Planet Terry

There is a dreaded pest that plagues and irritates the peoples of the universe – and his name is Terry. Separated from his parents moments after his birth, Terry now wanders the universe searching for them, his only mementos being a bracelet that bears his name and a blank frame where his mom and dad should be pictured. His intergalactic search is so prolific that species everywhere have come to call him Planet Terry.

This page is about the boy. For the comic, see Planet Terry (comic).

Despite his independent lifestyle, Terry is still an ordinary boy raised in extraordinary circumstances. Being raised by a life ship computer means he's programmed with a wealth of trivia, but he's also very credulous... and distractible... and a catastrophiser... but it has left him with a strong sense of right and wrong: Terry would sooner put up a pretence than hurt someone's feelings, and he will always stand up to bullying and injustice.

If and when he finds his parents, he can introduce them to the new family he has found with Robota and Omnus.

Fiction

Terry's parents were in the Confederation Astro Patrol. Both served on the Confederation Cosmos Cruiser Space Warp; Terry's father was the captain, and his mother was the supply officer. They were married, and Terry was their first child. As the Space Warp had no nursery, her chief engineer/mess boy Enoch Diggs suggested that the newborn be placed in the life ship, which was sealed in glass only to be broken in an emergency. When Terry was born, the captain, with a mix of elation and over-caffeination, accidentally broke the glass of the life ship with his coffee mug, causing it to automatically evacuate the Space Warp and take Terry with it. Terry was presumed lost forever. Some Answers

He was raised by the life ship's nutrition and educational modules, which kept him safe as he travelled through space. Some Answers As they were separated so soon after his birth, Terry had no memory of ever meeting his parents; he considered the life ship to his birthplace. He took his name from the wrist bracelet name tag he'd been given by the Space Warp's infirmary. As a memento of his parents, he kept an empty picture frame that he'd signed himself: "To Terry – love Mom & Dad." A Clue

A few years before meeting Robota, Terry did a favour for the Wazir of Uranus, who gave him his ship. This began his galaxy-spanning quest for his parents in earnest. At some point he became known as "Planet Terry". A Clue

Terry frequently visited Bznko to ask if anyone had seen his parents, The Search perhaps even once per month. A Clue On one occasion, he landed his ship and was once again shunned by the locals, who told him they had bigger problems to contend with – like the arrival of the most feared creature in the galaxy, the Yungmun. Picturing a hulking brute, Terry was surprised that the Yungmun was merely a hack comedian. When the locals explained that the Yungmun's groaners literally bored planets to death, Terry asked why no-one had ever thought to boo him.

The Yungmun recoiled on hearing a boo, and his reaction encouraged the rest of the assembled crowd to join in, driving the comedian away. The grateful locals decided to give Terry their highest honour. Dashing his hopes of help in the quest for his parents, they told him to take the pick of the litter – literally, encouraging him to take anything he wanted from a scrap heap. Unsure of finding anything helpful, Terry went along with it so as to not hurt their feelings. Reaching into the pile, his hand activated some kind of switch, and Robota, a disused robot, clawed her way out of the heap and thanked him for turning her grid on. The Search

Terry introduced himself and his mission to Robota, showing her the wrist bracelet from which he took his name. Robota, a Servant Robot outmoded by the newer model, volunteered to join him on his quest, and he happily took her aboard. When she complimented his piloting, he told her he'd been born on a space ship, and proved it wasn't just a figure of speech by showing her his life ship.

A klaxon sounded, telling Terry he had engine trouble, and he was forced to make an emergency landing on a nearby planetoid. On hearing applause, Terry and Robota exited the ship to find prospector Enoch Diggs (and his Burrobot, Hee Haw), who congratulated him on his landing. Before being a prospector, Diggs was an old space hound, and volunteered to take a look at Terry's engine. Diggs was stunned by the sight of Terry's life ship, and asked if Terry was also wearing a wrist bracelet. When Diggs confirmed his suspicions that he knew who Terry's parents were, the boy was elated. A Clue

At Terry's insistence, Diggs tried to remember what he knew of his parents. Diggs related how he'd served on the Space Warp under Terry's dad, the ship's captain, as well as the day of Terry's birth, on which he'd become separated by the life ship's activation. Diggs was pleased to find that the life ship's educational module had made the boy as bright as the 7th Sun of Nimrax. Unfortunately, Diggs' own recall was nowhere near as sharp, and as Terry asked for more answers, he encouraged the boy to travel to the Milk Toast Malt Shop on Asteroid 43KX, where he could find Squink, the Space Warp's retired radioman. After Diggs fixed up the engine, Terry thanked him for everything he'd done, and he and Robota set off for the deceptively-named drinks establishment. Some Answers

Terry was hopeful for some resolution when he and Robota landed on Asteroid 43KX. He touched the ship down within walking distance of the Milk Toast Malt Shop, but the next obstacle in their path was a moat infested with critters Terry identified as hungry Crocogaters. Gulping down his fear, Terry and Robota began the careful journey across the moat's log bridge. Their path was blocked by Omnus, a fearsome alien that threatened that nothing got in his way. Terry stood up to Omnus, telling him that he had bad manners. Omnus swung for him, but when Terry ducked, the alien's momentum caused him to lose his balance, and he fell into the moat. When Omnus called for help, Robota dived in to the moat to rescue him, though she told him he didn't deserve it. Omnus took their names and sheepishly walked away, telling them he owed them one.

Terry and Robota entered the malt shop and were surprised to find it was more of a filthy dive bar, patronised by myriad burly aliens. Ordering a chocolate malt – and one with a shot of oil for Robota – Terry asked a bartender if he'd seen a man named Squink. They were directed to the other end of the bar, where they found Squink demanding another banana split; a demand that turned violent when he was refused service. The boss bartender called for his bouncers, Morthrott and Grmbil, to throw Squink to the gators. Terry and Robota intervened; though Terry gave one of them a kick in the shin, he and Robota were grabbed by the bouncers, who were ordered to throw them into the moat also.

The pair were rescued by Omnus, who had come to return his favour. The three of them fled the malt shop with the unconscious body of Squink carried over Robota's shoulder. With the bar staff chasing after them with weapons, Terry had the idea to kick the log bridge loose from its moorings, trapping their pursuers on the other side of the Crocogater-infested waters. Omnus admitted that he was now Asteroid 43KX's public enemy, and asked if he good join Terry's crew for refuge... and because he started darn good fights. Terry accepted, and as they left the asteroid, he mused that he may not yet have found his parents, but with Robota and Omnus, he sure had found a family. Malt Shop Menace

Speeding through space, Terry was excited that he was closer to finding his parents than ever before; all they needed was for Squink to regain consciousness to give them more clues. Unfortunately, Squink was already up and had grabbed a blaster, drawing it on Terry and vowing that no one must learn the secret of the Space Warp. Despite Terry imploring him that he was his only hope, Squink refused to answer any of his questions as Terry's father had blamed him for what had happened to the ship. Despite Robota's warnings of an incoming astro tornado, Squink grabbed a jet pack and jumped ship, his chances of survival slim.

Terry's ship was tossed around by the astro tornado, and it landed on the world of the Gorkels. Their spiritual leader, the Wise One, had the Gorkels throw a banquet for Terry and his friends, as they were "close enough" to fulfilling a prophecy from their holy book. The Wise One explained that it was foretold that alien creatures would arrive to save their beloved Princess_(shudder)Ugly from her uncle, Vermin the Vile, who had placed her under a sleeping spell. After consulting with his prized picture frame, and with encouragement from Omnus and Robota that they were a family that worked together, Terry accepted the mission of rescuing the princess, especially as the Wise One would reward their deed by repairing the ship and allowing him to continue his quest. After the Wise One told them the job would be a piece of cake, another Gorkel reminded him of the myriad dangers between their settlement and the far-off Domed City, but Terry, Robota, and Omnus marched forward with a determined war cry of "close enough!" The Saga of Princess Ugly

Equipped with a vibro-compass to lead the way, Terry and his friends breached the impenetrable forest. Omnus ripped through the trees; Terry had to intervene when the alien suggested that Robota wasn't manly enough for the task. When they came across a cute parrot, Terry fed it a space cookie, and it flew away after thanking him. Unknown to the three of them, the parrot was actually the shapeshifting vulture Scavage, who reported back to Vermin the Vile that the meddling interlopers were coming to rescue the princess. Using the Mayhem Maker, Vermin observed Terry and friends and put a number of obstacles in their way.

The first obstacle was a patch of tickle vines, which ensnared Terry and Omnus and made them helpless with laughter. Robota proved immune to being tickled, and defeated the vines with her strength and her robot ray beam. Next, they were surprised when a sudden earthquake developed into an active volcano; Omnus protected his companions from danger by swinging them on a vine across the molten lava. Terry began to suspect that they were being deliberately impeded on their journey to the Domed City.

They next encountered a seemingly ordinary steam. Terry deployed an aqua-analyzer, which told him that it was two feet deep and devoid of hostile life forms. As they waded through, Vermin transformed the stream into a strong whirlpool, and they were shot out of the vortex and into a bubble cell. They landed on the outskirts of the Domed City, visible now that Vermin had lifted the mist, and the evil uncle was there to personally greet them. Terry questioned him about why it was called the Dome City when it had no dome, but Vermin simply dismissed it as something probably written in the dumb book of the Gorkels. When Terry refused to recognise Vermin's authority over Princess_(shudder)Ugly, Vermin placed them under arrest... and soon called attention to the fact that Robota was fainting from rapid onset rust. Too Close (Enough) for Comfort

Notes

Fake Terry, real Terry, and himbo Terry.

Terry was included as part of a competition in issue 21 which required readers to pair characters with their opposites.
Terry never actually found his parents! His next appearance after the series concluded was in the 2009-2010 miniseries X-Babies, which breathed new life into the Star Comics original characters. The all-signing, all-dancing, all-rapping version of Terry appeared alongside other Star Comics characters as part of the new cutesified and vapid programming broadcast across Mojoworld. Over the course of the story it was revealed that this Terry was a construct based on the real Terry, who was imprisoned in a VR simulation. Once freed by the X-Babies, the real Terry returned to his time and space of origin, resuming the quest for his parents. This epilogue was the first on-panel acknowledgement that Terry's silver hair and distinctive space suit were reminiscent of the (pink) Kree.
- After this, a definitively Earth-616 Planet Terry appeared in 2016's Drax ongoing series, now an adult and a bounty hunter, interacting with the wider space-faring denizens of the Marvel universe. The series implied that the events of Planet Terry happened in this Terry's backstory, though by necessity they would have to have occurred roughly when they were published and to an alien child, rather than the far future human the original Terry was implied to be.