WHIS'PAR(please note that these stories are from Epic Illustrated, part of a more mature line and may not be appropriate for everyone)
WHIS'PAR
(please note that these stories are from Epic Illustrated, part of a more mature line and may not be appropriate for everyone)
Real Name: Whis'par
Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Reality-8116) extraterrestrial (Forest People of the World of the Woods; aka Woodlanders)
Occupation: Unrevealed
former co-activator of the Infinity
Horn;
previously unrevealed
Group Membership: Last seen in union with Juliet (last name unrevealed) and Za
formerly an unnamed alliance (Aknaton, Vanth
(later Dreadstar), Juliet, Za)
Affiliations: None identified
Enemies: Zygoteans
Known Relatives: Gromlin (father)
Aliases: Chosen One
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly Dreamsend;
formerly Vanth's Light Cutter ship;
formerly Lartorez;
born on the World of the Woods
First Appearance: Epic Illustrated#2 (Summer, 1980)
Powers/Abilities:
Whis'par could fly via her gossamer butterfly-like wings. Her speed,
range, height, etc. are all undefined. I would speculate that she could
perhaps fly at least as fast as she could run, if not slightly faster.
She was not seen to fly carrying anything of significant weight.
Whis'ar possessed a number of
antenna-like projection extending out and upward from her back and
neck. These presumably granted her enhanced sensory awareness and
empathy.
All of her people were attuned
to spirituality, and Whis'par was the most in harmony with nature; and
she possessed the wisdom that came with such harmony.
She could sense energy to some degree.
As a member of a race created by Aknaton, she could sense some of his secrets and intentions.
Though generally peace-loving, she was willing and able to wield an
energy pistol to lethal effect, taking out enemies on the ground while
flying above.
What abilities Whis'par possessed in her later energy incarnations remains unrevealed.
It would seem likely that she was
rendered virtually immortal and possessed certain powers, but we don't
know anything beyond the conversion into energy. 
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'9" tall;
the only one of known height in the group is Vanth, at 5'11"; Whis'par
was never shown clearly standing next to him, but she didn't look too
much shorter than he was)
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 130 lbs.; unless her bones/tissue were lighter/less dense than human)
Eyes: Brown (there were few shots showing her face clearly, and her eye color was not clearly shown, but they looked darker...)
Hair: White
History:
(Epic Illustrated#2/6 (fb) - BTS) <Approximately 100,000 years ago> - On the World of the Woods, the Council of Sensitives chose Whis'par, from among all the winged ones, as the member of the Forest People most in harmony with their world's natural beauty, and thus the one who would be sent to accompany Aknaton on his mission.Whis'par saw the "gods" come to her world from the stars in her dreams.
(Epic Illustrated#2/6 (fb) - BTS) - Aknaton traveled -- along with Juliet and Za -- to the World of the Woods to gather the final member of his group.
(Epic Illustrated#2/6 - BTS) - Whis'par's father, Gromlin, convinced her she needed to meet with Aknaton to fulfill her destiny.
(Epic
Illustrated#2/6) - Cenzar informed Aknaton that the Chosen One was
coming, and Aknaton thanked and asked him to see that they were not
disturbed as they had much to talk about.
(Epic Illustrated#2/6 (fb) - BTS) - Aknaton transported his group to Lartorez, a "mineral poor planet the Zygoteans had already passed" (see comments) and then departed to recruit the final member of their group.
(Epic Illustrated#5/9 (fb) - BTS) - Aknaton and Vanth arrived on Lartorez and met with Juliet, Whis'par, and Za
(Epic Illustrated#5/9) - With all of his agents were now gathered, Aknaton departed for another plane to decipher the whereabouts of the Infinity Horn from Soule's amulet; though he knew not how long he would be away, he instructed them to await his return.
Juliet,
Whis'par, and Za evaluated Vanth, who realized they'd want to test his
mettle and considered that he would have to go easy on them to avoid
killing them. Juliet noted how she had expected many protectors, rather
than just one, and Whis'par noted "Yes, just one man with a beard, and
him only half the size of Za.
When Za pulled down Vanth's hood to see if he had hidden features, Vanth had already decided that he didn't want to fight the women, and he was happy that Za had provoked the challenge. Vanth swiftly turned and punched out the giant Za, then apologized, noting that the "little man" had always been sensitive about his height and that if they needed the "just one man" he would be over the ridge, keeping an eye on the horizon.
Whis'par
went to talk to the frustrated Vanth, who whipped out his pistol upon
hearing her approach. She tried to calm him, noting she was on his
side; though Vanth questioned whether this was actually the case, Whis'apar thanked him and
apologized while noting she had sensed that he was strong enough to
have killed Za several times over with a single blow.
She further shared that she could tell Aknaton had chosen him because he was a killer, and finally explained that Aknaton's plan involved a mercy killing to a dying galaxy, as there was no other way to stop the Zygoteans.
(Epic Illustrated#6/6) - Upon Aknaton's return from communing with his god, Ra, and learning the location of the Infinity Horn, Vanth confronted Aknaton about his plans to blow up the galaxy. Juliet worried that this looked like trouble, but Whis'par assured her that it was nothing Aknaton couldn't handle.
To convince his allies of the wisdom of this plan, Aknaton prepared to show them the true nature of Zygoteism.
(Epic
Illustrated#7/6) - Whis'par listened silently as Aknaton related the history of the
Zygoteans, explaining that galactic destruction was the only way to
stop them and the kindest thing for the galaxy; meanwhile, Zygotean
mercenaries located and targeted them.
(Epic Illustrated#7/7) - After Aknaton detected the landing and approach of Zygotean cruisers, the group followed Vanth's instruction to get to the Light Cutter.
Whis'par watched as Vanth took out the cruisers, and then the much larger Zygotean dreadnought in orbit, hugging and comforting the terrified Juliet, after which Aknaton punched in the coordinates, and they departed to their last stop, the planet Dreamsend.
(Epic
Illustrated#8/6) - Arriving on Dreamsend, Whis'par and the others
fought
their way past the Zygotean ground troops.
At Za's request, Whis'par
explained the history of the Kalloombrians, whose temple hid the
entrance to Aknaton's base. As more
Zygotean ships approached, Aknaton
instructed them to head for the temple, as it would shield them from
the Zygoteans' fire.
Whis'par noted that the temple had no door, but
Aknaton mystically opened the floor and then led them down down
"stairs" that were actually a
multi-dimensional corridor to his Hall of Death and Mercy, at the
mystic heart
of the galaxy.
When Whis'par wondered why Aknaton didn't close the floor
behind them, Aknaton explained that he had never dreamed that they
would have Zygoteans pursuing them and so he never set up a means to
close the floor panel.
As they reached the bottom of the
stairs and approached Aknaton's Hall of Death and Mercy, Vanth
announced the approach of Zygotean troops. Aknaton opened the mystic
portal to his hall and revealed to them the Infinity
Horn. 
Aknaton then clarified that Whis'par, Juliet, and Za would
not die, but that they would instead be the foundation blocks of
tomorrow, their qualities creating a new
race of beings who would, hopefully, succeed where "humanity" had
failed. Whis'par would contribute the ability to adapt harmoniously to any environment.
Whis'par bade Aknaton farewell and apologized for anything she might have said against him, as she appreciated that he had no more choice then any of the others. Aknaton told her he understood, after which she told him to tell Vanth goodbye and that she would miss him. Acknowledging this, a solemn Aknaton bade his "children" farewell.
(Epic
Illustrated#8/6 -- BTS) - Aknaton told Vanth what Whis'par had said,
noting that he felt Vanth had touched her soul, and Vanth acknowledged
that she had touched his soul, as well.
(Epic
Illustrated#9) - As Aknaton and Vanth took heavy fire from the
Zygoteans, the necessary forces in the cosmos came into
alignment. After Whis'par sensed this and instructed the others, "Now!
The moment is upon us," the trio stepped into position.
Juliet
noted, "Well,
here goes nothing!"; Whis'par corrected her, "No, Juliet, here goes
everything!"
Juliet, Whis'par, and Za then blew the Infinity Horn.
(Epic Illustrated#9 (fb) - BTS) - Aknaton indirectly tapped into the power of the Infinite and created a mystical sphere -- mostly from condensed light particles -- to protect himself and Vanth from the forces being unleashed, as well as placing them into a deep state of suspended animation.
(Epic Illustrated#9 - BTS) - The Horn accessed and unleashed the energies from the 15th dimension of mystical existence, the realm of a being of omnipotent force and many names.
And the Milky Way was destroyed.
The energies released, plus Aknaton's spells, enabled Juliet, Whis'par, and Za to survive as "something wondrous...a new species of being that the stars had never before seen...escaping the weakness of the flesh, becoming beings of pure thought and energy," departing for parts unrevealed.
Comments: Created by Jim Starlin.
Dreadstar was a licensed
character/title created by Jim Starlin starting way back with the
Metamorphosis Odyssey in Epic Illustrated#1 in the Spring of 1980. The
Metamorphosis Odyssey started around the modern era and affected Earth,
but then swiftly destroyed the entire Milky Way galaxy and then moved
on like a million years in the future. Dreadstar eventually got his own
series under the Epic imprint, but Starlin later took the whole shebang
over to First Comics. And in 1994, it was published under the imprint
of Bravura, a creator-owned division of Malibu comics. He appeared
sometime later in issues #5-7 of the Breed III series. And, there's
talk of a Dreadstar television show.
Still that earlier Marvel connection allows
me to place this reality in the fringes of the Marvel Megaverse.
Peter David took over the writing around issue#31 or so, but
Starlin remained the owner. At any rate, from start to finish, it is the best
series I've ever read, period! I'd love to see it continued, by Starlin, David,
or both!
As this is a family-friendly site,
since Whis'par was always topless and usually exposed, I considered
using an image
editing program to blur the area over her breasts. Based on discussion
with the team editors, I agreed that would be defacing the art and
pointless censorship. I apologize if the idea of bare breasts in a
mythological-type alien character is offensive, but I think it is
innocent enough. There is certainly plenty of gratuitous violence in
comics, and this character was a nature fairy-type character, so having
her topless makes some sense anyway.
I thought perhaps the frontal flight shot was more
questionable for inclusion, but it is the best picture of her face, and
I can't edit it to make it not at an angle...cropping it to a diagonal
headshot looked stupid, so I left it as is/was.
If you have a problem with this and can think of a reasonable solution, please contact me at jeff.snood999@gmail.com.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:
images: (without ads)
Epic Illustrated#2: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapter IV: Whis'par -
title page (from Slave Labor Graphic's Dreadstar Volume One: The
Metamorphosis Odyssey) - I don't see it in the original stories - black
and white image seated on a rock;
pg. 1 (flying oblique);
pg. 4, panel 3 (flying straight-on; face);
#5: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapter VIII: Sunrise on Lartorez, pg. 1 (seated atop a rock);
#7: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapters XI: Nightfire, pg. 1 (lateral, flight, color);
#8: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapters XII: Dreamsend, pg. 2, panel 4 (with blaster);
#9, Chapter XIII: Doomsday, pg. 4, panel 1 (full
body behind horn);
pg. 8, panel 1-3 (Juliet, Whis'par, & Za escaping as new life forms);
Appearances:
Epic Illustrated#1: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapters I: Aknaton, II: Za!,
and III: Juliet (Spring, 1980) - Jim Starlin (writer, artist), Stan Lee
(editor)
Epic Illustrated#2: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapter IV: Whis'par (Summer, 1980) - Jim Starlin (writer, artist), Stan Lee
(editor/publisher), Archie Goodwin (editorial director), James Shooter (consulting editor)
Epic Illustrated#5: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapter VIII: Sunrise on Lartorez (April, 1981) - Jim Starlin (writer, artist), Stan Lee
(editor/publisher), Archie Goodwin (editorial director), James Shooter (consulting editor)
Epic Illustrated#6: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapter IX: Absolution (June, 1981) - Jim Starlin (writer, artist), Stan Lee
(editor/publisher), Archie Goodwin (editorial director), James Shooter (consulting editor)
Epic Illustrated#7: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapters X: Requiem & XI: Nightfire (August, 1981) - Jim Starlin (writer, artist), Stan Lee
(editor/publisher), Archie Goodwin (editorial director), James Shooter (consulting editor)
Epic Illustrated#8: Metamorphosis Odyssey chapters XII: Dreamsend (October, 1981) - Jim Starlin (writer, artist), Stan Lee
(editor/publisher), Archie Goodwin (editorial director), James Shooter (consulting editor)
Epic Illustrated#9: Metamorphosis Odyssey, Chapter XIII: Doomsday & XIV: Aftermath (December, 1981) - Jim Starlin (writer, artist), Stan Lee
(editor/publisher), Archie Goodwin (editorial director), James Shooter (consulting editor)
First posted: 04/28/2019
Last updated: 04/28/2019
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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