Klaatu (comics)

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Klaatu
Klaatu in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #136 (Feb. 1971). Pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Sal Buscema.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #136 (Feb. 1971).
Created by	Gerry Conway, Herb Trimpe
In-story information
Species	Herm
Notable aliases	The Behemoth From Beyond Space
Abilities	energy absorption, self destruction

Klaatu is a fictional alien appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #136-137 (Feb.-March 1971), a two-part story which credits Roy Thomas as sole writer, but was in fact scripted by Thomas over a plot by Gerry Conway and Herb Trimpe.^[1] Klaatu's character was a thinly veiled pastiche of Moby Dick.^[1] Moby Dick is considered to be a symbol of a number of things, among them God, nature, fate, the ocean, and the very universe itself. The name Klaatu was borrowed from the central character of The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Klaatu was once attacked by the Andromeda Starship, in a manner reminiscent of terrestrial whaling. In self-defense, Klaatu destroys the craft, injuring an unnamed oarsmen who was given cybernetics on half his body and obsessively hunted Klaatu afterwards.

In the present, Klaatu arrives in New York City and causes a city-wide blackout.^[2] Cybor's first mate Xeron, irritated at the Hulk for causing him to lose his quarry, knocked him unconscious with an energy harpoon. Upon waking, the Hulk was attacked by the Abomination.^[3]

The Andromeda Starship later confronted Klaatu again, and Xeron and Cybor were able to mortally wound the creature before their own ship was severely damaged in the process. While Xeron tried to save the ship and its crew, Cybor fell onto the creature's back as it drifted into space and apparently into the sun, presumably to both their deaths, while the Andromeda Starship appeared stranded in space.^[4]

Years later it is revealed that Klaatu was not killed, but rejuvenated by the sun's energies, and had saved Xeron and Cybor and the Andromeda Starship. The Hulk encountered him again in the Crossroads, an interdimensional nexus in which the Hulk was then trapped. The Hulk, in a more feral state of mind, attacked Klaatu, again to no effect. Klaatu departs before the arrival of the Andromeda Starship, which is still pursuing Captain Cybor's vendetta, and which captures the Hulk, and then follows Klaatu into "Ocean World".^[5]

The Andromeda Starship confronts Klaatu again, but retreats when the Hulk wakes up and starts tearing the ship apart. The starship again finds Klaatu and injures it with several energy harpoons. Angered, Klaatu destroys the ship, killing its entire crew. However, the Hulk takes pity on Klaatu and removes the harpoons from its body.^[6]

Klaatu is a member of the extraterrestrial race called the Herm, and as such it is immensely powerful, and has been described as power incarnate. It can drain power off of large areas, such as New York, and add to its own power. It can disperse its atoms to feed on a larger area and then bring them back together. It is huge, about as tall as a skyscraper, and is unable to be harmed by physical force, and the Hulk's mightiest blows did absolutely nothing. It is made up of energies and needs to consume them to survive. It can draw power from any electromagnetic energy source. It could fly through space unaided. It is however, susceptible to certain technology, which can injure, and even destroy it, such as special energy harpoons wielded by Xeron the Star-Slayer, and special energy blasts from the Andromeda Starship. It also cannot live for too long in an environment that is rich with oxygen.

• Klaatu at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe