main image

HERU

Real Name: Heru

Identity/ClassExtraterrestrial (Mars, Hither People) (circa 1 billion years ago)

Occupation: Adventurer;
   formerly princess

Group Membership: None;
   formerly royal house of the Hither People

Affiliations: Chak, Chea, Gullivar Jones, Hath, Lu-Pov, Noltoi outcast

Enemies: Lizardmen (Ar-Hap, Jen-In, others), Technics Guild and their hybrids (Firstborn, others), Wing-Men (Gret, others)

Known Relatives: Hath (distant cousin), father (king, name unrevealed, likely deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: mobile on Mars (circa 1 billion years ago)

First Appearance: Creatures on the Loose I#16/1 (March, 1972)

Powers/Abilities: Heru was a full-blood royal member of the golden-hued Hither People of ancient Mars, and knew the conditions and customs of her era. Initially passive before becoming an outcast to her people, she gained self-confidence with Gullivar Jones and learned to ably fight with a sword.

Height: 5'6" (by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Green
Hair: Dark Green

History:

(Creatures on the Loose I#16/1 (fb) - BTS) - About a billion years ago on planet Mars, Heru was born into the royal family of the passive Hither People based outside the abandoned city of Seth. Her father was king and she was betrothed to her distant cousin Prince Hath to ensure continuation of the full-blood golden-hued Hither People. She maintained the female Hither People's custom of scanty clothing. Heru was friends with the wizard Lu-Pov, who left to find a champion to help them.

(Creatures on the Loose I#16/1) - Heru stood beside the throned Hath as the Hither People's treaty payments to the Lizardmen were reconciled. The Lizardmen's ruler, Ar-Hap, had unexpectedly selected Heru as his annual tribute wife. She protested as she was dragged away, but Hath gave no resistance. Just then, the Earthman Gullivar Jones appeared, having been selected by Lu-Pov and cast far back in time to Mars. Judging quickly on appearances, he jumped in to stop the Lizardmen and was surprised at his augmented strength in Martian gravity. A remaining Lizardman carried Heru away on his reptilian steed, but hurled her at the pursuing Jones so that he could escape. Recognizing Lu-Pov's amulet on Jones, she let Jones carry her back to Seth. Heru and Jones were quickly attracted to each other and they spent several days together, with Heru explaining her people's customs and conditions. However, one romantic evening, the two were attacked by flying Wing-Men minions of Ar-Hap. Heru was kidnapped and carried away while Jones was left lost in the Martian wilderness.

(Creatures on the Loose I#17/1) - Jones dreamt of his journey and arrival on Mars, including the rescue, romance and kidnapping of Heru. He encountered Giant Slugs that telepathically disguised themselves as a desired object of their prey; Jones was almost fooled by a facade of Heru's image.

(Creatures on the Loose I#19/1 (fb)) - Heru was kidnapped by Wing-Men. Shouting protests along the way, she was delivered to the Lizardmen led by Ar-Hap.

(Creatures on the Loose I#18/1) - Unconscious underwater, Jones again dreamt of his time on Mars, including rescuing Heru.

(Creatures on the Loose I#19/1) - In the Lizardmen's camp, Heru was violently disciplined by Ar-Hap's minister Jen-In. As per custom, she was imprisoned with the previous year's wife of Ar-Hap, Chea (also of the Hither People) with a ceremonial dagger; the new wife was expected to kill the former wife or be killed herself. Although Heru wanted them both to escape, Chea, hating the role of Ar-Hap's wife, took the knife while Heru slept.

   Meanwhile, hiding in an polar ice cave, Jones wistfully thought on Heru. He was later distracted in a fight with Ra-Kar by a telepathic vision generated by the amulet showing Heru in trouble.

(Creatures on the Loose I#20/1) - The next morning, Heru found Chea had suicided and wept for her. Thinking Jones had died during her kidnapping, she felt alone and endured rationed food across days as a further test. Finally she was forcefully taken and whipped by the spiteful Jen-In before taken to Ar-Hap. The Lizardmen's ruler tried showing kindness, but she remained defiant. He ordered Heru taken away and the wedding propelled while he rested. Elsewhere, Jones had been captured and taken to the Lizardmen's camp. During wedding festivities, Jones saw Heru when he was brought out to fight a Bloodbeast. Initiating an internal coup, Jen-In took the captive Heru to bait Jones to Ar-Hap's tent.

(Creatures on the Loose I#21/1) - Jones, now joined with fighting mate, the mutant Wing-Man Chak, chased Jen-In, who hoped to start a new tribe of warriors mothered by Heru. But Chak and Jones caught up with them in the desert and killed the Lizardman upstart. Planning their next move, Heru declared her love for Jones and that he had given her courage. Seeing the vengeful Ar-Hap's legion marching at them, Jones, Chak and Heru took up arms and fought for their lives. Wing-Men joined the fray to settle their simmering feud with the Lizardmen; Jones sent Heru away in the care of Chak. With the Wing-Men victorious, Jones joined Heru and Chak nearby.

(Monsters Unleashed I#4/5) - Jones led the trio on a journey back to Seth. They were secretly followed by an outcast of the spidery Noltoi race, which Jones had violently encountered earlier. But this Noltoi sought them for companionship, apparently drawn to Heru's singing. Using its unique telepathic ability, it entranced Heru as the most peaceable of the three. Spinning a sticky web around her, the outcast telepathically told Heru of its struggle and escape from its people. However, Jones and Chak, thinking the outcast malicious, killed it. Held fast by webbing, Heru could not stop the murder and wept at its death. They buried the outcast while Jones, realizing his error, berated his impulsiveness.

(Monsters Unleashed I#8/5) - Jones, Chak and Heru arrived at Seth and stopped a hybrid Bloodbeast attacking the locals. Heru was angry at the thanklessness of her apathetic people, but they only recognized her as an outcast. Heru remained defiant. She recognized the slain hybrid belonged to the Technics Guild, a small secret order that had long kept science secret and held Seth city, forcing the passive Hither People to live in tents outside for generations. The trio stormed the gates, fighting Guild-created flying hybrid guards. Jones thought that Heru was keen to be an example to her people and shake them from fear and complacency. The hybrid creatures retreated and Guild members quickly incapacitated the invaders with sleeping gas. The trio were chained up and awoke to hear the death penalty being passed on them with the monstrous Firstborn cyborg unleashed on them. Jones' augmented strength freed them and they quickly killed the beast. Jones chided the Technics Guild for wasting opportunities to rebuild Mars and help the natives. Heru tried to offer Jones hope by suggesting that books held real knowledge, but Jones led the trio away.

Comments: Created by Edwin L. Arnold (writer). Adapted by Roy Thomas (writer), Gil Kane (pencils), Bill Everett (inks).

Heru first appeared in Edwin L. Arnold's 1905 novel "Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation", which was adapted and modernized by Marvel when it was seeking more sci-fi/fantasy properties. Note that Gullivar Jones predates a similar character,John Carter (created by Edgar Rice Burroughs and published around 1912), also an Earthman stranded on Mars.

Heru appears on the cover of Creatures on the Loose I#17 with Jones against the Noltoi, but this is inaccurate.

The Monsters Unleashed stories were printed in black and white.

Profile by Grendel Prime.

CLARIFICATIONS :
Heru has no known connections to:


Chea

Chea was of the Sethian Hither People and recognized Heru as her princess, yet was paler in skin color. As per a treaty, she had been the year-long tribute wife to Lizardman warlord Ar-Hap. However, Heru was the following year's tribute, with the custom being only one would survive to serve Ar-Hap that year. Although Heru offered another choice of escape together, Chea instead chose to use the ceremonial knife to commit suicide while Heru slept, rather than face the prospect of another year with the brutal Ar-Hap.

 

 

 

 

--Creatures on the Loose I#19/1 (20/1


Hath

Concerned more with honor, Prince Hath was Heru's distant cousin and betrothed to marry her as the last two full-blood Sethian Hither People. However, when the Lizardman warlord Ar-Hap demanded Heru as his year-long tribute wife as per a treaty, he readily surrendered her. This sundered their commitment to marry.

 

 

 

--Creatures on the Loose I#16/1


images: (without ads)
Creatures on the Loose I#21, cover (main image)
Creatures on the Loose I#21, p7, pan4 (headshot)
Monsters Unleashed I#8, p48, pan3 (falling, B&W)
Creatures on the Loose I#20, p4, pan6 (Chea)
Creatures on the Loose I#16, p4, pan3 (Hath)


Appearances:
Creatures on the Loose I#16/1 (March, 1972) - Roy Thomas (writer), Gil Kane (pencils), Bill Everett (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Creatures on the Loose I#17/1 (May, 1972) - Roy Thomas (writer), Gil Kane (pencils), Sam Grainger (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Creatures on the Loose I#18/1 (July, 1972) - George Alec Effinger & Gerry Conway (writers), Ross Andru (pencils), Sam Grainger (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Creatures on the Loose I#19/1 (September, 1972) - George Alec Effinger (writer), Wayne Boring & Gil Kane (pencils), Jim Mooney (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Creatures on the Loose I#20/1 (November, 1972) - George Alec Effinger (writer), Gray Morrow (pencils/inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Creatures on the Loose I#21/1 (January, 1973) - George Alec Effinger (writer), Gray Morrow (pencils/inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Monsters Unleashed I#4/5 (February, 1974) - Tony Isabella (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils/inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Monsters Unleashed I#8/5 (October 1974) - Tony Isabella & Doug Moench (writers), George Perez (pencils), Duffy Vohland & Rich Buckler (inks), Tony Isabella (editor)


First posted: 05/01/2018
Last updated: 05/01/2018

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!

Back to Characters