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in: Comics, Amazing Adventures Vol 2, John Romita Sr./Cover Artist,
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Amazing Adventures Vol 2 18

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Quote1 They taught us all the ancient arts—swordplay, karate, savate, wrestling—at first we thought it a game—a game with deadly results. Quote2
—Killraven (Jonathan Raven)

Appearing in "The War of the Worlds!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Maureen Raven (Only in flashback) (First appearance; dies)
  • Dr. Ann Carver (Only in flashback) (First appearance; dies)
  • Dagger (Only in flashback)

Antagonists:

  • Scrapper
  • Mutants
  • Keeper (Dr. Raker) (Main story and flashback) (Death)
  • Martians (Only in flashback)
  • Exterminator Saunders (Only in flashback)
  • Warlord (Behind the scenes)

Other Characters:

  • Lord (Mentioned)
  • Joshua Raven (Killraven's Brother) (Unnamed) (Only in flashback) (First appearance)
  • MEK-12 (Destroyed) (Only in flashback)
  • Sirens (Main story and flashback) (First appearance)
  • Unnamed Mayor (Only in flashback)

Races and Species:

Locations:

Vehicles:

Synopsis for "The War of the Worlds!"

New York City, 2018 AD. Killraven fights his way through a subway tunnel against a gang led by Scrapper. He enters an empty Grand Central Station to find the Keeper, who unleashes a few mutants against him. Killraven blasts a hole in the Keeper's wall, thus emptying his weapon. While the Keeper shoots at him, he throws a sharp piece of machinery and impales his enemy. Astonishingly, the man thanks him and tells him a story.

In 1901 the Martians invaded Earth. Despite their technological advantage, they failed to account for illnesses against which they had no immunity, and the invaders all died. In 2001 they invaded again. This time they had a defense against terrestrial disease and even against nuclear weapons. The second war of the worlds ended quickly. Humans fled the cities, among them Maureen Raven with her two sons. On Welfare Island they met Doctor Ann Carver, who sheltered them in a hospital for two weeks. A chopper arrived with three humans inside, but instead of rescuing them, a soldier shot the two women. Doctor Raker (later the Keeper) took the older brother, Jonathan, while a soldier named Saunders was supposed to kill the younger.

Killraven knows the rest of the story. Jonathan Raven grew up a gladiator, fighting for the amusement of the Martians, and took the name Killraven. Seven years ago he escaped. He spent a year in Queens, where he learned about human civilization from books. He also learned to avoid even looking at sirens, women to whom the Martians gave the ability to bewitch men. One day he accidentally killed a chieftain's friend in Brooklyn Heights. He fled to Staten Island, joined a group of freemen, and eventually became their leader.

Raker confesses that the Martians used some kind of mind control on him, but now that he is dying, their control is broken. "You can... destroy them... you have the power," he says.

Puzzled, Killraven doesn't detect the mutant who attacks him from behind, but he quickly disposes of it. Another sound alerts him to a new menace. He turns to confront three sirens... and he has already looked at them...

Notes

  • The title page credits Roy Thomas with creating this series.
  • Killraven was advertised in an early issue of Captain Marvel Vol 1.
  • The cover would serve as inspiration for Killraven Vol 1 1. It would also appear in Universe X Vol 1 2 amidst the omniverse.
  • An unpublished page from this issue appearing in Comic Book Artist Magazine #3 seems to show Killraven as having a twin brother and likening Keeper Raker to Doc Savage (per Adams' commentary on the art).
  • This story takes place immediately before the events of issue 19. That issue is establishes the time of the year as "autumn." This places the events of this story between September 22 and December 21 of 2018. Since issues 18 through 24 all occur in 2018, this story likely happens early in the autumn season.
  • Amazing Adventures Vol 2 27 establishes Jonathan's capture (depicted in #18's flashback) as having happened in 2006. That issue further states that he was six years old at the time of his capture.
  • In Roy Thomas' essay, War of the Words, contained on the letters page, he says, "What I wanted to do was [...] a comic-book which would be a vast, hopefully unending sequel to the Wells classic. The direct inspiration for the story, I suppose, was the chapter Wells called "The Man on Putney Hill."

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