Who the Clix? - Killraven

Who the Clix? is a series of articles featuring information on comic book characters that have been made into figures for the popular tabletop game Heroclix. These articles are meant to help Heroclix players learn more about the characters behind their favorite pieces.

For the full Who The Clix? archive, click here. If you think these articles are worth more than $0, click here.

Appearances in Heroclix: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
First Appearance: Amazing Adventures #18 (Vol. 2)
Team Affiliations: Freemen
Powers/Abilities:  Enhanced to physical peak; expert hand to hand combatant; knowledge of the entirety of human history; ability to project his consciousness into Martians
Created by: Roy Thomas - Neal Adams - Gerry Conway

On the alternate-future Earth designated Earth-691 by Marvel Comics, the Martians from H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds return in 2001 for another attempt at conquering the planet. (They were later retconned as extrasolar aliens using Mars as a staging area.) After humanity's enslavement, men not used as breeders or collaborators are trained and forced to battle gladiator-style for the Martians' amusement; women are used as breeders to supply infants, which are then eaten by the Martians as a delicacy. Jonathan Raven, dubbed Killraven as his gladiatorial nom de guerre, escaped with the help of the gladiatorial "keeper", but without his brother, Deathraven. Killraven joined the Freemen, a group of freedom fighters against Martian oppression.

From 2018 to 2020, Killraven and his companions travel across the eastern portion of North America, from New York City to Cape Canaveral while searching for Killraven's lost brother. Pursued by the cyborg Skar, the Freemen encounter various victims of Martian transhuman experiments, as well as emotionally and psychologically scarred survivors.

The Freemen eventually come to include Killraven, M'Shulla Scott, Hawk, Old Skull, Carmilla Frost,  Grok,  Mint Julep. They face foes such as Abraxas, Rattack, the High Overlord, and Skar. Killraven tames a mutated serpent-horse to use as his mount and his Freemen battle Pstun-Rage in Battle Creek, Michigan. (In this encounter, the antagonists' names are anagrams of the Battle Creek-based Kellogg Company's breakfast cereal mascots). The Freemen meet the flirty and sensual Volcana Ash, who helps them battle Atalon and the Death-Breeders. After learning that his brother Joshua (Deathraven) is still alive, Killraven fights Martian slaves alongside a time-traveling Spider-Man.

Later, the Freemen encounter Killraven's brother, Deathraven, and discover he has become a Martian collaborator. In November 2020, the Martian occupation is over when Killraven unleashes a zombie plague on the Martians' food supply.