Artifacts of Infinity Everett Christensen and Jonathan Hutson

Today we're covering a crossover between the Defenders and the Guardians of the Galaxy. This episode is about the Badoon who are extraterrestrial Bad-Dudes from our first Guardians of the Galaxy Coverage back in Episode 14. We’ve got a Time Travel Team-Up for you that goes into excruciating detail about how terrible the Badoon are!

Dramatis Personae:
Protagonists


Defenders
-Dr. Strange - Stephen Strange
-Hulk - Bruce Banner
-Nighthawk - Kyle Richmond
-Valkyrie
-Aragorn
Guardians of the Galaxy
-Vance Astro - Vance Astrovik
-Charlie-27
-Martinex
-Yondu - Yondu Udonta
-Starhawk
Jack Norriss

Antagonists


Eelar - YESSSS!!!!!!!
Brotherhood of the Badoon
Zoms

Hard to Judge but… Good Grief


Sisterhood of the Badoon
-Queen Tolaria

Giant Size Defenders (1972) 5 “Eelar Moves in Mysterious Ways


Hulk is a whole mood in these issues and I love it. I don’t normally enjoy Hulk so much but Steve Gerber has a really fun voice for him throughout
Why… why are the Defenders fighting… fish? Hulk doesn’t know, but he’ll do it!
Eelar is kinda rad looking, actually
These goons straight up shank someone in the beginning of this issue, and that’s surprising
Charlie-27 sure is a slab-o-beef
Going into this, my prediction is that Nighthawk is Starhawk
I actually really like that the spaceship falling from the sky isn’t hidden from anyone. All the time in these stories they act like no one notices these things, but in this issue everyone notices, is kinda alarmed, then goes about with life as usual… which seems way more realistic to me
Dude! Is it ever explained why the fish are involved?
This kid… I feel bad for him and want Valkyrie to punch his dad in the stomach real good once
I like this Vance Astro costume a lot
Gerry Conway’s art in this is quite dynamic
Hulk Punch Fire, not Fish… I’m crying!
Getting the band back together to Mess Eelar Up!
Oh boy, this kid is gonna cause trouble

Defenders (1972) 26 -  “Savage Time”


So, I gotta talk about this Valkyrie/Jack Norriss situation for a moment. There’s certainly backstory I’m missing but I feel terribly for everyone involved here. It honestly ripped me up reading this whole saga. I can’t imagine coming home one day and my wife legit didn’t know who I was. I’d probably act similarly to Jack here, honestly. Trying anything you can think of to spark a memory. At the same time Valkyrie is an entirely different person and has no memory. His forceful kiss is definitely line-crossing in very uncomfortable and bad ways… that said, again, were I in his shoes…

It’s heartbreaking and tragic and I want the best for both of them and in 616, I just don’t expect it…


All that said, Valkyrie is good peeps, she saves him without a second thought even after so remarkably uncomfortable a moment
The Enterprise… I mean Captain America… nah, I mean Enterprise, is even more wrecked than it looked before and the News is covering it
Oh man, an alien emerging from a space ship with a human kid… how are you still alive Martinex?
Strange with the save!
Major Vance Astro’s early recap is… pointed… at us… still…
Humans raised as food, SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM!
I had to go back to Two-in-One to see if Killraven was Wundarr. I’m still not sure, but refuse to google it
Techno-Barrons is my new 80’s retro band
Why is Aqua-Man in this issue?
Dude, these Mercury dudes look Rad AF
So… much… recap…
Jack does need to back the heck off though
The Enterprise is repaired and ready to head back to Stardate 1312.4

Defenders (1972) 27 - “Three Worlds to Conquer!”


The Badoon are the worst
Hulk is suspish of transport… AS HE SHOULD BE, DON’T YOU WATCH CGP GREY?!?
Chill Jack, you still aren’t helping
I kinda dig the half lizard half ape design here though
Why is Valkyrie getting weaker? What the heck is happening?
Woah… glowy person
Planet of the Stereotypical 60’s
Seriously, this issue has big Star Trek vibes
I dig this robot design, and the

Episode 17: Episode Title
Today we’ll be covering an introduction to HIM/Adam Warlock. This won’t be in depth because although we think of Warlock being Cosmic, that aspect of his character doesn’t develop until later on. We’ll be covering Thor (1966) 165-166 and Marvel Premiere (1972) 1

Dramatis Personae:
PROTAGONISTS


HIM - Adam Warlock
The High Evolutionary
Sir Raam
Hulk - Bruce Banner
The Watcher - Uatu
Fantastic Four
-Mr. Fantastic - Reed Richards
-Thing - Ben Grimm
-Human Torch - Johnny Storm
Counter-Earth Disciples of Adam’s
-Jason Grey
-David Carter
-Ellie Roberts
Alicia Masters

ANTAGONISTS


Asgardians
-Thor
-Sif
-Balder
-Odin
-Karnilla
-Haag
Man-Beast
Kohbra

Preface:


HIM was created by scientists to be a “perfect being” in Fantastic Four (1961) 65-67
Pluto mentions that a powerful being is inside the Advance Science Research Center in Thor (1966) 163-164
Jack Kirby had intended HIM to be a perfect Objectivist. Roy Thomas was inspired by Jesus Christ Superstar to try and create a messiah figure. This likely explains some of the weird facets of the character in these early portrayals as well as possibly being one of the early dividing wedges between Kirby and Stan Lee.

Thor (1966) 165: “HIM!”


Thor, Sif, and Balder have defeated Pluto’s armies
Thor and company investigate the Atomic Research Center, Thor is concerned because of Pluto’s foreboding
Karnilla, still an absolute QUEEN, pines for Balder and is upset that Balder has spurned her love. She’s salty that Odin has protected Balder from her magic so she turns to Haag, the seeress
Haag is prepared to snatch Balder directly to Nornheim but Karnilla bids her wait
The Atomic Research Center begins quaking and all is engulfed in light. A figure emerges from a cocoon
It’s HIM
He recaps his origin and concludes with launching himself into space and cocooning himself.
Uatu sees the cocoon, bemoans his interference in human affairs, then interferes again, returning the cocoon to Earth
Thor criticizes HIM for despising mankind but HIM rebuts that he is a law and truth unto HIMself
Thor is ticked off because he and Sif are in a relationship. Unfortunately for everyone he’s angry enough that he isn’t listening to reason as Sif entreats him to de-escalate.
HIM runs off with Sif… not cool dude
HIM teleports away with Sif but Thor and Balder catch up with them quickly.
Haag takes this opportunity to strike, snatching Balder in her gigantic hand which Thor blasts out of existence.
As Thor returns his attention to HIM and Sif he finds them gone. Completely enraged, Thor swears Vengeance against HIM!

Thor (1966) 166: “A God Berserk!”


Thor opens the issue pitching a fit and shattering mountains in the process. He has given in to Warriors Madness, a High Crime in Asgard
Thor teleports himself and Balder to HIM again.
Karnilla snatches Balder again but this time Thor, lost to Warriors Madness, ignores his entangled half-brother
Thor and HIM begin brawling. Thor is so enraged that he sets down Mjolnir so he can beat HIM to death with his own bare hands
Belder begs Thor to relent but Thor ain’t having that
HIM is defeated and thus cocoons himself again, launching HIMself into space.
Thor sobers up now that the conflict is over and Sif is back in his arms and is overwhelmed with guilt at the shame he’s brought upon himself
Thor, Sif, and Balder return to Asgard and Thor prepares to face justice at the throne of Odin

Marvel Premiere (1972) 1: “And Men shall call HIM… Warlock!”


The opening page of this issue is an excruciatingly messianic image of HIM floating in space surrounded by roiling vapors of power with the High Evolutionary’s head in the bottom corner looking on
An asteroid floats past the Earth, then the Moon but it’s no mere asteroid, it’s the hidden base of the High Evolutionary
He recaps his prior adventures in Thor 134-135 and Tales to Astonish 94-96. He was a scientist named Herbert Wyndham who created a ra

For this episode, we have added a page to our site with resources for you to explore. There is a lot there to process and take in. Also, we will be adding to this as we come across works we believe are valuable to the conversation.

https://artifactsofinfinity.com/social-justice-resources

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Episode 15: The Galactus Palaver
Today we’ll be covering Thor (1966) 167-169 which covers Thor’s second encounter with Galactus, but what does Galactus want?

Dramatis Personae:

PROTAGONISTS


Thor
Odin
Sif
Balder
Heimdall
The Warriors Three


Fandral the Dashing




Hogun the Grim




Volstagg the Lion of Asgard


The Watcher

ANTAGONISTS


Galactus
Loki
Karnilla
Haag

Preface:


We’re covering 167 even though it’s mainly Asgardian deity stuff because it’s vital to the story
Thor has fought HIM for the sake of Sif, but committed the ultimate Asgardian sin of slipping into the Warrior Madness
Sif is a self actualized warrior of Asgard who is awesome, not a prize to be won.

Thor (1966) 167 - “This World Renounced!”


Thor is drumline marched to the throne of Odin for committing the sin of giving into The Warrior Madness--fighting for revenge instead of justice alone
Thor pleads guilty and proclaims that he will accept whatever punishment Odin metes out
Sif pleads for Thor but Balder restrains her. Sif insists that she should share in the burden since Thor was acting on her behalf. Sif is awesome
Odin sentences Thor to an act of restorative justice, Find Galactus!
Balder meets Heimdall at the Rainbow Bridge and heads to Earth to serve in Thor’s stead. Karnilla-The Queen of the Norns spys on Balder and thirsts. She’s a babe!
Loki wants to take advantage of the situation so he enlists Karnilla’s minion Haag. Haag uses a voodoo doll to injure Balder’s brain.
Odin and Thor talk. Odin begins unveiling the burden of leadership to Thor. Odin presents Thor with a sweet spaceship equipped with a device called Odin’s Eye which will let Thor find what he seeks. Thor recognizes that the fate of the Realm Eternal is on the line and shoulders the responsibility
Thor heads to Earth and finds Balder unconscious and thus changes back into Dr. Donald Blake to treat him but is immediately beset upon by Loki.
Odin pops up and explains to Loki that though he earned Mjolnir fairly, if he wishes to keep the hammer then he must seek Galactus. Loki is no fool and nopes out
As Donald Blake saves Balder and takes to the sky to begin his quest, we see Galactus consuming a planet, wreathed in smoke.

Thor (1966) 168 - “Galactus Found!”


Odin urges the Odinship to depart
Balder is discharged from the hospital and is surprised to find The Warriors Three waiting for him. They vow to right the wrongs of the world
In the B-Plot there is a lot of Yellow Scare going on but we aren’t covering that in this episode. It’s a bad look every time but is certainly a sign of the times it was written in
The art in this issue is so good
Thor finds Galactus and attempt to enjoin battle but Galactus holds him back with his Galactian Barrier.
Galactus then uses telepathy to show Thor a vision of a Watcher who witnesses the crash of an interstellar ship. The Watcher, and thus Thor see that the crew has succumbed to plague. Thor begins thrashing in the visi-haze
Galactus explains that he’ll release Thor from the vision but Thor must cease the enmity between them. Thor agrees and Galactus begins explaining who he actually is.

Thor (1966) 169 - “The Awesome Answer!”


At the start of the issue, Galactus is tired of avoiding people who fight him
Galactus explains that the plague ship only contained one survivor, himself
Galactus is angry at his lot in the universe, there is only hunger and the gnawing memories
Galactus explains Taa, his homeworld, was incredibly advanced.
Galan of Taa (Galactus) has been seeking an answer for the growing radiation that’s been plaguing their universe, he has found that there’s no escape
Even their vast space fleet has been overcome by this radiation plague
The few remaining Taa scientists board the last ship and head towards the center of the calamity, flying the ship into the largest sun in their universe
Everyone died in the radiation except Galan but he was transformed
A Watcher observed all of this

Episode 14: Phantom of the Galaxy
Today we’ll be covering Marvel Super-Heroes (1967) 18, and Marvel Two-in-One (1974) 4-5. This is a more relaxed episode so we can try to get caught up.

Dramatis Personae:
PROTAGONISTS
Guardians of the Galaxy
Charlie-27
Major Victory - Vance Astrovik
Martinex - Martinex T’Naga
Yondu - Yondu Udonta
Fantastic Four
Mr. Fantastic - Reed Richards
Thing - Ben Grimm
Medusa - Medusalith Amaquelin-Boltagon
Avengers
Captain America - Steve Rogers
Sharron Carter
Namorita - Namorita Prentiss

ANTAGONISTS
Brotherhood of Badoon
Drang - Supreme Commander of the Eastern Sector
Monster of Badoon
Misc Badoon
Zoms
Saturnian Hound-Hawks

Preface:


This is the first few appearances of the Guardians of the Galaxy
To clarify, this isn’t the GotG from the movies, this is the original team.
They are no longer in existence

Marvel Super-Heroes (1967) 18 - “Earth Shall Overcome!”


Charlie-27 is fifth generation Jovian. He’s been on Space-Militia Duty and returns home after six months to find it overthrown by Badoon
He flees death, taking the Living Matter Transmitter in a mad frenzy, ending up on Pluto
Again he is attacked by Badoon, chased by Saturnian Hound-Hawks
Martinex is a crystalline human Pluvian.
Charlie-27 and Martinex work together to escape Pluto
Yondu and Major Vance Astro are captured, in the Badoon throne room on Earth
Major Vance Astro is the first human to leave Earth for a distant star, Centauri. He’s in a full body copper suit which protects him from aging but if it’s ever breached then he’ll age and die instantly
When he arrives at his destination, due to advances in technology there’s already human colonists there, celebrating him as a hero
Yondu is from Earth’s first non-solar system colony on Centauri-IV
Having teleported again using the Pluvian Tele-Tran, Charlie-27 and Martinex appear in the throne room on Earth and help Vance and Yondu fight their way out to a Jump Tube and land on Planet New New York to begin the fight to defeat the Badoon

Marvel Two-in-One (1974) 4 - “Doomsday 3014!”


Much of this issue is setup, I’ll skip that here
In the Baxter Building there is a scream in the lab. Thing, Sharron Carter, Medusa, Reed, and Captain America respond and find a woman who’s been teleported there
She’s from the future and is shocked to discover Captain America and the Fantastic Four, fainting
Her name is Tarin and after getting the info on the Badoon invasion Steve knows they need to travel to the future to help
Cap, Sharron Carter, and Thing escort Tarin to the future with Medusa and Reed staying behind to run the time machine
They’re immediately beset by Zoms, enslaved humans under Badoon control
The Monster of Badoon attacks and makes short work of the team, Tarin flees for further help

Marvel Two-in-One (1974) 5 - “Seven Against the Empire!”


The Monster of Badoon and Zoms bring our heroes before Drang in the throne room
Drang mind-probes Cap learning the back story
The heroes awaken and begin to fight back
Ben may not know how to drive alien cars, but he knows how to smack a baboon with one!
Sharron Carter is dope and she does dope stuff
Thing is definitely struggling with anger throughout these two issues
Tarin gets to the Human Resistance, once they are caught up on events they summon the Guardians back to help
Their starship, named the good ship Captain America is absolutely a Star Trek Galaxy Class ship, dead ringer
With all the heroes combine they fight a fraught battle but defeat Drang and his forces
Sharron, Thing, and Cap return to their home time

Creators of these issues:
Arnold Drake, Gene Colan, Mike Esposito, Stan Goldberg, Herb Cooper, Stan Lee, Steve Gerber, Sal Buscema, Frank Giacoia, Petra Goldberg, Charlotte Jetter, Roy Thomas, Gil Kane, and Joe Sinnott

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Episode 13: Galactus Boogaloo
Today we’ll be covering Thor 160 - 162, the first major encounter between Thor and Galactus.

Dramatis Personae:
PROTAGONISTS
Thor - Thor Odinson
Asgardians
Odin - Odin Borson
Sif
Heimdal
Fandrall the Dashing
Hogun the Grim
Volstagg - The Lion of Asgard
Torger - The Cosmic Counselor
Balder - The Brave
Karnilla - The Norn Queen
Rigellians
Tana Nile
Rigellian Grand Commissioner
Recorder
The Wanderers

ANTAGONISTS
Unnamed Taurian
Galactus
Ego - The Living Planet

Preface:
The last time we covered Thor we saw Galactus buzz past on his way to find the Dark Galaxy
This episode is very relevant to the first arc of Thor (2020)

Thor 160: “And Now… Galactus!”


Something crashes onto a nearby roof so Thor investigates, suspecting a spaceship (what a life to lead!)
He’s greeted by Tana Nile of the Rigellian Colonizers who explains that she is seeking help, Thor heads to Rigel with her
At this same moment Recorder entreats Odin to allow him to return to Rigel because they have need of him, Odin agrees
Sif also entreats Odin to allow her to join Thor, Odin refuses
We’re reminded of Galactus not being evil or good, but a force of the universe
A Taurian smashes into the spaceship. Thor and Tana team up to stop him. The Taurian begs mercy and explains that it was being controlled by Galactus
Thor is enraged when he sees the desolation that Galactus has left behind. He and Tana complete the voyage to Rigel where Thor agrees to help stop Galactus. Recorder joins him!
Thor and Recorder hop in their cosmic hot-rod and head off to stop Galactus.
Galactus has found Ego and the battle begins, destroying the cosmic hot-rod… pour one out

Thor 161: “Shall a God Prevail?”


Thor and Recorder float in space between Galactus and Ego
Ego strikes with the power of an entire world but Galactus is unmatched in the universe
The Wanderers rescue Thor and Recorder with Thor vowing vengeance
Thor strikes Galactus injuring him!!!
Thor rigs up a shrine for Mjolnir which releases the sum totality of its Asgardian Energy, driving Galactus off
Everyone is trapped on Ego, but Ego transforms the surface to be hospitable and lets the Wanderers know that they have found sanctuary. Ego, is a darn liar though, I am salty… but that’s a story for another day.

Thor 162: “Galactus is Born!”


Thor and Recorder return to Rigel
The High Commissioner almost makes an unforgivable mistake by removing Recorders memory bank but Thor steps in, rejecting the notion that the Rigelians have the right to do this. He’s defending his friend!
Tana Nile gives Thor a big ol’ smack on the cheek. It’s cute
Thor returns to Earth and is met by the Warriors Three and Heimdall. Odin has summoned Thor
Torger, the cosmic counselor has been tracking Galactus, who is still a threat
Odin looks Kirby AF and it’s rad!
Odin looks into the past, to Galactus’ origin: In an age of Space Wars Galactus Incubation Cell floated into the gravity well of a planet at war. They realized he could bring doom upon the planet, but decided it was worth the gamble to awaken whatever was inside the cell, that they may gain an edge in the war. It was not worth it.

Creators of these issues:
Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Vince Colletta, & Sam Rosen

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