Issue(s): Marvel Presents #1, Marvel Presents #2
Cover Date: Oct-Dec 75
Title: "Dweller from the depths! / The lurker within" / "Hellfire Helix Hex"
Credits:
John Warner - Writer
Mike Vosburg & Pat Boyette / Sonny Trinidad - Penciler
Bob McLeod & Pat Boyette / Sonny Trinidad - Inker

Review/plot:
The series was originally intended as a back-up feature for Where Monsters Dwell, and indeed issue #1 here is in fact two 10 page stories by different artists that were originally intended for that book before it was cancelled. By issue #2 John Warner knew that the story was slated for this new try-out book, so he had to find a way to come to a good breaking point for what was originally intended as a large complex epic.

The basic concept for Ulysses Bloodstone is that he's a 10,000 year old caveman who has a gem (a "bloodstone") embedded in his chest that makes him immortal...

...and gives him additional powers, like strength and a tracking ability. And he fights monsters.

The details include a squid-faced creature called Ullux'yl Kwan T'ae'sny (exact spelling is probably arbitrary; it was later written a little differently) who exposed then-primitive Ulysses (original name forgotten to time) to a larger version of the gem...

...and intended to use it to enslave his tribe...

...but Ulysses fights back, causing an explosion that destroys the gem but embeds a bit of it in his chest. Ulysses and Ulluxy'l have been fighting over the centuries.

We learn all of this through an awkward set of flashbacks where a monster called the Possessor tries to possess Ulysses but instead gets stuck watching scenes from his life while the bystanders, including a film crew, attempt to rescue Ulysses.

Ulysses is invited to join the cast of the movie after he's defeated the Possessor, and a signal from the Bloodstone tells him to agree.

Director P.D.Q. Werner and actor Brad Carter originally appeared in Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #2

That's basically it. The book is quite muddled.

The first monster Bloodstone fights looks a bit like Gigantus from Journey Into Mystery #63...

...and it would have been cool for the story to keep things simple and have him just deal with a few more like that.

The Possessor monster is particularly uninteresting. It might have helped if he had done more than just stand there for an entire issue, but it's not a very good design anyway.

It would have been cleaner to have Bloodstone fighting a few more traditional monsters and then, somewhere in there, tell his origin straight through instead of in truncated bursts. But formatting and scheduling problems are at least partially to blame for that.

Bloodstone at this point has developed an interestingly blase and rebellious attitude about his immortality.

Being a 10,000 year old character, Bloodstone has been retrofitted into a few flashbacks and continuity inserts, but this is his first published appearance. While Ulysses is a moderately minor character, the introduction of the Bloodstone itself, which will factor into other stories, ups the significance rating a bit. Beginning with issue #3 this series becomes a Guardians of the Galaxy book and never looks back. Warner's Bloodstone's stories are continued in the back of Rampaging Hulk beginning in 1977 (and were never reprinted, and since i don't have them i'll note that the stories feature the return of Centurius from Steranko's Nick Fury run, and also have the first appearance of the Killer Shrike).

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 4 - first (published) Ulysses Bloodstone

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

I think Kaballa from the Golem series also appears in the Rampaging Hulk Bloodstone series.

Pat Boyette did his own lettering too. The vast majority of his work appeared at Charlton and this may be his only Marvel story.

Ulluxy'l is better known as Cthulhu.

Ulluxy'l also brings to mind Mind-Flayers, introduced in Dungeons and Dragons around this time.

Hi,

I happen to have the Rampaging Hulk issues. If you'd like me to send them to you, don't hesitate to email me !

Thanks very much for the offer, NM. I will pass, but i appreciate it.