Classification: Extraterrestrial
Location/Base of Operations: Invaded a radar outpost in northern Canada; originally from an unidentified planet in the Ninth Galaxy
Known Members: Three (at least one of whom was a Krill female (see comments)) (none identified)
Affiliations: Lou
Enemies: Earthlings in general (including an unidentified radar operator)
First Appearance: Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/1 (January, 1962)
Powers/Abilities: The Krills displayed no paranormal abilities other than their advanced technology, which included an armada of spaceships capable of intergalactic travel (not depicted); they also possessed ray guns which could temporarily immobilize humans for an unspecified period of time.
A trio of Krills wore space-suits when they disembarked
from their orbiting armada to descend to Earth's surface. The
space-suits used some means of propulsion and navigation, and also
provided life-support and protection from the heat and friction of
atmospheric reentry.
Type: Semi-humanoid
Eyes: Two
Fingers: Five (including opposing thumb)
Toes: Unrevealed
Skin color: Green
Hair color: Bald (males); brown
(females)
Average height: 5' 10"
History: (Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/1 (fb) - BTS) - From their homeworld in the Ninth Galaxy, the Krills desired to conquer Earth; their king sent his daughter along with the invading armada of spaceships, in the hopes that there was an Earthling who would be willing to marry her, and thus betray Earth and cooperate with the invasion force.
The armada of Krill spaceships eventually reached Earth and orbited the planet. Knowing that their huge war fleet would eventually be detected by Earth's radar stations, a trio of Krills (including the king's daughter (see comments)) debarked from a ship in space-suits.
(Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/1) - It was a dark and stormy night when the three Krills drifted down to the planet's surface; they landed near an isolated radar outpost in northern Canada. After barging into the installation, one of the Krills tried to negotiate a surrender with the two men operating the outpost; the Krill offered them rewards beyond their wildest dreams--wealth, power, and the most beautiful females in the universe as their brides--if they would only deactivate the radar system so the Krill fleet could make a surprise attack.
Intrigued by the alien's proposition, the lonely and cowardly Lou (whose only thought was of the prospect of marrying the most beautiful woman in the universe) took the Krill up on his offer, and he was willing to betray his own planet. But Lou's co-worker wouldn't stand for Lou's treachery--he punched Lou, then attempted to press an alarm button, but he found himself paralyzed by the Krill's ray gun.
Lou was introduced to his new bride, and she was indeed a
beauty... unfortunately for him, she was beautiful only by Krill
standards!
But even as Lou was meeting his wife-to-be, the other radar operator
found that the paralyzing effect of the Krill's ray gun was beginning to
wear off, and his finger inched closer to the alarm button... (see
comments)
Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
The final caption read: "At this very moment, the alarm
has been sounded, and the invasion will be crushed!", so we can assume
the unidentified radar operator eventually managed to press that alarm
button; however, no further details were given as to exactly how
the Krills were defeated.
As there has never been any record of a Krill invasion of Earth-616 (mainstream Marvel Universe), nor any further appearances by the Krills since, it's possible that this story actually took place on an alternate Earth.
...or maybe it did take place on Earth-616, but perhaps the Krills soon discovered that their bodies had no immunity to the germs and viruses that naturally occur on Earth (the ol' H.G. Wells "War of the Worlds" resolution) and cancelled the invasion.
...or maybe this story did take place on Earth-616, but
in the pre-modern
era, before the first appearance of the Fantastic Four. It would
be easy enough to ret-con the Krills into Skrulls,
and the Krill armada could be changed to that Skrull
invasion fleet that previously threatened Earth, until it was
destroyed by the First
Line (@ Marvel: The Lost
Generation I#12)--maybe that alarm button the
unidentified radar operator pressed was a direct line to their
headquarters.
(Such a ret-con wouldn't be unprecedented--the amnesiac shape-shifting
"Martian" spy who appeared in Amazing Adult Fantasy#7/1 would
eventually be ret-conned into the Skrull Zankor
in that same Lost Generation mini-series.)
(BTW - Coincidentally, the Krills first appeared in the same month and
year as the Skrulls (@ Fantastic Four I#2)).
And although it wasn't specifically stated in the story, I figured
that Krill king's daughter was one of the trio who came down to Earth,
considering how quickly she showed up at the end.--Ron Fredricks
The basic plot of this 5-page story--The
Coming of the Krills--would be reused a few years later in
Tales of Suspense I#47/2 (November, 1963)--Shock!--but
with different characters, and set in the future.
But the actual Krills story was redone a few years later
and expanded to 10-pages in Silver Surfer I#2/2 (October, 1968) as a "Tales of the Watcher" back-up feature--the
Krills looked basically the same, but their skin-coloring was
light-blue, and the king's daughter had longer hair; this version of the
story also depicted the invading Krill spaceships, along with some of
the crew members.
Offering a beautiful female member of their race in
order to get a human to betray Earth, is a deal the Super-Skrull also
offered Ward Meachum in Namor the Sub-Mariner#18 (September, 1991).
Her name is Tenelle.
--Gammatotem
Profile by John Kaminski. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Krills have no known connections to:
|
The
daughter of the Krill king, she was promised as a bride to Lou
for his betrayal of Earth to the Krill invasion fleet. She
was said to be the most beautiful female in the universe...but,
of course, that was by Krill standards (Translation: If my
dog had a face like hers, I'd shave his butt and teach him to
walk backwards). --Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/1 |
|
An isolated facility in northern Canada, it was operated by Lou and his co-worker. The Krills wanted to launch a surprise attack on Earth, but they feared that their orbiting fleet of spaceships would be detected by the installation's radar system. A trio of Krills was dispatched to the planet's surface,
on a mission to deactivate the radar system. --Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/1 |
|
|
Lou (last name unrevealed) was one of the two men stationed at an isolated radar facility in northern Canada. But the
solitude of their location was too much for the lonely Lou to bear
, and he was irritated by his co-worker's patriotism. When a trio of Krills barged into the installation, the extraterrestrial invaders offered to reward the two men if they cooperated and deactivated the radar, so their orbiting war fleet wouldn't be detected. Although his co-worker refused to assist the Krills, Lou was willing to betray his own world to the invaders for their promises of wealth, power, and having the most beautiful female in the universe for his bride; but things didn't quite work out for Lou the way he hoped... --Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/1 |
 
|
|
He
was a loyal and patriotic man who was stationed at an isolated radar
installation with Lou. When the invading Krills barged into the outpost, the aliens offered to reward him and Lou if they cooperated and deactivated the radar system. Although this man refused, Lou was willing to cooperate with the invaders. After punching the treacherous Lou, this radar operator tried to alert the outside world by pressing an alarm button; however, he was immobilized by a Krill ray gun before he could do so. But while Lou was being presented with his "reward," the
paralyzing effects of the ray gun began to wear off, and this radar
operator was apparently able to press the button (see comments). --Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/1 |
 
|
images: (without ads)
Amazing Adult
Fantasy#8/1, p3, pan1 (Main Image - Krill invaders barge into radar
outpost)
Amazing
Adult Fantasy#8/1, p3, pan2 (Headshot - Krill invader)
Amazing
Adult Fantasy#8/1, p2, pan3 (three Krills in space-suits drift
down to Earth)
Amazing
Adult Fantasy#8/1, p3, pan8 (Krill invader offers
rewards to unidentified radar operator and Lou)
Silver
Surfer I#2/2, p10, pan5 (Krill
invader, Krill female, Lou)
Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/1, p5, pan7
(Krill female (left), Krill invader, Lou)
Amazing
Adult Fantasy#8/1, p2, pan6 (three Krills
observe radar outpost)
Amazing
Adult Fantasy#8/1, p3, pan7 (radar outpost)
Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/1, p2, pan7 (Lou complaining to his co-worker)
Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/1, p4, pan3 (Lou agrees to betray Earth)
Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/1, p5, pan2 (Lou excitedly awaits his
bride-to-be)
Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/1, p4, pan6 (unidentified radar operator runs to alarm button, but gets shot by Krill's ray gun)
Amazing
Adult Fantasy#8/1, p4, pan7 (unidentified radar operator finds
himself immobilized, just short of alarm button)
Amazing
Adult Fantasy#8/1, p5, pan4 (unidentified radar operator finds
that effect of Krill ray gun is wearing off)
Appearances:
Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/1 (January, 1962) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (pencils/inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Artie Simek (letters)
Silver Surfer I#2/2 (October, 1968) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Gene Colan (pencils), Paul Reinman (inks), Bill Everett (colors), Sam Rosen (letters) - original story redone
First Posted: 8/22/2006
Last updated: 03/20/2021
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!
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