STAR MASTERS

Membership: Beta Ray Bill, Morfex, Quasar, Silver Surfer, Xenith

Purpose: To expose Lord Votan; to protect the Charter

Affiliations: Axi-Tun, the Charter, Landar, Tana Nile

Enemies: Aldebron, Cosmic Commandos, Dampyre, Lord Votan, Pheragots, Sidereus, Throk

Base of Operations: Mobile in outer space

First Appearance: Star Masters#1 (December, 1995)

History: (Star Masters#1)- After Quasar had wrongly been accused of the murder of the Charter by agents of Lord Votan, he was sought out by Beta Ray Bill and the Silver Surfer, who wanted to know if the image of him confessing was accurate. The Surfer determined that Quasar was innocent, and he and Bill determined to help clear Quasar's name and find out who was truly responsible.

(Star Masters#2)- Finding earth facing destruction by a planetoid sent at it by Lord Votan, the three heroes set off to stop it, but were temporarily waylaid by the Charter's Cosmic Commandos, who saw Bill and the Surfer as Quasar's collaborators. The Silver Surfer managed to destroy the planetoid by temporarily re-activating the barrier Galactus had placed around the Earth, but a black hole penetrated the barrier. Beta Ray Bill and Quasar created a vortex to dispose of the black hole. The three heroes were then joined by Morfex and Xenith of the Cosmic Commandos, who had come to realize Quasar's innocence. The five of them formed an alliance together, taking the name "Star Masters."

(Star Masters#3)- After defeating the remaining Cosmic Commandos and interrogating them, the Star Masters set back to the Hub, the scene of the Charter's massacre, for further investigation. There they found an Axi-Tun vessel which was gathering up aliens to cast them into the Cauldron of Conversion, with the purpose of creating plauges which would kill all of the Charter races. The Star Masters were all defeated by the Axi-Tun, and were sent to be cast into the Cauldron themselves. Bill revived, and teleported to Asgard, and Quasar managed to save the others by covering them with quantum energy.

(Cosmic Powers Unlimited#4)- After discovering that the material within the Cauldron was alive, the Surfer set off to find Beta Ray Bill, believing he could communicate with it. Quasar, Xenith and Morfex broke into the Axi-Tun's prison, and set Tana Nile free, who briefly mistook them as agents of the Axi-Tun.

(Cosmic Powers Unlimited#5 (fb))- The Silver Surfer met with Odin in Asgard, and the two of them combined their powers to revive Beta Ray Bill, who had fallen ill due to the upheaval created when Odin attempted to thwart Ragnarock. The Surfer used the Power Cosmic to alter Beta Ray Bill to his original powers, changing his hammer Stormbreaker into a weapon powered by the Power Cosmic. Odin was chagrined, but the two soon departed to meet up with the other Star Masters.

(Cosmic Powers Unlimited#4)- The team now reunited, Beta Ray Bill was able to identify the remains in the Cauldron as being of his own people, the Korbinites. Learning the nature of Votan's plague, the Silver Surfer used his Power Cosmic to purge all the corpses that had been intended to be sent to each body's homeworld to destroy them. They then set up an assualt on the Axi-Tun, using Morfex's ship as a diversion while they broke inside the vessel. As Quasar fought Dampyre, Beta Ray Bill fought and slew Throk. With their defeat imminent, Lord Votan ordered Aldebron to self-destruct her ship, and she complied.

In the aftermath, Quasar was cleared of killing the Charter, and the Star Masters were honored by the Charter for their actions, while the Axi-Tun were removed from the Charter.

(Cosmic Powers Unlimited#5)- The Charter sent the Star Masters to Tun to apprehend Votan, but Votan raised an army of Axi-Tun he controlled against them, simultaneously sapping their willpower. Although Beta Ray Bill was unaffected by Votan's power, he could not overcome the Axi-Tun alone, and they were all captured. Votan used his power to force Quasar to confess to the murders again. However, from their prison, Tana Nile was able to combine the willpower of the Star Masters to set Quasar free. With Votan distracted by Quasar, the other Star Masters broke free. They joined forces with Votan's brother Landar, who brought Axi-Tun loyal to him to their side.

Simultaneously, the Pheragots unleashed an assault upon Tun to destroy the Axi-Tun for having been framed for the murder of the M'Ndavians by them. Quasar and the Silver Surfer managed to halt all further bombings, and forced the Pheragots to stand down. Votan still defied the Star Masters' authority, but Beta Ray Bill beat him into submission. Landar attempted to take Votan into custody on Tun, but Beta Ray Bill and Morfex convinced him that Votan could only be held by the Charter. They then departed Tun to deliver Votan to the Charter.

(Silver Surfer III#121)- Following the conclusion of his battle with the Uni-Lord, the Silver Surfer crashed upon a planet, where he was found unconscious by Quasar and Beta Ray Bill.

(Silver Surfer III#122)- Bill and Quasar related to ths Surfer a message which Quasar had received from the hero Legacy, calling the Surfer to Zenn-La. The Silver Surfer determined that he would have to explore this by himself, despite Beta Ray Bill and Quasar's offer of assistance.

Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald, Scot Eaton and Bob Almond.

The Star Masters series was troubled by behind-the-scenes problems, as Gruenwald detailed in an editorial from Star Masters#1 which you can read here.

Quasar mentioned the Star Masters as having disbanded in Avengers Infinity#1.

Quasar, Beta Ray Bill and the Silver Surfer all appeared in Silver Surfer III#111, immediately before Star Masters#1, but not together.

When Beta Ray Bill next appeared in Thor II#30, he was back to his "Thor-like" appearance and hammer. His Star Masters appearances appear to have been ignored.

It's unfortunate that considering how Bill, Quasar and the Surfer were all in Maximum Security, we didn't get a reunion.

Cloud was among those seen reacting to the news of The Charter massacre in Star Masters#1. According to Bob Almond, Gruenwald had intended for her to join the team.
    Colonizer Tana Nile was also to be a member and, like cloud, she had a cameo in issue#1--Bob.

by Prime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Star Masters should not be confused with:

• The Starblasters, intergalactic mercenaries, @ Quasar#53

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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