GUNA RACEGUNA RACE
Classification: Reptilian-humanoid extraterrestrial race
Location/Base of Operations: Planet Gunava, first from the sun in the Janoth system, Andromeda Galaxy
Known Members: Master-Scout Xakku (aka the Sun Stealer);
possibly a former inhabitant of the Runestaff; a Destiny Power auction attendee; and a Mourner and/or another Mourner;
Population: At least formerly 5 million
Government: Planetwide technocratic dictatorship
Affiliations: None known
Enemies: Uatu the Watcher
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense I#55/2 (July, 1964)
Powers/Abilities: Guna are poikilothermic (“cold-blooded”), with their
They have beak-like mouths.
Their digits terminate in hard, sharp points as an adaption for digging.
They have semi-scaled skin,
with frontal plates on the anterior chest and abdomen that may more
durable than the rest of their skin and protected them from trauma.
They have superhuman longevity, with a lifespan measuring centuries, at least.
They possessed highly-advanced technology, such as the "Magneto-Gravity Machine," which allegedly could
pull a star across intergalactic distances, or even the entire
universe (see comments).
They also possessed at least one starship, which was capable of warp-speed intergalactic travel.
Traits: Motivated by self-preservation, the Guna were willing to condemn another race to death in their stead by stealing their sun.
They are industrious and xenophobic.
Xakku, at least, suffered from arrogance, and he was duped into
detailing his plans while his ship and weapon slowly sank below the
surface.
Type: Bilaterally symmetric reptilian humanoid bipeds
Eyes: Two (on head; light blue color seen)
Fingers: Four (plus opposing thumb)
Toes: Unrevealed
Skin color: Green scales
Average height: 5'6"
History:
(Tales of Suspense I#55/2 (fb)) - At an undetermined point in the
past, the Guna race found that their own sun was burning out,
causing their world, Gunava, to become progressively colder and darker.
Unable to save their own dying
star, the scientists of Guna devised the Magneto-Gravity Machine in
order to pull a new sun into their system to replace the failing one.
(Tales of Suspense I#55/2 (fb) - BTS) - Master Scout Xakku volunteered to explore the universe for a suitable star that exactly matched their own sun's size,
radiance, etc.
Xakku eventually found what he was
looking for in
Sol, the Earth's sun. Knowing that Uatu the Watcher was based on
Earth's moon, Xakku resolved to test his oath of non-interference
before confirming him not to be a threat to their plans.
(Tales of Suspense I#55/2) - Xakku pretended to nearly crash on the
Earth's moon and then requested assistance from Uatu. When Uatu
refused and explained his vow, Xakku knew he need not fear
interference from Uatu, so he dropped the pretense of being
stranded and explained his true mission.
Uatu, feigning to be intrigued by the technology necessary to
accomplish the feat that Xakku described, questioned him at great
length on how the device functioned. Ultimately, Xakku realized too late that he had landed his ship on wet, spongy ground and that while Uatu had
questioned him, his ship had sunk.
Xakku suddenly realized that his own oxygen tanks were running low, and he would soon suffocate without help from Uatu. Uatu reiterated his own vow not to interfere with the lives of others, and walked away, leaving Xakku to die.
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z
hardcover#11: Sun-Stealer profile - BTS) - Gunava’s fate is unrevealed,
though Guna have occasionally been seen elsewhere in the universe.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber.
The OHotMU I Guna profile described the Magneto-Gravity Machine as a solar
converter, perhaps indicating that they could instead absorb the energy
of a sun and use it to restore their own, rather than actually
transporting an entire sun across intergalactic distance.
A note further stated "It is not yet known if they
managed to refuel it <their sun> with transmitted extrastellar
energy."
The OHotMU entries on the Guna
note them to have four fingers (with opposable thumb), but both the
story and handbook pictures show them to have three fingers with an
opposing thumb. I think they probably just considered the thumb a type
of finger, rather than considering fingers and thumbs as types of
digits.
Those entries also note them to have four toes, when
the images show three. The Sun Stealer was in a space suit, and the
feet weren't shown anywhere besides the handbook entries. Perhaps the
point of the tarsus curves sufficiently that they can use their feet
for gripping, and that was considered a fourth toe?
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Guna should be distinguished from:
 Gravity - 0.89 atmospheresAtmosphere: 40% oxygen, 50% hydrogen
(Tales of Suspense I#55/2 (fb)) - At an undetermined point in the
past, the Guna race found that their own sun was burning out,
causing their world, Gunava, to become progressively colder and darker. Unable to save their own dying
star, the scientists of Guna devised the Magneto-Gravity Machine in
order to pull a new sun into their system to replace the failing one.
(Tales of Suspense I#55/2 (fb) - BTS) - Master Scout Xakku volunteered to explore the universe for a suitable star that exactly matched their own sun's size,
radiance, etc. Xakku eventually found what he was
looking for in
Sol, the Earth's sun. Knowing that Uatu the Watcher was based on
Earth's moon, Xakku resolved to test his oath of non-interference
before confirming him not to be a threat to their plans. (Tales of Suspense I#55/2) - Xakku pretended to nearly crash on the
Earth's moon and then requested assistance from Uatu. When Uatu
refused and explained his vow, Xakku knew he need not fear
interference from Uatu, so he dropped the pretense of being
stranded and explained his true mission. Uatu, feigning to be intrigued by the technology necessary to
accomplish the feat that Xakku described, questioned him at great
length on how the device functioned. Ultimately, Xakku realized too late that he had landed his ship on wet, spongy ground and that while Uatu had
questioned him, his ship had sunk. Xakku suddenly realized that his own oxygen tanks were running low, and he would soon suffocate without help from Uatu. Uatu reiterated his own vow not to interfere with the lives of others, and walked away, leaving Xakku to die. (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#11: Sun-Stealer profile - BTS) - Gunava’s fate is unrevealed, though Guna have occasionally been seen elsewhere in the universe. --(Referenced, unseen and unidentified) Tales of Suspense I#55; (identified) Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#4 |
  (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#10: Possessor entry) -
Kamo Tharnn accidentally dispatched the hundreds of thousands of students and faculty
on Rus into the limbo-like pocket dimension "inside the Runestaff.(Thor I#335) - Sif used the Runestaff on Tharnn, freeing hundreds or more alien entities in a blinding flash. --Thor I#335 Note: So, it's a really tiny image... Scanning through Marvel extraterrestrials images, the Guna most closely fit, but it's not a clear-cut reference like some of the others. The mouth shape somewhat fits, but the head and eye shapes are less convincing. I'm fairly convinced the original OHotMU's Appendix to Alien Races was used as reference for many of the aliens in this story, and so having a Guna would fit, and maybe one was just penciled into the background from memory... You'd have to ask Alan Zelenetz, Mark Bright and/or Vince Colletta, but with the story being 42 years old, I'm not sure anyone still living would even remember... |
 (Quasar#26 - BTS) - Quasar encountered the Mourners within the Eonverse as they were preparing to hold a ceremony for Eon, just after it had been slain during the struggle against Maelstrom. (Quasar#26) - The Mourners held a memorial service for Eon, which was attended by a number of Cosmic entities, as well as Quasar. Thanos, an enemy of Eon, then possessing the Infinity Gauntlet, disrupted the ceremony. Quasar sent all present away while he attempted, futilely to deal with the virtually omnipotent Thanos. It is not certain if the ceremony was ever resumed. Note: This is a decent-sized image, and while the head shape, skin color and ocular appearance fit with a Guna, this character seems to have a large nose and a separate mouth, while Guna have a beak with no separate nose or mouth. So, there would either need to be some significant artistic license, art error and/or mutation from the other Guna seen for this character to be a Guna. Sadly, we can't ask Mark Gruenwald. Perhaps Dave Hoover or Fred Fredericks would know? The story was over 30 years ago... |
|
During the mourning ceremony, it was determined that the Kree had not passed on to the afterlife, and had instead been waylaid somehow. Upon investigating this, Quasar and his allies learned that the souls had been consumed by the Soul-Eater. Note: The head shape, skin color, eyes, lack of nose, etc. match the Guna nicely. The mouth looks less like a
beak, and the "mouth" is more of a frown shape than the grin shape seen
in most images, but it could just b e perspective, and we are seeing
him(?) from below and/or with his head tilted back...or maybe he has an
underdeveloped "beak." Sadly, we can't ask Mark Gruenwald. Perhaps Greg Capullo or Harry Candelario would know? The story was over 30 years ago... |
images: (without ads)
Tales of Suspense I#55/2
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#4: Appendix to Alien Races: Guna entry
Official
Handbook of
the Marvel Universe II (Deluxe Edition) #15: Appendix to Alien Races: Guna entry
Thor I#335, pg. 20, panel 1 (possible face in the crowd);
Avengers Spotlight I#25/2, pg. 9, panel 2 (possible face in the crowd);
Quasar I#26, pg. 13, panel 4 (possible face in the crowd);
#35, pg. 17, panel 2 (possible face in the crowd)
Appearances:
Tales of Suspense I#55/2 (July, 1964) - Stan Lee (plot/editor), Larry Lieber (script/artist)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#4: Appendix to Alien Races: Guna entry (April, 1983) - Mark Gruenwald (editor/head writer/designer), Michael Carlin (associate editor/designer), Peter Sanderson & Mark Lerer (co-writers), Patry Cockrum (penciler, Guna entry), Frank Giacoia (inker, Guna entry), David Cody Weiss, Joanne Harris, Bob Simpson, Roger Stern (researchers)
Thor I#335 (September, 1983) - Alan Zelenetz (writer), Mark Bright (penciler), Vince Colletta (inker), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II (Deluxe Edition) #15: Appendix to Alien Races: Guna entry (March, 1987) - Mark Gruenwald (writer/producer), Peter Sanderson (writer/researcher), Kyle Baker (penciler, Guna entry), Josef Rubinstein (inker), Howard Mackie (assistant editor), Marc Siry, David Wohl, Marc McLaurin (editorial assistants), Gregory Wright (assistant editor)
Avengers Spotlight#25/2 (December, 1989) - Glenn Herdling & Dwight Jon Zimmerman (writers), Rod Ramos (pencils), Don Hudson (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Quasar#26 (September, 1991) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Dave Hoover (pencils), Fred Fredericks (inks), Kelly Corvese (editor)
Quasar#35 (June, 1992) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Harry Candelario (inks), Kelly Corvese (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#11 (January, 2010) - Jeff Christiansen, Stuart Vandal, & Sean McQuaid (head writers/coordinators), Mike Fichera & Madison Carter (coordination assistants), Ronald Byrd, Michael Hoskin, Mike Fichera, Mike O'Sullivan, Madison Carter, Eric J. Moreels, Rob London, Gabriel Shechter, Markus Raymond, David Wiltfong, Rich Green, Jeph York, Chris Biggs, Jacob Rougemont, Eric J. Moreels, Mark O'English & David Sexton (writers), Brian Overton (copy editor), John Denning & Alex Starbuck (assistant editors), Mark D. Beazley (editor, special projects), Jeff Youngquist & Jennifer Grunwald (editors)
First posted: 05/08/2025
Last updated: 05/09/2025
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
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
(Avengers Spotlight I#25/2 (fb) - BTS) - When it (somehow) became known that Earthling Rick
Jones was about to publish his autobiography, multiple alien races were interested in acquiring it because they
believed that it would contain the secret of how he had once defeated the Kree and Skrull armadas. In order to
avoid any anarchy that would be caused if representatives of these races were to try to get the manuscript from
Jones, an auction was arranged so that the various sentient races would all have an equal opportunity to bid on
the autobiography. Beppe III was chosen to be in charge of the auction that was to be held aboard an intergalactic
auction cruiser.
(Quasar#35) - Guided by Eon's daughter, Epoch, to the nearest
lifeforms while investigating the Kree galaxy following the Nega-Bomb explosion,
Quasar, Makkari, and Her arrived at and entered the Mourning Star. The Mourners were within
the Kree Galaxy, preparing to mourn the billions of Kree killed
at the climax of the Kree-Shi'ar war by the Nega-Bomb explosion on
Hala.