Marvel Age #1: Meet and Greet: Arkon!

Today, we meet Arkon, the Imperion of Polemachus. First introduced in Avengers 75, cover date April 1970, by Roy Thomas, John Buscema, and Tom Palmer.

Arkon can transport between Polemachus, an extradimensional world, and Earth, using the yellow lightning bolts he carries in a quiver. His earliest adventures are focused on using Earth's atomic/electric knowledge and powers to repowering the rings around his world that sustain constant daylight. The people of Polemachus are mortally wounded after prolonged exposure to night. Avengers 75-76, Avengers 84, Fantastic Four 160-163, and Uncanny X-Men Annual 3 see Arkon attempt to take power from Earth by force, only to slowly learn that the heroes of Earth will help willingly.

West Coast Avengers Vol 2 Issue 31 features Arkon coming to Earth in anger that a feature film was made about him and he seeks retribution against Wonder Man, who played a villain in the Arkon movie.

Minor storylines and appearances follow until June 2015 with the publication of Weirdworld, a Secret Wars tie-in, written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by Mike del Mundo. This 5 issue masterpiece (totally objective opinion - TB) features Arkon and a slew of obscure and minor characters from the Marvel Universe. Spoilers for Weirdworld below. I'll wait while you go read it..........

What does any of this have to do with Marvel Age #1? Well, Crystar, the cover story of Marvel Age #1, had an 11 issue series, and then was never seen again until Weirdworld #2, when Arkon and Warbow rescue him.

Weirdworld was a wonderful series that introduced many readers, like myself, to several long-forgotten or seldom used characters. Discovering these characters is just one of the joys of exploring Marvel Age.

Arkon appeared in the following titles (very minor appearances removed):

Avengers 75 - 76, 84; Fantastic Four 160 163; X-Men Annual 3, 5; West Coast Avengers 31; Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme 12 - 13; Avengers West Coast 75; Avengers 358 - 359; Quicksilver 2 - 3; Avengers (Vol 3) 17 - 18; Weirdworld 1 - 5; Weirdworld (Vol 2) 1; Squadron Supreme (Vol 4) 3 - 6