Amazing Adventures #21
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAmazing Adventures #21 (November 1973, cover date) marks the debut of writer Don McGregor on the Killraven 'War of the Worlds' serial, launching what became one of Bronze Age Marvel's most distinctly literary and socially engaged runs. The issue also delivers the first appearances of Carmilla Frost and Grok — two characters who would anchor the series' themes of resistance, identity, and interspecies humanity for the remainder of its run through issue #39. Old Skull, the gentle strongman of Killraven's Freemen, is named on the page for the first time here, cementing a supporting cast whose diversity and emotional complexity was unusual for mainstream adventure comics of the era. McGregor's arrival with this single issue set the narrative trajectory for a run that would later produce, in issue #31, what has been identified as the first non-satirical interracial kiss in American color comics.
"The Mutant Slayers!" in Amazing Adventures #21 (1973) delivers a pulse-pounding tale set in a world where fear of the unknown fuels violent persecution—no spoilers, just high-stakes tension and the chilling presence of those who hunt the different. The story, presented with bold energy by an unknown writer and letterer, is bookended by a striking full-color cover by Herb Trimpe, whose dynamic inks bring the cover's promise of danger to life. This 20-cent comic from 1973 also includes a House ad and coupon for the FOOM! membership, offering a giant-size poster, subscription, and surprise envelope—collectible extras that add to the era's charm.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The Killraven feature had been introduced just three issues earlier in Amazing Adventures #18 (May 1973) by co-plotters Roy Thomas and Neal Adams, scripter Gerry Conway, and artists Adams and Howard Chaykin — a multi-creator origin that left the strip without a firm creative identity. By #21, the series was in need of steady hands, and Marvel slotted in Don McGregor, a young writer with an experimental, lyrical sensibility, alongside penciler and inker Herb Trimpe and inker Yolande Pijcke, with Roy Thomas serving as editor-in-chief. The story — titled 'The Mutant Slayers!' — was on sale August 14, 1973, and carried a November 1973 cover date; a British edition variant was also produced, and portions of the issue were later reprinted in Marvel UK's Planet of the Apes series (#29–30, 1975).
Trivia · 7 facts
- First appearance of Carmilla Frost, a molecular biologist and geneticist who becomes a key member of Killraven's Freemen; her introduction marks McGregor's explicit effort to populate the series with complex, strong female characters.
- First appearance of Grok, a deformed, ape-like clone created by Carmilla Frost.
- Old Skull, the slow-witted strongman of Killraven's band, is formally named in this issue — constituting his first named appearance.
- Don McGregor writes his first issue of Killraven here, beginning an acclaimed run that stretched from #21 (November 1973) all the way to the series' final issue, #39 (November 1976).
- Story title: 'The Mutant Slayers!'; script by Don McGregor, pencils and inks by Herb Trimpe, colors by Petra Goldberg, lettering by Artie Simek (interior) and Gaspar Saladino (cover); Roy Thomas, editor-in-chief.
- The issue is set in the alternate future timeline designated Earth-691, in which Martians have conquered and enslaved humanity; Yankee Stadium is featured as a location, with references to Babe Ruth used as an emblem of vanished American culture.
- The story has been collected in Essential Killraven Vol. 1 (2005), Marvel Masterworks: Killraven Vol. 1 (2018), and the Killraven Epic Collection: Warrior of the Worlds (2021), reflecting the sustained critical regard for McGregor's run.
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Reprinted in Planet of the Apes #29 (1975), Planet of the Apes #30 (1975), Le Fils de Satan #14 (1979), Essential Killraven #1 (2005), Marvel Masterworks: Killraven #1 (2018), Killraven Epic Collection: Warrior of the Worlds #1 (2021)
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