The Gladiator Corps

I've always liked the alien races depicted in comics but I felt that Marvel maybe treated them better than some of the other comic companies. One group I always liked was the Shi'ar and their Imperial Guard. The Shi'ar were a conquering race of half human, half bird people, with flesh like the former and feathers like the latter. They had conquered many alien races over the millenia and the best and most loyal of those races had been incorporated into an Imperial Guard. The leader of this guard was Gladiator, who for a long time didn't seem to have any back story. Recently I picked up the "War of Kings" compilation graphic novel and there's a back story where its revealed how a fellow named Kallor became Gladiator. He was from the planet Strontia where he was a cadet competing for a place in the Gladiator Corps. Eventually he won the top spot (I won't spoil it for you if you'd like to pick up the book) but I liked the depictions of the other cadets and thought I would do a few of them. Sometimes the strangest things inspire me. In this case I used a couple of Ms. Marvel figures, an Iron Fist, an Alpha Flight Guardian and a black Spider-Man coupled with heads from some Star Wars figures, an Absorbing Man and a Namor to make five of the Gladiator Corps cadets. Just finished them this morning and am sharing them with you this afternoon. How timely.