BAST

Type: Extradimensional microworld (see comments)

Environment: Essentially Earth-like

Usual means of access: The energies released by shrinking

Dominant life form: Humanoids

Traits: Judging only by the appearance of cousins Jarr and Tyrr, the inhabitants of Bast would seem to be Caucasian-skinned humanoids closely resembling Earthlings, with the exception of having pointed ears.

The natives of Bast had advanced technology, enabling them to peer into other dimensions and to tap extradimensional power sources. Their nuclear power created weapons which destroyed much of their world, leaving little technology from which to work. Post-war, they were left to rebuild their society without such advanced technology.

Significant Inhabitants: Jarr, Tyrr

First Appearance: (Behind-the scenes) Iron Man I#49 (August, 1972)
    (fully seen) Iron Man I#50 (September, 1972)

History:
(Iron Man I#50 (fb) - BTS) - A nuclear war had ravaged the microworld of Bast (see comments), leaving behind little vegetation, few animals, and a mere handful of humanoid inhabitants -- the very rocks still glistened with atomic death.

(Iron Man I#50) - Two of the surviving inhabitants of Bast--cousins Jarr and Tyrr--dwelt within a fortress. Jarr designed and built the "Link-Ingenious," which could tap into the alternate-dimensional energy sources of Earth and transfer them back to Bast; he intended to gain energy sufficient to power reconstruction devices and weapons to enforce his laws, so he could conquer what remained of his people. But Tyrr disagreed with his cousin's course of action, and attempted to dissuade Jarr from it.

(Iron Man I#50 (fb) - BTS) - Jarr revived the Super-Adaptoid (after X-Men I#29, the Super-Adaptoid's next chronological appearance was in Avengers I#45, where he was rendered inert from the stress of trying to absorb all the Avengers' powers, then he was ret-conned with next appearance in Earth's Mightiest Heroes (see Super-Adaptoid's profile)), restoring to it the power and skills of Captain America (Steve Rogers), Goliath (Hank Pym), Hawkeye (Clint Barton), and the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne).

(Iron Man I#49 - BTS) - Jarr sent the Super-Adaptoid to Avengers Mansion to battle Iron Man (Tony Stark).

(Iron Man I#50) - On a monitor screen, Jarr and Tyrr watched as the Super-Adaptoid suddenly lost the powers it had regained -- as Jarr had planned, the Super-Adaptoid then evolved from artificial flesh into a metal-based being, the Cyborg-Sinister. Jarr was elated as his plan neared fruition, while Tyrr remained uneasy.

(Iron Man I#51) - Jarr and Tyrr watched as the Cyborg-Sinister assaulted Stark Industries, seeking a unique group of chemicals, intending to cause an explosion which would be channeled as a "relative infinity" of energy to Bast. But Iron Man managed to knock over a vat of the very chemicals it had sought on the Cyborg-Sinister itself, rapidly corroding its form so that Iron Man could shatter it.

   With the Cyborg's failure, Jarr prepared his contingency plan, intending to detonate the Cyborg and kill Iron Man with its explosion. But Tyrr could not abide with murder, so he rushed forward to stop Jarr, and their struggles destroyed Jarr's control computer in an explosion. With Jarr's plans thwarted, Tyrr hoped they might rebuild their world without mind-ruling machines, and he thought that it might turn out better that way.

Comments: Created by Mike Friedrich, George Tuska, and Vince Colletta.

It should be noted that Microworlds are not actually tiny planets existing within atoms and molecules, as once thought; rather they are in a different dimension that is accessed via the energies of shrinking beyond a certain point.

Other than the interior of Jarr and Tyrr's fortress, the two images above were all the readers were ever shown of the actual world of Bast; and besides Jarr and Tyrr, no other of inhabitants were seen.

And while we're on the topic, Jarr, and Tyrr only appeared in a total of 20 story-panels in the two issues (...and that includes Jarr and Tyrr's "presence" in captions where they're only speaking).
--Ron Fredricks

New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The microworld of Bast has no known connections to:

• BAST - see PANTHER GOD, female form was an Egyptian cat goddess, daughter of Osiris and Isis--(panther god mentioned) Fantastic Four I#52; (cat goddess seen) Thor I#386; (named) Black Panther III#21
• any other characters or worlds with similar names

Jarr should not be confused with:

• JAR JAR BINKS - annoying character from the Star Wars movies
• any other characters with similar names

Tyrr should not be confused with:

• MR. SPOCK - of the original Star Trek TV series, whom Tyrr sort of resembles
• TYR - Asgardian god of war, sacrificed left hand to imprison Fenris Wolf, has shown enmity towards Thor since he achieved greater preeminence--Journey into Mystery I#85
• TYR (Marc Devlin) - S.T.O.R.M., large amount of military experience, has spotted green skin and fangs, hot-headed, skilled warrior--Gene Dogs#1
• TYR of the BURNING BLADE - Warriors of the World of 1000 Galaxies, challenged Fandral, master swordsman--Thor Annual I#2
• any other characters with similar names
  

Jarr and Tyrr The cousins Jarr and Tyrr sought to rebuild their extradimensional microworld of Bast (see comments) after it had been decimated by nuclear war. Jarr sought to regain the lost atomic power and rebuild the machines of the past civilization; he also sought power in more than one form, wishing to rule what remained of their people. Tyrr felt that they should have learned their lesson from the nuclear war they had wrought with technology, and that they should rely on their natural skills and resources. In order to tap into the energy of an explosion on Earth, Jarr created the "Link-Ingenious," along with a video screen to monitor the events; to achieve his goal, Jarr also reactivated the Super-Adaptoid to carry out his plan. Tyrr attempted to dissuade Jarr, and when Jarr tried to kill Iron Man to further his plot, Tyrr refused to abide with murder and moved to stop him. The two cousins' struggle caused Jarr's computer controls to explode; as he dragged the stunned Jarr away, Tyrr told him that perhaps they could rebuild their world without technology. (Comment: Iron Man: Official Index to the Marvel Universe listed Jarr as dead at the end of #51 rather than just stunned -- of course, even if that were true, a "minor" thing like death never prevented any comic-book characters from returning.) --(behind-the-scenes) Iron Man I#49; (fully seen) Iron Man I#50 (50 (fb) - BTS, 49 - BTS, 50-51

images: (without ads)
Iron Man I#51, p6, pan2 (Jarr and Tyrr's fortress on Bast)
Iron Man I#50, p10, pan3 (Jarr and Tyrr's fortress on Bast)
Iron Man I#50, p19, pan3 (Jarr and Tyrr)
Iron Man I#51, p6, pan3 (Jarr)
Iron Man I#51, p6, pan1 (Tyrr)
Iron Man I#51, p12, pan1 (Jarr and Tyrr watching Cyborg-Sinister on video screen)
Iron Man I#51, p18, pan5 (Tyrr drags Jarr away from destroyed control panel)

Appearances:
Iron Man I#49-51 (August-October, 1972) - by Mike Friedrich (writer), George Tuska (penciler), Vince Colletta (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)

First posted: 07/02/2006
Last updated: 04/26/2026