Beware the Star Stalker!

The Avengers have arrived at the temple of the Priests of Pama to stop a massacre. However, the killer — a mobster named Mister Khruul — has been killed by something he called the Star Stalker. The Vision recounts the events that brought them here: How, after their battle with the Zodiac, the villain known as Libra revealed that he was the father of Mantis. He told them all about Mantis being raised by the Priests of Pama. Having no memory of this, Mantis refuted his claims. However, this did not stop the Swordsman from going after Khruul to avenge her mother’s death at his hands. The existence of the temple and the Priests of Pama seem to support Libra’s story. However, they decide it is best to search for this apparent new threat posed by the Star Stalker. As they search, Mantis admits that she finds herself completely numbed by the evidence that refutes her own childhood memories.

They eventually run into the Star Stalker, an incredibly tall lizard creature. Their attacks don’t do anything to the creature, who seems to gain strength by absorbing the energies from Iron Man’s repulsor rays. Amused and believing that the Avengers cannot harm it, the Star Stalker decides to tell them how it became a prisoner of the Priests of Pama before it destroys the Earth.[1] It explains that the Priests were a sect of pacifists from the distant Kree empire. Despising their peaceful ways, the Supreme Intelligence had the pacifist Kree exiled to a barren world. At that time, the Star Stalker traveled from world to world and feeding on a planet’s ionic energy to survive. This process would cause the destruction of the planet he feasted upon. When he came upon the prison world of the pacifists, they realized his threat and put aside their pacifist ways to stop him. They eventually deduced the Star Stalker’s weakness and defeated the creature. They then tried to warn the Supreme Intelligence about the threat posed by the Star Stalker. Their warnings were ignored and so they sent two of their numbers to each inhabited world they knew. The ones that came to Earth eventually founded the Priests of Pama. Since then he sought revenge and came to Earth.

Now that the Priests of Pama are dead, the Star Stalker has decided to feat upon the Earth. To this end, the alien creature encases himself in a cocoon to transform to his ionic form so he can feast upon the Earth.[2] With the Earth in jeopardy, Libra tries to get Mantis to get through the mental blocks that the Priests of Pama put on her mind. Although she is still in denial about her apparent origins, Mantis tries to probe her own mind and finds nothing other than her memories of being a street urchin. The Black Panther deduces that they may be able to defeat the Star Stalker by using Zodiac’s star-blaster weapon and makes a call to the New York prison where Cornelius Van Lunt has been imprisoned and convinces him to lend them the weapon. Meanwhile, the Scarlet Witch tries to convince the Swordsman to seek medical attention after being tortured by Monsieur Khruul. However, the Swordsman refuses to do so because he needs to make up for his past failures. He then confides to Wanda that he is afraid that he will lose Mantis.

Meanwhile, the other Avengers wait for SHIELD agents to bring the star-blaster to Vietnam. The Vision takes the opportunity to question Mantis about her past, but she tells him that she still remembers nothing about being trained by the Priests of Pama. The star-blaster soon arrives and, moments later, the Star Stalker emerges from the temple. Unfortunately, the weapon does not work against the creature. When the Avengers try attacking the monster directly, it easily shrugs off their attacks in its ionic form. That’s when the Vision deduces the Star Stalkers weakness and blasts it with his heat ray. The Star Stalker suddenly collapses, apparently killed from the heat.[3] In the aftermath of the battle, the Vision reveals that the creature’s lack of knowledge of Galactus and only chose to attack at night revealed that it was vulnerable to heat.

In the aftermath of the battle, Mantis admits to her fellow Avengers that she is starting to see some validity in Libra’s claims and fears what that will mean once she learns the full truth about her origins.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman, Black Panther, Vision, Mantis), Star Stalker, Libra, Cornelius Van Lundt, SHIELD, (in flashback) the Kree, Supreme Intelligence, Priests of Pama, Mister Khruul (corpse)

Continuity Notes

1. The Star-Stalker is never referred to by its true name, nor is its species revealed here. The Nova profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #8 reveals that the creature’s name was Varanus. Its species was identified as a member of the Vorm in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #11.

2. Thor compares the Star Stalker to Galactus. A footnote here mentions that Thor previously met the world devourer in Thor #168-169.

3. The Star-Stalker is killed here. Although the Grim Reaper will create his own zombie Star-Stalker in Avengers #353. As clarified in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Avengers 2005, this was not the real Star-Stalker but a zombified facsimile. He is survived by his son Biawak, who will appear in Power Pack #56.