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The Saga of Crystar

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The Saga of Crystar

The Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior is an 11-issue fantasy-based comic book published by American company Marvel Comics in 1983. It was associated with a toy line from Remco, consisting of seven figures, some vehicles and accessories.

The toys were first sold in late 1982; the Marvel Comics series was first published in the spring of 1983. Since the toys were released first, many assumed the comic had been a licensed adaptation of the toyline, but Crystar and all of the characters in the toy line and comic book were created and owned by Marvel Comics, which had created the concept with the express intent of selling the license to a toy company. The concept was the work of writers Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio, and artist John Romita Jr.; the series itself was written by Jo Duffy, with artist Bret Blevins drawing the first two issues, before being replaced as regular penciller by Ricardo Villamonte.

Despite the Crystar franchise's obscurity, the title character had a profile featured in the Marvel Comics 1980s Handbook, as well as the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z hardcover series. The character also appeared in the variant cover of Marvel Zombies 4 #3, which featured a number of 1980s Marvel Comics characters in a parody of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video. Crystar and related characters were also the subjects of a parody in the episode "Ban on the Fun" of Robot Chicken, wherein it was suggested that Crystar and his people were made out of crystal meth.

The comic book series was set parallel to the Marvel Universe and featured guest appearances by Doctor Strange, Nightcrawler and Alpha Flight.

Years ago, The Demon Lord sent his demon armies to conquer the world of Crystalium. The King of Crystalium led the fight against the Demon Lord in the Chaos War, but he was killed during the war. The forces of Order then sent the wizard Ogeode and the Prisma-Crystal to drive away The Demon Lord's minions and the forces of Chaos. In his defeat, the Demon Lord made the "Prophecy of Chaos", that he would one day send another of his servants to divide the planet against itself and bring ruin to all.

After the end of the Chaos War, the wizards Ogeode and Zardeth visited two princes, the brothers Crystar and Moltar, who had to decide whether their people would ally with Chaos or Order. Crystar chose Order and its champion Ogeode. As Moltar considered Chaos, their uncle Feldspar tried to convince him that Chaos was evil. Moltar, feeling that his uncle had always favored Crystar, became enraged and fought Crystar, injuring Feldspar in the process. Leaving them for dead, Moltar led his followers to the Fountain of Fire to find the wizard Zardeth and ally with Chaos.

Ogeode saves Crystar's life by merging him with the great Prisma-Crystal, rendering the prince's body into crystalline form. Similarly, at the Fountain of Fire, Zardeth magically transforms Moltar and his followers with the power of lava. Moltar and his Magma Men then attempt to conquer the city of Galax. Crystar and his warriors, feeling that flesh and blood would prove ineffective against the transformed armies of Moltar, selected an elite group to be transformed into crystal form like Crystar: Koth, Stalax, and Kalibar.

In 1982 Remco produced the Crystar action figure line based on the concept for the comic book series, later selling the line to ALN in Europe as the figures did not sell well in the USA. Crystar and the forces of order were designed to appear to be made of crystal, and Moltar and the forces of Chaos, lava. Seven individually carded figures, four mini playsets (each with an exclusive figure), two dragons (each with an exclusive figure), two catapults and one castle were produced. A variant figure came with the first production run Crystal Dragon, with articulated legs/knees versus the fixed position figure packed with the later releases. The Crystal Castle first production run had alternate colored weapons/accessories with the early production featuring a blue weapon rack, yellow ladder, yellow and green winch; and later production in all grey.

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