FIRELORD: HIS EARLY STORIES

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the early stories of Marvel’s Firelord.

THOR Vol 1 #225 (July 1974)

Title: The Coming of Firelord

Villain: Firelord

Synopsis: Picking up from the previous issue, Thor and Hercules defeat Thor’s recurring foe the Destroyer. The spirit animating the metal creation returns to the body of Professor Clement Holmes, leaving the Destroyer’s body motionless.

Time passes as Thor hangs out with Hercules and periodically turns into his human form as Donald Blake M.D. In that form he continues to tend to the hospitalized Asgardian woman named Krista, who was injured fighting the Greco-Roman god Pluto a few issues back.

Meanwhile, a being called Firelord arrives on Earth and enters Krista’s hospital. People attack Firelord, who injures them, prompting Hercules to fight him.

Thor joins Hercules in fighting Firelord, who eventually reveals that he is the latest herald of Galactus. He summons that devourer of worlds to Earth.

THOR Vol 1 #226 (August 1974) 

Title: Who Stands with Galactus?

Villains: Galactus, Firelord and Planet Ego

Synopsis: Having completed summoning Galactus, Firelord refuses to answer any questions and flies off. When Galactus arrives, the world is surprised to see that he lands near where Thor and Hercules have been waiting for him.

Galactus explains that he instructed Firelord to summon him when he had made contact with Thor – getting Hercules, too, was just a bonus. Galactus tells Herc and Thor that the living planet Ego has broken free of the Black Galaxy, where Thor and Galactus had trapped Ego.

Galactus had tried feeding on Planet Ego once again but Ego, clearly insane now, overcame Galactus and took to feeding on planets himself. The Big G. convinces Thor and Hercules to join him and Firelord in trying to destroy Ego, who, now that he is free of the Black Galaxy, may eventually add Earth to the list of planets he has fed upon.

THOR Vol 1 #227 (September 1974)

Title: In Search of Ego

Villain: Ego the Living Planet

Synopsis: Thor and Hercules join Firelord and Galactus in the Big G.’s spaceship and head out into space looking for Ego.

After an unknown amount of time, they find the entity, who attacks them as they draw near.

Hercules, Thor and Firelord descend to the surface of Planet Ego to do battle with all of the elements, animated nature and humanoid rock-creatures he can throw at them. Meanwhile, as planned, Galactus fights his own way down to the surface at one of Ego’s poles to carry out his own form of attack. 

Thor, Herc and Firelord fight their way through caverns leading deep inside Ego, battling his creations as they go. Thor winds up further ahead than his two allies and comes upon the core of Ego, the Living Planet.

In Ego’s case, the planetary core is an enormous brain-like organ. Thor hurls his hammer at it and energy bursts forth from the brain, knocking out the thunder god.

THOR Vol 1 #228 (October 1974)

Title: Ego: Beginning and End

Synopsis: Thor’s hammer strike accomplished nothing more than unleashing a thought-storm from Ego’s consciousness. That wave of thoughts was powerful enough to render our hero unconscious, while causing him to dream certain of Ego’s memories.

Those thoughts at last reveal Ego’s origin. Long ago, it was a scientist named Egros on a planet which orbited an ancient star. The Stranger, one of the Elders of the Universe, arrived in the distant past and began conducting his latest bizarre experiments on the star.

NOTE: The Elders of the Universe were the surviving members of the very first intelligent species to have evolved after the Big Bang. (As opposed to Galactus, who is the sole survivor of the pre-Big Bang universe in Marvel cosmology.) Other Elders include the Collector and the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum in the Marvel movies).

Back to the story, the Stranger’s experiments caused that star to go nova. Egros had been working on ways of saving his planet and his people from being destroyed in that nova. He alone failed to reach the interior bunkers he had built and, as a side-effect of the Stranger’s experiments on the star, the energies unleashed managed to merge Egros with every living thing on the planet and even the planet itself, making him Ego, the Living Planet.

Years earlier in the Thor series, Asgardians had removed a chunk of matter from Ego and that segment grew into the being known as Ego Prime (Kurt Russell in the Marvel movies.) Though not even Odin realized it, removing that chunk eventually caused Ego to go mad and begin his destructive rampage.

Thor comes to, and Hercules & Firelord let him know that they have won. While the three of them fought Ego, Galactus used his massive power and his technology to transform part of Ego into virtual thrusters, sending the living planet back into exile.

Galactus flies Thor and Hercules back to Earth with him and Firelord in the Big G.’s spaceship. By the time they arrive back on Earth, Herc and Thor have gotten to know Firelord pretty well and realize he longs to be free of his servitude to Galactus.

The devourer of worlds refuses unless a suitable replacement can be found. Thor talks Galactus into using a tiny fraction of his energies to revive and animate the Destroyer armor and use it as his new herald.

Galactus agrees, setting Firelord free and taking the Destroyer with him as his new herald, thus preventing the Destroyer from ever threatening the Earth again. (For several years, anyway.)

THOR Vol 1 #232 (February 1975)

Title: Lo, the Raging Battle

Villain: Loki

Synopsis: Firelord has been flying around exploring the Earth since leaving the service of Galactus. He can’t quite explain what strange hold the planet has on him after he has seen far more impressive sights out in space. (NOTE: This secret will be revealed several issues hence.)

In the forests of America’s Pacific Northwest he comes upon a cube-like object. He enters it and finds himself face to face with Thor’s archenemy Loki who tells him he has a message that he must convey to the thunder god.

Cut to Thor on a rooftop in New York City that night. Firelord arrives to give him Loki’s message but the usual comic book misunderstanding causes Thor and Firelord to fight each other for a time. At length the misunderstanding is cleared up and Thor tells Firelord to accompany him to Avengers Mansion so he can reveal Loki’s message to other Avengers, too.

Meanwhile, at that mansion, Iron Man is informed by Tom Fagan in Rutland Vermont that the seemingly crazed and helpless Loki who has been in his custody since the Avengers and Defenders clashed with Dormammu and Loki has been replaced with an innocent man who knows nothing about how he wound up where he is.

Thor and Firelord suddenly arrive. Firelord explains to Thor and Iron Man about his encounter with a sane Loki who wanted him to taunt Thor with this message: That when Dormammu’s power blasted through him from the Evil Eye of Avalon at the end of their battle with the Defenders and the Avengers, Loki gained all of Dormammu’s godlike power added to his own.

All of that power proved too much for Loki’s mind and he was temporarily insane. He regained his sanity over the months since then, left an imposter with Tom Fagan in Vermont and stands ready to use his now-incomprehensible power to ravage Thor’s beloved Earth.   

THOR Vol 1 #233 (March 1975)

Title: Midgard Aflame

Villain: Loki

Synopsis: Loki uses his overwhelming new powers to conquer Asgard and enthrall its armies to prepare to invade Earth (Midgard) at his command.

Meanwhile in New York City, Thor has gone for a walk to brace himself for whatever Loki may have planned. He returns to Avengers Mansion, where Iron Man and Firelord are also awaiting the arrival of the other Avengers to brief them on Loki’s renewed menace.

The entire mansion has been surrounded by a forcefield which Thor cannot break through, nor can Iron Man and Firelord from the other side. Thor learns it is Loki’s doing and that he has similarly imprisoned the Fantastic Four at the Baxter Building. Individual force fields are imprisoning Hulk, Spider-Man and all the other super-powered beings on Earth, so potent is Loki now that he has Dormammu’s power added to his own.

Three hours later, Thor is at the Pentagon talking with General Sam Sawyer and other officers about this new global crisis. It is obvious that only Thor has been left free to move about because Loki wants this to be just between the two of them.

Suddenly, cubes like the kind Loki used to bring Firelord to him appear at military bases all over the world. Asgardian armies pour through them. Loki himself leads the army invading Washington D.C. since Thor is in nearby Arlington at the Pentagon.

With television audiences around the world watching the Asgardian invasion, Thor fights Loki and his army near the 14th Street Bridge. After a time, Loki teleports Thor back to the Pentagon and settles in for an Asgardian occupation of Washington D.C. for the night. General Sawyer informs Thor that with every super-being on Earth imprisoned by Loki the regular armies are preparing to use nuclear weapons on the areas held by the Asgardian troops.

THOR Vol 1 #234 (April 1975)

Title: Oh, Bitter Victory

Villain: Loki

Synopsis: Near daybreak, Thor leads a small group of American special forces soldiers in infiltrating Loki’s camp. Loki catches them and imprisons Thor and the soldiers in a forcefield of their own. He mocks Thor and says that since he made it this easy he’ll make him observe his conquest of the Earth and be helpless to stop him.

Meanwhile, at Avengers Mansion, Iron Man and Firelord have grown so desperate to escape and help fight Loki that they unite to blast just one small part of the forcefield around the mansion in hopes of shattering it. For hours they blast that section with Iron Man’s repulsor rays and Firelord’s cosmic plasma blasts and the heat of suns.

By the time they manage to break through a small part of the barrier, Iron Man’s armor has depleted all its energy and he collapses, so Firelord alone breaks free before the force field reseals itself behind him. He flies to Washington D.C. and leads General Sawyer and his men in an attack on Loki’s position.

Loki becomes so furious over this development that he loses a fraction of concentration, leading to Thor freeing himself of his force field prison. Thor challenges Loki, for just this one time and nevermore, to fight him one on one, with both armies and Firelord sitting out the battle.

As everyone else looks on, Thor and Loki clash. Through comic book luck, it turns out during the fight that Loki has managed to wear out all of the power he gained from Dormammu, which enables Thor to defeat him. Loki is out cold, undoing all the force fields around the world. The Earth is saved. 

THOR Vol 1 #246 (Apr 1976)

Title: The Fury of Firelord

Villains: El Lobo and the Gypsy

Synopsis: Thor sees television news reports about Firelord inexplicably fighting alongside rebel general Ramon Xuc aka El Lobo and his army trying to take over the fictional nation of Costa Verde in Central America. Thor flies himself and Jane Foster to the country to investigate.

It turns out Firelord has been enthralled by the supervillainess called the Gypsy. She is forcing him to help her ally El Lobo conquer the country. Thor and Firelord fight it out for a time, but the Gypsy manages to enthrall Thor as well for the cliffhanger ending.

THOR Vol 1 #247 (May 1976)

Title: The Flame and the Hammer

Villains: El Lobo and the Gypsy

Synopsis: The enthralled Thor and Firelord make short work of wiping out the government armies in Costa Verde. El Lobo seems certain to now become dictator of the country.

Jane Foster manages to escape El Lobo’s guards and fights it out with the Gypsy. Jane wins and manages to use the headband jewel which gives the Gypsy her power. She frees Thor and Firelord from her control and they undo the harm they’ve done by now defeating El Lobo’s army, leaving the legitimate government of Costa Verde in power.

X-MEN Vol 1 #105 (June 1977)

Title: Phoenix Unleashed

Villains: Eric the Red and Firelord

Synopsis: Firelord has been convinced by the alien Shi’ar Agent Eric the Red (Davan Shakari) that the X-Men are plotting to take over the Earth. Firelord, still inexplicably drawn to our planet, attacks them at Eric the Red’s urging.

Because of his cosmic-level powers Firelord is able to defeat Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Banshee and Colossus. Phoenix (Jean Grey) newly mutated from her former Marvel Girl form, proves to be so powerful she can fight Firelord to a draw.

To buy time for herself and her fellow X-Men to use Eric the Red’s stargate to follow him to wherever he has taken the rightful Shi’Ar Empress Lilandra, Phoenix blasts Firelord miles away. When he flies back to the scene of the battle the X-Men are already gone.

Professor X explains to Firelord how he was misled by Eric the Red, so Firelord remains to guard the stargate until the X-Men return, which they do within a few hours.