The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special gives Mantis her biggest showcase yet in the MCU as she tries to deliver Star-Lord the perfect Christmas present. Mantis' history in Marvel Comics gets about as weird, especially considering that she exists in DC Comics as well. With James Gunn now heading DC Studios, Mantis potentially serves as a bridge for a prospective MCU/DCEU crossover.
Mantis factors in the cosmic tapestry that writer Steve Englehart crafted at Marvel in the 1970s and then later at DC and even beyond. She fit in well with the numerous icons like Thanos and Drax the Destroyer that Jim Starlin created. Her comic book history with those characters charts a clear path for her live-action future.
10 She Differs From The MCU Version
Comic book fans know Mantis made her debut in The Avengers #112. Co-created by Englehart and Dock Heck, among the best Avengers artists ever, she generates instant intrigue from her first appearance. She also differs from her MCU counterpart significantly, with a completely different backstory.
Ego created Mantis in the MCU, but the comic book Mantis grew up in Vietnam, the daughter of Gustav Brandt, better known as the supervillain Libra. Libra left her with the Priests of Pama, a Kree sect who believed she fulfilled an ancient prophecy.
9 The Celestial Madonna
The Kree believed that Mantis, whose real first name remains a mystery in the comics, would grow up to be the Celestial Madonna. In the prophecy, she gave birth to the Celestial Messiah, a powerful figure in Kree mythology. Her early life took some interesting turns that the MCU has so far avoided and likely will continue to do so.
Mantis met The Swordsman, a powerful Hawkeye villain, in a brothel. They began a relationship that steered her toward the Avengers and led to them both ing the team in the 1970s.
8 Fighting Kang The Conqueror
The Celestial Madonna Saga, among the best Avengers comic book storylines, really kicks off in issue #129. Kang The Conqueror comes back in time to claim Mantis for himself, so he fathers the Celestial Messiah, leading to an epic battle. This issue also reveals that Rama-Tut, an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, is a Kang variant.
This epic storyline also brings in Immortus, another powerful Kang variant. Though the MCU mostly avoids Mantis' comic backstory, with Kang looming large in The Multiverse Saga, this arc may come into play.
7 The Celestial Messiah
Eventually, the Avengers defeat Kang and his variants. Mantis marries The Swordsman, or rather a Cotati alien who took the Swordman's form, in Giant-Size Avengers #4. This issue also features The Vision and The Scarlet Witch tying the knot. Mantis then gives birth to Sequoia, the Celestial Messiah.
Her story seemed to reach a natural conclusion in the comics when the Cotati arrived and took her child with them to nurture him. Mantis traveled into space, alone. Where she appeared next complicates her comic book history a great deal.
6 Willow
Englehart left Marvel for DC and then introduced a character named Willow in Justice League of America #142. Like Mantis, she referred to herself in the third person, had green skin, and refused to say where she came from. Rather than simply being similar to Mantis, this is actually Mantis.
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe notes that Mantis used the Willow alias, and also s for her DC adventure. It also includes a reference to another name, Lorelei.
5 Lorelei
Englehart took Mantis with him again when he went to Eclipse Comics in the 1980s. Mantis appears in Scorpio Rose #2 as Lorelei. Again, she features green skin, refers to herself as 'this one,' and avoids any discussion of where she came from. Though characters do travel between companies in crossovers and sales, Mantis is unique in many ways.
Due to Marvel Comics' contract stipulations, Englehart didn't own Mantis as a character. By presenting her with different names, he got around this the same way Marvel and DC parody the other's characters with subtle but telling details.
4 The Crossing
Mantis appears sporadically in Marvel Comics during the 1980s and properly returns in The Crossing. This Avengers storyline featured a controversial Marvel retcon with Iron Man revealed as a lifelong agent for Kang The Conqueror. Tony Stark went on a killing spree, died, and was replaced by a teenage variant.
In this storyline, Mantis marries Kang The Conqueror, and helps him fulfill his complicated plan to destroy the Avengers from within. This development got retconned itself, with the 1998 storyline Avengers Forever rendering this Mantis as an imposter.
3 The Guardians Of The Galaxy
Mantis begins to resemble the MCU version most fans recognize in the early 2000s. She s the modern team including Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot. She serves initially as an advisor, lending her experience and wisdom to the group while they're stationed on Knowhere.
She leverages her considerable telepathic abilities to try and mentally link the team closer together, something the live-action version so far has avoided.
2 Secret Invasion
Mantis' unique powers proved the team's undoing during the Secret Invasion crossover event. The team initially balked at fighting back the Skrull invasion of Earth, leading Star-Lord to have Mantis use her telepathic abilities to purposefully make the team fight. When this came out, the team broke up.
Mantis uses her influence on others in the movies, but so far not in any negative way toward her teammates. With the Secret Invasion series coming to Disney+, the possibility exists that the Guardians play a tangential role.
1 Empyre
Mantis' experience with the Guardians mostly puts her on the outs in the last ten years, but she returned in Empyre. This 2020 story saw an epic intergalactic struggle spill over to Earth. The Cotati invaded the planet, leading to an unlikely reunion between the Celestial Madonna and her son.
Her son, now known as Quoi, led the Cotati invasion. Mantis appealed to him through a psychic link they share across space. He refused to listen to her and carried out the attack anyway.
