BURROWERS race BURROWERS race
Classification: Semi-humanoid extraterrestrial race
Location/Base of Operations: Subterranean caversn on "Snarkworld," unidentified star system, Milky Way galaxy
Known Members: Cholly
Affiliations: Power Pack (Energizer/Katie Power, Gee/Zero-G/Alex Power, Kofi, Lightspeed/Starstreak/Julie Power, Mass Master/Jack Power, Tattletale/Franklin Richards), Sobak, Yrik
Enemies: Snarks
First Appearance: (Feet only, unidentified) Power Pack I#23 (June, 1986);
(full, identified) Power Pack I#24 (July, 1984)
Powers/Abilities: The Burrowers have sharp
claws on their hands and feet, as well as spikes protruding from the
front of their knees and the back of their heel, that allow them to
tunnel swiftly, as well as move quickly through rocky tunnel and to
scale rocky surfaces. Their large eyes (with the
capacity for large pupil dilation) are adapted to allow them to see in
the relative darkness; they are sensitive to bright light. Their fur-covered bodies presumably help them tolerate the cold of subterranean dwelling.
They can communicate telepathically (which they call mind-talking) with other Burrowers.
In one panel a Burrower is holding a smouldering rock after they had
been sitting in Yrik's cell, perhaps indicating they can release heat
from their hands to help in their digging. Or not.
Traits: The Burrowers are friendly and helpful; they do not like the bellicose Snarks, whom they refer to as dragons; nor do the Snarks like them. They are relatively primitive, not using any significant technology, and speak in broken English (or whatever language they spoke, as both Yrik and Katie could understand them without any obvious translator technology).
Type: Bilaterally symmetric semi-humanoid
bipeds (the presence of body hair would make them likely mammalian, but
their ears appear more reptilian)
Eyes: Two (on head; no visible sclera; pink irises seen)
Fingers: Two plus opposing thumb
Toes: Two, plus spike on posterior surface of their heel
Skin color: Gray, with gray-brown hair
Average height: Approximately 3'2" (they looked slightly
smaller than Katie Power, who the OHotMU Deluxe Edition listed as 3'7"
around that time)
History:
(Power Pack
I#24 (fb) - BTS) - The Burrowers dwell within subterranean caverns on
the homeworld of the Snarks (which has only be described as
"Snarkworld"). They apparently steal "garbage" from the Snarks
sometimes.
(Power Pack I#24 (fb) - BTS) -The Burrowers had a legend, "When falls star from sky, then Burrowers to light will fly."
(Power Pack I#25 (fb) - BTS) - Snark Emperor Bhadsha (and presumably most Snarks) did not consider the Burrowers to be intelligent.
(Power Pack I#23 - BTS) - After Katie Power's disintegration power burned through the ground while she struggled with the Snark Jakal, she fell a great distance (miles, according to the narration) into the Burrowers caverns, landing hard in shallow water (her powered-up form may have cushioned her fall).
(Power Pack I#24 (fb) - BTS) - Lord Yrik, the Kymellian ambassador to the Snarks, was imprisoned in a subterranean cell, into which the Burrowers tunneled.
(Power Pack I#23) - Four Burrowers (including Cholly) appeared (before the unconscious Katie could drown as she laid face down in water) and surrounded the unconscious girl. One of them noted her to be a star fallen from the sky to light their lives, but further considered that she was broken and no longer had any light. "Why did star visit us...only to die?"
(Power Pack I#24 (fb) - BTS) - The Burrowers turned Katie over, preventing her from drowning.
(Power Pack I#24) - One Burrower noted how she had
glowed so bright and fallen from the above; the second lamented that
she was now broken...dead; the third (who was helping the fourth hold
her up into an almost sitting position) argued that she was alive; but
the fourth responded that she didn't speak or glow, and wasn't alive.
As they dragged her out of the water,
Katie moaned, confirming she was alive, but then the
Burrowers heard Snarks approaching in search of Energizer. As the
Snarks saw the Burrowers with Katie, they began firing their blasters
at the "nasty little burrowers," who took Katie and ran from the
"dragons." The farthest behind of the group, Cholly was struck in the
back of the head by a blaster, and the next Burrower in front of him
noted that Cholly's head was hard as he went back and helped Cholly get
into the tunnel after the others. One of them worried the dragons would
follow them, but another noted that the tunnels were too narrow, and
the dragons would get stuck. Meanwhile, as Katie's head bumped and
scraped the rocky floor of the tunnel and she cried out in pain, one of
the Burrowers chided the other not to break her, but the other
responded that she was already broken...and heavy.
As she continued to bump and cried out again, one of the Burrowers told
her, "Star child, bad sound is. Fall tunnel will. Hush!" All the
Burrowers shifted back and forth from four to three to two
carriers the rest of the way. One of them reminded the others of
the legend about the star that would fall from the sky, and the
Burrowers would fly to its light. Another wondered if this was the star
of legend, a third said she was broken and could not lead them, and the
last Burrower told the others they would take her to the alien healer,
who would fix her.
When they
approached Yrik's cell, they noted how the star would just barely
fit through the narrow tunnel. Byrel was asleep, and they worried he
was broken and/or dead, but he awakened when one of them tried to check
him. Calling Yrik "Healer Lord," they told her they had brought her a
smashed star. With his healing powers having been transferred to
Chancellor Hadj, Yrik told Katie she would have to use her Kymellian
power to heal herself. The Burrowers watched in silence as Yrik
encouraged Katie out of her depression and fear of her powers and made
her see she was needed to save her siblings and the creatures of many
worlds (who would be harmed by the Snarks).
As
Yrik helped Katie heal herself, the Burrowers warned that dragons
were coming, as the Snarks weere tracking Energizer's energies to
Yrik's cell. As the Burrowers piled rocks in front of the cell's door,
jamming it shut, Yrik told them he was too big to fit through the
tunnel, and that with his powers gone he was a worthless burden they
should leave behind. The Burrowers watched in amazement as Katie used
her disintegration powers to enlarge the hole so Yrik to fit
through.
(Power
Pack I#25) - The Burrowers led and assisted Katie and Yrik in climbing
upward to help her siblings. However, as she apparently had to
repeatedly use her disintegration power to enlarge openings for Yrik to
fit through, Katie began to glow brightly. The Burrowers told her to
dim her light, as she was blinding them, but she could not, and when
she slipped, she released an energy ball that flew up and hit the top
of the cavern above them with a loud explosion, causing a large pile of
rocks to fall upon and bury them, "No! Fall the ceiling! Shakes the Earth! Doomed are we all..."
Yrik lifted the rocks off of his own back, and as he dug Katie free,
the Burrowers dug themselves out as well. With Katie unconscious and
apparently dying, the Burrowers urged Yrik to try his healing powers,
to see if he retained even a little of them. As Yrik tried his hardest,
he made contact with his healing energies within Hadj and drew them
back into himself (unwittingly preventing Hadj from saving the dying
Snark Emperor Bhadsha). Yrik successfully healed Katie.
As Jakal the Snark -- who had usurped Alex, Julie, and Jack's powers --
prepared to kill the children in the castle, Energizer arrived
alongside Yrik and the Burrowers. While Jakal battled Katie, one of the
Burrowers stole a key from Queen Mother Maraud, and then they used the
chains to pull the other Power siblings into a tunnel into which they
fled alongside Yrik under blaster fire from the Snarks. Once they were
safe in a subterranean cavern, the Burrowers and Yrik unchained the
Power siblings; however, one of the Burrowers warned they would have to
go the long way around to try to help Katie, as the battles (warring
between rival Snark clans after Bhadsha's seeming death) above had made
the small tunnels unstable. As they progressed, they narrowly escaped
some more falling rocks, which left Yrik and two of the Burrowers
trapped on the other side.
(Power Pack I#25 - BTS) - One of the Burrowers spoke telepathically with other Burrowers (it's unclear whether this was the Burrowers trapped on the other side of the rocks, or other Burrowers some distance away who had seen where Jakal had gone)and identified that there was only one was to go to get where Jakal had taken Katie.
(Power Pack I#25) - After Franklin Richards, Kofi, and the dying Bhadsha escaped the smartship Friday crashing on Snarkworld, a trio of Burrowers found them.
(Power Pack I#25 - BTS) - The Burrowers helped Kofi and Franklin drag Bhadsha to a station where he contacted the combatants and told them he was alive, ending the hostilities.
(Power Pack I#25) - When
Alex angrily demanded the Burrowers take them to Katie and Jakal, one
of them revealed he had mind-talked to other Burrowers and they were
going the only way they could. They reached Jakal after he had taken
Katie's power, and in the ensuing struggle, all four Power kids
reclaimed their powers from Jakal. Yrik and the other two Burrowers
arrived soon after, followed by Bhadsha, Yrik, Frankin, and the three
Burrowers who had helped them.
The repentent
Jakal, whose mind had been damaged by the energy transfers, allowed
Yrik to heal his damaged body, after which Bhadsha's mind was
transferred from his dying body into Jakal's body.
(Power Pack I#26) - A trio of Burrowers caried Friday's memory core (or something containing a fragment of Friday's essence) from the damaged ship, so scientists might restore the ship.
(Power Pack II#4 - BTS) - After Maraud facilitated Jakal's mind retaking control of his body, Kofi and the benevolent High Snark Sobak traveled to Earth and recruited Power Pack to help quell the civil war and prevent corrupt Snarks from waging war across the Milky Way galaxy.
(Power Pack II#4 - BTS) - To escape impending death at the hands of a Snark Imperial Destroyer, Katie advised Kofi to transport Power Pack (Energizer/Katie, Mass Master/Jack, Starstreak/Julie, and Zero-G/Alex) as well as Sobak and himself to the Burrowers caverns. Kofi departed with Mass Master and Starstreak to try to enlist the aid of the Destrak, queen mother of the Destrak clan.
(Power Pack II#4) - After Sobak, Energizer, and Zero-G defeated a squad of attacking Snarks loyal to Jakal, they encountered the Burrowers, who were pleased to see the "Child Star" had returned, but worried about the "dragon" in their midst, and Sobak was not pleased to encounter them, either. Katie explained to Sobak how the Burrowers were their friends, and the Burrowers agreed to help them "make dragons nice," by leading them to the big dragon's den. After leading the trio to a tunnel to Jakal and Maraud's base, the Burrowers parted ways with them, but when Katie thanked them and said she hoped they would see them again after making the mean dragons nice, one of the Burrowers told her, "Child Star bright. Burrowers again see."
Comments: Created by Louise Simonson, John Bogdanove, and Bob Wiacek
In my copy, at least, the pages numbered 18 and 19 are out of order.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Burrowers have no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Power Pack I#24, pg. 1 (main image);
pg. 19, panel 4 (glowing rock, and rear view)
Appearances:
Power Pack
I#23-24 (June-July, 1986) - Louise Simonson (writer), John Bogdanove
(penciler), Bob Wiacek (inker), Carl Potts (editor)
Power Pack I#25 (August, 1986) - Louise Simonson
(writer), John Bogdanove (penciler), Bob Wiacek & Mark McKenna (inkers), Carl Potts
(editor)
Power Pack I#26 (October, 1986) - Louise Simonson
(writer), John Bogdanove (penciler), Bob Wiacek (inker), Carl Potts
(editor)
Power Pack II#4 (November, 2000) - SC Bury (writer), Colleen Doran (penciler), Terry Austin (inker), Mike Marts (editor)
First Posted: 07/19/2015
Last updated: 07/19/2015
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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