Origin

The Micronauts came together as a direct response to Baron Karza's subjugation of Homeworld and most of the Microverse. Upon the completion of his 1,000 year exploration, Commander Arcturus Rann arrived at his home planet Homeworld, the central planet in the Microverse and the new seat of power for Karza's empire, only to find himself arrested and enslaved by his former teacher Baron Karza. Karza jailed Rann in anticipation of sending him to the gladiatorial pits, where he would be forced to fight all manner of monsters and warriors from every corner of the Microverse for the entertainment of the rich elite of Homeworld, now virtually immortal thanks to Karza's Body Banks.

Prior to his first gladiator fight, Rann was attacked by a group of fellow prisoners. He would have been overcome save for the timely intervention of Acroyear and Bug who were already veterans of the arena. The three men soon realized that they all had a common enemy in Karza, and with the help of Marionette, a disguised princess Mari of Homeworld, the Micronauts escaped in Rann's spaceship The Endeavor.

Original Team Roster:

• Arcturus Rann
• Bug
• Acroyear
• Marionette
• Biotron
• Microtron

Creation

Marvel Comics writer and editor Bill Mantlo recalls that The Micronauts as a comic book series originated on Christmas Day of 1977 when his son Adam received one of the new Micronauts toys as a present. Recognizing the story potential inherent in the toy line, Mantlo quickly convinced then editor in chief Jim Shooter to acquire the license. Mantlo would remain as writer on The Micronauts series for nearly all of its initial series run, finally turning over the writing reigns to Peter B. Gillis for its resurrection as Micronauts The New Voyages. The series team of Mantlo, and artist Michael Golden meshed uncannily well, creating a rich back story for the characters, and using nearly every toy in the line in one form or another.

Team Evolution

The Micronauts unofficially disbanded after Karza's initial defeat at the hands of Commander Rann and The Enigma Force, with Bug and Acroyear returning to their respective homeworlds. Acroyear was crowned king of his home planet Spartak, however after killing his brother Shaitan for his crimes against the Acroyear race, Acroyear abdicated his throne and left to rejoin The Micronauts, taking his betrothed Cilicia with him. Along the way they are also rejoined by Bug and his Lady Jasmine. After many adventures the team eventually picks up Devil and Fireflyte.

The Return of Baron Karza

Thanks to his body banks, Karza was rendered virtually immortal, and the tyrant's death proved to be a mere respite for The Micronauts. Karza quickly re-cemented his hold on the Microverse even with The Micronauts and their allies to challenge him. Eventually, the Micronauts defeat Karza yet again, however their victory comes with the decimation of all life on Homeworld.

The New Voyages

After a long period of recuperation and reflection, the Micronauts again decide to stay together, setting out to find new adventures. At the start of their first journey, the team is thrown far off course, way beyond the Microverse. There they meet a strange alien life-form called Scion and he soon joins them aboard their ship.

After several more adventures the team is attacked by universal rolling waves of pain and they encounter a cosmic sized Time Traveller who seems to be in agony and lashes out at them. Tracing the pain waves back to their source, the team makes a final journey to Homeworld where in a last ditch effort to save the Microverse from tearing itself apart, the entire team uses Karza's machinery to open up The Prometheus Pit. They each take turns jumping into the Prometheus Pit where their essences seed new life into a reborn Microverse.

The Retcon

Marvel finally gave up the rights to the Micronauts toy line, however since much of what Bill Mantlo created for the series was original work, the Micronauts eventually reappeared in the pages of Alpha Flight renamed the Champions of the Microverse. Commander Rann, Marionette, and Bug are joined by newcomer Dexam in their quest to defeat the evil ruler of Anttica, Baron Zebek.