BIOGRAPHY - Page 2
On his first known visit to Earth, the Stranger sought to study the naturally occurring mutations which had begun to arise among the human population, these “mutants.” As it happened, both Professor Xavier and Magneto detected his arrival in Manhattan, and their readings led them to believe he was the most powerful mutant either had ever seen. The X-Men and the Brotherhood 
of Evil Mutants mobilized to find the Stranger, but it was the Brotherhood who found him first. Magneto tried to intimidate the Stranger into joining his Brotherhood, but the Stranger was not amused. With a burst of energy, he dispelled the magnetic bonds holding him and eliminated Mastermind’s illusions by turning the mutant into an inert statue of dense matter. As the X-Men arrived to square off against the Brotherhood, the Stranger prepared to depart instead.
Magneto tried to stop the Stranger from leaving, but the Stranger invited him and Toad to join him as they were whisked away in his transporting cone of energy. After they literally passed through the X-Men and other obstacles, the trio re-materialized in the woods outside the city. Magneto’s bluster finally irked the Stranger enough to silence him, and he materialized an anti-magnetic membrane to cocoon Magneto and Toad. When the X-Men arrived, the Stranger finally explained 
his alien origins and his species’ interest in mutations. He originally came to Earth looking for specimens to claim and Magneto effectively volunteered himself. Taking on an energy form for space travel, the Stranger departed Earth with Magneto and Toad in his clutches. [X-Men (1st series) #11]
The Stranger had reason to return to Earth again before long, when he detected the being known as Cressida. At first, he thought her to be another mutant and sought to add her to his studies. After an encounter with the Avengers defending her, however, the Stranger determined Cressida was not a mutant, and abandoned his efforts to acquire her. [Avengers (6th series) #2.1]
As his studies of Earth progressed, the Stranger began to fear mankind’s potential and its capacity for destruction. He decided that humanity must be wiped out, destroying its civilization. He would leave behind only a select few for him to rule and guide towards a more benign society, where their potential would be made to serve him. As the catalyst of his will, the Stranger came to Earth and selected Bruce Banner, the incredible Hulk. The Stranger humbled the Hulk physically before subjecting him to alien machines which imposed the Stranger’s will upon him. The Hulk was sent on a rampage to destroy weapons and military installations, while the Stranger kept busy 
with his other work in the meantime. However, during the Hulk’s efforts, a new gamma menace called the Abomination was created. The Hulk fought off the truly evil Abomination with such valor that the Stranger reconsidered his opinion of humanity. He chose to leave the Hulk and Earth alone for the time being, but abducted the Abomination for further study back on his Laboratory World. [Tales to Astonish (1st series) #89-91]
Ever fickle, the Stranger changed his mind again and returned to Earth with a null-life bomb. This single device, planted on Earth, would cleanse the world of humanity and prevent them from spreading their capacity for hatred to the stars. The expansion and collapse of the null-life bomb would turn the mass of the entire solar system into a new star, powering the Stranger’s work. The Stranger made a mistake, however, when he saw the Silver Surfer in orbit around the planet. Not 
interested in harming non-humans, the Stranger warned the Surfer to abandon Earth so he wouldn’t be caught in the destructive blast. Norrin Radd spoke of mankind’s potential, and tried to convince the Stranger that humans had much to offer the universe once they conquered their emotions. The Stranger refused to chance it, and the Silver Surfer chose to oppose him.
Back on Earth, the Silver Surfer met with his scientist friend, Alvin B. Harper, in the hopes of stopping the null-life bomb. Harper rigged up an instrument to locate the bomb, and they began scouring the Earth on the Surfer’s board. When they got a reading near Alvin’s home in Sweetwater, New York, Harper pursued the bomb while the Silver Surfer sought to distract and delay the Stranger himself. The Stranger resisted the Surfer’s attacks and his pleas of compassion. He also revealed the null-life bomb had a defense mechanism which would kill 
anyone who attempted to tamper with it. Al Harper succumbed to the bomb’s defenses when he found it, but he nevertheless persevered long enough to disarm the bomb and save humanity before he finally died to the bomb’s effect. The Stranger immediately sensed this and, once again, was surprised by the selfless determination hidden in mankind. He declared the fighting over and agreed not to make any further action against humanity at the moment. The Stranger also cast out his cosmic force to undo the effects of his battle with the Surfer. [Silver Surfer (1st series) #5]
Later events revealed the Stranger’s cosmic power not only reversed the damage done to Sweetwater by his battle with the Surfer, it also restored the injured and dead humans caught in their wake while removing all memories of the previous twenty-four hours. This lost day became known as the “Sweetwater Gap” to locals and conspiracy theorists. Meanwhile, the nano-cloud which killed Al Harper actually evacuated his life energy to the Stranger’s Laboratory World, where his lifeforce was converted into matter, giving him a new physical form. Harper would remain as one of the Stranger’s experiments for years, while his original lifeless body was buried on Earth by the Silver Surfer. [Silver Surfer: Ghost Light #1-2]
The Stranger suffered from incredible arrogance and a myopic focus on his current experiments, often leaving his Laboratory World unguarded. His test subjects were occasionally held in his lab like flies in amber, but often they roamed freely on the barren habitats that made up his world, forgotten as he moved on to other pursuits. Magneto was able to steal a rocket ship and fly back to Earth to seek revenge on the X-Men. Still, the Stranger came to collect him once he received a telepathic signal from Professor X. [X-Men (1st series) #17-18] The next time Magneto and Toad escaped, however, he made no attempt to retrieve them. [Avengers (1st series) #47] The Abomination was summoned back to Earth by a mystical cult to fight the Silver Surfer, only to be returned to the Laboratory World when he failed. [Silver Surfer (1st series) #12] During another 
attempt at escaping, the Abomination summoned Thor using the Stranger’s machines and tried to convince him they were unjustly imprisoned. The valiant Thunder God fought the Stranger at first, but learned that Abomination and the other prisoners he encountered were evil men. He chose to leave them to their fates rather than draw the ire of a foe so powerful as the Stranger onto the Golden Realm of Asgard. [Thor (1st series) #178]
The time came when Grom, the Over-Mind and Champion of Champions of the Eternals of Eyung, emerged from his chrysalis to threaten the universe. The Over-Mind arrived on Earth and made plans to suborn the minds of the population, adding humanity’s mental might to his own. The Fantastic Four were warned of his coming by the Watcher, but even with the aid of Doctor Doom they were unable to defeat the Over-Mind. Still, their efforts distracted and drained the Eyungian before the arrival of the Stranger. Here, he claimed to be the sum of a billion billion brains, the 
living embodiment of Gigantus, and he carried out their revenge on the Over-Mind. The Stranger bathed the Over-Mind in cosmic radiation, forcing him to shrink down beyond the dimensions of the material plane and banishing the Champion of Champions to a sub-atomic universe to serve as his prison. [Fantastic Four (1st series) #116]
The Stranger also faced an oddly reoccurring problem with entities occasionally impersonating him. An alien from another dimension called Jakar chose to pose as the Stranger when he first came to Earth. His people were hollowed out by a mental plague, and he hoped to use the souls of humans to revitalize his race. He hired Batroc’s Brigade to acquire children for his work, but even Batroc turned against him and helped Captain America and Falcon defeat Jakar, once the 
Leaper learned this was no mere ransom but a threat to the children’s very souls. [Captain America (1st series) #149-150] On another occasion, the Toad returned to the Stranger’s Laboratory World and mastered some of his equipment. Using a mental image projection of the Stranger, Toad attacked the Avengers in an effort to impress the Scarlet Witch. He retained knowledge and control over the Stranger’s technology for some time to come. [Avengers (1st series) #137-138]