the individual who acts on the wishes of his fellow Martians and, next to them, holds the highest level of authority in this occupation--and they have a plan in mind to use Killraven's death, in tandem with the humans' own technology, to crush his status as a living symbol of human resistance in the eyes of those who dare to hope for liberation.

(Along with Killraven, we'll be seeing more of Yellowstone, now the site of a Martian "retreat.")

Still very much alive, Killraven, along with the man called Sabre (a devil-may-care adventurer who takes sides depending on which way the wind is blowing), have a reckoning with Abraxas and the Overlord--while a third party, Rattack (a former Secret Service agent who fell victim to the early bio-chemical attacks against the Martians), whose initial attack on Killraven failed, meets his end at the teeth and claws of the vermin he'd come to regard as brethren (for obvious reasons).

Then there's the Warlord, who was Killraven's former trainer in the gladiatorial pens and paid the price for it during Killraven's escape, but has been elevated to a new position and enhanced by the Martians to be a formidable threat. Indeed, when his trap on Killraven is sprung, the Warlord makes short work of his pupil, and afterward consigns his Freemen to imprisonment.

Along with Carmilla Frost, a cloning specialist forced to cooperate with the Martians but who would later join Killraven's Freemen, the Warlord is given a generous amount of story space even as McGregor joins the book--and we see his vendetta against Killraven progress when they inevitably engage in Round Two of their struggle, where we learn the details of the Warlord's work with the Martians.

Though it's apparent with the High Overlord that the Martians have already achieved the greater mobility they sought, it would seem they prefer a more biological solution for themselves--and, no doubt, using humans to that end provides another source of cruelty and amusement for them.

Of course, even in captivity, Killraven isn't going to yield to this man--but yet again, the Warlord proves he's not to be trifled with.

In due time, though, they have it out, once and for all, which brings about a strange ending indeed for the Warlord--for as Killraven himself notes, this is not a man deserving of mercy, yet Killraven spares his life regardless, even when he's repeatedly shown to be utterly merciless to human collaborators.

Finally, we meet Skar, a cyborg who uses his custom-built tripod "the Devil's Marauder" to not only stalk and slay humans but runs a testing site in Indianapolis which stages tripod battles for (what else?) the amusement of the attending Martian spectators.

In his final encounter with Killraven's band, Skar exacts a heavy toll, causing the death of the Freeman, Hawk, as well as Carmilla's cloned and mutated father, "Grok." How interesting that here, in order to gain the advantage, Killraven again makes use of a ray-weapon, though for dramatic purposes he settles things with Skar with flailing fists.

That brings us to Yellowstone, and what would be the last appearance of the Martians in this series as we discover their construction of a simulated environment for themselves that also serves the purpose of housing a Martian nursery facility. Killraven's unpredictable ability of clairvoyance allows him to have a startling vision of that environment which, at present, he cannot interpret accurately.

(It's news to me that tortoises can charge at sufficient speeds to be viable mounts in a jousting tournament.  We can only presume the Martians and their co-opted scientists instituted improvements on the species.)

Other surprises come in the form of the return of the High Overlord, as well as the revelation of Killraven's younger brother who goes by the name of Death-Raven--fully in thrall to the Martians, but whose manner nevertheless appears to grate on the Overlord.

In addition we meet our "guides" through this landscape--a young, progressive Martian and his elder mentor, the former's only exposure to Mars having been this simulation of their native environment. Consequently, the elder must field questions that force him to address the reasons for the invasion of Earth, and the treatment of its indigenous race--even as Killraven and his band infiltrate the complex.

Soon enough, Killraven's group is discovered in the vast nursery by the Martians, just as Killraven and Carmilla have been having a difference of opinion on the fate of the helpless birthlings in alien incubators full of "thousand[s] of infant martians ... These are not suckling babes, woman! Within the year they will be feeding on human flesh and blood! Adding to the ranks of those who subjugate our planet!" The matter is tabled when the group has no choice but to flee into the simulation to escape their pursuers--where our young Martian learns an unintended lesson that reshapes his thoughts, to Killraven's sorrow.

Ideally, this take on War Of The Worlds, though under the Marvel banner, would have been fine as a concept to stand on its own--yet in subsequent years, it's been put through the alternate universe/Earth-[INSERT NUMBER HERE] wringer a number of times in an effort to enable or otherwise justify Killraven's struggle with the Martians with the inclusion of mainstream comics characters. One exception was the 2002 Killraven 6-issue series by artist/writer Alan Davis and inker Mark Farmer which was a reimagining of the Amazing Adventures series, with Davis adapting and making use of McGregor's characters in different scenarios. I remember picking up a few issues at the time, and though it ultimately wasn't my cup of tea, it's a reasonably fine effort on Davis's part.