Broken Frontier

I could probably write for the rest of my life about Micronauts.

There have been many comics I’ve considered important—not necessarily to the medium as a whole, but certainly to me.  Avengers, Uncanny X-Men, Swamp Thing, House of Mystery, and Preacher are a few of the titles that will, for various reasons, stick with me for the rest of my days.  But none of those books holds a candle to Marvel’s 59-issue run of Micronauts.  

Marvel published a few comics based on toys—Rom: Spaceknight and Shogun Warriors being memorable examples—but when writer Bill Mantlo delved into the Microverse, he struck storytelling gold.  Here was a rich history and mythology, a terrific cast, and mysteries aplenty waiting to be revealed as this sprawling epic unfolded.

Many of my richest comic-related memories are tied to this relatively short-lived series about a band of rebels struggling against a truly evil despot.  (I’m nothing if not consistent in regards to the types of heroic struggles I like.)  I thought I’d take a few weeks to share some of the resonating moments from the series.  If you’re familiar with the book, maybe you’ll share some of my sentiments.  If you haven’t read Marvel’s Micronauts, maybe I can inspire you to seek it out.  No trade collections have been published, but discovering the few dozen issues that comprise the series for the first time is well worth the effort. 

We’ll start with my discovery of what would become my all-time favorite series. 

Cast your mind back...

(Queue dreamy music fading into “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer.)

The year was 1979, and I was eight years old.  I purchased most of my comics at garage sales (because in the 70s, you could still find comics—and lots of them—at garage sales) or at the corner grocery store.  The grocery had a pair of spinning wire racks right next to the cash register.  One was laden with toys, the other with comics.  My parents owned a photography studio in the same shopping center as the grocery store.  During the summer, when I didn’t have to worry about school and I spent my days at my parents’ place of business, those two spinning racks were my babysitters.  I would beg my dad for a little spare change, or I would collect glass soda bottles from nearby vacant lots to return for a ten cent deposit.  What money I scraped together, I spent on bags full of colorful plastic dinosaurs or little green army men or (of course) comics.

One summer morning, I hauled a paper sack full of soda bottles to the store and was quickly rewarded with a buck-fifty.  As soon as I had the cash, it started burning a hole in my pocket.  I rushed to the ice cream cooler for a Nutty Buddy, then bought a couple of comics.  One was an issue of Fantastic Four in which Ben brawled with a cool-looking robotic gladiator. The other was Micronauts #7.

On the cover, a group of tiny science fiction heroes did battle with a muck monster, and it looked like they were about to meet their doom.

“They came from inner space,” the title read.  “The Micronauts, guest-starring the Man-Thing!”

I was familiar with the Micronauts, because I had a few of the toys.  But the only thing I really knew about them was that the action figures had interchangeable parts, most of the heroes had clear plastic bodies and silvery heads, and they were roughly the same size as my Star Wars figures—so they made excellent enemies for Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and company.  I didn’t know anything about their origins and abilities.  Heck, I didn’t even realize they were small!  You’d think the “Micro” might have tipped me off , but hey, I was eight.

Sitting in a back room of the photography studio, with melting ice cream running over my fingers and onto the pages of the book, I greedily read about the Micronauts encounter with Man-Thing.

The splash page masthead set up the story succinctly:

“The Microverse—a subatomic solar system ruled by the tyrannical Baron Karza!  Aboard the starship Endeavor, six intrepid fugitives flee the despot’s Photon Patrol by warping through the Spacewall, a barrier on the fringe of the Microverse... a barrier never before broken!”

My brain reeled at the exciting possibilities, and I hadn’t even gotten past the first page!  The comic promised many wonders. 

The images of our heroes along the left-hand side of the page were terrific, too.  I’ve always been a fan of “roll-calls” in ensemble comics, and I think that stems back to this issue of Micronauts.  I quickly fell in love with the characters—heroic Commander Rann, feisty Marionette, swashbuckling Bug, battle-forged Acroyear, and—because every science fiction adventure of the 70s needed a pair of bickering robots—Microtron and Biotron.  The heroes stood no taller than the action figures that inspired the book.  A clever marketing gimmick, maybe, but my imagination ran wild thinking of all the crazy misadventures that awaited the diminutive characters, especially since they didn’t really understand our world. 

For example, as Steve Coffin, the human friend of the Micronauts, fishes off the edge of pier, Bug sits upon the bobber and ponders the oddities of human existence.

“You gotta eat,” says Bug, “though I can’t imagine what kind of food you expect to find by dropping a hook into *yecch* water?!”

“I already explained it to you, Bug,” says Steve.  “I’m trying to catch a fish!  They live in the water!”

“Sound pretty *tik* revolting to me!”

Suddenly, a fish leaps from the depths, intent on gobbling Bug up.

“Holy shrew!” cries Bug.  “Steve’s dinner!  It’s *tik* comin’ after me!  Reel me in, kiddo!  Quick!”
From this brief moment of levity, the story veered into creepier territory, and I got a glimpse of Inner Space.  A fleet of scientific exploratory vessels, commanded by the sinister-looking Baron Karza, orbit the floating form of Professor Prometheus, a “human” who has fallen into the Microverse through his namesake, the Prometheus Pit.  Half of the professor’s body has been replaced by robotic parts, and he gapes at the tiny spaceships around him with insanity-filled eyes.

“I am not interested in the giant’s mental state,” exclaims the Baron, “but its body!  It is obvious that an object passing through the Prometheus Pit from Earth maintains its size in relation to us!  Thus, if I were to merge my consciousness with a suitable host body—such as this pitiful mental wreck, Prometheus... then Baron Karza could stalk the Micronauts as a giant among giants!  Prepare the mind merge!”

I didn’t have any idea what the Baron was talking about, but it sure sounded ominous. 

Back on Earth, Steve Coffin is having a difficult time dealing with the possible death of his father (who, as it turns out, is also trapped in the Microverse).  In a fit of sorrow, he flees from the ramshackle cottage, with Marionette right behind him.  Little does he know, his escalating emotions have attracted the attention of the empathic Man-Thing. 

“Sepsis’ ghost!” cries Mari.  “Steve—snap out of it!  There is danger!”

A shot from Marionette’s lasersonic nearly scorches Steve’s face and snaps him out of his sorrow...

And there he is, the fearsome guest star—the Man-Thing.

“Words cannot express the emotions that run riot in young Steve Coffin at the sight of the nightmarish creature that rises from the swamp.  Suffice to say that principle among these is the emotion of fear!  The trouble with that is—whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing’s touch!”

I had never read a Man-Thing story before, but he was scary, especially since Mari’s laser blast tore a big hunk out of his body and barely phased him.

The following battle was pretty harrowing.  As the Man-Thing grasped for Steve, the tiny Micronauts fought to protect their friend.  Acroyear, whom I assumed to be the best fighter of the bunch (because he carried a glowing sword and had a cool helmet) couldn’t harm the muck monster, and the Man-Thing battered the mighty Micronaut away with a flick of his wrist.  Acroyear splashed down in the water many yards away, where a hissing snake lurked.

The snake...

I’m not sure why, but that gigantic snake scared me more than the fearsome swamp monster himself.  The serpent was on the cover, too, rising out of the bog to strike at Acroyear.  I was pretty worried about the little armored warrior, but for now the comic focused on the rest of the team. 

Poor Bug launches himself at Man-Thing, only to get his goose nearly cooked.

“Toss my *tik* big buddy around like a Pluvorian beachball, willya!”  Bug leaps into the air.  “Well, let’s see how *tik* tough you are after my Rocket Lance—“

He strikes the Man-Thing, but sluices right through the muck.

“—punches a hole through your leg...?!”

The Man-Thing reaches for Bug, with horrifying results.

“Bug’s muffled scream comes from beneath the Man-Thing’s slimy palm!  Panic turns to fear, and the chitinous carapace common to all members of the Insectivorid race begins to smolder... and burn!”

I didn’t know how the Micronauts could defeat such an enemy.  He shrugged off Rocket Lances and laser blasts and hydrocopters.  Nothing so much as slowed him down...  Until his would-be prey Steve Coffin sprang into action.  Aboard a swamp-buggy, Steve fired up the engine and steered the vessel towards the monster.

“Smart or not,” says Steve, “I’ve gotta show that I can be as brave as my dad was!  I’m gonna make my stand.”

Bug replies with my favorite line from that issue:  “You’ve got *tik* guts, kiddo—I gotta hand that to you!  You’d make one heckuva Micronaut—if only you weren’t so *tik* big!”

Even the Man-Thing seemed to respect the boy’s actions.

“There are few things the macabre Man-Thing can be truly said to understand, and among those are the few strong emotional states which produce the greatest reaction within him!  For instance, hate fills him with revulsion!  Fear sets his very being afire!  But courage, that is new to him!”

Man-thing lunges forward, trying to reach the source of this newfound emotion.  Of course, old Man-Thing isn’t that smart, so he walks right into the swamp-buggy’s gigantic propellers. 

Sploosh!  The swamp monster is scattered in a million different directions!

The Man-Thing reforms minutes later, but instead of pursuing the fight, he lumbers away.  As Acroyear puts it:

“...the swamp creature was a far nobler foe than any we have yet encountered on this world—for only a fool fights without reason... and a true warrior knows when the battle is done!”

I should point out that this is the first I had seen of Acroyear since he landed in the snake’s territory, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw him trudging from the swamp, dragging the giant snake behind him.

The book ends with an ominous foreshadowing of things to come.  Baron Karza crawls out of the Prometheus Pit like a demonic creature crawling out of Hell.

“So this is Earth!” he says.  “What a pleasant world this will be to conquer!!”

I know people who weren’t allowed to read comics as kids.  I had a friend who’s mom burned all his comics in the fireplace.  Once, when I was in fifth grade, a teacher confiscated one of my “funnybooks,” as she called them.  Why?  Because comics are bad for you.  They stilted the imagination.  Rotted the brain.

To which I say nuts.

After reading Micronauts #7, I couldn’t stop the wheels from turning in my head.  I wanted to know what became of Man-Thing after he wandered off.  I wondered what the farthest corners of the Microverse were like.  I wanted to know how Acroyear had defeated that snake!  I spent days coming up with my own stories of the Micronauts.  I drew my own panel-by-panel version of Acroyear’s fight with the snake—and it was a grueling, disgusting battle indeed!  To this day, I think I have my own feeble magic marker drawings of the reptile stuffed in a filing cabinet somewhere.

The Micronauts fired up my imagination, and in many ways I credit them for my enduring desire to tell stories.

But many months passed before I saw another issue of Micronauts on the stand.  I was on a road trip with my family to Georgia when I next visited the Microverse.  I wasn’t what I would consider a comic book collector yet, but all that was about to change.

• • • • •

Cullen Bunn's fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies.  His comic series The Damned will be published by Oni Press in late 2006.   You can find out more about his work here.