Zarrko
 |
| Zarrko, the Tomorrow Man | |
|---|---|
 Zarrko | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Journey Into Mystery #86 (November 1962) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Artur Zarrko |
| Notable aliases | Boris, The Tomorrow Man |
| Abilities | Super-genius, Controls an arsenal of advanced futuristic weaponry |
Zarrko, the Tomorrow Man is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain, most commonly associated with Thor. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Journey into Mystery #86 (November, 1962).
Fictional character biography
Zarrko is an evil scientist from the future, born in Old New York of the peaceful 23rd century of an alternate future. Zarrko was once a civil servant, but built a time machine to escape from his time and visit more primitive periods, like USA in the 1960s, where nuclear weapons could be stolen easily, as he sought to become a conqueror and dictator in his own time. Zarrko stole an experimental cobalt bomb to use in his own time during its test, thus taking over the Earth which had no nuclear weapons, but was pursued by Thor using his hammer and a piece of metal from the ship to travel to Zarkko's time. Thor gained access to Zarkko's base after distracting the tyrant by getting someone to impersonate him, and defeated his robot servants even after they got his hammer. He recovered the bomb when Zarrko dropped it towards the Future City and caused Zarrko's ship to crash land using a storm he had summoned with his hammer.[1] Zarrko was left amnesiac for a time, but his memory was eventually restored by Loki using the Well of Centuries at a time when Thor had been de-powered; Zarrko returned to the 20th Century with a giant mining robot that he had adapted for his purposes and coerced Thor, whose lesser strength had caused him to be defeated by the robot, into helping him conquer the government of the 23rd Century, saying he would not attack Thor's century if this happened. They returned to the future, and Thor caused chaos, until he and Zarko got to the ruling World council. A robot octopus was released to attack the two, but Thor defeated it. The location of the machine was learnt from the Council and the two got there. Thor said he would help Zarrko enter the area if he would be released from his bargain, to which Zarrko agreed. Thor overcame a defense device's gravitational power. However, despite gaining access to the Master Machine which controlled the entire planet after getting the location from the Council, Thor, now released from his debt, then defeated him by turning the Master Machine's defense system back on. Zarrko was then imprisoned.[2] Zarrko later clashed with Kang when he tried to conquer Zarrko's 23rd century. Zarrko enlisted the aid of Spider-Man and Iron Man, Kang having captured the other Avengers. Zarrko sent three devices to the Present to send back time. but was defeated by Spider-Man and the Inhumans.[3]
Zarrko later conquered an Earth in the 50th Century, where he encountered the Time-Twisters. He used his Servitor robot to enlist the aid of Thor and the Warriors Three to defeat the Time-Twisters. He journeyed with them to the "end of time" to thwart the Time-Twisters's birth, but when he returned to the 50th Century he found himself deposed as ruler.[4]
Some time later, Zarrko traveled to 2591 and tricked Dargo, the Thor of that era, into accompanying him to the 20th Century to battle the second Thor and Beta Ray Bill. Zarrko sought to use the energy unleashed by their hammers in the clash to activate the radical Time Stabilizer device to use to collapse all the time lines into one. However, he was left adrift in the time-stream.[5]
In one of the last story arcs of Thor vs Zarrko, Zarrko's plot was revealed to be a plan to save humanity. In his future, Thor, had separated from his human self, Jake Olson, and lost his ability to understand humanity. Because of this, Thor became more and more oppressive and imposing, and believed that ruling humanity was the only just thing to do. Zarrko knew that in his future, Thor would become a tyrant, so he had to travel back in time and stop him before the Odin Force made him invincible and near-omnipotent.[volume & issue needed]
When the Governments of Earth launched a massive assault on Asgard, Zarrko was seen trying to escape with his time machine, only to be stopped by Thialfi.[volume & issue needed]
Zarrko's attempted time travel was instrumental for Thor to create for himself a new future in which he would never be the tyrant he would have been without his human self.[volume & issue needed]
Zarrko later returned disguised as Boris, a manservant to Kristoff Vernard, the heir of Doctor Doom, who had become a member of the Fantastic Four following the "death" of Mister Fantastic. He was soon exposed but used his time machine to cause chaos in the building by bringing in various heroes and villains from the past and the future to fight it out. He later escaped, deciding that all he wanted was a quiet place and plenty of food.[volume & issue needed]
Powers and abilities
Artur Zarrko is a genius with advanced scientific and technological skills, as a result of advanced studies in various applied sciences of his native time period. Zarrko has designed a number of devices, such as various weaponry including force field projectors and radiation guns; the Servitor, a giant robot with extraordinary strength capable of discharging concussive energy; time missiles containing "chronal radiation" which allegedly reverses the flow of time; the time-scope, a device able to peer through time; and the Time Cube, a time travel machine.
In other media
Television
- Zarrko appeared in "The Mighty Thor" portion of The Marvel Super Heroes, in which he is said to be from the 30th century.[citation needed]
