HALFWORLD
Type: Extraterrestrial planet
Environment: Earthlike
Usual means of access: Space travel
Dominant Life Forms: Robots, Loonies
(aka humans), various altered Terran animals
Significant Inhabitants: "Awful
Eight", Drakillars,
Lord Dyvyne, Good Humor Men, Head
Robot, Lylla, Judson Jakes, Keystone Quadrant Kops, Blackjack O'Hare, Uncle Pyko, Robohorse,
Robomower, Rocket Raccoon, Stinker,
Wal Rus, Wild Worms,
various unidentified animals, humans,
and robots
Significant Locations: Admissions
Ward, Asylum, unidentified
cantina, Cuckoo's Nest, Galacian
Wall, humanoid spaceship, Mayhem
Mekanics, Spacewheel,
First Appearance: Incredible Hulk II#271 (May 1982)
History:
(Rocket Raccoon#3 (fb) ) - Psychiatrists
from an unidentified starfaring human civilization (see comments below)
left their homes in search of a planet that they could use to house their
insane patients away from the sane society that loathed them (the patients)
and made them outcasts from the rest. Five years out, the psychiatrists
found a world they found suitable for their needs, and set their hospice
ships (about five of them total) down on it. They built a facility
to house their allegedly incurable patients, building robots to care for
their needs while the animals the doctors brought became companions and
entertainers for their patients. Administering the settlement from
their headquarters in Asylum, the psychiatrists spent years studying the
functions and dysfunctions of the human mind, expanding their knowledge
of same, and writing down all their observations of their patients' mental
problems in the logbook of the hospice ship Gideon. Before they could
find a cure, though, their funding was cut off and the doctors were ordered
to return to their homeworld. Having no choice but to obey, the doctors
did so, but not before they built an impenetrable Galacian Wall around
the planet and several of its moons to keep the doctors' patients (left
behind due to safety concerns) safe from outside harm from their home society,
and to keep the patients from inadvertently escaping into possible harm.
The doctors left their patients in the care of the robots, and also left
behind the animals to continue on as companions and entertainers.
Over the following years (centuries?) the robots
continued their task of taking care of the patients and their descendants,
who, if not born already insane, were affected by their insane environment
and acted insane as normal behavior. Eventually gaining an artificial
intelligence of their own, the robots began chaffing at the illogic of
their charges, and sought a way out. They found an answer by genetically
manipulating the animals and enhancing their intelligence, allowed them
to speak human language, and gave many animals the ability to walk upright
and use their front paws/hoofs as hands. The robots then turned over
day-to-day care of the insane humans, now called Loonies, over to the altered
animals while the robots retreated to their claimed side of the planet,
which they turned into an all-metalic industrial plain, and began working
on a gigantic humanoid-shaped starship and studying how to shut down the
Galacian Wall, all the while making vehicles, weapons, and artificial limbs
for the animals, and making parts for toys used to keep the Loonies entertained.
Over the following years (more centuries?) animal society evolved around
caring for the Loonies, with toy companies becoming the chief source of
income for many animals, and with the Chief Toysmiths of each company designing
both toys for Loonies and far more dangerous "toys" (aka weapons) for their
bosses. Other animals became law enforcers, called Rangers, with
both the care of the Loonies and the keeping of law and order among the
other animals a chief concern to the animal Rangers. The main housing
facility of the patients became known as the Cuckoo's Nest, the capital
(for lack of a better word) of the non-robotic (and thus still full of
plants and other natural stuff) half of the planet, now called Halfworld
by its inhabitants. The doctors' headquarters became a shrine called
the Admissions Ward, home of a religion worshiping the ancient Shrinks,
and tended to by priests called the Good Humor Men, and which only the
Loonies were supposed to enter. The shrine also housed the log
book of the Gideon, left behind by the doctors when they left, and
venerated by the Loonies despite the fact that few could actually read
it, let alone had the education to understand what it said. The system
Halfworld belonged to was named the Keystone Quadrant by its inhabitants,
though where the system is located (i.e. which galaxy its in, which empire
its by, stuff like that) in relation to the rest of the universe at large
has yet to be revealed.
(Incredible Hulk II#271 - BTS) - Many years ago, under unrevealed
circumstances, tortoise toysmith Uncle Pyko probed the mind of a human
Keystone Kop, and unearthed deeply submerged memories of the connection
between the Firstcomers (aka the psychiatrists) and the Loonies (whom the
Kop belonged to). In the process, Uncle Pyko also learned the key
to deciphering the Gideon's Bible, which all believed held the secret for
ultimate power on Halfworld. Unhappily for him, the Kop did not survive
the probe.
(Incredible Hulk II#271) - A runaway robot mower approached a sleeping
Hulk (Bruce Banner, who, long story short, had been transported to Halfworld
by a dying Galaxy
Master), who could not be awakened by the two animals (Rocket Raccoon
and Wal Rus) who had found him. Rocket attempted to divert the robomower
from its path, but the robot couldn't be stopped. The sound from
the mower awoke the Hulk, who was angry his sleep was disturbed, and smashed
the robomower, but not before the 'mower got off an alarm and summoned
the Loonie police, the Keystone Quadrant Kops. Upon arriving, the
Kops promptly crashed into the victim, then futilely gave chase to the
two animals and the Hulk, who calmly left in the spaceship Rakk 'n' Ruin
while the Kops were getting themselves organized enough to begin their
investigation.
(Rocket Raccoon#1) - After borrowing the Gideon's Bible from the
Loonies in an attempt to decipher it, Rocket and his companions, Wal and
Lylla the otter, were interrupted by the Keystone Quadrant Kops, whose
investigation of the Snail Gang was interrupted by a call from toy mogul
Lord Dyvyne over the assassination of his chief toysmith, which sent the
Kops off to find Rocket so he could take the call. Rocket returned
the Bible to its caretakers, the Good Humor Men, whose leader assured Rocket
that the language of the ancient Shrinks was unfathomable, then invited
Rocket to watch the ancient rites, which Rocket did for a few moments before
getting back to Dyvyne's call. During a later performance of their
ancient rites, the leader of the Good Humor Men asked, as part of the ritual,
for the ancient book to speak to them, only to be horrified when the book
opened like a jack-in-the-box and revealed a jester's head inside the book
(the Bible had been switched out with the substitute a short time before
by Uncle Pyko).
(Rocket Raccoon#2) - Later that night, the Loonies held the Great
Masquerade, where each Loonie could become what they truly believed they
were for a night, as part of the 'therapy' left for them by the ancient
Shrinks. Despite an attack on Rocket by a Drakillar and a Killer
Clown (courtesy of toy mogul Judson Jakes) during the parade portion of
the celebration, the Loonies arrived at the sacred building Asylum and
continued their Masquerade Ball there. During the Ball, the misty
creature Red Breath (created by Lord Dyvyne's late toysmith) arrived to
kill Rocket, and erase anything else that got in its way, including several
Loonies, When Rocket, with aid by mercenary rabbit Blackjack O'Hare, managed
to destroy the Red Breath (by using a squad of Killer Clowns on vacusleds
to suck up the Breath while it was destroying the Clowns) the erased Loonies
rematerialized, seemingly none the worse for their experiences.
(Rocket Raccoon#3) - After faking their deaths to throw off a
posse composed of Judson Jake's Killer Clowns and Lord Dyvyne's chimpanzee
samurais, O'Hare brought Rocket, Wal Rus, and Lylla to a cantina on the
robot side of Halfworld, where O'Hare claimed that every deal for the toys
sold to the Loonies was negotiated. There, Rocket, Lylla, and Wal
discovered Uncle Pyko waiting for them, wishing to talk. While Pyko
revealed the true history of the Shrinks as detailed in the Gideon's Bible,
O'Hare slipped off and recruited seven other animals to kidnap Lylla and
the Bible so he could turn them over to Lord Dyvyne (his most recent employer)
and return to Dyvyne's good graces. Rocket and the others defeated
O'Hare and his so-called "Awful Eight" and escaped. Pyko took them
to the Assembly Line, run by the Head Robot, and explained to Rocket that
the Bible also held the notes the ancient Shrinks had taken about the forms
of insanity the Loonies suffered from, and that the best way to end the
toy war between Jakes and Dyvyne was to cure the Loonies using the notes
in the Bible. Rocket reluctantly fed the Bible to the Head Robot,
which digested the data within the Bible and soon turned out a therapeutic
toy designed to cure the Loonies.
(Rocket Raccoon#4) - Days later, the four animals, along with
a Robohorse, set up a traveling carney show to give all the Loonies of
Halfworld a Wonder Toy (the therapeutic toy from last issue's end) in an
attempt to cure the Loonies of their insanity, and thus end the toy war
between toy moguls Jakes and Dyvyne by depriving them of their customer
base. After every Loonie got a toy, the four commented on the
silence that now hung over the Cuckoo's Nest, before coming under attack
by the combined forces of Dyvyne and Jakes. Rocket, Wal, Lylla, and
Pyko fought the two armies, but even with the aid of a semi-repentant O'Hare
they were outgunned by their enemies, until the Robohorse returned with
reinforcements -- the other robots and the now-cured Loonies -- who quickly
turned the tide of battle and finished off the Clowns, and took the chimpanzee
samurais prisoner. Afterwards the humans asked the animals and robots
to help them rebuild their world; while some animals and robots accepted,
others chose to follow Rocket onto the humanoid spaceship into outer space
and seek their destiny there after the Robots shut down the Galacian Wall.
Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Jim Novak (inks).
This profile is mostly a catch-all
for the many Halfworld denzines that didn't fit in with the other animal
characters getting their own profiles (Rocket Raccoon, Lylla, Wal Rus,
Uncle Pyko, Blackjack O'Hare, Judson Jakes, Lord Dyvyne, maybe Psycho-Circus),
or who had enough history in common that they didn't need truly need separate
profiles for them (Robots and Loonies). The Wild Worms and Drakillars
have their own profile already.
I've seen mentioned on some websites
discussing the Rocket Raccoon stories that Mantlo wrote, that he had been
strongly influenced (or was doing an homage of sorts) to a Beetles song,
("Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", I think is the song being referenced
by them), given much of the fun lunacy that Halfworld has. My guess
is that Mantlo was simply drinking from the same creative well, figuratively
speaking, that whoever wrote "Lucy" drank from, and nothing more (no rocking-horse
people or girls with kaleidoscope eyes homages on Halfworld that I saw,
anyway). Halfworld simply had the same feel as the world in "Lucy",
is all. (And before anyone brings it up, yes I am aware the Beetles'
song was supposed to "really" be about a LSD trip, and no, I'm not accusing
these creators of using it or anything like that. You can get weird
imagery like rocking-horse people without using ANY drugs, trust me.
Imagination and a different world view is all you need. to do it with.)
What happened to the Halfworlders who left the planet
has never been revealed, beyond the fact that Rocket Raccoon was somehow
separated from the others and has yet to be reunited with them. My
guess/preference is that they first went to the world the ancient psychiatrist
came from, and then saw how many threats were out there (Kree invaders,
Skrull invaders, other alien invaders, ect.), then decided to return to
Halfworld and make it their home base to explore the rest of the universe
from.
What link Bill Mantlo intended between Halfworld,
the Sword
in the Star timeline, and Earth (which was mentioned as having a link
to the same people who founded Halfworld in the Hulk issue), will unhappily
never be revealed by him, due to a brain injury he suffered several years
ago (some details and occasional updates here).
Given the number of similarities between many of Halfworld's denzines (all
animals people are clearly descended from Earth animals, the Loonies dress
up as characters from American pop culture, ect.), there has to be a major
link between the two planets somehow. Most likely is that Earth humans
were seeded onto other worlds by an outside agency (or the outside agency
seeded Earth along with the other worlds), and that is the source of much
of the commonality. Or else several Earth humans and animals were
kidnapped by aliens and stranded on the planet the ancient psychiatrists
came from (who said that such things didn't/couldn't have happened before
the sliding timescale activated in the modern MU?), with some time-travel
involved in the mix. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like an answer
will be revealed anytime soon. :(
I'm not sure what exact mental condition(s) the Loonies
were suffering from, beyond loss of contact with reality, and being the
stereotype of the happy-go-lucky harmless crazy person. Possibly
the planet the Loonies originally came from managed to eliminate the truly
violent crazies from their population, leaving them just the more harmless
crazies to fear.
It's unclear just how many centuries passed since
the Shrinks first came to Halfworld and the current day. I'm guessing
not very many (like, maybe, 2-3 centuries at most), since at least one
of the Loonies still remembered how to read the Shrink's native language
(the Kop Uncle Pyko inadvertently killed), which apparently all living
Loonies can't, given how impossible it was for Rocket to read the Halfworld
Bible on his own (otherwise, why wouldn't the Loonies just tell him and
the other animals how to read it if they knew how?). Another mystery
that likely won't get solved anytime soon.
One thing I noticed with the altered animals is that
there seems to be no birds or marine animals among the altered, just land
mammals and reptiles. Possibly the altered dolphins, whales, and
various fish species, if they exist, live primarily in the oceans and lakes,
where none of the Rocket Raccoon series took place. Where the altered
birds live, if they exist, I'm not sure. Maybe they're primarily
forest/mountain dwellers, and have no use for either the Loonies or the
robots, or the other animals at all.
One thing I noticed during the recent Planet Hulk/World
War Hulk storylines. the design for Warbound member Arch-E 5912 is
very similar to that of the Halfworld robots. Perhaps a ship from
the Shrink's homeworld (NOT Halfworld, since it doesn't have but the one
interstellar craft capable of FTL travel) managed to get trapped in that
wormhole the Sakaarian Shadow Priests had been creating for the last several
years, and that's where Arch-E's from originally. Or not. . . . .
Profile by Elf
with a gun
Clarifications:
Halfworld and its various places (Admissions Ward,
Cuckoo's Nest, the cantina, ect.)
have no known connections to
-
any other "half" or "world" places and/or people
-
any other places with identical names
The animal people of Halfworld have no known connection to
-
ANI-MEN (Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man, Dragonfly, Frog-Man)
- agents of Organizer + Count Nefaria + Madame Masque, originally recruited
by Organizer, briefly empowered by Nefaria’s scientists, killed by bomb
Spymaster set for Tony Stark @ Daredevil I#10
- ANI-MEN (Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man) - successors, recruited
+ outfitted and Ape- + Cat-Man subsequently killed by Death-Stalker @ Daredevil I#157
- ANIMEN
(Buzzard, Crushtacean, Flying Fox, Komodo, Spinner) - New Men, sent to
sabotage one of the Jackal (Miles Warren)'s labs, opposed the Scarlet Spider
and the Cult of the Jackal @ Scarlet Spider Unlimited#1
- ANI-MEN
(Giraffe-Man, Great Horned Owl-Man, Pig-Man, Rabbit-Woman) - attacked the
Milwaukee Convention Center on an animal rights crusade, defeated by Avengers @ GLA#1
- ANI-MEN
(Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man) - present at Hammerhead's meeting @ Civil War: War Crimes#1
- CULT of the JACKAL (Anubia, Caiman, Harrier, Piranis) - New
Men, formerly worshipped the Jackal (Miles Warren) for his promises to
make them human, eventually convinced by the High Evolutionary to abandon
their wishes of becoming human @Scarlet Spider Unlimited#1
- NEW MEN (Animen, Animutants, Barrachuudar, Bobo, Bova, Civit,
Cult of the Jackal, Eaglus, Equius, Haukk, Inheritor, Jackal-Man, Knights
of Wundagore, Kohbra, Lizhardus, Lycrus, Man-Beast, Monck, Phrogg, Pih-Junn,
Porcunius, Reynar, Reynardo, Rhodan, Snakar,Tabur, Triax, Weezhil)
Artificially evolved animals created by equipment/processed used by the
High Evolutionary @ Thor I#132
- NEW MEN - more primitive version, designed by Sinister when
he took over the High Evolutionary’s citadel @ Uncanny X-Men#380
- or any other of the hundreds of animal races & groups (natural or artificial)
running around the Marvel Universe.
The Halfworld (Gideon) Bible is named after
but otherwise has no connection to
-
any other book(s), mystic or otherwise, called a "bible", "journal," or
"tome".
The Keystone Quadrant Kops are an homage to
but otherwise have no connection with
-
other "keystone" or "kop/cop" characters/places/things
The Loonies have no known connection to:
-
LOONIES
(Billy Bird, Guns Gummy, Ham, Rochester, Rooster Cockburn, Southpaw, Tailgunner)
- robots of Arcade, modeled after cartoon characters @ Marvel Comics Presents#31/4
-
other loonie characters/races or crazy people
The robots of Halfworld may or may not have a connection
to
-
ARCH-E-5912 - Sakaar robot, enlisted with Hulk's Warbound,
piloted stone starship to Earth @ Incredible Hulk III#93
but otherwise have no know connections to
-
any of the other hundreds of robots out there in the Marvel Universe
The Shrinks and their hospice ships have no
know connections to
-
any other known human or human-like races roaming the Marvel Universe spaceways.
Animals
The animals of Halfworld were originally brought
to the planet by the Shrinks as companions and entertainers for the Shrinks'
insane patients. The animal species seen include (but aren't limited
to) dogs, raccoons, walruses, otters, iguanas, snakes, chimpanzees, gorillas,
rabbits, warthogs, pigs, skunks, alligators, turtles, frogs, and tons more
I can't quite identify off the top of my head. (Given the selection
of animals present, and that many of those animals would not have made
good pets at all, I'd say it's a fair assumption that the ancient Shrinks,
or someone associated with them, did some undocumented massive terraforming
on Halfworld before setting up shop there, otherwise why bring so many
wild animals along with them on an interstellar journey?) After
the Shrinks left, the logical robots charged with caring for the insane
humans eventually came to dislike the day-to-day aspects of the job, so
they played around with the genetics of the various animal species also
left on Halfworld, and eventually succeeded in giving the animals sentience.
The robots altered the animals' bodies so they could walk on two legs,
and use their front paws as hands (when feasible; walruses and snakes don't
have humanlike legs, and use robotic prosthesis's as hands. Presumably
other animal species whose bodies are close to the ground, like seals,
say, also weren't altered to have humanlike arms and legs). Evidently
all normal animals on Halfworld were altered into intelligent animal-people,
since there seems to be no unaltered animals left anywhere on Halfworld
that I could see, nor are any mentioned by anyone anyplace. Once
they had the results the way they wanted, the robots passed the day-to-day
job of caring for the Loonies to the animals, and retreated to their own
side of Halfworld, where they could keep the contact with both animals
and Loonies to a more tolerable level (for them, anyway).
How exactly the animals' society is set up has never
really been revealed. It is unknown, for example, if intermarriage
between different species is common or not, and if such marriages can produce
young of any kind (the genetics would be hard to work out, but not impossible
in the MU, at least). In fact, it's unknown if the animals renew
their numbers via something like a cloning lab, or if they do the in the
time-honored ways. There is a criminal element among the animals,
hence the need for law enforcement officers like the Rangers, though there
doesn't seem to be a need for more than a few active Rangers at any given
time. Beyond that, nothing is really known about the society(ies)
of the animals.
While many of the animals left Halfworld on
the robots giant Ship, some animals remained to help the now-sane Loonies
in rebuilding their world, though in what capacity they're doing so remains
unrevealed.
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-4
(And yes, those are Steve Purcell's Sam
& Max characters sitting in the corner there in this pic.
Which may go a long way to explaing a great deal of the things on Halfworld,
if someone wishes to go in that direction. >:) )
"Awful Eight"
A group of animals gathered on a moment's notice
by Blackjack O'Hare to capture the Halfworld Bible from Rocket Raccoon
and Uncle Pyko, take Lylla the otter hostage, and return them to O'Hare's
estranged employer, Lord Dyvyne. Presumably they were mercenaries
of some sort, and were solely after the rewards both Dyvyne and Judson
Jakes were offering for Rocket and co.'s heads (and other body parts).
During the fight in the unnamed cantina, the Awful Eight were quickly reduced
to the "Frightful Five", then down to the "Terrible Trio", before Rocket
and co. escaped the enraged O'Hare.
--Rocket Raccoon#3
Stinker
One of the few animals outside of the main seven ever given names.
Stinker is a skunk (obviously) who is a close friend of Rocket and Lylla.
It is unknown if he had any of the same abilities of a Terran skunk, like
being able to hibernate and shoot smelly musk at his enemies. He
was among those animals attacked and knocked unconscious by the Black Bunny
Brigade's assault on Cuckoo's Nest in order to steal the Gideon's Bible.
He revived just in time to give Rocket the information that the BBB had
taken the Bible and Lylla hostage. It is unclear if he was one of
the animals who left with the others at the end of the toy war, or if he
stayed behind to help the former Loonies rebuild Halfworld.
--Incredible Hulk II#271
Loonies/Humans
The human Loonies are descended from the insane patients
the ancient Shrinks brought to the future Halfworld to cure them of their
insanity. The home planet of the Shrinks and the patients has never
been revealed, though it isn't Earth (616 planet Earth doesn't have enough
space capability to launch spaceships for a multi-year journey -- yet).
Nothing has been revealed about their home culture, save that it seemed
to have had a one-world government of some type, and that the insane patients
were feared and loathed by the sane members of their society, to the point
that the insane had to be removed to a different world for their own protection.
After the Shrinks were ordered back to their homeworld, they left their
uncured patients behind where they would be safe from harm from their own
species. The patients' descendants eventually became the Loonies,
playing their lives away since they had no idea how to become productive
people in their own right, and had to be cared for by the robots, then
later the animals the robots engineered to take their place as caretakers.
Some of the Loonies did manage to remember how to read the ancient language
of the Shrinks up to at least a few decades before the Hulk visited Halfworld,
since Uncle Pyko learned to read the Halfworld Bible from buried memories
provided to him by a Loonie, though seemingly no other Loonie knows how
to read, or else didn't connect reading with what was written in the Bible.
After they were cured by the Wonder Toy, the former Loonies began the task
of taking responsibility for themselves, and remaking their world to create
a new place for themselves in it.
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-2, 4
Good Humor Men
The high priests, so to speak, of the Loonies, and
probably the closest thing to rulers the Loonies could manage while they
were insane. There were seven of them that performed the sacred rites
in the chapel called the Admissions Ward at least once or twice a day,
in an attempt to gain the Final Cure and become one with the Shrinks.
The rites included tying each up in their straightjackets while the leader
'read' an old nursery rhyme from the Halfworld Bible ("One flew East, one
flew West, one flew over the Cuckoo's Nest"), then all began dancing around
the pedestal where the Bible sat. Later the Good Humor Men would
dance out of the chapel, then dance back in and, according to their ritual,
ask the Book to speak to them, and not with words. Which it didn't,
until Uncle Pyko stole the original Bible and secretly left a substitute
in its place, which did 'speak' when asked to, by opening up and allowing
a clown's head to bobble out of it, horrifying the watching Loonies. (Incidentally,
Good Humor Men is a slang term for the guys in the white coats who catch
crazy people in butterfly nets to haul them away to the local insane asylums.
In case anyone was wondering why these Loonies were called that here.)
The guy at the head of the line in this pic seems
to be the head Loonie. He was one of the Loonies erased, then un-erased
by the Red Breath at the Masquerade Ball, then later let the cured Loonies
against the combined forces of Dyvyne and Jakes in their last battle against
Rocket and company. Later, he was the one who acted as the human
spokesman asking the animals and robots to stay on Halfworld and help them
rebuild.
--Rocket Raccoon#1 (Rocket Raccoon#1-2, 4
Keystone Quadrant Kops
These are the Loonies who acted as the Loonies' law
enforcement division. After receiving the alarm from the damaged
robomower that it was under attack (by Rocket Raccoon, Wal Rus, and the
Hulk), this group of Kops responded, demanding that everyone stop in the
name of the Law, while inadvertently running over the victim with their
car. While the two animals and the Hulk calmly entered the spaceship
Rakk 'n' Ruin the Kops futily waved their nightsticks at them while demanding
they stop. Sometime later, during one of Rocket's days off, the Keystone
Kops Crime Detection Squad approached him (this time crashing their car
into in pool Rocket was relaxing in) to report that a call from toy mogul
Lord Dyvyne had come in about the assassination of Dyvyne's Chief Toysmith.
After receiving their report, Rocket sent them back to original mission
of tracking the Snail Gang back to their lair (a mission that was supposed
to take "the next century and a half" to complete). After Rocket
and co. distributed the insanity-curing Wonder Toy to the Loonies, the
Kops joined with the other cured Loonies to help the robots drive away
the enemies trying to kill Rocket and co., then later stayed on as true
law enforcement officials to help rebuild Halfworld.
Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1, 4
Shrinks
The founders of the future Halfworld, and creators
of the human stronghold Cuckoo's Nest. The psychiatrists left their
home planet (location as yet unrevealed) to find a world where they could
safely treat their patients without worrying about threats from their sane
fellow humans. On their new planet, the doctors used everything at
their disposal to try and cure their patients, and prepared against the
day they would be ordered to return to their homeworld. When that
day arrived, they chose to leave their patients behind a protective Galacian
Wall, safe from their fellow humans. What happened to the psychiatrists
after that remains unrevealed. On Halfworld, they were mythologized
as god-like creatures, with their buildings and their left-behind logbook
becoming the focus of worship from the human Loonies.
--Rocket Raccoon#3
Robots
The robots were first created by the humans who originally
settled the future Halfworld as a haven for their insane patients.
While the psychiatrists worked to cure their patients, the robots took
care of the patients' more mundane needs (like food and water). These
early robots, though intelligent enough to care for their human patients,
apparently didn't have a true intelligence comparable to sentient organics.
After the psychiatrists were recalled to their homeworld, they left the
robots behind to continue to care for the patients they had to leave behind.
For years (centuries? see comments above) they took care of their
charges while the charges (now called the Loonies) stayed at the same level
of insanity as their ancestors had. At some point the robots developed
a true intelligence (though radiation from a nearby nova was postulated
as a cause of this, it has never been confirmed or denied as part of the
cause). Chaffing under the illogic of their charges, but unwilling
to leave them without caretakers, the robots eventually discovered how
to alter the animals left behind as entertainers and companions for the
humans, creating a race of animal people to become the Loonies' new caretakers.
The robots then retreated to the other side of the planet, which they turned
into an industrial land to work on how to shut down the protective Galacian
Wall surrounding their planet, and worked on a giant humanoid-shaped starship
to take them into space. They also manufactured the toys designed
for the Loonies' amusement, and manufactured the prosthetics and weapons
the animals requested for their own use. After the Loonies were cured,
almost all the robots left in their starship for adventures offworld, though
presumably some robots stayed behind to help the humans rebuild Halfworld.
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-4
Head Robot
This particular robot was located in the main assembly
plant (called, appropriately enough, the Assembly Line), and was apparently
where the animal toysmiths inputted their designs for their toys to be
mass-produced. Uncle Pyko introduced Rocket to the robot, and explained
how information in the Gideon's Bible could be used by this robot to create
a means of curing the Loonies of their insanity, and thus ending the toy
war between Jakes and Lord Dyvyne. Rocket placed the Bible in the
robot's mouth, and the robot chewed, swallowed (with a satisfying 'aahh'
afterwards), and quickly digested the data. It then reprogrammed
the other robots on the assembly line to design, build, and program the
Wonder Toy helmets to cure the Loonies. Whether this robot left with
the others, or remained on Halfworld, is unrevealed.
--Rocket Raccoon#3
Robohorse
This robot joined Rocket Raccoon, Wal Rus, Lylla,
and Uncle Pyko when they distributed the Wonder Toys to the Loonies in
Cuckoo's Nest. It (though it was referred to as a 'her' throughout
the issue) pulled the carney wagon the animals were using to distribute
the toys from. When the animals came under attack by the combined
forces of Jakes and Dyvyne, Wal cut the robohorse loose from the wagon,
allowing her to escape and summon reinforcements. It soon returned
with the robots' humanoid Ship, which unleashed an army of other robots
and the now-cured Loonies fighting for their futures. After Jakes
and Dyvyne were defeated, the robohorse may have joined the other animals
and robots who chose to leave Halfworld in Ship.
--Rocket Raccoon#4
Robomower
This robot's main job was as a lawn maintenance worker,
mowing the grass and trimming the hedges as needed. However, it malfunctioned
somewhere, causing it to run away from its chores and leaving it unable
to stop or change the direction of its path to avoid mowing down animals
and other creatures in its way. The robomower (definitely a slow-moving
one, given its original job) eventually came across the unconscious Hulk,
whom it threatened to chop up despite the attempts by Rocket Raccoon and
Wal Rus to either stop the robot or move the Hulk out of its path.
The noise the 'mower made woke up the Hulk, who angrily attacked the 'mower,
saying if the machine like to make noise that the Hulk would make more
noise than it ever could, and smashed the 'mower on the ground, destroying
it. Before it got smashed, though, the 'mower got off an alarm to
the Keystone Quadrant Kops, who came to investigate, and ran over the 'mowers
remains in the process.
--Incredible Hulk II#271
Things & places
Some of the things and places on and around Halfworld.
Admissions Ward
A chapel located in the main building of Cuckoo's
Nest. Unclear if this room was originally used as an actual admissions
ward for the original patients when they first settled in the compound,
or if it was originally used as a religious chapel by the Shrinks and renamed
later by the Loonies. In the modern era of Halfworld's history, the
Ward was used to house the Halfworld Bible, and where the Good Humor Men
did their dances in an attempt to obtain the Final Cure for themselves.
--Rocket Raccoon#1
Asylum
Originally built by the Shrinks for use as their
administrative office and general headquarters. Later it became a
sacred shrine of the Loonies that the animals (and presumably the robots)
evidently did not enter. The Loonies used it once a year as the site
of their Masquerade Ball, which became one of the battlefields of the toywar
between Jakes and Dyvyne when they both sent assassins after Rocket Raccoon
and a renegade Blackjack O'Hare.
--Rocket Raccoon#2 (Rocket Raccoon#2-3
Cuckoo's Nest
The main human settlement on Halfworld, and possibly
the only one in existence there. It is also home to various animals,
though whether it's also the only animal settlement on Halfworld (at least
by law-abiding animals, anyway) is unrevealed. Originally used as
housing and treatment centers for the original patients of the Shrinks.
The name 'Cuckoo's Nest' was most likely used by the original settlers
as a nickname for the hospital, with the name becoming official sometime
after the Shrinks left for their homeworld. (It should be noted
that in the Rocket Raccoon issues, Cuckoo's Nest was shown with a moat
inside the compound's walls, while in the Hulk issue there was no moat
to be seen within those walls.)
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-2, 4
Galacian Wall
detail of Galacian Wall The Galacian Wall was a force field created by the
Shrinks when they were forced to leave Halfworld by their native government.
Presumably the Wall was started long before the recall order came, since
it would take several years to plan, build, and power something like this.
The Wall surrounded Halfworld, and, from the looks of things, several of
Halfworld's moons IF the picture here is accurate. (Doubtful if it
also included the entire solar system Halfworld belonged to.) The
metallic part of the Wall generated a globe of energy that wouldn't allow
anyone inside to leave, and supposedly repelled anyone outside of it from
entering. The Wall's main purpose was to keep the humans the Loonies
were originally descended from from attacking and destroying them, since
their native society evidently feared their crazies to the point of killing
them. Though the robots shut the force field down (via feeding it
a shutdown code?), the Wall still remains around Halfworld, and presumably
can be reactivated by the remaining citizens of Halfworld if needed.
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-4
Gideon's Bible/Halfworld Bible
Originally the logbook of the hospice starship Gideon,
the ancient shrinks also used it to record their history on the future
Halfworld, and jot down their notes on what exactly ailed the Loonies and
theories on how they might be cured. The original (written) language
the Bible was written in was all but forgotten until accidentally rediscovered
by Uncle Pyko, who eventually succeeded in stealing it and deciphering
it. Pyko later convinced Rocket to feed it to the Head Robot, in
order to have the robots use the knowledge within to find a final cure
for the Loonies, and stop the war between Jakes and Dyvyne. However,
there is a good possibility that Pyko copied the Bible's contents into
his own computers for his own later reading. Also, it's extremely
likely that the robots also made their own copy of the Bible for their
own uses as well.
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-3
Hospice ships
The ships used by the Shrinks to travel to and from
the planet later named Halfworld. How many of them were used in this
mission is unrevealed, though five are shown in the story. They could
fly in space and in a planet's atmosphere, and presumedly had FTL capabilities
as well. Their known passenger and cargo list had the Shrinks themselves,
their human patients, the robots (or at least parts to make them when they
reached their destination), and tons of animals to amuse the patients while
they waited to be cured. Though it's not mentioned anyplace, the
ships would have had trained crew members running the ships who weren't
the Shrinks. And presumably it would have been these same crew members
who built the Galacian Wall, since the knowledge and know-how to do it
would have certainly been beyond the experience of doctors trained to work
on the human mind and body.
--Rocket Raccoon#2 (Rocket Raccoon#2-3
Humanoid spaceship
The spaceship (named Ship, of course) the robots
stared on after retreating to their side of Halfworld. It took them
several years (decades? centuries?) to complete, and was apparently
several miles long. In addition to things like hyperspace capabilities,
it also had life-support functions capable of supporting a few hundred
animals in addition to whatever life-support needs the robots would have
had (obviously not air and organic food, but rather electricity and repair
services and things like that).
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-4
Spacewheel
The orbital space base of both Judson Jakes and Lord
Dyvyne. Spacewheel was originally designed by Uncle Pyko (with the
actual construction presumably done by the robots, since they'd be the
only ones with the know-how and materials to do it), who was then Jake's
Chief Toysmith for his Inter-Stel Mechanics toy company. Sometime
after the events of the Hulk issue, Lord Dyvyne took over Spacewheel under
unrevealed circumstances and made it the headquarters of his Dyvynities,
Inc. toy company, and had (again, presumably, by the robots) the station
overhauled and re-designed into something closer to his aesthetic visions.
While several hundred animals could have easily lived on the station, neither
Jakes nor Dyvyne seemed to ever have enough people up there to fill it
to even a quarter of its capacity. Jakes seemed to keep only Uncle
Pyko and himself there, along with several dozen of his Killer Clown cyborgs/robots,
while Dyvyne seemed to keep his Toysmith, several retainers, and his chimpanzee
army (which seems to have been around fifty in all) housed there.
And both allowed the Black Bunny Brigade to base there as well. After
the apparent deaths of both Jakes and Dyvyne, who currently runs the station
is unrevealed.
--(Judson Jakes version) Incredible Hulk II#271
--(Lord Dyvyne version) Rocket Raccoon#1 (Rocket Raccoon#1-3
Wonder Toy
When Rocket Raccoon asked the Head Robot for a device
to finally cure the Loonies of their insanity (using the information stored
in the Halfworld Bible), this helmet is what the Robot gave Rocket.
Using electromagnetic feedback and a sophisticated computer program, the
helmet essentially reprogrammed the Loonies' minds, correcting their biological
imbalances and teaching the wearers what sane behavior was like whenever
the handles on either side of the helmet were turned. (I haven't
been trained as a psychologist or in any psychology fields, so I have no
idea what exactly in the human head/body this thing would have to affect
to gain the desired results, and therefore can't give a real good description
of what the helmets' are supposed to be doing.) Once donned by
a crazy Loonie, the Wonder Toy could cure said Loonie in a matter of hours.
Presumably the now-sane humans have kept the Toys around, just in case
one of them needs to use one. . . .
--Rocket Raccoon#3 (Rocket Raccoon#3-4
Unnamed cantina
Located on the robot side of Halfworld and run by
the robots, it was frequented by Blackjack O'Hare and other members of
his Black Bunny Brigade. O'Hare claimed that all the deals for all
the toys sold on Halfworld were negotiated in this cantina, but that seemed
to have been a ruse for O'Hare to lure Rocket Raccoon, Wal Rus, and Lylla
into an ambush there. The three animals instead met Uncle Pyko there,
and with his aid defeated the mercenary animals O'Hare had hired to kill
them.
--Rocket Raccoon#3
images:
(Main) Rocket Raccoon#1, p11, pan2-5
(History) Rocket Raccoon#2, p11, pan3
(Detail) Rocket Raccoon#1, p11, pan1
(Exodus) Rocket Raccoon#4, p22, pan4
(Sane Loonies) Rocket Raccoon#4, p22, pan1
Animals
(Main): Rocket Raccoon#3, p14, pan4
("Awful Eight"): Rocket Raccoon#3, p15, pan4
Rocket Raccoon#3, p18, pan1
(Stinker) Incredible Hulk II#271, pg11, pan7
Loonies/Humans
(Main) Rocket Raccoon#3, p9, pan2
(Good Humor Men) Rocket Raccoon#1, p9, pan4
(Keystone Quadrant Cops) Incredible Hulk II#271, pg5, pan4
(Shrinks): Rocket Raccoon#3, p13, pan4
Robots
(Main) Rocket Raccoon#3, p20, pan4
(Head Robot) Rocket Raccoon#3, p21, pan3
(Robohorse) Rocket Raccoon#4, p1, splash
(Robomower) Incredible Hulk II#271, pg2, pan5
Things/places
(Admissions Ward) Rocket Raccoon#1, p8, pan1 & 3
(Asylum) Rocket Raccoon#3, p13, pan3
(Cuckoo's Nest): Incredible Hulk II#271, pg11, pan5-6
(Galacian Wall): Rocket Raccoon#1, p11, pan5
detail Incredible Hulk II#271, p6, pan6
(Gideon/Halfworld Bible) Rocket Raccoon#3, p22, pan3
(Hospice ships): Rocket Raccoon#3, p13, pan1
(Spacewheel)
Judson Jakes version: Incredible Hulk II#271,
pg12, pan1
Lord Dyvyne version: Rocket Raccoon#3,
p8, pan1
(Wonder Toy) Rocket Raccoon#3, p23, pan6
(Loonies using Toy) Rocket Raccoon#4, p12,
pan2
(Unnamed cantina): Rocket Raccoon#3, p10, pan5
Appearances:
Incredible Hulk II#271 (May, 1982) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Jim Novak (inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Rocket Raccoon#1-4 (May-August, 1985) - by Bill Mantlo (writer), Mike Mignola (penciler), Al Gordon (inks), Carl Potts (editor)
Any Additions/Corrections? please let
me know
Last Updated: 01/02/08
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 Items