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Genetically engineered to be one of the super-soldiers for the Realm known as the Riot Guard, Chromium served for many years as a perfect weapon of destruction. Eventually, it became clear that the Riot Guardās mission of destruction were driven more by political corruption within the empire than by actual dangers to society. Unable to continue as an unfeeling butcher, Chromium went renegade. He eventually hid himself from the Realm on a backwater farming planet named Kaabari. With a desire for nothing other than peacefully farming for the rest of his days, he took the name Kaanar and married a Kaabari native named Laayana. When Laayana was capture by Realm troops while she was participating in a political rally, Chromium was forced to reveal himself in order to rescue her. Now Chromium is again on the run from Realm forces as he tries to reconcile his inner quest for peace with the outer pressures of a universe that needs to be saved...
The Chromium Man was a comic series from the Triumphant Comics line published in 1993-1994. The series ran for eleven issues: #1-#10 and a special #0 issue originally offered as a mail-away premium. There was also a two-issue mini-series, Chromium Man: Violent Past, exploring more of the character's history before the events of the regular series.
Cover of Chromium Man #1 by Adam Pollina
Triumphant launched during a boom time in the comics business. Unlike most of its competitors, Triumphant didn't go for a conventional superhero universe: they went for a complex, interconnected science fiction saga. All of the titles (Riot Guard, Scavengers, Doctor Chaos, Prince Vandal, and Chromium Man) were set in The Realm, an interstellar empire in a distant galaxy with no connection to Earth. Chromium Man was canceled along with the rest of the Triumphant line. A two-part crossover between Chromium Man and Prince Vandal was advertised, but never published.
It's really too bad, because it was a good comic with interesting characters. It was intelligently written, with strong characterization and continuity.
Chromium Man has recently been optioned by Platinum Studios for movie development, so Kaanar may have a new incarnation on the big screen. Click here for the Platinum Studios Chromium Man page.
Chromium Man (also known as "Kaanar," an assumed name) was renegade former soldier of The Realm, trying -- without much luck -- to find a peaceful existence.
Although Chromium was created by The Realm, he later chose to oppose its policies. He spent years fighting and being chased by the Realm, including other Riot Guards still loyal to the Realm. By the time the Chromium Man comic series begins, he's tired of fighting and looking for a way out. He fakes his own death and escapes to a backwater farming world, Kaabari, to start over. He finds work, meets a girl, and tries to settle down. Of course, nothing is ever that easy, and no matter how hard he tries to start a peaceful life, he's repeatedly drawn back into conflict, either by circumstance or out of principle.
The Realm had a history going back almost 500 years. The "present-day" storyline in all the Triumphant books took place in Galactic Chronometry Year (GCY) 478. Around GCY 200, the Realm started a program to create super-warriors to defend the empire. Various beings were engineered to give them exceptional powers, and grouped together as the Riot Guard, the Realm's elite military force. One of those warriors was the Chromium Man (or just "Chromium" for short), who had a layer of chrome-like metal that would cover his skin when he went into combat, making him nearly indestructible.
Chromium Man recalls his creation, from Chromium Man #2
The Riot Guard worked out well for a while, but it eventually backfired badly. As the Realm became more corrupt, more concerned with suppressing dissent among its own citizens, many members of the Riot Guard began to rebel. The Riot Guard were very powerful, and that made them ambitious. Some of them decided to oppose the Realm's repressive campaigns. Others decided to try to carve out their own little kingdoms. Most of the original Riot Guard was replaced by Riot Gear, ordinary soldiers armed with powered armor, who were nearly as effective and much easier to control. The renegade Riot Guard members became a serious threat, leading the Realm to try to wipe them out. Chromium was one of these renegades.
Chromium gets his name from the layer of gleaming metal with which he can cover his skin. The metal, which is similar to the armor used in the hulls of starships, is exuded from his pores when he goes into combat, hardening into a nearly indestructible shell. It's not completely impenetrable, but it protects him from most attacks. Chromium "chromes up" at will, but when he's under stress, he sometimes starts to "chrome" reflexively. Even when not in chromium mode, he has superhuman strength, and is very, very tough.
Kaanar once again becomes the Chromium Man, from Chromium Man #1
Chromium Man is an interesting, well-developed character. He's not a one-dimensional tough guy or a superhero. He has no interest in power or glory: he just wants a quiet life. Kaanar is a warrior who really wants peace, but can never find it. Every time he tries to start over, the war finds him, or he's faced with some injustice he can't ignore.
Kaanar is presented as both ethical and pragmatic. His distaste for war is obvious, and he has no illusions about it being anything other than ugly and brutal. At the same time, he accepts that there are principles that are worth fighting for. When things do come down to combat, he's willing to be ruthless, and he won't hesitate to kill if it's necessary, especially if his family or friends are threatened, he can be ruthless. It's not out of anger, though, but out of necessity. It makes him less like a typical comic book hero and more like a real soldier: he doesn't particularly like to fight, but he will if he must, and when he does, he plays for keeps.
Nerves on edge, Chromium (temporarily bald after a battle) chromes up reflexively, from Chromium Man #2
That attitude also keeps Kaanar from becoming angst-ridden. Other characters with his dilemma tend to whine a lot. (Even in other Triumphant Comics: Ximos, the commander in the Scavengers series, has also turned against the Realm for reasons similar to the Chromium Man's, which leads him to spend a lot of time brooding darkly.) Kaanar is not happy that he keeps being drawn into conflict, but he doesn't waste time bemoaning his fate. At heart, he's a realist, and he does what he knows he has to do.
The Chromium Man has ethics, and he also has a conscience. Most action heroes have some code of conduct, but they don't give it much thought... their morality is on automatic pilot. Kaanar is always conscious of the consequences of his actions (or his inaction). When he's faced with an ethical decision, he doesn't make it lightly, and -- this is the really unusual part -- it still affects him later.
An important example is in issue #4. Kaanar's wife, Laayana, has been kidnapped by a group of religious zealots, who think Chromium is the chosen consort of their goddess. To prove he's worthy, they want to force him to kill hundreds of captured non-believers. Naturally, Kaanar refuses to cooperate. But even though he manages to rescue his wife, he makes the uncomfortable decision that as much he loves her, if it comes down to it, he'll have to sacrifice her rather than see dozens of other people slaughtered. That's not a choice to be made lightly, and it continues to weigh on his mind afterward. He confesses in issue #7 that "I was forced into a very bad decision...I had to do something...something that could have hurt her...something that I'm not proud of."
Chromium Man confesses his unease over his past actions to his friend Wurm, from Chromium Man #7
Finally, in issue #10, Chromium decides he has to tell Laayana, even though he knows she probably won't take it well at all:
There's something I have to tell you. When the Phylenites held you captive on the Landing...they told me that unless I killed the entire sector, they'd hurt you, kill you. I thought of all the battlefields like this one. The...people I've had to kill in my lifetime. All the orders I wish I had disobeyed. All the nightmares I'll never get away from. I love you, Laayana, but I could not do it. I could not become their executioner. I went to find you instead. It's not a decision I wanted to make. And I wish I could say I decided differently. But I just couldn't be someone's weapon again. Not like that....Maybe you can understand why I did what I did. I love you, but I'll understand if you feel differently now.
A very powerful moment.
Kaanar also has a sense of humor. There's nothing unusual about heroes who crack wise through fights, but Kaanar's sense of humor isn't the glib wisecrack kind. In the first two issues, for example, he blackmails the governor of Kaabari into destroying a Realm official before he can tell his superiors that the Chromium Man is on Kaabari. Kaanar obviously enjoys watching the unscrupulous governor squirm, but he's also clearly aware how much danger he and everyone else on Kaabari will be in if the Realm learns he's there. It's a sardonic, black humor -- he laughs because otherwise he'd cry or scream. This is rare complexity for an action hero.
The same three-dimensional characterization that distinguished Kaanar extended to the other regular characters. The two major recurring characters are Laayana, Kaanar's Kaabaran wife, and a female mercenary named Candi.
Chromium Man flanked by Candi (left) and Laayana (right), from Chromium Man #3
Laayana, Kaanar's wife, undergoes an interesting transformation over the course of the series. When Kaanar first meets her she's a small-town girl, basically just a farmer. She's not stupid, but she is nave, innocent, and very young--she's willing to marry Kaanar more or less on the spur of the moment, without really knowing anything about him. She's terrified the first time she sees him in chromed-up form (which she's never seen before), and completely out of her depth in a crisis. At first she just wants her old life back, and "the gentle, caring man I married." In the first few issues she ends up being Kaanar's weak spot, a pawn that's used against him.
In a lot of comics (and action movies, for that matter), the love interest never amounts to anything more than that, but Laayana is very troubled at being a liability to her husband, and she decides to do something about it. After she's rescued from a group of aliens who've used her as a hostage, Laayana decides she wants to learn to defend herself. She talks Candi into training her in self-defense (which she later continues with Kanaar). It's not easy, and the first time Laayana finds herself in a real fight she freezes up. But her hesitation and failures don't make her laughable--they make her that much more likable as she decides to persevere. In the final issue of the series, with an uncertain but violent future ahead of them, she declares to Kaanar, "I can't say I understand what you've done, but I'll try, and whatever we may face, I'll always be with you." And you want to cheer for her.
The female warrior Candi is actually the Chromium Man's ex-wife. Candi and Chromium were divorced years ago, but remained friends -- Candi helped Chromium Man fake his death before his departure for Kaabari. After leaving Kaabari in the second issue, Kaanar and Laayana run into Candi again on the Landing, and Candi agrees to help them. Candi seems to want to rekindle things with Chromium, until she discovers that Laayana is his wife. She and Kaanar decide not to tell Laayana that Candi is his ex-wife, because they're not sure how Laayana will react.
Chromium Man and Candi clearly still have great affection for one another, but they know that they aren't cut out to be lovers, and they've accepted that. Mostly. Candi still carries a torch for Chromium, but she doesn't want to get in the way of his relationship with Laayana. Candi also painfully aware that while Chromium may love her, because she's a warrior, too, she's a reminder of everything he wants to escape.
That plays into the interesting relationship that develops between Candi and Laayana. When Laayana decides she wants to learn to defend herself, she enlists Candi to help her. Candi agrees with some reluctance, warning Laayana that Kaanar may not be happy to see his innocent wife learning to defend herself ("You sure you want to do that?" she asks in issue #6. "I think chrome-top likes you a little helpless."). Laayana admires Candi, even telling her, "if I could be anyone, I know exactly who I'd be...I'd be you." But Candi warns that Kaanar may not be able to accept her as a warrior -- something Candi knows all too well. "How do I know?" she mutters to herself, "That's why he left me."
There are other supporting characters in the story, like Wurm, a young gang member Kaanar befriends on the Landing, and Krane Jammer, a devil-may-care pilot with a cynical robot servant (who was apparently slated for his own series, Tales of the Royal Jester, which was never published). But the complex triangle of Kaanar, Laayana, and Candi was at the heart of the series.
Chromium's major enemy is The Realm itself, the corrupt empire he was created to serve. Despite his best efforts, Kaanar is repeatedly drawn into fights with Realm troops and officials, including Light, one of his former Riot Guard comrades who still serves The Realm.
Chromium faces his former friend, the Riot Guard member called Light, from
Chromium Man: Violent Past #1
In the first two issues Kaanar comes into conflict with Tarsak, the unscrupulous Realm governor of Kaabari. Kaanar initially outwits Tarsak, manipulating him into acting against his Realm masters and giving the Kaabari natives the leverage to control Tarsak afterwards. Tarsak retaliates by putting a price on Kaanar's head, leading him to be hunted by an array of mercenaries.
Tarsak, the corrupt Realm governor of Kaabari, with his aid, Tehroa, from Chromium Man #1
Tarsak eventually manages to regain his power on Kaabari, ruthlessly suppressing dissent and putting many of his enemies into forced labor camps. When Kaanar returns to Kaabari in issue #9, he realizes it was a mistake to leave Tarsak in power. Breaking into Tarsak's office, he throws the governor to an angry mob of Kaabarans, who promptly rip Tarsak apart.
Tarsak hired a number of bounty hunters, including the following:
Coil, who has metal limbs that he can extend and reshape to entangle and eviscerate opponents
Coil attacks Kandi and Laayana, from Chromium Man #4
Axe, a large black man armed with a massive golden ax capable of cutting through anything (Axe is killed by Coil, seeking to eliminate his competition for the bounty on Kaanar.)
Breaker, an enormous, orange-skinned humanoid with tremendous strength
Breaker takes on Chromium, from Chromium Man #3
Mutha Fwa, a six-legged alien creature with psionic powers that can steal other being's bodies (burrowing into their heads or torsos) as "cover."
The Mutha Fwa on the move, from Chromium Man #3
Kaanar's most difficult antagonists are the Phylenites, an alien cult who worship a woman called Phylenore, whom they consider a goddess. The Phylenites believe that the Chromium Man is the chosen one destined to become Phylenore's consort, and attempt to subdue him so that he will join them. They make the serious mistake of kidnapping and threatening Kaanar's wife, however, which drives him into a rage. Phylenore is apparently killed when her ship is destroyed in issue #5 (concurrent with the end of the Triumphant Unleashed crossover). The surviving Phylenites call a cease-fire, telling Kaanar that they would leave him in peace until their goddess returned again to claim her consort.
For an alphabetical guide to all the characters in the series, click here.