CHALO

Real Name: Chalo

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial ("Nalrahn")

Occupation: Cosmic traveler/tourist

Affiliations: Horace and Martha Lennox

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: The Beast from the Bog

Base of Operations: Nalrah;
    formerly a swamp in Louisiana;
    formerly mobile throughout the universe

First Appearance: Chamber of Darkness#5/3 (June, 1970)

Powers/Abilities: Chalo, like all Nalrahns, was virtually immortal, only needing to absorb solar energy once every two thousand years to sustain his life. Chalo could transfer his life energy into other living creatures, reversing their aging process. Although he was approximately 15' tall, Chalo lacked any degree of superhuman strength. After drinking a ceremonial Nalrahn potion Chalo could form an egg-like womb around his body, which allowed him to exist in the void of space and travel at light speed (see comments).

History: (Chamber of Darkness#5/3 (fb)) - One thousand years ago Chalo began his Voyaging, the ritual his race was required to complete to stay alive. Chalo spent time absorbing energy from various suns and doing site seeing on different planets. He touched down on Earth, but while wandering in a desolate swamp he fell into a bog. Chalo couldn't break free, and was stuck for the next thousand years.

(Chamber of Darkness#5/3) - Horace and Martha Lennox stumbled into Chalo's swamp. Horace threw the distressed alien a vine, allowing Chalo to climb free. Chalo was overjoyed at being rescued, and imparted some of his life force into the elderly couple before returning home to Nalrah.

Comments: Created by Denny O'Neil and Paul Reinman.

As with many other Marvel monster stories, this story is not confirmed as part of Earth-616 continuity, but there's nothing to exclude it either. This story could easily fit into the Pre-Modern era, like the monster stories of the 1950's and 1960's.

Chalo is only referred to as "The Beast from the Bog" in the title of the story.

Chalo described the Nalrahn egg-womb as travelling through the universe fast enough to reverse the flow of time. I guess it's possible that Chalo could be from the distant future, but more than likely he was just using some flowery phrases while describing his mode of transportation.

The tale of Chalo is more or less a retelling of The Creature From the Black Bog.

Ronald Byrd observes: "I don't know if it's worth mentioning or not, but Chalo's home planet, Nalrah, is "Harlan" spelled backwards. Since Harlan Ellison wrote a few stories for Marvel during the 1970s, the reference is probably deliberate."

PROFILE BY FUTURE

CLARIFICATIONS:
Chalo, aka The Beast from the Bog has no known connection to:

  • Any other characters named "Beast" or "Bog"

    Horace and Martha Lennox have no known connection to:


    Horace and Martha Lennox

    Elderly couple from Cedar Falls. They were on vacation when Horace got lost in a Louisiana swamp. They spotted Chalo stuck in the bog and rescued him. Chalo rewarded them with a portion of his own life force. The couple found themselves decades younger, and were very grateful for this second chance at life.

    --Chamber of Darkness#5/3

     

     

     


    "Nalrahns"

    Immortal alien race from the planet Nalrah. They claimed to have existed since the beginning of time. Every two thousand years Nalrahns underwent a ritual called Voyaging in order to recharge their life force. Voyaging began with the Nalrahn leader providing a chemical drink that, after imbibed, allowed a Nalrahn to spin an egg-like womb from their skin. The Nalrahns would then travel the universe in their egg-womb, absorbing solar energy, and spending their free time touring any planet that caught their interest. Once their powers were restored, and their wanderlust was satisfied, the Nalrahns would return to Nalrah for another two thousand years.

    -- Chamber of Darkness#5/3 (fb)

     


    images:
    Chamber of Darkness#5/3, p4, pan1;
    (Horace and Martha Lennox) Chamber of Darkness#5/3, p7, pan4;
    ("Nalrahns") Chamber of Darkness#5/3, p5, pan2


    Last updated: 07/06/04

    Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

    Non-Marvel Copyright info
    All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
    Please visit The Marvel Official Site at:
    http://www.marvel.com

    Back to Characters