Saturday Splash Page #120

 

"Call-Out Post," in Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill #2, by Michael Avon Oeming and Dan Berman (writers), Andrea Di Vito (artist), Laura Villari (color artist), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer)

Released in 2005, around the time Thor was being shelved for a couple years via a Ragnarok, this mini-series sees Beta Ray Bill return to his duties as protector of the Korbinites, right when they need him the most. Galactus has arrived, though the Korbinites see him as Ashta, a great destroyer god of their religion (Di Vito draws this as sort of giant purple jellyfish or flagellate protozoan), and he's hungry. As usual.

Worse, Big G has himself a new herald, and Stardust might be the worst of the lot. Stardust carries a religious fervor in its devotion to Galactus, so much so it regards beings refusing to be eaten as an affront. Not just those who try to fight Galactus. Even the Korbinites who are trying to flee, Stardust is intent on eradicating.

While it makes sense Galactus finds such devotion desirable in his herald, after all the others were either too self-serving or too moral, it still annoys me. Galactus knows this is happening and does nothing to stop it, which puts a lie to all those, "Galactus only does what he must," and "Galactus takes no pleasure in it," soliloquies. Then tell your herald not to finish off the genocide you start, you purple jackass.

Between Stardust and a Korbinite religious order that dislikes how Bill talks up the Asgardians, Beta Ray can't save the planet. But he puts up enough of a fight - including one bit where he slams Stardust into an asteroid, then uses Stormbreaker to drive Stardust's own spear through its chest - protecting the survivors, transferred into the glowy orb up there, that Stardust ups the ante to the point of endangering the entire universe by releasing some nightmare creature. The creature, called Asteroth, presents itself as a lady with bat wings and a Witchblade-esque costume. Di Vito didn't bring much of an other-dimensional hellbeast energy to that design.

It feels as though the mini-series kind of goes off the rails there. One too many additional elements, as Bill and Stardust team-up to try and fix Stardust's mess, and mostly fail. Asteroth is ultimately defeated, but Bill and his ship Skuttlebutt end up in some white void, thanked by mysterious beings for their efforts, and at Bill's request, sent to Asgard. Which is destroyed. So much for re-settling the surviving Korbinites there. Oh, and Asteroth hid its essence in the orb and feasted on the souls within. So much for there being any Korbinites to re-settle.

The end result is, Bill is reborn on Earth, in the body of a homeless man that's just died. He's still got Stormbreaker, and can transform into his traditional horse-face form (albeit with a new costume that mostly involves a more elaborate helm and no cape.)

I feel like most of this was ignored. I'm not sure Beta Ray Bill appeared in anything until JMS brought Thor back in 2007. Kieron Gillen referenced Galactus eating the Korbinites' home in Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter, but Bill describes the bit about nearly dying on Asgard and seeing some mysterious cloaked figure take what was left of the meta-orb as possibly just a hallucination.

Trust Me, The Little Aliens Shift From Cute To Scary

When I reviewed Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #3, I talked a bit about how, as he weakens, Galactus is drawn less and less impressively by Kano. Galactus is less frequently drawn in large panels that dominate the page, and even within the smaller panels he occupies, he can be dwarfed or otherwise overwhelmed by other things (be it Bill, or the I'than armada).

I also wanted to discuss the shift in art with regard to the I'thans themselves. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't want to connect to my computer anymore, so I can't transfer the photos I took of the relevant pages, and the Internet hasn't really helped me in my search. So it's time for the always popular Art Post With No Art! I'm sure it will work, though. After all, you all bought Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter, right? Well, you'll buy it when it's released as a trade, then you can come back, read the post and be like "Oh, Calvin was totally right about that!"

Issue #1, Page 13: We're introduced to the I'thians as one of their ships evacuates I'Than IX. Their ship is a crystalline design, a bit like an oddly shaped diamond. Our first glimpse of an actual I'thian comes in the next two panels, as the pilot describes their attempts to flee the planet without being killed by Stardust*. It's a furry critter, with big purple eyes, and the rings on the neck of its suit suggest an isopod (roly-poly, or pillbug) to me. When the pilot sees that his ship's been caught by Stardust, all he can do is lament that someone has to draw the short straw. If the ship has any defensive capabilities, the pilot doesn't consider them worth trying. Fortunately, Bill arrives, and battles Stardust, enabling the ship to flee to I'than Prime. The brief shots we have of the I'thans in this issue make them look small, and generally sort of helpless. In a panel shared by the ship and Stardust, the Herald takes up more space than the ship, and the two facial shots of the I'than sit above and below a much larger Stardust, as it issues its proclamation of death.

Issue #2 starts with that same ship arriving safely at I'than Prime, which is a lush, green world, with clear blue skies. The I'thans all wear brightly colored clothing, and are rendered as sort of cute, as the pilot describes his savior, making hand gestures to represent Bill's hammer and 'elongated face'. One of the I'thans remarks that thanks to Bill, they've evacuated without a single casualty, and isn't that lucky where Galactus is involved? Then Stardust arrives, and takes up 80% of Page 2 (or Page 3 if we're counting recap pages) with another proclamation: Galactus is on his way. All the I'thans can do is look upward in concern.

On Page 7, the I'thans reappear, sporting odd helmets, which cover one of their eyes with a red lens, as they open the vaults, all the vaults. The skies are orange now, as it's probably sunset, and wherever they are on their planet, it's dirtier, a dead space. By Page 11, the I'thans have a armada in space, driving the Surfer away from their world under the sheer weight of their fire. These ships are very different. An ugly ochre, or beige color, and rounded off, no edges. Oddly, the ships look less threatening than the one we first see, what with the lack of pointy surfaces, but unlike the crystalline ships, these do possess firepower worthy of challenging a Herald.

Bill and Skuttlebutt land on the planet, and the twilight has deepened, and again, the location is not green looking. The I'thans faces are shown in shadows throughout Page 13, and even though Beta Ray Bill should tower over them, they occupy roughly the same space in a panel, and in the final panel of page 13, Bill is a small figure in the background as the I'than walks away. Even their large purple eyes are drawn smaller, beadier, less "Aww, aren't they cute?" When Bill returns to inform them he's struck them with a plague to force them to leave their world, they still don't resemble themselves from earlier in the issue, but the shadows are largely gone, and Bill looms over them again. They've been rendered powerless once more, and the sky still has some orange to it (it's morning now, instead of evening), and the foliage is still an ugly brown, possibly because the planet will be destroyed soon (by Bill, so that Galactus can't feed on it)?

In issue #3, the I'thans make their first appearance on page 9 (not counting the shadowy outline of the armada on Page 6). The insides of their warships are all deep reds, compared to lighter yellows and greens with the crystalline ships. Page 9 has four panels of I'thans inside their ships, set on top of a full-page shot of their amassed forces. In ship design, their fleets remind me of the ships of the Annihilation Wave, though I can't say whether Kano and Gillen are purposefully making a callback to the army that nearly destroyed the universe. In the interior shots, there is at least one I'than with a clenched fist in every panel, save the last one, which is an extreme close-up on the leader's face. That face is almost entirely blacked out, except for that glowing red lens, and his clenched, smiling teeth. There is nothing sweet, friendly, or adorable about that creature.

When they attack Galactus on page 11, Galactus dominates the first panel (which extends vertically the length of the page, covering roughly 40% of the page), but subsequently, the I'thans rule the rest, with the first panel a shot of the I'than leader giving a command, the second showing the Heralds overwhelmed trying to halt the attack, and the third, showing the sheer numbers of ships brought against Galactus as they make it past the Heralds and open fire. In that last panel, the sun is behind them, though whether it's meant to be rising on the I'thans and their renewed militarism, or setting on Galactus, I don't know. Either way, the armada nearly obscures the sky, and takes up considerably more of that panel than Galactus.

The last time we see any individual I'thans is when Bill throws himself between them and Galactus. They'd unleashed some ring-weapon larger than Galactus that put him on the mat, and now that Bill is defying them, the I'than leader is nearly snarling as he orders all missiles fired. Everything falls apart shortly afterwards, as Bill destroys enough missiles that Galactus can feed on this uninhabited world, and get some strength back. At which point (on Page 17) we start with a panel of Galactus announcing he's fed, where he is one relatively small figure, against all those ships. But in panel 2, the status quo is restored with a close-up on Galactus' face, announcing his displeasure. Panel 3 is Galactus firing energy, and while he doesn't fill that panel, he's the only thing of significance in it. Panel 4 shows the aftermath, as the I'than ships are burning to nothingness, and Galactus stands before them, now looking much larger than any individual ship, having reasserted himself.

It's unclear what happened to the I'thans. Not all of them were fighting Galactus, as the Surfer had mentioned refugees at the start of the issue. As for the military, Galactus couldn't have destroyed all of them since Bill ordered Skuttlebutt to save as many as he could, fearing Stardust would kill them for daring to attack Galactus. Whether Skuttlebutt was successful, and whether Stardust did end up hunting them down and killing them, we don't know. On the whole, the I'thans and their world are portrayed as being pretty well off until Stardust arrives, and when they tap into their old ways, they become less friendly looking, and their world stops looking like such a paradise. There's also quite a few scenes set at sunsets or sunrises. I'm guessing these indicate, in order: the end of the I'thans years of seclusion, Bill's willingness to do anything to stop Galactus, and like I mentioned a couple of paragraps ago, either the end of the I'thans or the return of Galactus to prominence.

I'd say that Kano, Alvaro Lopez the inker, and Javier Rodriguez the colorist all do an excellent job, both at showing the wax and wane of Galactus, and the shift of the I'thans back to their old ways, and the destruction that portends.

* Stardust is one of Galactus' two current Heralds. Problem is, where the Silver Surfer is really mopey, Stardust is really nuts. It considers it an honor to be devoured by Galactus, and tends to hunt down and kill any inhabitants of a world Galactus eats that escaped. In the Stormbreaker mini-series, this included the Korbinites, Beta Ray Bill's people.

Permanence Valued

We're going back, yet again, to Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1. Today I wanted to think about why Stardust is so devoted to Galactus. Stardust makes it pretty clear that it has no use for the the constantly changing lives of the Ethereals, that it admires the Corporeals, because they build, and change their surroundings, and they (and their creations) persevere long beyond the limits of their own lifespans. Given that, its loyalty to Galactus - who routinely destroys the Corporeals and the things they build - was puzzling to me on the surface. Of course, Stardust admits at the end that the admiration for corporeals was bull, and that Galactus is the only being that Stardust loves. The important question, as friend Tevion almost constantly has to remind his biology students, is why?

But then I realized this morning, that Galactus is a greater example of this resilience. He survived the previous universe. He's one of the few forces that can routinely end the existences of the hardy Corporeals. His is a name and legacy known throughout the entire universe, which is a monument in of itself. Stardust is enabling that legacy to not just continue (since Galactus has demonstrated the ability to find food himself before), but thrive (by making that easier).

And then I realized (about two minutes ago), that Galactus is perhaps a prime example of the merging of these two worlds. He was originally a Corporeal, and has their resilience and permanence, but is in some senses an Ethereal. Stardust describes its people as flitting from place to place, aimlessly. What does Galactus do, but travel the cosmos looking for food? That's it, that's all. There never seems to be a greater purpose to his travels, nothing planned to do along the way. A true nomad. So maybe there's something to that.

Or maybe it's something else entirely.

A Study In Contrasts

I'm going back to Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1 for today, because of something that occurred to me after I made Saturday's post. What I thought of was that maybe there was more to which heralds were spotlighted this issue than simply random chance, luck, or whatever. 

Terrax and Stardust are very different beings, and yet very similar. Terrax controls earth, is made out of it, or looks like he is. Solid, strong, changing only over long periods of time, as a result of a slow grind of external forces (think of the Grand Canyon being carved from the rocks over millions of years by water). Stardust is energy, and seems to control it. Ephemeral, shifting often, easily malleable into different forms, depending on the forces acting on it in that moment.

Terrax is possibly the worst Herald Galactus ever had. He accepted the power, and the job that came with it, but quickly proceeded to lead Galactus to a world that would poison him. The reason being that Terrax wanted to use the Power Cosmic as he saw fit, no "heralding" strings attached. In contrast, Stardust may be the most loyal Herald. Silver Surfer and Nova both seemed to have a "crisis of conscience" moment, making them question feeding Galactus inhabited worlds. Firelord and Air-Walker both had issues, though I can't remember what exactly. I think Firelord just didn't like taking orders. Morg was devoted, but too batshit insane to do his job without bringing heat down on Galactus. And if there's one thing Galactus enjoys, it's feeding without disturbance. Terrax I've already discussed. 

But Stardust, if guilty of going too far - the Stormbreaker mini-series, where Stardust decided no one should be allowed to survive Galactus devouring their world being an example - seems deeply devoted to the responsibilities that come with the Power Cosmic. Make sure Galactus stays fed? No problem! Only inhabited worlds around? Too bad for them, Galactus must survive, and so on. Basically, Stardust cares only for Galactus' needs, and Terrax only for his own. 

But where their personalities converge is in the lines they'll cross in their pursuit of what's important to them. Stardust wants to serve Galactus (why, I need to think more about), and to that end is willing to first attack its own kind (for barring the path), and then sacrifice those same members of its species to Galactus, to prove loyalty and devotion to the Devourer. Never mind that those were the last surviving members of the Ethereals other than Stardust, Galactus must... be... fed. 

With Terrax, it's a case of his confidence being gone. He was captured by Annihilus, turned into a puppet, and actually begged Gamora to end his life. He needs to restore his self-worth, and to do that he's going to inflict some damage on whoever makes themselves available. If it means attacking those who try to help him, or show concern, so be it. If it means destroying an entire planet, because the natives don't know how to live without someone telling them what to do, well that's what he'll do. Because the important thing is that people understand that Terrax is back in control, and he is to be feared.

Here Today, Gone Five Seconds Later

So I was fairly intrigued by the Stardust story in Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1 this week. The idea of a civilization made, not just of energy, but of the elementary particles remaining from the beginning of the universe was pretty cool, I thought. I'm not usually into what I'd describe as "non-objective art" (whether that's what it actually is, is another matter), but the second panel of the second page of the story is really beautiful. It makes me think of mesas in the American Southwest, only alive.

But I've been thinking about whether a civilization would spring up under the circumstances Stardust described, where everything they create reverts to what is described as 'dull, inert matter.' If things are in a constant state of flux, could a cohesive organization form? Stardust admits that its people (No clue if they have genders) were constantly changing, and if Stardust is any indication, they were as mercurial in temperment as they were in form. Stardust shifts from confused upon reforming, to focused on finding Galactus, to stunned when told of the Ethereals destruction, to violent when attacked by its kin, to regretful in the aftermath, to willing to sacrifice its species to Galactus, all in one story. The others don't seem quite that erratic, but they do go from angry at Stardust to grateful for survival within about three pages. So I'm just wondering whether organisms like that could form a civilization. I suppose they could be constantly organizing, then dissolving the next instant, then coming back together the moment after that.

Maybe it's just too alien of a concept for me to wrap my head around. I understand that in terms of geologic time, the monuments and art humans create are gone like that, but to us, compared to our singular lifespans, they seem to last forever. Could we build and organize if everything we did fell apart as soon as we finished? I doubt it. Maybe the difference (Besides the obvious that Stardust and its kind are fictional characters. Unless some exist in our universe somewhere) is that the Ethereals can merge, and maintain ties in that manner. That deeper connection promotes a group mentality that wouldn't otherwise be sustained.

I think the simplest answer is that if beings like this did/do exist, what they define as "civilization" wouldn't be anything we would recognize. Stuart Moore describes the situation to the best of his abilities, and does it well, but I think a lot of times we're hampered by what we know, and so any fictional civilization is going to in some way mirror the definition we have for that term. I mean, if it is a civilization, but one unlike anything we've ever seen or heard of, then how would we know it when we saw it? The writer doesn't want to lose the reader right off the bat, so he describes it in terms that are different (owing to the Ethereals different lifestyle), but also similar (because monuments and art are the things we'd associate with civilization). And I think that what it does is convey just how different Stardust's people are from the Skrulls, Kree, Earthlings, etc., and gives Stardust an unusual perspective on the whole thing.

Hopefully that makes some sense.