Real Name: Anasi/AnansiRUNE
Real Name: Anasi/Anansi
Identity/Class: Extra-Dimensional (Ultraverse) Alien Sorceror and energy vampire;
formerly barbarian thief, later worshipped as a god (see clarifications).
Occupation: Conqueror; Stalker; formerly a worshiped deity and destroyer of worlds.
Affiliations: Dyata;
former pawn/ally of the Soul Gem; former master/conduit of the Infinity Gems.
Enemies: Aladdin, Argus, Freex, Gemini, Mantra (Lukasz/Eden Blake), Prime (Ultraverse);
various gods from the GodWheel;
Adam Warlock, Freex, Loki, Silver Surfer, Thor, Venom (originally from Earth-616, some crossed over into the Ultraverse);
B'eethra, Conan (questionable continuity and universe of origin).
Known Relatives: : None by birth, but Rune had a role in the creation of Gemini (Erik Johnson + Noel Robinson) -- the “Curse” of Rune.
Aliases: Dark God, Death, Destroyer of Worlds, Grandfather Spider, Huizilopochtli, Midir, "Priest of Amon-Ra", Prince of Blood, Prince of Void, Thanatos; was dubbed "Subject U-193" by Aladdin; on various occasions assumed the names and likenesses of Pressure of the Freex and Thor of Earth-616.
Base of Operations: Currently Ultraverse Earth; formerly mobile through the Ultraverse; spent a brief period of time at Earth-616.
Physical Appearance: Height: 6' 5" (1.96 m); weight: 200 lbs (91 Kg); eyes: reddish; hair: long & dark, full head (when fully healthy and recently fed); other distinguished features: blue-ish purple skin, wings, fangs.
First Appearance: Rune #0, Nov/Dec 1993 (a Malibu split-book divided into segments. See Comments.)
Powers/Abilities: As a vampire, Rune has fangs that allow him to drain and feed upon the blood of other beings. His sustenance needs mean that he uses that ability fairly often, sometimes on superpowered beings (in Ultraverse jargon, "Ultras"). He has also got batlike wings that allow him to fly, and is capable of a number of supernatural feats, either by his training as a sorceror or because of the influence of his Star Stones. Those feats include mystical disguising, teleportation portals (of at least continental range). So far the only capabilities that are known for certain to derive from the Stones are his precognition and clarividence, which usually involve a short ritual with them.
Even without the Star Stones, Rune has proven to have some degree of enhanced strength (and probably also stamina, speed and other physical attributes) as well as his ability to fly.
Weaknesses: Rune needs to feed regularly from other sentient beings to stay alive and healthy. His exposure to a nuclear explosion in 1952 intensified that hunger to the point that he needs occasional super-powered preys to survive.
History:
(Giant-Size Rune #1, flashback) - Rune was originally a barbarian in an alien world (Darkur) of the Ultraverse. After killing a dragon he made his way to a giant jewel that gave him a vision of his future as a vampire warlord. He then destroyed the jewel, obtaining the Star Stones, which mutated him along time.
(Ultraverse Unlimited #1, flashback) - at some unspecified moment in the past, Rune destroys the Dilhaabi race of the Godwheel who worshipped Adam Warlock.
(Freex#17) - The Freex arrive in ancient Egypt, where they encounter an early group of Someday Champions (recipients of the nanotech/wetware power created by Prometheus) as well as Rune (in the guise of the Priest of Amon-Ra). After staying for over a month, the Freex help drive off Rune when he attacks Analla (one of the Someday Champions).
(Rune Volume 1 #0 Installment B, "The Blood of Tribes"/ Prime #5/2) - (303 A.D.) Rune is worshipped by African natives (as "Grandfather Spider") and accept sacrifices from them.
(Rune Volume 1 #7 - flashback) - (315 A.D.) Rune is still being offered blood sacrifices in his role as protector of the tribe, who interpret his acceptance as a sign of strong crops to come. When Rune refuses a second sacrifice, the Shaman considers that a bad omen and pressures Rune, who decides to accept the Shaman himself as sacrifice. The spared woman, Dyata, bonds with Rune and is recognized by a spy from a rival tribe as the prophecy's "golden haired Pandora" who must die for Argus to live again. The rival tribe decides to attack Rune's protectorate in order to kill Dyata and revive Argus, but Rune takes the spear intended for Dyata, who kills herself to provide for Rune's recovery despite Rune's resistance. Having failed to protect Dyata, Rune decides to avenge her instead, feeding upon the rival tribe's sorceror, "Two-Finger", whose soul becomes entrapped in the Star Stones.
(Rune Volume 2 #4 - flashback) - Rune is defeated by the Crusader (an immortal warrior) in 1348.
(Rune Volume 1 #0 Installment C, "The Sorceror"/ Night Man #1/2) - (March 1895) Nikola Tesla (the man who did most of the pioneering work in electromagnetism) is visited by a stranger who inquires about his work. Before the stranger (Rune) disappears, Tesla gets a glimpse through his illusion. Rune leaves behind a crystal with the rune for fire inscribed upon it.
(Rune Volume 1 #0 Installment D, "The Power of Gods"/ Hardcase #5/2) - (November 1952) Rune is at the scene of the first atomic bomb explosion, and gets seriously wounded by it. He also develops some form of cancer.
(Rune Volume 1 #0 Installment A, "The Prophecy"/ Sludge #1/2) - Rune attempts to find a solution for his disease by scrying with his Star Stones (presumably that solution is feeding upon Ultras).
(Strangers #1 (bts)/ Rune Volume 1 #0 Installment E, "The Cursed"/ Freex #4/2) - (June 24, 1993) Probably under guidance from his Star Stones, Rune is present at the scene of the biggest jumpstart to date, when a bolt from the skies hits a San Francisco cable car and empowers sixty-nine people (including Nightman and the Strangers). There he meets Edwin Doyle, who is also affected by the Jumpstart and begins to change into a powerful muscled form. Rune helps Doyle to his apartment.
(Rune Volume 1 #0 Installment F, "The Nectar of Life"/ Prototype #3/2) - (June 24, 1993) Rune kills and feeds off the body of Edwin Doyle, regaining his health and power. He soon learns that such recovery is only temporary, probably because of the sequels of his exposure to an atomic explosion in 1952.
(Rune Volume 1 #0 Installment G, "The Hunger"/ Strangers #5/2) - (June 25, 1993) Rune feeds off an alcoholic derelict and finds that such intoxicated blood actually poisons him. He exposes himself to a lightning bolt in order to cleanse the poison.
(Rune Volume 1 #0 Installment H, "Aladdin's Lamp"/ Exiles #3/2) - (June 27, 1993) Aladdin and Rune find evidence of each other's existence. Aladdin begins to investigate Rune, who reciprocates.
(Break-Thru #1, Dec 1993) - Cameo of Rune.
(Break-Thru #2, Jan 1994) - Cameo of Rune.
(Rune Volume 1 #0 Installment I, "The Hunted"/ Firearm #2/2) - Rune kills three Aladdin agents, apparently while hunting for "the boy" (who we later learn to be Erik Johnson). One of those is Agent Stone.
(Rune Volume 1 #0 Installment J, "The Fury - Part One"/ Mantra #4/2) - Agent Stone's contact begins to search the area with the equipment of his van, but also falls prey to Rune.
(Rune Volume 1 #0 Installment K, "The Fury - Part Two"/ Solution #2/2) - Rune drives the van out of the road. Meanwhile, a young named Erik Johnson who lives nearby and suffers from some unspecified condition goes to sleep and has nightmares about Rune.
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| Erik Johnson |
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(Rune Volume 1 #2, 1994) - Rune attacks Aladdin's apparent leader, General Rayder; he is very angry at the attempt at absorbing him ("I who once feasted on nations? You would dare?"). He manages to inflict significant damage to Rayder's somewhat robotic form and to learn about Genie's name and nature. He then flies to feed upon Genie itself, whom Rayder orders to deny Rune any information. Despite that order, Rune learns from Genie about Rayder's finding of a crashed UFO in Vietnam, years ago, and his realization that the alien parts inside could be joined to form a complete, living alien body.
(Rune Volume 1 #3, 1994) - Rune learns how the alien find led to the creation of Aladdin and the political empowerment of General Rayder. He also learns Genie's origin, as well as those of Erik Johnson and Noel Robinson and a couple of other Aladdin secrets. One of those is the alien Shu-Ji power, which the twin boys Erik and Noel were genetically engineered to harness. Rune decides to make his own attempt at obtaining that power, and flies away without realizing that he lost his Star Stones to Genie and Rayder.
(Rune Volume 1 #4, 1994) - Apparently out of sheer sadism, Rune attacks and scares Erik's artificially created twin, Noel Robinson, killing lots of people, both real and synthetic, in the process. At the same time Rayder and Genie are attempting to use his Star Stones to transfer Rayder's consciousness to a new body. Rune grabs Noel and interrupts Rayder and Genie's experiment, fatally wounding Rayder and recovering his Star Stones. He then flies with Noel to meet a firestorm in the sky (created by his (Noel's) twin Erik).
(Rune Volume 1 #5, 1994) - Despite the ravaging effects the firestorm has on him, Rune manages to merge Erik and Noel, forming the new entity Gemini, capable of dealing with the power of Shu-Ji. Gemini creates a simulacrum of Erik's late girlfriend Markie. Rune manages to bite Gemini and attempts to drain his Shu-Ji power, but it proves too much for him to control, forcing him to bite Gemini and return much of that power. Rune offers to keep Gemini as a servitor, but Gemini refuses. Rune threatens to kill Gemini when they next meet, and flies away fully healed and empowered.
(Rune Volume 1 #6, Dec 1994) - Rune attacks Mantra (Eden Blake) and obtains the Sword of Fangs from her. She and Prime manage to recover the Sword, and Mantra destroys one of Rune's Star Stones, releasing the souls inside. Mantra and Prime get away while Rune fights the souls just released.
(Giant-Size Rune #1) - Rune kills and feeds upon mexican Ultra El Gato (Javier Melendez). A ten thousand years old cabal dedicated to ressurrecting Argus comments on Rune's actions through the centuries and states that the simulacrum of Markie that Gemini created is actually Pandora, the sacrifice they need for bringing Argus back to life. Rune casts a scrying ritual with his Star Stones and obtains a vision of Argus, that warns him that the events he has set in motion are far more serious than he realizes. Rune then communicates with Gemini through his/their dreams, motivating him with a vision of Markie's cerimonial sacrifice, calling him "son" and stating that Argus must be kept unborn.
(Rune Volume 1 #7) - Still stone-scrying, Rune releases the soul of Two-Finger the Sorceror. The two of them remember how they fought over a previous Pandora back in the year 315, and Two-Finger then reveals that Pandora is alive again and is about to be sacrificed.
(Rune Volume 1 #8) - Rune correctly deduces that the current Pandora is the Markie duplicate created by Gemini. He goes after her, in order to kill her before the Argus cult succeeds in using her for their sacrifice rite. While searching for Pandora, he locates one of the hideouts of the Argus cult where she had recently been kept, and kills a giant spider-creature that he finds there. Later he teleports to the Mediterranean, realizes he is very hungry and decides to feast on a nearby cruise ship.
(Rune Volume 1 #9) - Rune feeds upon a number of ship passengers, but spares a woman that reminds him of Pandora as a kind of lucky charm. Kept captive at the island of Mytos, Pandora is sacrificed to bring Argus back to life despite Rune's best efforts. Argus, unhappy at being brough back to life at his exile planet, kills his own acolytes and humbles Rune before opening a portal to Vahdala and going through it. Rune follows, swearing vengeance.
(Godwheel #0, Jan 1995) - Having just been recreated, the god Argus travels from Earth to Vahdala. Rune follows and attacks him. Argus reacts viciously, leaving Rune very hurt, and claims the Star Stones, which grant him knowledge about Earth's Ultras. He decides to summon a handful of Ultras, including Boneyard; Eden Blake (usually Mantra, but at that moment in time she had recently been possessed by Thanasi, making her Necromantra); Freex members Cayman and Pressure; Harcase; Lukasz (the ancient warrior who used to inhabit Eden Blake's body as Mantra, now using a new body created by NuWare); Lord Pumpkin; one of Prime's discarded skin husks; Feline and Flygirl (from Contrary's Academy for the New Elite); and Warstrike.
(Godwheel #3, Feb 1995, flashback and/or bts) - Seeking a strategical advantage, Rune disguises himself as Pressure (who was rendered unconscious in a quick fight against Argus) and takes her place in the group of summoned Ultras.
(Godwheel #1, Jan 1995) - Since without control over the Crucible of Life he is bound to live only for a short time, Argus chooses Necromantra and Lord Pumpkin as his agents for recovering two of the three keys of the Crucible of Life, and empowers the discarded Prime skin, creating Primevil to seek the third key. Meanwhile Lukasz, Feline, Flygirl, Hardcase, Cayman, Pressure (actually Rune in disguise), Warstrike and Boneyard (a major enemy of Mantra and Lukasz) escape him with the Godyacht and form an uneasy alliance in order to reach the keys before Argus' agents.
(Godwheel #2, Feb 1995) - The disguised Rune, teamed up with Cayman, Feline and Flygirl, obtain the Windsword over Primevil. Hardcase and Flygirl fail to keep Roc's Egg away from Lord Pumpkin.
(Godwheel #3, Feb 1995) - Lukasz and Warstrike fail to keep Necromantra away from the Crystal Crown, the third and final Crucible Key. Both groups attempt to grab the remaining keys from each other. The real Pressure reveals to the other Ultras that Rune has been disguised as her. Argus (now merged with Lord Pumpkin) obtains all the three keys and through them power over the Crucible and true godhood. He attempts to summon allies from Earth-616's Universe and ends up getting Thor by mistake. Thor and the Ultras opposed to Argus manage to banish him through a dimensional portal. Thor then proceeds to return everyone to their proper places, unaware that Loki came to the Ultraverse along with him.
(Rune/Silver Surfer) - Rune attacks Thor while he is opening his portal to return to Earth-616. Thor reacts, and in the fallout Rune ends up in the MU Earth, alone. He learns from his Star Stones that he has jumped universes, disguises himself as Thor and kills and feeds upon Powderkeg (an old Captain (Monica) Marvel villain). Newly empowered, Rune senses the residual energies of the Infinity Gems on nearby Gammora. Going after Gammora, Rune realizes that the true power is not to be found on her, but on the Gems themselves. He proceeds to attack Maxam, grabs the Time Gem from him, uses it to freeze time, gets the Space Gem from Pip the Troll, the Reality Gem from Thanos, the Mind Gem from Moondragon and the Power Gem from Drax the Destroyer. Then he goes after Adam Warlock to snatch the Soul Gem, but ends up fighting an active aspect of Warlock inside the Gem. Warlock warns Rune that the six gems cannot ever again be used together, but the Soul Gem itself turns against him, surrendering/taking control of Rune and of its sister gems. It reforms the Infinity Gauntlet and orders Rune to open a portal back to the Ultraverse. As he travels back to his native universe, Rune is followed and attacked by the Silver Surfer, who manages to blast his hand, loosing the Gems into the Ultraverse. The now mutilated Rune is thrown into a body of water, where he is threatened by the Soul Gem that is still bonded to him.
(Curse of Rune #3) - The Soul Gem is taken from Rune by Loki (the Earth-616 villain).
(Thanos #3) - Thanos gets hold of a skeleton with an embedded stone and weird teeth. Up on the Real World ™ RACMU speculation suggests that it may be Rune's.
Alternate Histories: (see Dagda's Comments for some explanation and speculation about the Conan/Rune stories)
(Conan the Savage#4/1 (fb, bts), Nov 1995) - At some point, Rune decimated the race of the demonic creature B'eethra.
(Conan vs Rune#1 (fb), Nov 1995) - At some point, Rune (wearing a suit of black battle armor) fell to Earth during the Hyborian Age in Turan, in the dunes beyond Agrapur. He seemed to have been weakened due to a recent battle. A bedouin encampment found him and nursed him back to health. For 100 days he recovered, but he then started preying on the Turanians, starting with a woman named Issa.
(Conan vs Rune#1, Nov 1995) - Conan happened upon the corpses of Rune's victims, and swore to avenge them. Perhaps due to Rune's recent injuries, Conan was actually able to gain the upper hand on Rune, until he grabbed Rune's jewels. He experienced visions of Rune's past. When he awoke, Rune had snuck off.
(Conan #4, Nov 1995) - Rune used his Star Stones to see future hardships. One of the visions was an image of Conan.
(Conan the Savage#4/1, Nov 1995) - Twenty years after his first encounter with Rune, Conan was on his tenth year of his reign as king of Aquilonia. Members of the Brotherhood of the Spider sent assassins to attack him and his queen Zenobia in their bedchamber. He slew the assassins, then directed some soldiers (including Hadrius, Decurion, and Glachus) to the Minas H'Rath-Tower of the Brotherhood of the Spider.
Conan left Hadrius to tend to the horses as he and the other soldiers went to deal with the Brotherhood. Rune then arrived, in search of power...as the Brotherhood was in the process of summoning the demonic being B'eethra.
Rune slew Hadrius as B'eethra arrived. Rune then sprang for B'eethra (who recognized Rune) but B'eethra consumed Rune. However, Rune managed to blast his way out of B'eethra, absorbing B'eethra's power. Exultant that he had won, Rune did not notice Conan sneak up on him and decapitate him. Conan then dismembered the rest of Rune's body, cutting off his limbs and wings.
(Rune: Hearts of Darkness #1, Sep 1996) - Rune's origin is retold, omitting the dragon and placing it in Africa.
(Ultraverse: Future Shock) - In an alternate future, Rune usurped the power of the dormant Entity from the Moon and used it to slay many ultras before being decapitated by Witch Hunter.
Comments: Created by Barry Windsor Smith (writer and penciller), with help from Chris Ulm on plot and scripts, inks by John Floyd and colors by Keith Conroy.
Many thanks to the authors of this wonderful Rune site and of The Mantraverse, as well to Alexander Soto's review of Rune/Silver Surfer! They made our work much easier. Thanks also for Snood and Dagda. "aeronautix" and "hardwireii" from The Ultraverse list helped with Rune's origin by means of their Feb the 22nd and 27th, 2002 postings.
Jay Elmore also helped a lot with his informative RACM posting dated Feb the 14th, 1994.
Rune debuted in a curious (some would say infamous) format, as a "split book" distributed through a number of 3 page segments on eleven books published almost simultaneously. Said books included coupons that could be posted (the whole batch of eleven) in order to receive a stand-alone issue of Rune #0. That issue is rare, but most of it has been reprinted later as the SPIN Limited Edition. For more details please search for Jay Elmore's posting on Google Groups; here's a link. To the best of my knowledge the actual story from the 3 page segments is identical to the contents of the Rune #0 stand-alone book.
Rune Volume 2 reached issue #7, but Rune is not actually in them! Instead issues #6 and #7 are very much Adam Warlock stories that lead into Ultraverse Unlimited #1, where he confronts Rune. That may have been the final appearance of Rune in the main continuity, since both of his posterior appearances are of dubious continuity at best (those being the Rune: Hearts of Darkness limited series and the Ultraverse: Future Shock one-shot).
I have been trying to reconstitute the reading order for Rune. So far I have managed this:
RUNE of Earth-UV - barbarian thief, corrupted by energy crystal which shattered into star stones -ANANSI, DARK GOD, GRANDFATHER SPIDER, HUIZILOPOCHTLI, MIDIR, "PRESSURE," PRIEST of AMON-RA, PRINCE OF VOID, THANATOS --Sludge#1/2 (Giant-Size Rune#1(fb) Ultraverse Unlimited#1(fb), Conan vs. Rune#1, Rune7(fb), Freex#17 (ancient Egypt), Prime5/2,NightM#1/2,HardC#5/2,Frx4/2,Proto3/2,Sludge1/2,Str5/2,Ex3/2,FireA#2 /2,Man4/2,Soln2/2, Rune I#1-6, Giant-Size Rune#1, Rune7-9, Godwheel#0-3, Rune/Silver Surfer#1, 1/2, Curse of Rune#1-4, Rune Infinity, Rune II#1,[2],3-5, Rune vs Venom, Ultraverse Unlimited#1
Dagda's comments about the Conan/Rune stories:
I have no idea how to handle these two stories continuity wise. Let me emphasize that I do not have Conan#4 (the Larry Hama written series), so I do not know what happened there that might impact matters, but as it stands, the possibilities are that: A. Did Earth-616 have its own Rune counterpart? This could be the simplest explanation. B. Did the Ultraverse also have the Hyborian Age as part of its history of Earth, and was Rune somehow resurrected for his other appearances? C. If not, and these appearances involve the Earth-616 Conan and a dimension-hopping Rune, do these appearances follow Rune's other tales, and he time-travelled back to the Hyborian Age? If that last idea (C) turns out (somehow) to be correct, and Conan the Savage#4/1 was the ultimate fate of Rune, then that would mean that the skull Thanos holds in his recent series (that everyone thought was Rune's) was not Rune's. The ad for Conan the Savage#4 stated that it took place twenty years after Conan vs. Rune#1. Rune's appearance in Conan#4, despite his prominence on the cover, is actually quite inconsequential. It is a four page add-on to the main story in which Rune is looking into the future for any threats to his power, and he sees a vision of Conan coming. That is it.
To this, Snood replies:
chronology...it's a love hate/relationship! I'm for option C, but disagree with your final conclusion. Rune is from the Ultratraverse and is a demonic or magical entity that appeared to die more than once, but revived due to his very nature. Nothing in his previous appearances disavows his appearance in Thanos. Also, it may have been in Rune/Silver Surfer (or not) that he fist grabbed the Soul Gem....the bottom line question is how he lost it or if the Gem held by Adam Warlock is not the true version. Let's see what the master (Starlin) does.
It is interesting to notice that Powderkeg was killed by Rune in Rune/Silver Surfer, yet reappeared since (he was the villain of the famous issue of Fantastic Four Volume 3 where we learn that the Thing is jewish). That may not mean much, but is still evidence that the Malibu stuff has been retconned out of existence by the powers that be.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Rune is probably connected to the Ultraverse version of
with whom he shares a number of aliases, powers and physical traits, but I don't know if the exact relationship has ever been established. The Marvel Universe Anansi is probably a distinct entity.
He has no known connections to:
There at least five of them, of various vivid colors. They originated as splinters from the Jewel that Rune found when he was still human, and it is mainly their continued influence that transformed Rune into what he currently is. The Stones contain souls or "life essences" obtained through the years from Rune's victims (not at all unlike Elric's Stormbringer) and on one occasion (Rune Vol. 1 #6) the destruction of one of the stones let its souls free, allowing them fight Rune. There is some evidence that the Stones may have wills of their own, and perhaps even some connection to the Infinity Gems. However, the Star Stones offer no evidence of being sentient. Rune nearly always wears them on his necklace, accessible for storing the souls of his new victims and for divination rituals. It is speculated (but unproven) that many of Rune's powers may in fact come directly from the Stones. Genie and General Rayder once attempted to transfer Rayder's soul to a new body with the Stone's help. Since they were interrupted, it is unknown whether that would work. (Rune Volume 1 #0 Installment A, "The Prophecy"/ Sludge #1/2)
Last updated: 12/14/03
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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Rune's Star Stones