History:
The firstborn child of the monarch always grew to rule the planet Saturn, until Jyra had the misfortune of being born female. Her younger brother Jaxx would instead succeed the king, while her own son Jogarr would eventually simmer at the injustice. However, life was far from fair on bitter Saturn, with scant resources and racial tensions held back for centuries by the life-sustaining fruits of the Garden of Bhok, under the dominion of the monarchy.
Jaxx took a bride in Jarlla, while new technology allowed for isolated gardens to be created outside of the monarch's governance. The independence this afforded saw the Red and White Saturnians finally launch an all out race war amongst one another. A furious King Jax ordered the wall around the Garden of Bhok to be sealed, attempting to use the threat of starvation as a motivation for peace.
King Jaxx learned that his teenage nephew Jogarr had begun preaching otherworldly democracy in the streets, and could not tolerate the threat to his power at such a precarious time. Jogarr was exiled from the kingdom, to "learn for yourself why the monarchy-- now more than ever-- must rule with an iron hand!" Instead, Jogarr developed into a leader of Red Saturnian forces outside the castle's walls, in constant conflict with General Synnar and his White Saturnian army. For months, Jaxx was inconsolable over the situation, until his wife presented him a son that seemed to fulfill a messianic destiny. Jemm was named after the portentous birthstone on his brow, but he would offer the world no peace in Jaxx's lifetime. In fact, Jemm was quite the sensitive and sheltered youth, deeply troubled by the violence Jaxx sometimes visited upon the Whites.
While Jemm was still a boy, the Garden of Bhok fell to the White Saturnians. Jaxx went missing while battling his enemies to buy time for his family's escape. King Jaxx has since been presumed dead, based on the documented account of a family friend that he was slain by General Synnar.
Known Relatives: Jarlla (wife,) Jemm (son,) Jyra (sister,) Jogarr (nephew,) Juri (cousin-in-law)
Eyes: Yellow
Hair: Brown
Superhuman Powers: Jaxx is assumed to have the enhanced senses, strength, durability, and limited malleability of the standard Red Saturnian.
First Appearance: Jemm, Son of Saturn #3 (November, 1984)
Created by: Greg Potter & Gene Colan
Interesting. I wonder if all this Saturnian backstory still officially exists post-Crisis, or was it wiped out?
ReplyDeleteI vaguely remember the Saturn connection in Ostrander's series, but it didn't delve too deeply in Jemm's backstory, if memory serves.
Check out today's H'ronmeerca'andra post. I think it lays the Pre-&-Post Crisis continuity on top of each other in a way that should work for everyone. Even I hadn't realized how little Greg Potter deviated from his original "Son of Mars" proposal. J'Onn is clearly Jogarr, General Synnar is obviously Commander Blanx, the comet is the Blue Flame of Mars, Synn is Bel Juz, and New Bhok is Mars II.
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