POWER STONES

Classification: Extraterrestrial (Skrullian) technology

Creator: Skrull technicians

User/Possessors: Kralian Skrulls

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#91 (October, 1969)

Powers/Abilities/Functions: The items known as "Power Stones" to the Skrulls are high-energy capacitor crystals. Each Power Stone is capable of storing massive amounts of energy which can be discharged as needed. Essentially, Power Stones function like REALLY POWERFUL alien batteries.

Limitations: Power Stones do not actually generate energy within themselves, they are just energy storage devices. Once the energy within them has been discharged, Power Stones have to be recharged from an external source before they can again be used to provide energy.

   The fact that some Power Stones are described as "perfect Power Stones" implies that imperfect Power Stones also exist. Presumably such stones function less efficiently than perfect Power Stones and therefore have less value.

History: Nothing has been revealed about the origin of the Power Stones used by the Skrull Empire. It's presumed that the technology that produces them was created by Skrull scientists, but this has not been confirmed. Alternatively, it's also possible that that technology was originally created by an unspecified alien civilization and that the Skrulls only obtained that tech by conquering that race.

(Avengers Annual I#14 (fb) - BTS) - Power Stones are high-energy capacitor crystals that can store massive amounts of power.

(Fantastic Four I#91 (fb) - BTS) - Ten Power Stones could be used to power a space fleet.

(Fantastic Four I#91 (fb) - BTS) - The Skrulls of the planet Kral (and possibly elsewhere in the Skrull Empire) also used Power Stones as high value monetary units. On Kral, ten perfect Power Stones were worth more than 1,000 barcos.

(Avengers Annual I#14 (fb) - BTS) - Aside from its primary function of broadcasting power to the Super-Skrull, the Imperial Power Asteroid was sometimes used as a charging station for Power Stones.

(Fantastic Four I#91 (fb) - BTS) - On the Skrull planet of Kral IV, Boss Barker and his rival Lippy Louie were engaged in a territorial dispute. Since such conflicts on Kral were resolved by having enslaved champions fight to the death in gladiatorial games, Barker really needed a powerful fighter to beat Louie's champion, the sentient robot Torgo, who had never been defeated. Barker needed to win so desperately that he was willing to pay the Skrull slavers their asking price of ten perfect Power Stones in order to acquire Ben Grimm (a.k.a. the Thing) from Earth to be his new fighting slave.

(Fantastic Four I#91 - BTS) - In his headquarters on Kral, Boss Barker looked at the page from the Skrull Slave Price List that featured Ben Grimm from Earth and listed his price as "ten perfect Power Stones." When a female companion asked if that was the slave that Boss was buying for the coming games, Barker confirmed this to be the case. Barker then stated that Grimm was the strongest one that the Skrull slave ship could find in the "Sol galaxy" but one of the two males asked if he was strong enough to beat Lippy Louie's fighter. Before Barker could respond, Louie himself barged into the room, backed up by three gunmen, and said that he just wanted to make sure of something. Louie then asked Barker if it was true that he was willing to pay ten perfect Power Stones for a fighter named Ben Grimm. Barker confirmed it, mentioned that on Earth Grimm was also called the Thing, and asked if Louie had maybe heard of that name some time. Louie said that he didn't care what Grimm's moniker was, his fighter was going to take him, and Barker was just throwing out "them precious Power Stones." When Barker remained defiant, Louie showed him Torgo's page from the Skrull Slave Price List, stated that nothing that lived could stand up to Torgo, and that Barker would be finished once he bought the Thing with the last of his Power Stones and Torgo then killed him. After throwing the picture of Torgo at Barker as a souvenir, Louie and his boys left.

(Fantastic Four I#91) - Later, after the Skrull slave ship fleet had landed on Kral and all the newly-captured slaves had been unloaded, the slave master mentioned to the middleman that Boss Barker had already bid ten perfect Power Stones for the Thing and he demanded that the "man of Kral" pay him his fee because he had other worlds to visit, but the middleman suggested that they wait for Barker to arrive. Seconds later, Barker did arrive and reminded the middleman that he was paying top price for his new fighting slave who must die in the games and nowhere else. The middleman then said that, speaking of the price, he had been waiting for his Power Stones that he needed in order to pay the Skrull slaver. When shown a small metal box, the middleman protested that there were not ten stones in that box. Barker ordered him minion Whitey to give the box to the middleman who again reminded Barker that the price was ten perfect Power Stones! As the middleman opened the box and looked at the stone within, Barker mentioned that ten of those stones could power a space fleet, then said that the middleman would get one now and the others when his slave was trained and in the arena. When Barker then asked if his credit wasn't good enough, the middleman accepted the new terms and stated that the single Power Stone would serve as down payment.

(Fantastic Four I#92 - BTS) - During his training, Grimm showed signs of resistance and the slave-trainer Napoleon G. Robberson called out that the Hypno-Glow that had kept Grimm harmless was wearing off. His guard reacted by shooting Grimm with a "brain-blast" that subdued him. Robberson reminded the guard that he wasn't to hurt Grimm too much and the guard replied that he knew that Boss Barker was paying ten Power Stones for Grimm and didn't want damaged merchandise. When Grimm then demolished a hydraulo-press that should have held him securely, Robberson remarked that, even at the price of ten Power Stones, he thought Boss Barker had gotten a bargain in Grimm.

(Fantastic Four I#93 - BTS) - In the audience watching the Great Game, when Lippy Louie claimed that Torgo was going to make mincemeat out of Barker's orange-skinned Earthling, Boss Barker replied that he had paid ten Power Stones for Grimm and he would not fail. However, Grimm's Fantastic Four teammates came to Kral to rescue him and in doing so they enabled the slaves to rebel. Since this brought an end to the battle between Grimm and Torgo, neither Boss Barker or Lippy Louie won their bet.

(Avengers Annual I#14 - BTS) - Years later, a team of Avengers (Captain America/Steve Rogers, Black Knight/Dane Whitman, Captain Marvel/Monica Rambeau, Hercules, Starfox/Eros and Wasp/Janet Van Dyne), with the cooperation of the Imperial Skrull Armada, undertook a mission to the Imperial Power Asteroid. After studying the data on the power asteroid that had been supplied by General Zedrao, Whitman stated that it had sometimes been used as a charging station for "high-energy capacitor crystals that the Skrulls call Power Stones" but that it primarily broadcast power to some destination that Whitman could not determine.

(Avengers Annual I#14 - BTS) - After meeting up with some Kralian Skrulls who had their own mission, the Avengers learned that a hostile military force had taken control of the power asteroid. To avoid going up against the power station's defenses directly, the Avengers (and Prince Dezan) approached the power asteroid posing as Kralians who were making a routine visit with a crate full of Power Stones that were in need of a recharge. The ruse worked, and the radicals allowed the landing party inside the station before their cover was blown.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott.

   Although the Power Stones were initially presented as being significant items, only one has ever appeared, in a single panel in a single comic, and they have only been mentioned in three comics published in the more than 50 years since their first appearance. However, they've fared better than the Skrullian monetary unit known as the "barco" which has only ever been mentioned once. Actually, the barco has never been mentioned, it just appeared in the text of a document that was once depicted in a story.

   The version of the story from Fantastic Four I#91 (October, 1969) that I have is a reprint from Marvel's Greatest Comics#73 (October, 1973). However, this reprint only contains 18 story pages, down from the original 20 pages, with pages 7 and 20 from the original story being omitted. Fortunately, those missing pages contained no data relevant to the Power Stones.

Profile by Donald Campbell.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Power Stones have no known connections to:

• The Imperial Power Asteroid - a Skrull complex built into an asteroid orbiting Throneworld that was created to beam vast amounts of energy across intergalactic space for use by the Super-Skrull (K'lrt)--Marvel Team-Up I#61
• The Power Gem (now known as the Power Stone) - the source that supplies the other five Infinity Gems with infinite power and which can grant its users seemingly-unlimited power (Power Primordial) that they can use for a variety of effects--(first seen) Marvel Team-Up I#55; (first identified) The Thanos Quest#1
• Paibok the Power-Skrull - a Skrull warrior whose body was bio-engineered to grant him a number of superhuman abilities not normally possessed by members of his race--Fantastic Four I#358
• The Power-Bands of Rinn - powerful weapons worn on humanoid wrists which may (or may NOT) actually be the Quantum-Bands worn by Eon's chosen Protectors of the Universe--first mentioned in Quasar#10
• The Power Cosmic - a vast energy source accessed by Galactus, portions of which he has in turn bestowed upon most of his Heralds, notably the Silver Surfer--Fantastic Four I#48
• The Power Drill - a weapon of mass destruction built during World War II by agents of the Red Skull (George Maxon) using plans stolen from the US Army--Captain America Comics#1/3
• The Power House - a building in the extradimensional Inner Space which contained one of the three pure pieces of the fabric of the universe (except for the brief time when it had been stolen)--Dark Angel#13
• The Power Platform - technology of the Ancients inside a Hyve that could increase the power of an individual to planetary awareness of Symbion while causing them to lose their sense of right and wrong--Sectaurs#7
• The Power Poles and Rocket Skis - equipment provided by Kala to American skier Brad Rossi for use against the forces of her enemy, the Mole Man--Marvel Treasury Edition#25
• The Power Primordial - the "energy of creation" leftover from the dawn of time (a.k.a. the ultimate force of the cosmos, the energy of creation, pure creative force) that was tapped by the Elders of the Universe and was the power source behind the Infinity Gems--Marvel Two-In-One Annual#7
• The Power Prism - a Skrull traitor (Krimonn) who had been transformed into (or merged with) a small crystalline prism that the Grandmaster later endowed with a number of energy-manipulation powers--(prism) Avengers I#69; (Krimonn's original form) Iron Man I#65
• The Power-Ray Machine (also known as the Stimulator) - a device created by Reed Richards which drew energy from another galaxy that could then be used to power a spaceship or to increase or restore the superhuman powers of mutated humans--Fantastic Four I#37
• The Power Ring of Quiquayquod - an artifact capable of transporting its wielders to any destination they chose that was in the possession of the Hyborian Era wizard Quiquayquod until the sisters Estregone, Mala and Ceres enlisted Conan to help them steal it (so that they could use it to return to their home)--Conan the Barbarian I#146
• The Power Rod - a Deviant weapon often used by their gladiators that was especially favored by Ransak the Reject--Eternals I#8
• The Power-Rod - a powerful "Ultimate Weapon" created by Quan-Zarr's son for the Beastmen to use against his father that was stolen by Quan-Zarr's agents but later reclaimed by the Beastmen before being shattered by Star-Lord to prevent its misuse--Marvel Preview#18
• The Power-Sapper - a weapon housed in the Titanium Man's chest-beam that could drain energy from his opponents--Tales Of Suspense I#70
• or any beings or groups of beings who have the word "Power" as part of their real names or aliases
• or any items or locations that have the word "Power" as part of their real names or aliases

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#91, page 11, panel 1 (main image)
      page 1 (Skrull Slave Price List page for Ben Grimm)

Only Appearance:
Fantastic Four I#91 (October, 1969) - Script and art by: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, inks: J. Sinnott

Only Mentioned:
Fantastic Four I#92 (November, 1969) - By Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, embellishment: Joe Sinnott
Fantastic Four I#93 (December, 1969) - By Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Frank Giacoia (inker)
Avengers Annual I#14 (1985) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (breakdowns), Kyle Baker (finishes), Mark Gruenwald (editor)

First Posted: 11/21/2022
Last updated: 11/21/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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