Metamorphosis Odyssey
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The Metamorphosis Odyssey is a lengthy allegorical story told in several distinct parts in several formats, from illustrated magazines to graphic novels to comic books. It is the work of writer Jim Starlin.
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[edit] The Metamorphosis Odyssey
The first part, titled The Metamorphosis Odyssey, was published in Epic Illustrated #1-9 in black and white in the late 1970s. It told the story of an immortal mystic named Aknaton, whose Osirosian race was the ancestor of all humanoid life in the Milky Way galaxy. The Osirosians were faced with a terrible threat, a race of destroying conquerors known as the Zygoteans. The Osirosians massed their power and confronted the Zygoteans directly, but failed to defeat them. The Osirosians withdrew to their heavily-guarded world and considered other ways to stop the Zygotean menace. As the Zygotean power only grew, and the Zygoteans conquered, enslaved, and exterminated more and more of the Milky Way, the Osirosians eventually concluded that they were not capable of stopping the Zygoteans, and that therefore the Milky Way was doomed to a long, slow, horrible death. Aknaton, unwilling to let the Milky Way be slowly strangled by the Zygoteans, evolved a plan to destroy the Zygoteans, whatever the cost. Running the Zygotean blockade of his homeworld, Aknaton set various events in motion to mature over time into the elements he needed for his final plan. The most important actions he took were:
- He visited a world populated only by mindless cannibal beasts and introduced the potential for them to develop intelligence and compassion.
- He visited the planet Earth and encouraged the evolution of proto-humanity.
- He found an uninhabited forest-world and released proto-life of his own creation.
- He created a powerful artifact in the form of an icy sword and left it on the planet Byfrexia.
- He created a mystical device, which he named the Infinity Horn, and hid it in a cavern on a world called Dreamsend, also creating an artificial immortal being to guard it.
Having done all these things, he returned to his homeworld and waited for the last stand. The Osirosians held out for a hundred thousand years, but in the end the Zygoteans overcame their defenses and destroyed them. Armed with all his race's power and his plan, Aknaton escaped, the only survivor.
Aknaton's plan had at last come to readiness. He returned to the worlds he had visited a hundred thousand years previously, taking a native from each one to fulfill their part in the plan: Za, the first of his cannibal race to achieve intelligence; Juliet, a fifteen-year-old girl from Kansas; and Whis'Par, the culmination of the artificial life Aknaton had created on the forest world.
Having found the three he needed, Aknaton returned to Byfrexia, where the icy sword had been found by a young Byfrexian named Vanth, who stumbled across it in the arctic wilderness after ice bears devoured his family. The power of the sword preserved Vanth's life. In time, he came to find that it had other powers as well; it could absorb energy of almost any type and later redirect it as a destructive force; it gave Vanth great toughness and physical strength; it gave him the gift of tongues; and he was able to merge with the sword in a way unforeseen even by its maker, so the sword became a part of him that he could manifest at will. Vanth became obsessed with revenge, and spent many years hunting his world's ice bears nearly to extinction. The other Byfrexians, who depended on the bears for food, eventually leagued against Vanth and drove him offworld, where he spent some unspecified time as a mercenary. When the Zygoteans attacked Byfrexia, Vanth returned home and led resistance to them, becoming known as "The Cold Man."
Aknaton found Vanth and recruited him to be his pilot and bodyguard. Vanth leapt at the chance that there might be a plan to destroy the Zygoteans; though he was shaken when Aknaton revealed the exact nature of the plan to him and the others.
Aknaton had reasoned that since the Zygoteans were undefeatable, and the death of the galaxy could not be prevented, the only remaining kindness was to make the end as quick and painless as possible. He therefore created the Infinity Horn...whose purpose was to destroy the entire Milky Way. Appalled, but convinced that Aknaton's plan was the only option, Vanth and the others agreed. Fighting their way past an army of Zygoteans and their slaves (who had become aware of the plan and fought desperately to stop it), they returned to the cavern on the planet Dreamsend. As Aknaton and Vanth held off the Zygoteans outside, Za, Juliet, and Whis'Par entered the cavern and sounded the Infinity Horn, destroying the entire Milky Way in an instant.
The three who sounded the Horn were transformed into a new kind of being, carrying with them all that remained of the Milky Way, except for Aknaton and Vanth. Aknaton had used his mystic powers to encase himself and Vanth in a bubble of force and throw them into intergalactic space. Eons later they crashed on a planet in another galaxy, where Vanth shot Aknaton in a fit of rage and guilt over the slaying of the Milky Way. Mortally wounded, Aknaton confessed that he had goaded Vanth into killing him because he could not live with the guilt over what he had done. As he died, he told Vanth that he had saved him and brought him here because this galaxy was at a point where it might go the way of the Milky Way, and develop Zygoteans of its own. Aknaton wanted Vanth to change the destiny of this new galaxy, or, failing that, find the Infinity Horn and give this galaxy the same mercy-killing they had given the Milky Way.
[edit] The Price
The second part of the Metamorphosis Odyssey was an Eclipse graphic novel called The Price, originally published in black and white, though it was colorized for later reprintings. It told the story of the magician-priest Syzygy Darklock and his rise to power within the Church of the Instrumentality.
The Church of the Instrumentality, devoted to "The Twelve Gods", was a strict hierarchy that held both spiritual and political rule over half the Empirical Galaxy, and was involved in a generations-long war with the monarchy that ruled the other half of the galaxy. The priests of the Instrumentality were scholars and magicians. The hierarchy of the church was deeply corrupt, its leaders devoted solely to power, both temporal and magical.
The story opens when Syzygy's brother is horribly murdered. Investigating, Syzygy realizes that his brother was killed by a demon. Syzygy sets out to discover who sent the demon, only to be called before the Lord High Papal, head of the church, and ordered to abandon his investigation. The official cause of death is ruled "industrial accident". Syzygy accepts the ruling, but secretly plans to defy the order and investigate anyway. He reveals to his familiar, a nun named Sister Marian, that his magical studies are far more advanced than the church hierarchy realizes. He has been planning to use his abilities to increase his power in the church to the point where he could begin to dictate state policy; but now he will use them to find his brother's killer.
Syzygy succeeds in learning which demon killed his brother, then raises the demon himself. Forcing answers from the demon with his magic powers, Syzygy learns that the demon had been sent by an immensely powerful wizard, a man Syzygy could not hope to stand against. However, the demon also reveals that while he was in the wizard's power, the wizard tortured him mercilessly--as a result of which, the demon's hate for the wizard is so great that he is willing to do something he would never otherwise have done: transport Syzygy to a dimensional plane where he can absorb godlike magical energy, and become far more powerful than the wizard. Syzygy agrees, and receives the power; though the ordeal is so great that his body is all but destroyed. He loses both legs, one arm, his right ear, and his left eye; and what remains of his body is wasted and unnaturally elongated. Using the remnants of his brother's estate, he repairs his body with cybernetic parts, maintaining his existence through his will, his great magical ability, and his powerful sense of self-belief.
He confronts the wizard who ordered his brother's death, only to learn that the wizard did so precisely to bring about Syzygy's ascent to power. The wizard had had a vision of the future where a great "event" is soon to happen, which will have a great positive effect on humanity. He foresaw that either Syzygy or his brother would be prominently involved. The wizard decided to do what he could to ensure that the "event" took place; he therefore had Syzygy's brother murdered, to draw Syzygy in, and deliberately tortured the demon, so it would be angry enough to show Syzygy the way to gain the vast power he has gained. The wizard shows Syzygy his vision of the future, thus ensuring it will take place. Furious at being made the wizard's tool, Syzygy destroys him. As he dies, the wizard reveals that he knew Syzygy would kill him, and welcomes it, since he believes he does not have the strength to face what lies ahead. Syzygy must bear the burden of the future now. The wizard warns him that even the great power he has now will not be enough, and tells him of the awful way he can increase his power even further. Convinced now of the necessity of the "event" and his role in bringing it about, Syzygy makes a terrible bargain: he sacrifices his familiar, Sister Marian, to be eaten alive by a demon. In return the demon gains him even more magical power (though this time in a form that will not damage him further.) He now dwarfs any other individual in the Empirical Galaxy in mystical power.
He resigns from the church (ironically explaining his condition as the result of an "industrial accident") and sets out for a minor farming planet called Caldor, where he is met by Vanth, who warns him that he is the protector of the people who live there. Syzygy surprises Vanth by revealing that he knows Vanth's history and of the sword of power, and tells him "In certain mystic circles unknown to you, you are referred to as Dreadstar the Starslayer." He tells Vanth of the "event" and of their linked destiny. Vanth resists the idea, but accepts Syzygy's presence, and Syzygy settles down to enlist Vanth in his plan.
[edit] Dreadstar, the Graphic Novel
The third part of the Metamorphosis Odyssey was the Marvel graphic novel Dreadstar, published in 1982. Dreadstar was printed in color, from paintings by Starlin.
Vanth has been living a peaceful life as a farmer since the murder of Aknaton. The planet is the site of an Instrumentality experiment to create a race of cat-human hybrid warriors. The experiment was a failure, as the hybrids were mild-natured and generally only suited to farming. Vanth marries a human scientist and lives quietly for some decades. Over time it becomes apparent that the power of the sword has given Vanth immortality, as he does not age. He spends his time farming and studying magic and politics with Syzygy. Syzygy explains to him that the equally matched enemies, the Instrumentality and the Monarchy, have fought a long war to a standoff for generations, and have now come to the point where neither side even wants to win the war, as their economies depend on staying on a war footing. Syzygy wants to force an end to the war. Vanth is unwilling to become a warrior again, though, and he resists Syzygy's plan, until a fleet of Monarchy ships destroys his home village, killing his wife and all his friends. He takes the name Vanth Dreadstar and joins the military forces of the Monarchy, setting into motion a long-term plan to force an end to the unwinnable war. Vanth rises to a command rank and ensures that all members of the attack force that killed his wife and home are sent on suicide missions. He then assassinates the King of the Monarchy and intimidates the new monarch, the weak-willed Gregzor, into following his plan. Gregzor protests that the great nobles and captains of industry will resist; Dreadstar answers that he will deal with any resistance the same way he dealt with the old King...and reminds Gregzor that failure to follow Dreadstar's orders will bring about another assassination.
[edit] Dreadstar, the Series
Part four of the Metamorphosis Odyssey was detailed in the Epic Comics series Dreadstar in the mid-to-late 1980's.
The comic series had several differences from earlier parts of the story. Previous parts were glossy-paper reproductions of ink drawings and paintings; the comics were colorized pencil-and-ink drawings on newsprint. Also, unlike the previous stories, the comic series is episodic in nature, involving longer story arcs, subplots, and a fluid cast of characters.
The overall story deals with the efforts of Vanth and Syzygy, and a crew of adventurers they have assembled, to force an end to the war. The ground they gained in the Monarchy is lost when the Monarchy is betrayed from within by a high minister (who turns out to be the last surviving Zygotean, who was in intergalactic space when the Infinity Horn destroyed the Milky Way, and who followed Akhnaton's mystic escape pod in hopes of revenge.) The Monarchy is overthrown, and the war ends, but not in the way anyone wanted. The Instrumentality conquers the galaxy and begins a campaign of extermination, apparently following the will of their evil Twelve Gods. Vanth and his crew escape the ruin of the Monarchy and league with the remains of the Monarchic fleet to oppose the Instrumentality. Eventually, after various victories and defeats and escapes, Vanth and Syzygy destroy the Lord High Papal and overthrow the Instrumentality, confront the Twelve Gods, and destroy them.
[edit] Post-Odyssey
The end of the original run of Dreadstar was the end of the Metamorphosis Odyssey. The characters from the story have been used again in various comic-book settings, by other writers than Starlin; but these later efforts do not form part of the real story.
