Lunatik
| Lunatik | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Defenders #51 (Sept. 1977) |
| Created by | Keith Giffen |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Arisen Tyrk, Harrison Turk |
| Team affiliations | Empire State University |
Lunatik is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Publication history
[edit]Lunatik first appeared in Defenders #51 (September 1977), though a later retcon identifies him as an incarnation of Arisen Turk, a character who appeared in Creatures on the Loose #35-37 (May-September 1975), by writer David Anthony Kraft and artist George Pérez. According to Kraft, he had been trying to link Lunatik to the Creatures on the Loose story arc during his time as writer on Defenders, and his successor Ed Hannigan picked up on this, but made a different connection between the two than Kraft had had in mind.[1] Keith Giffen stated "Lunatik was a character I came up with in high school. When it went radically wrong, I went to DC [Comics and] took the basic concept of Lunatik and ... split [it] into two characters: Lobo had his mercilessness, and Ambush Bug had his goofiness."[1]
The character was created and designed in a hurry, with his appearance based on Alice Cooper,[2] when Giffen suddenly left Marvel to work for DC Comics.[3]
The character subsequently appears in Defenders #51-53 (September-November 1977), #55-56 (January-February 1978), #61-62 (July-August 1978), #64-65 (October-November 1978), Marvel Premiere #45-46 (December 1978, February 1979), and Defenders #70-73 (April-July 1979).
An unrelated character, also named Lunatik, appears in Marvel Comics Presents #172-175 and Lunatik #1 (December 1995). He is a cosmic mercenary who is later killed by Drax the Destroyer.[4]
Fictional character biography
[edit]Arisen Tyrk acted as the tyrannical ruler and god-king of the dimension called Other Realm. He seeks the power that the Godstone would give him, which is bonded to John Jameson as the Man-Wolf. Tyrk hires Kraven the Hunter and has him attack Man-Wolf, but Man-Wolf fights Kraven off. Rebels from the Other Realm bring the Man-Wolf to their land, and he defeats Tyrk.[volume & issue needed]
Tyrk tries to escape through an extra-dimensional portal, but the portal is damaged and splits him into several duplicates. Four of them battle the Defenders before eventually being re-fused.[volume & issue needed]
For a time, he poses as drama professor Harrison Turk at Empire State University.[5]
In other media
[edit]Lunatik appears in Guardians of the Galaxy, voiced by John DiMaggio.[6] This version is an old friend of Star-Lord who owns a nightclub on the Grandmaster's space station, the Conjunction.
References
[edit]- ^ a b DeAngelo, Daniel (July 2013). "The Not-Ready-For-Super-Team Players: A History of the Defenders". Back Issue! (65). TwoMorrows Publishing: 3–16.
- ^ "The Bizarre Way That the Defenders Villain, Lunatik, Was Created". 21 May 2023.
- ^ Kraft, David Anthony (2018). "Introduction". Defenders Masterworks vol 6. Marvel Enterprises. ISBN 9781302504397. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ Drax the Destroyer: Earthfall #1-4
- ^ Sanderson, Peter (2007). The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City. New York City: Pocket Books. pp. 30–33. ISBN 978-1-4165-3141-8.
- ^ "Lunatik Voice - Guardians of the Galaxy (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 24, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
External links
[edit]- Lunatik (Arisen Tyrk) at The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe