Brew's Crew: The Badoon
(Editor’s note: This is the first in a new series of columns by Managing Editor Byron Brewer, mainly dealing with cosmic comics and their many denizens. Mr. Brewer’s opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CosmicBookNews.com. He welcomes both raves and opposing views.)
I always marveled at how easily (or at least so it seemed) that the alien Badoon conquered the alternate future of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. They have never seemed a real threat in 616 space … at least to me.
But they are still going and thriving, at least as far as I know. Anything that survived the Annihilation Wave (unless their home is out of the vicinity?) must be tough!
The Badoon are a reptilian alien species, notable for having a gender schism resulting in two separate societies: the Brotherhood of Badoon (ruled by a “Brother Royal”) and the Sisterhood of Badoon (ruled by a Queen). The Brotherhood lives on the planet Moord while the Sisterhood reside on the Badoon homeworld of Lotiara (Capella II, also known as Swampworld – no Floridafootball jokes, please), 42.2 light years from Earth.
The Badoon are older than the Kree and the Skrulls; they look wrinkly! There was a natural hatred between the two genders (there’s news), and they fought each other in long wars. Eventually, the males won, placing the females in captivity. In time, the males developed technology and abandoned Lotiara, returning only when their mating drive made it necessary. The males became conquerors of worlds, while the females became pacifists, content to remain in peace on their homeworld and ignorant of the males' star-spanning empire.
Among the Brotherhood's conquest attempts are the Zen Whoberi and the extra-dimensional world of Polemachus. They have been known to form alliances with the Brood and the Kree.
In #7-8 of the modern-day Guardians of the Galaxy series, the Badoon are referred to as a minor species. The time traveler Major Victory (Vance Astro) warns that they need to take the Badoon seriously, as soon they'll become the greatest military threat in the galaxy; in the same issues, the Badoon devastated a world in a way Rocket Raccoon didn't believe them capable, suggesting they're close to becoming a serious threat. (Perhaps the Annihilators should be told?)
The Brotherhood is capable of faster-than-light space travel and also possesses personal cloaking technology. They employ a hand-held particle gun called the “basic weapon.” Although males typically wear minimal clothing, some soldiers wear an explosive “frag-throng” that destroys approximately 10 surrounding enemies once a Badoon is shot down.
There is also a large, muscular cybor-like being sometimes used in personal combat called the “Monster of Badoon.” The Badoon will bolster their forces with Zom soldiers, the corpses of victims turned into cyborg warriors.
Like the Rigellians, not a lot is seen of this race in our cosmic takes today. Wouldn’t you love to see an old-fashioned Annihilators-Guardians/Badoon slobber-knocker?