WARLOCK
Showing posts with label Warlock. Show all posts. The posts are listed in chronological order. Click the post title to read more.
ADAM WARLOCK - PART 7: WARLOCK'S END-for now
Adam Warlock's appearances in the second half of the 1970s are fewer and - once more - take place in a range of other, more popular, titles. His 70s adventures end in the Starlin-plotted and drawn Avengers Annual 7 and Marvel Two-in-One Annual 2. Warlock gets a bittersweet ending, surrounded by friends - but does, finally, deal with Thanos. It's a shame that Warlock ended at this point. Although a "cosmic" character, he is perfectly at home with The Avengers and it's interesting to consider how much more successful he would have been if involved in the regular Marvel Universe earlier rather than artificially separating him through devices like Counter-Earth or sending him to the other side of the galaxy (and making him physically the size of the solar system).
MUCH OBLIGED, GOLDY: MARVEL TEAM-UP #55
Six months after the termination of the Warlock title, the great John Byrne gets a chance to draw Adam Warlock in a bizarre team-up with Spider-man on the Moon! Byrne draws Warlock superbly, giving him a tougher, heroic demeanour - but Bill Mantlo's plot is pretty thin. Following an issue involving the Hulk and a faun-like character called Woodgod, Spider-man is blasted in a rocket into space and finds himself quickly running out of air. Luckily enough, Warlock is passing by - though careful readers would have remembered that he'd abandoned Earth for the depths of space due to his increased size and might be scratching their heads about why he's back in this part of the universe (see Warlock #14 for details). It's ok, though: Warlock has found a remedy for this cosmic affliction: "It seems that warping through space has gradually reversed the process. I have grown smaller." Luckily, Adam Warlock had done enough "warping" to return to his original proportions. Whatever the frack that means anyway.(Although this is a dumb solution - it's really no dumber than making Adam Warlock the size of a solar system anyhow.) Warlock detects air in the "Blue Area" on the Moon and sends the rocket there. |
| The Stranger covets Warlock's soul gem! |
Unfortunately, in the "Blue Area" is The Stranger, a gigantic alien who had been knocking around the Marvel Universe since Uncanny X-men #16. The Stranger already has one of the Infinity Gems (though we don't know them as that yet) and desires Adam Warlock's to enhance his power. There's also another character on the Moon called The Gardener who is... well... a gardener. Warlock gets beaten unconscious and strapped to "stasis arcs" so that The Stranger can take the soul gem. Eventually - after a great deal of Spider-man spraying webbing at The Stranger, Warlock and The Gardener team up to drive The Stranger off. The battle, however, corrupts The Gardener's gem and he realises that it has become a weapon. The issue ends with Adam Warlock explaining to Spider-man that he is on his way to Counter-Earth... but, as Adam Warlock's next appearance suggests, whatever was supposed to happen on Counter-Earth is forgotten as the threat of Thanos becomes the focus for Warlock's final story.It is again,ashamed there was a story about this,tying up plot point subpossedly happened.
...IN THIS ONENESS THERE CAN ONLY BE LOVE: THE AVENGERS ANNUAL 07
You can tell it's going to be a dark story when the opening pages have Warlock finding Gamora dying and using his soul gem to put her out of her misery. She had been attacked by the Destroyer and survived in order to make a failed assassination attempt on Thanos.It is ashame,Starlin did write and draw some interveining material for what comes up next.
The opening pages are shadowy and sombre and creates a tone that continues throughout this issue and its conclusion in Marvel Two-in-One Annual 2. Gamora's death sets Warlock off on a course of revenge - recruiting the current team of Avengers on the way (there's a neat scene where Thor recognises Adam Warlock as Him). Using his soul gem on Gamora enables Warlock to recount the history of Thanos to the Avengers and we get an account of where all six Infinity Gems are located. Thanos' wicked plan is to transfer all the powers of the different gems into a single large synthetic gem and plans to blow every star out of existence as a love offering for Death. The Avengers take to space to battle Thanos' army and, during the battle,Adam Warlock and Captain Marvel find what's left of Pip - Thanos had destroyed the troll's mind. After sucking Pip's soul into his gem, Warlock fights Thanos only to be mortally wounded. (Adam Warlock is a bit pathetic, really. For all his talk of god-like powers and the fact he has the soul gem, Thanos flattens him instantaneously.).It was kind of hard to believe a guy who basically retreats a cocoon and reborn gets killed so easy.But then,it was put Old Adam Warlock away for one more round at Thantos...for now amyway. The Avengers destroy the synthetic gem and Thanos teleports himself away.
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| Captain Marvel sees time-travelling Adam Warlock kill himself.What should be astounishing good old Captain Mar-Vell is how he resembles a pink skinned version of Adam Warlock.And second,how Marvel Comic dumasses keep giving other characters his title,when he is the only one who rightfully belongs the name. |
Watched by Captain Marvel, we observe the scene from Warlock #11 where the younger Adam Warlock who had been battling Magus kills the older Adam Warlock by sucking his soul into the gem and then returning to his own time.
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| Adam Warlock... happy at last. |
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| Inside the heavenly interior of the soul gem. |
DESTINED TO SPEND INFINITY TRAPPED WITHIN THE PETRIFIED FORM OF HIS OWN CORRUPTION:MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE ANNUAL 02
So, Adam Warlock's happily living out his afterlife inside the vampiric soul gem that's on the forehead of his younger self. I have trouble actually understanding how this works. What happens to the soul gem of the dead Warlock? Is the dead Warlock inside the living (younger) Warlock's soul gem - and, if so, how come Warlock isn't aware of this in the same way that he's aware of all the other people he kills? It's certainly a conundrum that doesn't satisfactorily make sense (maybe in later issues when Warlock gets resurrected it'll become clear). In Marvel Two-in-One Annual 2, The Avengers have been captured by Thanos and Moondragon (the bald C-list Avenger) sends out a "mental call" to Spider-man. Thanos takes the soul gem to continue with his plan to destroy the sun. Spidey recruits The Thing to take him into space to Thanos' ark. Meanwhile some cosmic entities (fates? - one called "Lord Chaos") debate the situation and explain that Spider-man and The Thing's role was to release Adam Warlock from the soul gem. We get a view of Warlock's idyllic post-death existence: a rural scene where his former enemies sit on rock or wander about happily. The Thing attempts to fight Thanos and Spidey - quite out of character - runs away in blind panic. He does, however, return to release The Avengers and there's a tremedous battle that Thanos wins once more. Warlock is called back to reality by the cosmic entities and released by Spider-Man.[Problem,good old way,way overexposed Marvel Team Up Whoremaster Spider-Man comes off as one fucking annoying asshole here.] |
| Adam Warlock gets mean! |
Adam Warlock appears as a fiery being and describes himself as the "Ultimate Avenger" and attacks Thanos, transforming the mad Titan into solid granite. As a coda to the story, the Avengers bury Warlock "amidst the heavens".
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| Adam Warlock, the Ultimate Avenger. |
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| Warlock's headstone. |
GLOWING MAN WAS SMART: THE INCREDIBLE HULK ANNUAL 06
Warlock's appearances in subsequent comics of the 1970s are flashbacks that utilise characters introduced in the run. In the Hulk Annual 6, Doctor Strange is forced to work for the Beehive (in a manner very much like Alicia Masters in FF #66-67) in order to work on their second version of Him. Strange is brought in for his surgeon's skills and he works on the brain of the new Him inside its cocoon. While the Hulk fights his way across the world to the Beehive's base to rescue Strange, an artificial human called Paragon emerges from the cocoon and more or less repeats what Him did ten years earlier: refusing to obey the Beehive scientists and fighting anyone he encounters. The Beehive, who seemed to have been destroyed by Him as he left Earth at the end of FF #67, were actually moved to another dimension rather than killed (Paragon says "banished").This before Paragon gets a sex change and becomes Her or Him or He or She or He-Man or She-Man or She-Ra or whatever.I guess somebody read the Return to Oz,where Jack [spoiler warning] becomes Queen Ozma.
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| The Paragon (aka Him 2... though he becomes Her!) |
I DO NOT FEAR DEATH, INBETWEENER: DOCTOR STRANGE #27
In this February 1978 issue of Doctor Strange, Roger Stern brings The Inbetweener, the entity that Magus summoned to send Warlock insane, into the regular Marvel Universe. In an amazing-looking issue pencilled by Tom Sutton and inked by Ernie Chan, Inbetweener presents himself to Strange in order to explain his role of maintaining balance in the universe. There's a flashback where he recounts his relationship with Warlock and explains that he has been searching for other "projects" to bring balance to things. Typically, it's a trippy issue which mostly involves a prolonged battle with Stygyro, prince of sorcerers. Warlock only actually appears in a couple of panels: |
| The Inbetweener recalls his role in creating Magus |
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| Life ending for Warlock |
THE WRECKAGE IS STILL SMOKIN', SPIDEY: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #15
Warlock's final posthumous appearance in the 1970s is in a Bill Mantlo scripted issue ofSpectacular Spider-man where Man-Beast has escaped Counter-Earth and arrived on (real) Earth to lead a religious sect (Mantlo had also written the Spider-man/Warlock team-up). Spidey defeats Man-Beast's "hate amplifiers" to save the day. Warlock is remembered in a flashback sequence where Man-Beast relates his origins. Warlock is described as "the more-than-man". Man-Beast simply re-evolved from a dog after Warlock had left Counter Earth for deep space. Probably, for the average Marvel reader, this final presentation of Warlock - as some sort of weird golden superhero who was the enemy of a rubbish dog-villain - is the one that endured. |
| Man-Beast survived Warlock's de-evolution |
Tuesday, 5 March 2013 in Adam Warlock, Warlock
WARLOCK: THE ESSENTIAL WARLOCK
- Marvel Premiere 1-2
- Warlock 1-8
- Incredible Hulk 176-178
- Strange Tales 178-181
- Warlock 9-15
- Marvel Team-up 55
- Avengers Annual 7
- Marvel Two-in-One Annual 2
The volume spans 1972 to 1977.
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| Adam Warlock's headstone.According to Peter Sanderson,the date was topical. |
GLOWING MAN WAS SMART: THE INCREDIBLE HULK ANNUAL 06
Adam Warlock's appearances in subsequent comics of the 1970s are flashbacks that utilise characters introduced in the run. In the Hulk Annual 6, Doctor Strange is forced to work for the Beehive (in a manner very much like Alicia Masters in FF #66-67) in order to work on their second version of Him. Strange is brought in for his surgeon's skills and he works on the brain of the new Him inside its cocoon. While the Hulk fights his way across the world to the Beehive's base to rescue Strange, an artificial human called Paragon emerges from the cocoon and more or less repeats what Him did ten years earlier: refusing to obey the Beehive scientists and fighting anyone he encounters. The Beehive, who seemed to have been destroyed by Him as he left Earth at the end of FF #67, were actually moved to another dimension rather than killed (Paragon says "banished").It was a dum sideways addition to Adam Warlock story,even Paragon become Her.Me,I would prefered Eve Warlock or something better.
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| The Paragon (aka Him 2... though he becomes Her!) |
I DO NOT FEAR DEATH, INBETWEENER: DOCTOR STRANGE #27
In this February 1978 issue of Doctor Strange, Roger Stern brings The Inbetweener, the entity that Magus summoned to send Warlock insane, into the regular Marvel Universe. In an amazing-looking issue pencilled by Tom Sutton and inked by Ernie Chan, Inbetweener presents himself to Strange in order to explain his role of maintaining balance in the universe. There's a flashback where he recounts his relationship with Warlock and explains that he has been searching for other "projects" to bring balance to things. Typically, it's a trippy issue which mostly involves a prolonged battle with Stygyro, prince of sorcerers. Adam Warlock only actually appears in a couple of panels: |
| The Inbetweener recalls his role in creating Magus |
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| Life ending for Warlock |
THE WRECKAGE IS STILL SMOKIN', SPIDEY: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #15
Warlock's final posthumous appearance in the 1970s is in a Bill Mantlo scripted issue of Spectacular Spider-man where Man-Beast has escaped Counter-Earth and arrived on (real) Earth to lead a religious sect (Mantlo had also written the Spider-man/Adam Warlock team-up). Spidey defeats Man-Beast's "hate amplifiers" to save the day. Warlock is remembered in a flashback sequence where Man-Beast relates his origins. Adam Warlock is described as "the more-than-man". Man-Beast simply re-evolved from a dog after Warlock had left Counter Earth for deep space. Probably, for the average Marvel reader, this final presentation of Warlock - as some sort of weird golden superhero who was the enemy of a rubbish dog-villain - is the one that endured.The Bill Mantlo story as always,was total rubbish.
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| Man-Beast survived Warlock's de-evolution |
ADAM WARLOCK - PART 6: WARLOCK
Presumably Jim Starlin's revitalisation of Strange Tales enabled Warlock's title to be re-launched in a "Pulse-Pounding Premiere Issue" (actually issue 9) in October 1975 that carried on the story from the point whereAdam Warlock, Gamora and Pip encounter the flesh-and-blood Magus at the end of 1,000 Clowns. Artwork takes another step forward as Steve Leialoha takes on "finishing" tasks and Starlin concentrates on plot and layouts. Issues 9-14 are the best-looking of all the seventies Warlock comics (and it's worth noticing how issue 15 - art completely by Starlin - actually looks thin in comparison with the bold art of the preceding six issues). More significantly - dare I say it - than Adam Warlock is the development of the mad Titan, Thanos, in this part of the run as an emergent major villain in the Marvel universe.
THANOS NOW STANDS WITH YOU, ADAM WARLOCK: WARLOCK #9
AdamWarlock, unfortunately is caught in a paradox where every thought and action has been already experienced by the Magus. In fact, the Magus claims to have manipulated events to bring Adam Warlock to this point - and summons a being called The Inbetweener who will take Warlock to a place between reality and fantasy where he will become completely insane. Warlock - typically - feels pretty sorry for himself and mopes around declaring: "I've become a spiritual vampire! From saviour to vampire and soon to be a mad monarch of a thousand worlds... that's me!" Gamorra, however, is an element in Magus' plans that clearly didn't take place before. On the last page of this issue the mysterious master who has been guiding Gamorra reveals himself to be Thanos - who declares he will ally himself with Adam Warlock.
ADAM WARLOCK IS NOW PREPARED... TO DESTROY HIS OWN SOUL: WARLOCK #10
Warlock, Gamora and Thanos battle 25,000 of Magus' warriors. Upon witnessing the death of the cruel Matriarch, Warlock becomes (simplistically) philosophical, asking: "Why must life be so cruel? Why must there be so much mystery... so much pain?" In an odd couple of pages, Starlin has Captain Marvel break through the fourth wall and directly address the reader - informing them about Thanos' origins. We're given a little back story about Gamora, too. Warlock realises (courtesy of Thanos) that, in order to defeat Magus, he has to commit suicide.
NO ONE REALLY. JUST A MEMORY: WARLOCK #11
The conclusion of the Magus story-arc becomes more complicated. As Thanos fights Magus it's revealed that this is a conflict of cosmic proportions: Magus represents the forces of Life itself, while Thanos is the embodiment of Death (this was pretty obvious as he goes around talking about stellar genocide). Warlock slips into his own time stream in order to commit "cosmic suicide" (a rather grand term) and encounters The Inbetweener, who turns out to be a neutral force (with a typically Warlock-ian penchant for talking about himself in the third person) and complicates Warlock's suicidal mission by the revelation that Magus is in fact Life's champion. Warlock ends up in a situation where he has not one... but five different paths to choose. Finally, amidst some epic panelling that emphasises the tension of this moment, Warlock travels a few months into the future (Starlin isn't clear about how long: a year, two... a couple of months?) and encounters a future self who is even more depressed than "our" Warlock. Despite this story having taken a very long time to get to this point, Warlock doesn't engage with his future self and simply sets his vampiric soul gem on him.The future is changed: Magus is removed from reality (plus no Universal Church of Truth) and the universe is re-made. Warlock and Pip go for a drink while Thanos stands chewing up the cosmos in Shakesperian villainous-style ("Am I not the dark side? Am I not death?") before wandering off.
Despite the fact that when you remove all the supposed plot complexities of this issue, it's really about Thanos fighting Magus and Warlock going on a mission to kill a future version of himself - it's about the best of this entire Warlock run in terms of the artwork. Panelling is stunning: there are pages where long, horizontal panels give widescreen-like impressions of the epic battle between Titan and god, next to pages where there's a stream of smaller panels that create pace and tension. Plus, Starlin's background texturing absolutely adds to the tone of scenes: it's definitely Kirby-esque with it's use of stars to signify moments of cosmic significance and great, gleaming metallic machines to emphasise the raw power of modern-mythic characters. The rich texturing is evident even in the realisation of small elements: Gamora's outfit has a web-like pattern that suggests how she will weave herself (later) into Warlock's narrative Thanos, when he's not standing in front of starscapes is often presented with the backdrop of crazily-flashing computerised equipment, indicating the non-natural source of his power as well as emphasising it's calculatingly cold, non-life. It's a terrific issue.
SAY, I WONDER WHAT'S INSIDE THIS HOOKAH?:WARLOCK #12
After the epic conclusion to the Magus storyline, this issue is a light-hearted romp involving Pip the Troll attempting to free a prostitute from a galactic pimp. There's a "tall-tale" Pip tells the prostitute (called Heater!) about his past - supposedly he was Prince Gofern of Laxidazia who was a painter that hung out with trolls eating "dark stew" until he was transformed into a troll himself. It's thinly-veiled commentary (and I wonder at this point if Pip is a version of Starlin himself in the comic - although in the letters column in #14 a reader challenges the editors to deny that Pip is based on Jack Kirby which gets a reply that only draws parallels between Pip and the artist). We additionally have the introduction of Eros (his connection with Thanos to be later revealed) but this is an interlude before another intense arc. Warlock, as he's done before, flies off into space to agonise over his dilemma: he's changed the future - but, in the process, gone mad and murdered with his soul gem. Often the best moments of these comics are when Warlock is sitting on a rock in the emptiness of space pondering - adolescently - over his existence. There's a great sequence in this issue as well as a superb full page portrayal of the angst-filled Warlock which begins to graphically suggest his fractured personality:
Although,this a nice story,it kind of waste space better suited for upcoming events in this comic.Jim Starlin must have under the delusion,he had more time to develope a bigger storyline.
Adam Warlock discovers that the source of the "theft" of stars is an Earthman called Barry Bauman, who has lived for 24 years in a vegetative state after being born with no connection between his brain and nerves (perhaps a version of The Who's Tommy?).Some of this,has an odd disconnected connection another Jim Starlin creation -Darklon the Mystic. There's a couple of fantastic pages where Starlin depicts Barry's self-narrated origins from darkness to becoming a being of "pure intellect" - although cruelly twisted by his loneliness into desire for revenge against an uncaring cosmos. Warlock's first action is to use his soul gem to kill the Star Thief - which he does without his usual hand-wringing. When the Star Thief makes himself known and, in a friendly way, suggests that he and Warlock share a lonely kinship ("We are both perverted creations of Earthmen who fear us..."), Warlock simply insists he is Life and that Star Thief is Anti-Life and they must fight. It's almost as if Warlock wants to re-enact the epic battle between Magus and Thanos a few issues ago. Star Thief animates rocks into giant man-like forms and battles Warlock. There are some great sound effects depicting the blows they trade: KARRUNT, ZAARK, KA-TUNK, KA-ROOOM, KER-RRAANK. Eventually, Adam Warlock survives the attack and causes Star Thief to be amazed at his foe's powers. Modestly, Warlock gives an explanation - though it doesn't really make much sense - of his powers that echoes his earlier (re)creation by the High Evolutionary.
''I am a true Warlock.I am the wind,earth,water and fire.That is the only explanation I can give.''
Both agree a challenge: Adam Warlock must fly to Earth and survive only physical assaults by Star Thief. Meanwhile the issue ends with a sardonic apocalyptic panel illustrating humanity's "most usual" reaction to the news that something is destroying stars:Funny thing-non of this took place in any other Marvel Comic.So much for a shared universe.
A talking golden ape called Gorr tells the FF about the existence of Counter Earth and warns that Galactus plans to destroy it. Warlock appears in a falshback sequence where Gorr explains how the High Evolutionary created Counter Earth and how the Man-Beast corrupted the planet with evil. The religious aspects of the original tale are played down considerably. Probably the best thing about this issue is that it's drawn by a young George Perez and there's some interesting layouts - particularly on pages 15-16 where the panels are flanked by the faces of the FF as they listen to Gorr's story.
Warlock undertakes Star Thief's challenge in this issue. Each of the challenges is elemental and - unfortunately - one is a gigantic shark that attacks Warlock in space! Crazily, it turns out to be one of Warlock's most dangerous opponents. Over the course of three pages Warlock battles the shark until he lures it into colliding with a comet. Feigning unconsciousness, Warlock then uses his soul gem to steal - and revitalise himself - a piece of the Star Thief's soul. After an ordeal by fire, Warlock travels through a black hole to the milky way where he discovers that - in the time he has spent in another part of the universe - he has grown in size to dwarf the solar system. He's also become insubstantial and seems to have no power to influence the reality of this part of the universe. Star Thief explains this by saying he has been affected by the "expanding universe theory" where his molecules have drifted apart - consequently making him bigger (though the size of the solar system seems a little too weird).Not one of Jim Starlin's great momments.Infact,despite a great illustrated page,it is Starlins biggest blonders.
While Warlock is in shock at his increased stature, Star Thief is killed in his hospital bed by his nurse. (Surely, as a being of "pure intellect" Star Thief would have been able to exist independently of his body - plus, how would he have destroyed Earth without killing himself?)
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| Warlock has "problems" |
TELLING YOU HOW IT IS AND SIGNING OFF BEFORE THE BIG SIGN-OFF: WARLOCK #13
Star-thief is a not so great two-parter that demonstrates the peak in Starlin's storytelling and artwork on this title in the 1970s.Despite some great fight scenes,the story was pretty idiotic.Adam Warlock - who seems less anguished than in his last appearance - ponders what to do with his life considering he now has what he describes as a "multi-compartmental brain" (which, I guess, means splintered personality disorder) and a vampiric soul gem. There's a glimpse of Warlock's difficulties when, after seeing parts of the galaxy disappearing, he is compelled by the soul gem to investigate - despite the "sensible and self-preserving" part of his personality encouraging him to leave the inhabited universe behind. We also see another aspect of the soul gem's powers: it's able to send out "an exploratory beam of force" that investigates phenomena.Adam Warlock discovers that the source of the "theft" of stars is an Earthman called Barry Bauman, who has lived for 24 years in a vegetative state after being born with no connection between his brain and nerves (perhaps a version of The Who's Tommy?).Some of this,has an odd disconnected connection another Jim Starlin creation -Darklon the Mystic. There's a couple of fantastic pages where Starlin depicts Barry's self-narrated origins from darkness to becoming a being of "pure intellect" - although cruelly twisted by his loneliness into desire for revenge against an uncaring cosmos. Warlock's first action is to use his soul gem to kill the Star Thief - which he does without his usual hand-wringing. When the Star Thief makes himself known and, in a friendly way, suggests that he and Warlock share a lonely kinship ("We are both perverted creations of Earthmen who fear us..."), Warlock simply insists he is Life and that Star Thief is Anti-Life and they must fight. It's almost as if Warlock wants to re-enact the epic battle between Magus and Thanos a few issues ago. Star Thief animates rocks into giant man-like forms and battles Warlock. There are some great sound effects depicting the blows they trade: KARRUNT, ZAARK, KA-TUNK, KA-ROOOM, KER-RRAANK. Eventually, Adam Warlock survives the attack and causes Star Thief to be amazed at his foe's powers. Modestly, Warlock gives an explanation - though it doesn't really make much sense - of his powers that echoes his earlier (re)creation by the High Evolutionary.
''I am a true Warlock.I am the wind,earth,water and fire.That is the only explanation I can give.''
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| "A true Warlock" |
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| "The human race goes berserk!" only in this comic. |
YET THE GOLDEN ONE TOOK REVENGE: FANTASTIC FOUR #172
A talking golden ape called Gorr tells the FF about the existence of Counter Earth and warns that Galactus plans to destroy it. Warlock appears in a falshback sequence where Gorr explains how the High Evolutionary created Counter Earth and how the Man-Beast corrupted the planet with evil. The religious aspects of the original tale are played down considerably. Probably the best thing about this issue is that it's drawn by a young George Perez and there's some interesting layouts - particularly on pages 15-16 where the panels are flanked by the faces of the FF as they listen to Gorr's story.
I LOST A HOME: WARLOCK #14
Homecoming is an unsatisfactory issue considering the premise of the previous issue. It transforms what was potentially a tremendous conflict into a series of silly challenges and the issue's resolution is sudden and unsatisfactory. It may be that Starlin knew the title was going to be cancelled (supposedly due to paper shortages) and needed to hurriedly resolve this story in order to resolve Thanos' involvement.Warlock undertakes Star Thief's challenge in this issue. Each of the challenges is elemental and - unfortunately - one is a gigantic shark that attacks Warlock in space! Crazily, it turns out to be one of Warlock's most dangerous opponents. Over the course of three pages Warlock battles the shark until he lures it into colliding with a comet. Feigning unconsciousness, Warlock then uses his soul gem to steal - and revitalise himself - a piece of the Star Thief's soul. After an ordeal by fire, Warlock travels through a black hole to the milky way where he discovers that - in the time he has spent in another part of the universe - he has grown in size to dwarf the solar system. He's also become insubstantial and seems to have no power to influence the reality of this part of the universe. Star Thief explains this by saying he has been affected by the "expanding universe theory" where his molecules have drifted apart - consequently making him bigger (though the size of the solar system seems a little too weird).Not one of Jim Starlin's great momments.Infact,despite a great illustrated page,it is Starlins biggest blonders.
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| Warlock returns to Earth a bigger man |
While Warlock is in shock at his increased stature, Star Thief is killed in his hospital bed by his nurse. (Surely, as a being of "pure intellect" Star Thief would have been able to exist independently of his body - plus, how would he have destroyed Earth without killing himself?)
Science wise,this story was full of truely bonehead crap.Both Adam Warlock and Jim Starlin did not even remotely understand the expanding universe theory.Obviously,both Autolycus and the Magus was clueless aswell.The universe expanding farther apart,not bigger in size.It was this later explained as a delusion created by the Star Theith.
Warlock's own title ends with #15 in November 1976 and, although the character appears at points in other titles, there's not another Warlock-centred title for over 15 years. Starlin undoubtedly had longer term plans for it to have developed:
Meanwhile, a bored Gamora is sent by Thanos to act as Warlock's bodyguard. Some internal monologuing by Thanos reveals that Gamora is ignorant of her master's plans for "TOTAL STELLAR GENOCIDE" and enables her to be presented less as a villain and more a potential love-interest for Warlock. As she hunts for him in space her craft is attacked and destroyed by a caped character who is known to her. It's the last we'll see of Gamora until Avengers Annual #7 a year later. There's also a short comic scene showing Pip's activities: he's working as a thief on the planet Degenera and manages to give a policeman the slip.
Warlock, however, has a tough time throughout the issue. In a series of incidents that lead to his domination of the soul gem, Warlock seems to overcome the personality issues that have plagued him. He firstly becomes involved in stopping the repossession of a spacecraft by a team of loan sharks. He is sickened by the knowledge that greed exists throughout the universe and seeks solace on a dead planet that has come adrift from its orbit. He begins to drown in apathy before meeting an ancient mystic who attempts to show Warlock the value of his existence in the universe (a vibration intersecting with other vibrations). The mystic looks into the future and tells Warlock that he will witness the death of his friends and become the most hated person in the universe. Finally, Warlock travels to an uninhabited planet in order to finally comprehend the nature of the soul gem. It turns into a life or death struggle for Warlock as the gem attempts to suck him in. Warlock eventually defeats the gem and flies away having derived some sense of victory. The only piece of information he seems to have gained is that the soul gem is one of six - these will become the infinity gems and play a greater role in the Marvel Universe much later.
It's a shame that poor sales stopped Warlock as an on-going title at this point. Looking back over the run - interrupted as it was - there is a very definite line of development from a simplistic character and straightforward plots into something richer and nuanced that seemed to better reflect its age. It is Thanos, however, who - arguably - enables Warlock to continue his adventures...
THAT IS WHY, GOOD OR BAD, I SHALL ALWAYS BE ADAM WARLOCK: WARLOCK #15
Warlock's own title ends with #15 in November 1976 and, although the character appears at points in other titles, there's not another Warlock-centred title for over 15 years. Starlin undoubtedly had longer term plans for it to have developed:
"I had a bit of a Destroyer-Warlock battle half-drawn, a few pages of it drawn. I was going to start going down a darker line with him. Some of the ideas I actually remembered and sort of worked in as he came back in the Infinity Gauntletbooks and what you had in his own [title], Warlock and the Infinity Watch." (Back Issue #34, p.12)There's something intense about this final issue, Just a Series of Events! Starlin finishes the artwork himself, so Warlock looks slightly different - more human - than the preceding issues. Filled with rage, Warlock bemoans his state as a "nebulous giant" and reflects on his friends and experiences right back to his adventures on Counter-Earth. Apart from being a device to prevent his involvement in other Marvel comics, I can't see why Starlin decided to make Warlock galaxy-sized - unless just for the visual effect of having the planets of the solar system float around his legs. He decides that he should search out a new home.
Meanwhile, a bored Gamora is sent by Thanos to act as Warlock's bodyguard. Some internal monologuing by Thanos reveals that Gamora is ignorant of her master's plans for "TOTAL STELLAR GENOCIDE" and enables her to be presented less as a villain and more a potential love-interest for Warlock. As she hunts for him in space her craft is attacked and destroyed by a caped character who is known to her. It's the last we'll see of Gamora until Avengers Annual #7 a year later. There's also a short comic scene showing Pip's activities: he's working as a thief on the planet Degenera and manages to give a policeman the slip.
Warlock, however, has a tough time throughout the issue. In a series of incidents that lead to his domination of the soul gem, Warlock seems to overcome the personality issues that have plagued him. He firstly becomes involved in stopping the repossession of a spacecraft by a team of loan sharks. He is sickened by the knowledge that greed exists throughout the universe and seeks solace on a dead planet that has come adrift from its orbit. He begins to drown in apathy before meeting an ancient mystic who attempts to show Warlock the value of his existence in the universe (a vibration intersecting with other vibrations). The mystic looks into the future and tells Warlock that he will witness the death of his friends and become the most hated person in the universe. Finally, Warlock travels to an uninhabited planet in order to finally comprehend the nature of the soul gem. It turns into a life or death struggle for Warlock as the gem attempts to suck him in. Warlock eventually defeats the gem and flies away having derived some sense of victory. The only piece of information he seems to have gained is that the soul gem is one of six - these will become the infinity gems and play a greater role in the Marvel Universe much later.
It's a shame that poor sales stopped Warlock as an on-going title at this point. Looking back over the run - interrupted as it was - there is a very definite line of development from a simplistic character and straightforward plots into something richer and nuanced that seemed to better reflect its age. It is Thanos, however, who - arguably - enables Warlock to continue his adventures...
WARLOCK ARTWORK
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| Jim Starlin pin-up in Warlock #1 (1982) |
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| A cape that puts other super-heroes to shame. |
ADAM WARLOCK - PART 5: STRANGE TALES
Warlock altered almost beyond recognition as soon as Jim Starlin took over the title in 1974. Counter-Earth, Man-Beast and the superhero-messiah elements are played down. There's a deeply metaphysical problem introduced, Warlock gets a serious adversary and a change of costume - but it's the cosmic setting with its a rich detail that is most engaging. While the aliens and monsters often have a comedic function they never attain the childishly simple New-Men from the Counter-Earth stories. Starlin was clear that he wanted to develop Warlock as a very different title:
"I made a conscious effort to avoid going down that avenue because I had basically taken Captain Marvel, a warrior, and turned him into sort of a messiah-type character. So when I got to Warlock, I said to myself, 'I got a messiah right here to start off with, where do I go from there?' And I decided a paranoid schizophrenic was the route to take." (Back Issue #36, p.6)From the second issue of Starlin's run, Strange Tales #178,Warlock gets some blurb - presumably to enable a casual or first time reader to get to grips with the weird stuff happening in the issue:
It's also during this short run that Gamora, a character who recurs in cosmic stories and even looks likely to be in upcoming The Guardians of the Galaxy movie makes her first appearance.
MADNESS SHALL SURELY PREVAIL: STRANGE TALES #178
From the first page it's clear that the title is going to be tremendously different. It's qualitatively better in every aspect. The layouts are complex and dynamic (no traditional panelling here), the tone radically different - it feels far more modern than than the series so far (which, at times, had an almost early-sixties artistic feel). At first the reader is confronted by a lizard-in-a-spacehelmet character called Sphinxor who relates Warlock's history through friendly, colloquial banter. [This type of narrative framing device reminded me a lot of the way Tharg was used in 2000AD.] After this recount, the issue shifts to the present with a dynamic sequence of a space-suited woman running across a cosmic scene chased by brutish-looking aliens. She stumbles across a beefy-looking Warlock and, draped around his ankles, tells him that "I've crossed a dozen galaxies to find you! A thousand worlds, a billion people seek your aid!" The aliens chasing the woman tell Warlock that they are Grand Inquisitors of the Universal Church of Truth and that they have marked the woman for termination. Warlock becomes involved - offering protection - but, during the skirmish, the woman is killed. In order to discover why this has happened, there's a disturbing sequence where Warlock uses his soul gem ("Thus dark jewel draws its strength from the sinister chaotic ends of infinity...") to reanimate the woman's corpse. The dead woman - in a superbly-drawn sequence - explains how the Universal Church of Truth worship a being called the Magus and that planets can find peace only by joining the Church. Anyone outside the Church is a heretic and attacked. At this point the Magus manifests itself and attempts to "Enlighten" Warlock by transporting him to a nightmarish place (reminiscent of the weird dimensions drawn by Steve Ditko in Doctor Strange) - that turns out to be inside his own soul gem. |
| Warlock's fractured personality is first presented as the secret of the Magus. |
IT WAS GOING TO BE A LONG JOURNEY: STRANGE TALES #179
Death Ship adds another new element: narration by Warlock himself. Floating in space, Warlock is captured by a warship belonging to the Universal Church and held as a prisoner among a number of non-humanoid aliens - including a giant floating eye. Another power of the soul gem is demonstrated: Warlock scans the minds of all the aliens and enables him to understand their languages. They explain to him that they come from worlds that refused to join the Universal Church and due for termination. Warlock also meets a cigar-smoking troll named Pip (who will become his companion for a time). The aliens call on Warlock to lead them to their freedom but he declines and there's a Kirby-esque tale recounted of Grak and Brak the cavemen - the purpose to illustrate Warlock's belief that "The strong must always lead and exploit the weak!" He does help the aliens revolt and ends up fighting Autolycus, the ship's captain. Autolycus nearly defeats Warlock - but the soul gem sucks the life out of him and Warlock describes the gem as humming "in glutinous satisfaction". |
| The vampiric soul gem takes its first victim. |
WE'RE ALL HEROES IN OUR OWN MINDS:STRANGE TALES #180
June 1975's Strange Tales has Warlock - in upgraded costume: high-collared cape held together by skull clasp and the lightning bolt insignia removed - visiting Homeworld: "The birthplace and control centre of the galactic Universal Church of Truth". Almost immediately, Warlock is involved in a fight with four "black knights" of the Church. Afterwards, he struggles to keep the vampiric soul gem under control and fails in his attempt to remove it from his head. Warlock realises that he does not exist without the soul gem:"So all the years I've worn this gem, it's been slowly and subtly sucking my soul into itself... until I am nothing but a hollow shell dependent upon it for life itself! Separated from the gem, I am like a puppet with its strings cut. In other words, that gem has become my lifeforce and I... its prisoner!"
He visits the Matriarch who tells him that the Magus is not part of a fractured soul or personality - the Magus is Warlock's future self! Shortly afterwards Warlock finds himself in a sham inquisition presided over by a four-armed bobble-headed creature called Kray-tor. After a trial, Warlock is found guilty. While this is happening, Pip meets up with Gamora who explains she is either going to join Adam Warlock's fight against Magus or kill him. Warlock escapes his restraints and - using the soul gem - attacks the court and sucks Kray-tor's soul. Eventually, it is revealed that everything that has happened has been orchestrated by the Matriarch in order to brainwash Warlock in "The Pit".
According to Karen Walker's article in Back Issue #34, 1000 Clowns wasn't well-received in the Bullpen. Roy Thomas is quoted as saying: "I don't recall the story well, but I do know that what I objected to was not Jim's treatment of me, but the rest of Marvel's staff. I appreciated his kind feelings to toward me, and I share them back... but I don't like to see personal laundry of this type aired in a Marvel comic" (p.9).
I'M NOW QUITE INSANE: STRANGE TALES #181
1000 Clowns, issue 181, is a thinly-veiled satire of Marvel itself. "The Pit" where Warlock is brainwashed is the Marvel Bullpen and many of the clowns well-known Marvel staff: Len Wein, Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin and Marv Wolfman. Readers would have guessed this at the time when the lead clown, Lentean calls Warlock a "True Believer" - the famous Stan Lee catch phrase - and the operators at "The Pit" obviously cariactures of Marvel staff. The purpose of the satire is obvious, too: Warlock is given a clown's make-up so that he "look like everyone else", he's shown a renegade clown crucified and pelted with custard pies, he witnesses the daily collapse of a tower of rubbish (that contains diamonds). The operators discuss the difficulties they have in re-progamming Warlock and complain about the strength of his free will. The Matriarch explains that Warlock should be convinced that he should join the Church in order to struggle against cosmic anarchy. In order to escape the world of his brainwashing, Warlock has to go through the door of madness. Through assuming an insane view of reality, Warlock realises his altered consciousness will enable him to provide him with the means of defeating Magus. At the end of the issue, in a "Wizard of Oz" moment, Magus reveals himself: he looks like an older, thinner version of Warlock - with an afro.
HE IS A WATCHER: CAPTAIN MARVEL #39
July 1975's issue of Captain Marvel involves the trial of Uatu the Watcher for becoming involved in - rather than simply observing - events. Flashbacks of the Watcher's appearances in Fantastic Four and The Avengers are shown. One of these is to show the Watcher causing Him's cocoon to return to Earth from space which led to the battle with Thor.
ADAM WARLOCK - PART 4: THE INCREDIBLE HULK
Six months after having his own title cancelled, Adam Warlock returns in 1974 in three issues of The Incredible Hulk written by Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas. Using the pretext of Hulk returning to Counter-Earth, Marvel ties up the super-hero Christ narrative. As this is a Hulk comic, the persecutive shifts from Adam Warlock and we get a slightly different character presented. Warlock is less uncertain and the Christ-parallels are deliberately played up. We see superhero versions of the Last Supper, the abandonment on the cross and the Resurrection. At last, there's a sense of closure to the Man-Beast/Counter-Earth storyline. Through death Warlock attains a sense of cosmic awareness that causes him to leave Counter-Earth.
...AND ADAM WARLOCK WILL LIVE AGAIN: THE INCREDIBLE HULK #176
In June 1974’s The Incredible Hulk, Trapped in a rocket, Hulk crashes once more on Counter-Earth where a less wolf-like President Man-Beast has Warlock prisoner in a stasis capsule. The New-Men have particularly awful names like Snakar, Weezil and Lizhardus. Warlock isn't actually in the issue except for the end, rescued by The Recorder (the name Memorax seems to have been dropped). Somehow President Man-Beast has captured him and some serious torture has been taking place. The art - especially of Man-Beast and his New-Men - is simplistic and awful (it's by the usually respectable Herb Trimpe - though Hulk is classically drawn here).
IT'S DONE. WARLOCK IS DEAD...: THE INCREDIBLE HULK #177
After a great double page recap, President Man-Beast (just for readers unable to remember the symbolism, we're told by Jerry Conway: "Look at him... the Satan of this Counter-Earth... the Lucifer of the fallen New-Men") is told that Warlock has escaped. For some reason this is a great blow to Man-Beast's revenge on the High Evolutionary, so he tags Hulk with a microtransmitter and allows him to escape in order to find Warlock. When Hulk does find Warlock, he's become a revolutionary leading the good New-Men from a base in an abandoned power terminal. |
| Hulk plays the part of Judas at Adam Warlock's last supper. |
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| Warlock abandoned on the cross. |
THIS IS WARLOCK'S TIME OF PASSING: THE INCREDIBLE HULK #178
Following Warlock's execution, Hulk takes the cocoon and the New-Men plus the human disciples mourn his death. While Hulk seeks revenge on Man-Beast, Warlock is resurrected. Just as Hulk is about to kill Man-Beast Warlock turns up and devolves Man-Beast to a wolf. Warlock has been altered by his resurrection and appears more cosmically aware: he sees other worlds where he has to fight the Man-Beast. After he launches himself into space the narrative voice asks:"He leaves the gathered with an unvoiced question... A question once asked by Ray Bradbury in a poem too few people know... "Are there mangers on far worlds?""Even the Hulk is left to peacefully ponder this contemplatively. Thus, the first tale of Adam Warlock ends. It's odd that the High Evolutionary plays no part in the Hulk comics: it's almost that as soon as he sent Memorax (The Recorder) to observe Warlock, he takes no further interest in what happens to his "son".
It's quite possible that Warlock could have ended here as a weird comic with a small cult following (like Steve Gerber's Omega the Unknown). Forty years later it's clear that the Adam Warlock presented up to this point is only a start. Jim Starlin's involvement, six months later crystalises the definition of the character...
ADAM WARLOCK - PART 1: HIM, WARLOCK BEFORE WARLOCK
Forget the Avengers! Dispense with the Uncanny X-men! Sling Spider-man! The real gems in comics are often the odd, unsettling treasures that have a weird culty following, seem written by heavy-handed hitters and make very little sense at all (though LSD and a dog-earred seventies copy of Chariots of the Gods could help). One of these gems is Adam Warlock, a character I can remember trying to read in the 1970s as a child. Then, I loathed every aspect of Warlock: the unsettling art, the unintelligible cosmic stories and the fact that - despite his tremendous powers - Warlock just seemed such a moron who fought the lamest villains. Worst of all I just hated what he looked like: thoroughly artificial, blond haired, an orange plastic skin, the most awful costume ever and had a tiny jewel stuck in the middle of his head that seemed to fire some sort of laser beam.
It wasn't helped by the fact that I only read the comic intermittantly whenever it was on a newsagent's shelf - so I really had no clue about back-story or even what was even going on in the issue in my hands. It was confusingly weird and repulsive (I had similar feelings about DC's Jonah Hex's flap of mouth flesh!). Sean Howe in his fantastic Marvel Comics: Tge Untold Story, describes these type of seventies comics as "mind-fryings"
Decades later, Adam Warlock is one of the few comic book characters that I haven't tried reading again. So, armed with all the reprints I can find, I'm going to make a stab at reading as much of the seventies Warlock as I can over the couple of months. I'm hoping I'll push through the pain and enjoy these stories. Then again...
Warlock's adventures begin before he's actually Warlock and certainly before writer Roy Thomas transformed him into a messianic superhero, a sort of cosmic Jesus Christ in spandex. In the few issues before he becomes Warlock, "Him" spends so much time in a cocoon that you expect him to emerge as mothman or at least something Dr Who-exotic. But, no, he starts his comic book life as an orange skinned artificial man who has powers to summon ensnaring tendrils, the ability to travel via "solar vortex" and a "mind shield" that can protect him even from Thor's mighty hammer. The DK Marvel Chronlogy has this entry for Warlock in August 1967 (the same month that Electro assembled the Emissaries of Evil to fight Daredevil):
Concussion beams? Absorbing souls? Retreating into a Soul Gem in the middle of his own forehead? Oh dear...
BEEHIVES & HIM: FANTASTIC FOUR#66
What Lurks Behind the Beehive is a particularly odd Lee and Kirby Fantastic Four adventure published in 1967. The plot is utterly daft (and, if I'm honest, pretty dull even for a late sixties comic). Alicia Masters, Ben Grimm's girlfriend, is snatched by a group of scientists and teleported across the world by means of the "space warper" to a typically Kirby-esque secret base - the Beehive (a "somewhat sinister-seeming citadel") - in some mountains. She's been recruited to help a group of scientists - with names like Zota, Morlak and Shinski (one even has the obligatory pipe) - who faked their deaths in plane crashes. After an attack on the Beehive's control room, the scientists reveal that their prime purpose is to abolish war, crime and illness through the creation of a perfect race of humans. They recount years of experimentation which culminated in the creation of an embryonic life form in a "life-cell tank". When the life form reaches adulthood it smashes its way out of the lab (which sends all the guards and scientists into a crazy state of fear). This life form just seems to be a swirling mass of energy and the scientists simply attacked it with an "electro-shock tube". They tell Alicia that he radiates a blinding energy which means that they can't see him and that they require her help:
Alicia guesses. Why they simply couldn't set up a video camera isn't explained; for some reason they want a statue of the creature. She's fitted with a rather fetching green scuba-looking outfit with a box of clay strapped to her back. One of the scientists, Hamilton, breaks "Citadel discipline" to escort the blind Alicia into the tunnels where the creature is lurking (it's not really explained - presumably some sort of tunnels). Hamilton reveals more of the story and tells Alicia that the creature has powers beyond the scientists' understanding. They are warned off by the creature who creates a faming barrier. While the Fantastic Four prepare to rescue Alicia, the final panel of the issue has Alicia and Hamilton about to confront the creature - and sensing a presence of hatred reaching out.
"Now I understand... You want me to get within reach of him - - since my eyes cannot be harmed by the blinding power he generates! And then -- you want me to sculpt a statue of him - - so you know what he looks like!"
Alicia guesses. Why they simply couldn't set up a video camera isn't explained; for some reason they want a statue of the creature. She's fitted with a rather fetching green scuba-looking outfit with a box of clay strapped to her back. One of the scientists, Hamilton, breaks "Citadel discipline" to escort the blind Alicia into the tunnels where the creature is lurking (it's not really explained - presumably some sort of tunnels). Hamilton reveals more of the story and tells Alicia that the creature has powers beyond the scientists' understanding. They are warned off by the creature who creates a faming barrier. While the Fantastic Four prepare to rescue Alicia, the final panel of the issue has Alicia and Hamilton about to confront the creature - and sensing a presence of hatred reaching out.
WHAT LIVES WITHIN THE COCOON:FANTASTIC FOUR #67
In the next FF issue, pro to-Adam Warlock is introduced as "The Creature in Lock 4!" A little more is hyperbolically explained by Hamilton:
Using a "vacuum car" the scientists set up a trap using an "anti-gravity transmitter" to create an "ultronic wave" to fire the creature into space. When Alicia finally meets the creature he tells her that he escaped from the scientists as he realised their intentions. There's a wonderful sequence of panels drawn from the creature's point of view where Alicia comes closer and reaches out her hand so she can "see" what he looks like. The creature is a giant cocoon and Alicia explains for the benefit of readers:
And, with that, he disappears in a flash of white.
"We dared to tamper with Nature's greatest secret -- we tried to create a new form of life - - but we couldn't control it!The scientists' plan isn't complex at all: once they know what this creature of unimaginable power looks like, they'll be able to destroy it. Suddenly Hamilton completely loses his nerve and starts firing at where the creature is. Alicia urges that they give the creature a chance and makes the observation that the creature may just be frightened and confused. After Hamilton's bullets ricochet back, Alicia tries to communicate with the creature. Tendrils rise up and ensnare Hamilton but Alicia is allowed to get closer to the creature. Meanwhile Morlak is revealed to be an aspiring world conquerer who only wanted a new breed of living beings so he could rule over mankind (one of the other scientists belatedly realises that Morlak is in fact mad).
"You - - You have no form! You are encased within something - - something that tingles with life - - and yet is not alive!"It tells her that it is about to be born and temporarily weakened. Hamilton arrives and now reveals that he knew the creature would look like a cocoon and is in the "ultimate transitional phase" before metamophosising into something unstoppable. Hamilton, too, then decides to tell Alicia that his intention all along was to turn humanity into slaves. The cocoon dissolves into energy, causing a rockfall that kills Hamilton. By the time the FF rescue Alicia and escape, the creature has transformed into a glowing orange man with blond hair and gold underpants. He confronts his makers, telling them he knew their evil plans and that he will leave the planet for a millennium. He describes himself as a tiger to the flea-like existence of the scientists and then leaves, destroying the Beehive. Proto-Warlock's final words are enigmatic:
"Mankind will never know that I have saved it from the menace of this human beehive... But, some day, a half-remembered legend may tell of the time... The time a cocoon burst open - - proving in one cataclysmic moment that the child - - is father to the man!"
And, with that, he disappears in a flash of white.
HIM & HER & A COUPLE OF NORSE GODS: THOR #165
It's a couple of years before pro to-Warlock would return to a Stan Lee written Marvel comic. Thor, Balder and Sif happen to encounter "Him" in an Advanced Science Research Center". Him finds himself inexplicably re-born on Earth once more out of a cocoon - which looks more like an Egyptian mummy rising from a sarcophagus. When Thor encounters Him, he explains bombastically:
"I am less than human - - and far, far more than Man! I was created by those who sought to father a new all-powerfull race - - But they were evil and I destroyed them. Now, only I remain - - I who have no name. I who musy be known only as - - Him!"
The story of Him's origin is slightly retconned omitting any mention of Alicia or the Fantastic Four (though it could be argued he wasn't really aware of them at the time). Him tells Thor that he sought a destiny among the stars (which seems to have turned his underpants red) before being caught in a deadly "space trap" of colliding meteors and formed a cocoon around himself for protection.
At this point the reader is told what happened next which is slightly jarring ("Note: the preceding was just to show you that we know how Him git back to Earth, even if our little cast of characters does not!"): the Watcher is shown to be the creator of the space trap, which is an experiment to study stray meteors, and uses something that looks like a hand-held cosmic catapult to send Him back to Earth. Him turns out to be quite an unpleasant character who refuses to listen to Thor - stating "I am Him! I am law and truth unto myself!" For some reason he immediately decides that Sif will be his mate - which angers Thor. Sif realises that Him is like a child - but that doesn't stop him carrying her off in a solar vortex to a distant dimension.
Thor and Balder follow but are ambushed by a character called Haag which enables Him to completely run off with Sif. Thor has a complete tantrum and swears vengeance.
CRUSH HIM FORE'ER: THOR #166
In the concluding issue of Thor, the Norse god succumbs to the berserker rage (a crime in Asgard) and spends the issue fighting Him. Once more, proto-Warlock uses tendrils to ensnare Balder so that he doesn't have to fight him. Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, simply bounces off Him without a scratch. Him doesn't comprehend why Thor is angry and places Sif in a bubble he calls "aero-space" while they scrap. He explains that it is his "mind shield" that protects him from Thor's attacks. Eventually, Thor beats Him and the orange-skinned super-being decides to cheat and use his "deadly mind power" to throw boulders at Thor. Despite this, Thor reaches Him and beats him up so that Him hides within his cocoon form. Thor hurls the cocoon into space while declaring:
"Now shielded from all harm, he floats out beyond the stars... There to drift for an hour... or an age... Till the cocoon doth open once again!"ADAM WARLOCK - PART TWO: MARVEL PREMIERE
Him, the character first introduced in the pages of Fantastic Four, gets rebooted into Adam Warlock in the early 1970s. At the time Roy Thomas, who was editor-in-chief at Marvel wanted to produce a Jesus in space-type superhero comic (he'd been listening to the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack). Warlock is placed on Counter Earth, another Earth found on the opposite side of the sun. It enabled the character to be within the regular Marvel universe - but isolated from the existing characters and continuities initially. Warlock features in two issues of Marvel Premiere before being given his own ongoing title.
THE SHEER, AWFUL AGONY: MARVEL PREMIER FEATURING THE POWER OF WARLOCK #1
Subtitled "Tomorrow's hero today!" it's a couple more years until Him returns - this time written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Gil Kane in the 27-page Marvel Premier #1. It's a creation myth: a god-like creator, a perfect world corrupted by an adversary and the creator's son who falls to Earth, sacrificing himself for humanity. Thomas introduces Counter Earth, the doppleganger of Earth that enables Warlock to be separated from (what we'd now call the 616 Marvel) Earth with its communities of super-heroes. In a later comic it is further placed out of synchronicity with Earth to prevent any cross-overs occurring.On an artificial planetoid near Mars, a robot-like character, the High Evolutionary, records his electronic journals. He recounts how, in Thor 134-135, he'd created the Man-Beast, a wolf-like creature of hatred who was defeated by Thor and sent into exile in the Dromisana Galaxy. He then recounts an encounter with the Hulk, in Tales to Astonish 94-96, where the High Evolutionary transformed himself into The Ultimate ("the be-all and end-all of all human evolution") who became one with the cosmos before returning to his metal shell after almost going insane. One of the High Evolutionary's crew, Sir Raam (a man with a ram's head!), has discovered Him's cocoon floating in space. The High Evolutionary communicates with Him (via some sort of video screen) and declares that "The one within is like the ultimate ultra-human New-Man I always desired to create". Him recounts his past to the High Evolutionary (and, this time, remembers to include the FF).
The High Evolutionary prepares Project Alpha, an attempt to transform a piece of rock from Earth into a mirror image of the planet but seeks to prevent humans on the planet from acquiring the quality of aggression. High Evolutionary names the planet Counter Earth which is located on the far side of the sun so it's not visible from Earth. As Counter Earth and its population is created a wolf-headed character appears called the Man-Beast who boards the High Evolutionary's craft and kills poor old Sir Raam. The Man-Beast takes his revenge on the High Evolutionary but introducing aggression and murder into humans on Counter Earth. At this point Him decides to emerge from his cocoon - all dressed in a superhero costume with Shazaam symbol across his chest and an upside-down CND logo as a belt buckle.
Although Counter Earth has been corrupted by Man-Beast (who flees to the planet) the logical thing would be to destroy the project - which is exactly what the High Evolutionary intends. He is stopped, however, by Him who offers to serve humanity and nurturing the spark of goodness in them. Transported to Counter Earth and given an emerald gem, the High Evolutionary declares - for no apparent reason - "For uncanny your sacred mission - - unearthly your weirdling powers - - and, beholding them - - Men shall call you Warlock!"
Despite the hokey plot there's lots to admire in this issue - particularly Gil Kane's art. There's a couple of wonderful splash pages: Him scrapping with Thor and the High Evolutionary creating Counter Earth. The robot-like design of the High Evolutionary is great, too.
"HE'S -- FLYING! NO -- HE'S NOT!": MARVEL PREMIER FEATURING THE POWER OF WARLOCK #2
The second issue of Marvel Premiere, The Hounds of Helios, introduces the group of hipster teens who effectively become Warlock's disciples on Counter-Earth. It's been a couple of months since the first issue (April 1972) and the July 1972 date means that there necessarily has to be a re-cap at some point for those readers that would have forgotten what happened. It's surprising thatWarlock was picked up as an ongoing series after this issue. A pretty awful comic, it's difficult to read with any seriousness. Warlock battles a giant rat and educates members of the Establishment in understanding how their values are damaging societies across the world. The social conscience is worn boldly on Warlock's sleeve (though his tunic is actually sleeveless). Unfortunately, it's a ragged, jumbled issue that's only really redeemed by Gil Kane's artwork.
At the start, Warlock's literally fallen through the atmosphere and lies unconscious and burning hot in a desert. The group of teens are living on some sort of ranch in the desert (later in the issue we find out that they've turned their backs on their parents' values and are seeking a hippy-ish different way of life - the philosophy of their "drop out"-culture is pretty vague). The teens' parents turn up later in the issue and are revealed to be important people: a general, senator and "black capitalist". The parents obviously freak out when they see that their kids are hanging out with a gold-skinned dude dressed in a pimped-out Shazam outfit. It's surprising that more isn't made of the clear danger of Warlock being a Manson-like character. I love the leftover 60s street talk the teens use: "far-freakin' out", "vibes", "you dig" and so on). It reads like a parody of the sixties.
After contemplating praying for Warlock, the teens don't seem that surprised when he tells them that he's suffering amnesia and only remembers his name ("Warlock? Hey a male witch! That's a groove!" declares one of the teens - for the benefit of the readers) so is christened Adam (A bit random - why would he need a forename?). Reading this 40 years later, the earnest, humourless writing lacks subtlety of any kind.
Meanwhile, the High Evolutionary provides a flashback giving a little more background on Counter-Earth: Man-Beast's corruption of the planet ensured that there are no super-heroes or villains (Reed Richards and Dr Doom work together). As we'll see in future issues, there do seem to be an awful lot of super-villains (admittedly working with Man-Beast). The flashback pages are impressively drawn and do really stand out in this issue.
Man-Beast has a lair on the planet - along with some ridiculous minions: Kohbra, a snake-headed baddie and Rhodan, a giant rat who rides a flying chariot pulled by winged dogs (these are the Hounds of Helios created "amid the solar storms of the star-sun Helios" - it's a detail that, like a lot of Warlock, probably sounded cool at the time (especially if you'd just smoked a joint) but makes very little sense in the context of the issue). Rhodan is sent off to kill Adam Warlock (screaming "Kill, my pretty!" as if he'd been watching The Wizard of Oz). Warlock ends up battling Rhodan in the sky (it's made clear he's levitating, not flying - just to emphasise the spirituality of the scrap). Using the soul-gem Warlock de-evolves Rhodan into a rat rather than killed - we're told that Warlock refuses to take life ("I do not kill, Ellie. I but made him once again... what always he truly was.") - however, he has no problem with a cat immediately killing the rat.
Warlock is shown to have redemptive powers. The parents of the kids are affected by Warlock by staring into his eyes. Warlock seems to have some cosmic power that causes these people to see the true nature of the world they live in: a soldier blinded in war, starving Biafran children and the effect of urban pollution.
The issue ends "Finish?" but it's only three months later that Warlock gets his own ongoing title...
ADAM WARLOCK - PART 3: THE POWER OF WARLOCK
In August 1972, Adam Warlock was given his own ongoing bi-monthly title, The Power of...Warlock. Thankfully, there's a slight improvement over the plots of the preceding issues - particularly from #5 onwards. It's still incredibly formulaic - though, at times, the narrative is a real mess - and often seems as if it's nothing more than Warlock fighting a different monster every other month. When Roy Thomas hands writing duties (after two issues) to Mike Friedrich the comic alters and, arguably, becomes a much darker narrative which includes the early death of a supporting character and the Watergate-like machinations of the American president. It's also appealing through presenting alternative versions of existing Marvel characters: a good Doctor Doom and Reed Richards assuming a Hulk-like identity called The Brute. It still reads as awkwardly clunky 40 years later - but, in an off-beat way, there's something increasingly attractive about the central character.
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| The Power of Warlock #1 |
"YOU'LL NEVER LEAVE IT -- ALIVE!!":THE POWER OF WARLOCK #1
The cover title, Night of the Man-Beast is actually entitled The Day of the Prophet on the inside (presumably a Man-Beast is more appealing to the kids than some comic about a prophet). Thomas and Kane return with the addition of Tom Sutton as inker. Sutton's addition has a considerable effect on the quality of the artwork which is consistently good throughout the issue. Opening with the High Evolutionary, the first few pages deal with the issue of culture shock on Counter-Earth: a rocket from real Earth will potentially discover its doppelgänger and, as the H.E. explains could potentially "drive mankind mad!" The solution is to place Counter-Earth into a different vibrational plane that is "a mere micro-second out of sync with the first". Again, for the benefit of new readers (plus anyone who'd forgotten the premise of the story) there's dialogue between that re-caps why Warlock is on Counter-Earth and, a little later, a decision by the teens to follow Warlock (an awfully-drawn panel shows them apparently doing the conga through a desert). The group journey to a nameless city where they encounter an prophet preaching apocalypse who appears to have an awareness of the Man-Beast. Again we have a beast monsters - this time called Haukk and Pih-Junn - who Warlock battles! Prophet leads Warlock through the sewers to the lair of the Man-Beast. The final couple of panels reveal that the prophet is actually Man-Beast.
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| The Power of Warlock #2 |
"A VERY REAL FUTURE!": THE POWER OF WARLOCK #2
Issue 2 sees a creative change: while Roy Thomas provides the plot, it's now scripted by Mike Friedrich (and there's a qualitative improvement noticeable) and, most strikingly, John Buscema does layouts while Tom Sutton works as finisher (it's Sutton who I think brings the most improvement to the comic). Gil Kane is credited as “spiritual advisor”. The issue is a temptation of Warlock: the Man-Beast shows him a vision of Counter-Earth where his disciples deny him and the world is thrown into nuclear warfare. Warlock himself apparently commits murder. It turns out to be hypnotic trickery by the Man-Beast in order to convince Warlock to join with him. Needless to say Warlock resists and defeats Man-Beast. There's a great deal of action and the apocalyptic nature of the events indicate the larger-scale narrative that's to follow.
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| The Incredible Hulk #158 |
"FRENZY ON A FAR-AWAY WORLD":THE INCEDIBLE HULK #158
The first intrusion of the Marvel superheroes into Counter-Earth happens when Roy Thomas and Steve Gerber plot a story in which the Rhino and Hulk travel on spaceship to the far side of the sun. There's not a great deal to admire about this issue: the narrative is grossly contrived and it's, bluntly, pretty dull. Hulk - fortuitously lands exactly among a group of New-Men with names like Porcunius (no, not a pig - that's Trax - but a porcupine), Phrogg and - of course - Kohbra. Porcunius leads a group of New-Men who seek only acceptance. A counter-Bruce Banner exists who has a family with Betty. There's a whole lot of fighting: Hulk vs. Rhino, New-Men vs. New-Men, soldiers. Eventually, Hulk believes he has learned something ("what it means to come face-to-face with oneself") and leaves Counter-Earth with Rhino. Warlock himself only makes the briefest of appearances and it seems that the divisions among the New-Men aren't referred to again Warlock. It's difficult to understand why the Hulk was chosen to visit Counter-Earth like this. A much better plot would have pitted Hulk against The Brute, the monstrous character introduced in issue 6 (something I don't think has happened in comics at all).
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| Warlock appears for two panels in a "True-Earth" comic |
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| The Power of Warlock #3 |
"YOU... A MENACE? WHEN YOU SAVED ALL OUR LIVES!": THE POWER OF WARLOCK #3
The third issue of The Power of... Warlock introduces an odd character, Apollo, the captain of a villainous submarine who is later revealed to be some form of pig-beast. For some reason the issue opens with Warlock and his disciples piloting a speedboat near Malibu on their way to an air force base. Coincidentally, Apollo's sub is also near Malibu and it's revealed that he has assumed Man-beast's leadership of The New-men but has decided to rule Counter-Earth rather than destroy it. After a skirmish, Warlock arrives at the air force base and meets a candidate in the presidential elections, Rex Carpenter - he'll play a more prominent role later in the run. There's another scrap between Apollo and Warlock which reveals Apollo to be a creature called Trax, evolved by the Man-beast. The issue ends with a dilemma for Warlock: either sacrifice himself or lose the lives of two of his disciples. Gil Kane is back on as penciller for this issue.
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| The Power of Warlock #4 |
"ADAM -- OH, ADAM -- IT WAS SO TERRIBLE!": THE POWER OF WARLOCK #4
Come Sing a Searing Song of Vengence concludes the Trax storyline. Frankly, it's all a bit of a mess. Astrella turns up once more to continue her betrayal of Warlock. She urges Rex Carpenter to get involved and he terrifies Trax (in later issues it'll make sense). There's rockets and fighter jets. Warlock and Trax fight. It all leads to one of Warlock's disciples, Eddie (son of Colonel Roberts), being killed by Trax. Unfortunately, the emotional impact of the issue is postponed for two months (and even then screwed up by being told in flash-back). The best part of the issue is the appearance of (Doctor) Professor Doom in the last couple of panels.
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| The Power of Warlock #5 |
"AND THE DANGER IS A MAN... A MAN NAMED ADAM WARLOCK!":THE POWER OF WARLOCK #5
April 1973’s issue, The Day of the Death-birds, is a daft tale of heat-seeking anti-personnel missiles that run amok. Warlock, wracked by guilt, has returned to his cocoon. Meanwhile Rex Carpenter wins the presidency and Warlock is woken to find the location of his cocoon is a bomb test site. Counter-Earth's Doom is a caring scientist who tries to convince President Carpenter to call of the bomb test in case it causes an earthquake and releases the death-birds. Warlock spends the issue fixing the crisis caused by the bomb test before teaming-up with Doom. Doom witnesses people's adulation of Warlock and suggests that he becomes a leader of men - to which Warlock replies (in typically hippie fashion): “A leader? Perhaps I should be. But a leader must know where he himself is going... And I am no longer certain.” This month's cliffhanger is that President Carpenter calls on America to rid itself of the danger... of Warlock.
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| The Power of Warlock #6 |
"W-WE'RE IN TROUBLE, ADAM! WE G-GOTTA GO...": THE POWER OF WARLOCK #6
Six issues - a year of bi-monthly comics - and The Power of Warlock actually starts to get engaging. A new artist, Bob Brown - co-creator of 1950s comic hero Space Ranger - brings a little more dynamism to the penciling. Warlock looks far more heroic and the issue begins with him being hunted down by the American military. Warlock's golden skin is used abusively in the issue - to a point where Doom says to one of the soldiers: "A blatant racist, too, huh?"Doom is also the link to the introduction of what is a fascinating character: Counter-Earth's Reed Richards. Rather than being transformed into Mr Fantastic, Richards is afflicted by a Hulk-like transformation in which he becomes a creature called The Brute. (Man-Beast is credited with preventing the Fantastic Four acquiring their powers. Sue Storm is put into a coma.) Richards, we're told, is fascinated by the power and learns to trigger the transformation by force of will. Quite soon, a shadowy figure (revealed later) gains hypnotic control of The Brute. Duplicitous Astrella returns, once again to set Warlock up (though she tells herself "I feel like a heel!") so that he is attacked by The Brute on The Golden Gate Bridge. Another aspect of the soul gem is revealed when Warlock uses it to reform the molecules in the bridge to repair it and then to devolve The Brute back to Richards (there's an erroneous footnote that says he recognised Richards: "Warlock having battled the True-Earth Reed as "Him" in F.F. #66-67!"). Had The Power of Warlockcontinued to explore the "True-Earth" Marvel characters in their Counter-Earth incarnations, the series would have been provided with a much more engaging added dimension. Counter-Earth's Steve Rogers, Tony Stark or Peter Parker could have been woven into Warlock's adventures - each providing a "What If?"-style take on the characters. Alas, while The Brute returns, the comic returns to its rather silly regular animal-monster adversary format quite quickly... before being temporarily cancelled.
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| The Power of Warlock #7 |
"WOULD I COULD FASHION THE WORLD AS I DO THIS MOLTEN ROCK--": THE POWER OF WARLOCK #7
Issue 7, Doom: at the Earth's Core, is perhaps the best issue of the run so far. Certainly, there's something better about the artwork that preceding issues (whether this is down to Tom Sutton inking Bob Brown's pencils a little heavier or the bolder, sixties-looking colouring by Stan Golberg isn't clear) - it has the most Kirby-esque look since King Jack's FF issues introducing Him 5 years earlier. My feeling is that the Kirby-cosmic look suits Warlock particularly (well, until Starlin gets a grip). A mob - stirred up by President Carter - have attacked Warlock's supporters and some are arrested by the police. Warlock goes to sort things out as The Brute steals Doom's "Inner Space Exploration Vehicle" and travels deep into the earth to feed off geothermal energies. Doom sacrifices himself to defeat The Brute and Warlock uses his soul gem to erect a statue.
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| The Power of Warlock #1 |
"THIS PARTICULAR CLASH WILL BE CONCLUDED -- SOMETIME, SOMEWHERE IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE!": THE POWER OF WARLOCK #8
The title is suddenly cancelled with Confrontation, the eighth issue (see here for the notice). By now Warlock has generated a large following who demonstrate in Washington for him. This idea of a counter-cultural, messianic super-hero is something that - like the idea of alternative versions of "True Earth" Marvel characters - could have been further explored. Duplicitous Asterella reveals herself to be the sister of the President; her role as the Judas among Warlock's disciples isn't played out with any subtlety at all. The High Evolutionary has, meanwhile, recruited The robotic Recorder (or, rather, one of the recorders) a chronicler of Warlock's adventures - and is renamed Memorax. Memorax is the device through which Friedrich is able to explain more about the soul gem:
"It is a source of great power to him -- Giving him the ability to attune himself to matters molecular vibrations... and on that level affect it... such as by causing it to break down... or by preventing a change from occurring or continuing -- as when burning matter is extinguished by prevention of oxidation. The gem's greatest power is to affect living beings -- but only with great effort, can this be done... But the soul-jewel's power is a most fragile thing, resting as it does on the internal stamina of Warlock himself... The support of his followers recharges Warlock's powers -- but similarly doubt and betrayal can lay him lower than any opponent's blow."
The issue gets trippy when the demonstrators are attacked by a couple of demons: Aggression ("I who revel in my abusive power") and Deceit/Dishonesty ("snaking into the souls of all I possess") and Warlock is shown the writhing, stabbing uncaring cosmos - in vivid LSD-fueled imagery. He manages to survive only to end the issue confronting the President of America whose body has been inhabited by none other than the Man-Beast. You might be forgiven for thinking that Marvel would have finished the Warlock series - but, no, the title finishes with a cliff-hanger: Warlock and Man-Beast squaring up. The final caption:
"This particular clash will be concluded -- sometime, somewhere in the Marvel Universe, true believers -- but the struggle eternal goes on within all of us: for good battling evil... it is never... the end!"
Tuesday, 12 March 2013 in Adam Warlock, comics, Warlock
COMMENTS FROM COUNTER-EARTH
1970s Counter-Earth even had its own letters page in The Power of... Warlock. It's a shame that the comic companies nowadays rarely reprint letters in trades and collections as the early Warlock letters are everything you'd expect from a 70s silver age comic: a mix of sycophantic adoration of the title, its creators and characters or weirdly serious theological complaints. It's an age when comics as spelled with an X. Knowing Marvel's predilection for writing letters in-house, I wouldn't be surprised if the earnest religious correspondence was created in an attempt to stir up a controversy to drive up sales.
Many letters from the first run (only 8 bi-monthly issues) of The Power of... Warlock gush strong praise for the title, such as Steven Oelrich's from Colorado Springs (and, as much as I'm enjoying Warlock, I wouldn't say that the first run was as momentous as he suggests):
A Cleveland correspondent, Walter Loepp, saw Warlock as entertaining - though not full of childish gimmicks and devices - plus satisfying intellectual cravings:
Many letters dealt with the religious aspects of the comic, feeling that Marvel had "gone too far" in presenting the High Evolutionary, the character who creates Counter-Earth in a matter of hours, as a quasi-deity and having Warlock cast into the Christ-like role of a saviour:
Some saw the setting of Counter-Earth as an obvious means of creating a second Marvel environment for what we'd call today Elseworld-type narratives:
In issue 8, readers would have found this notice:
Without sales figures it's hard to say how popular or successful The Power of... Warlock actually was. From today's perspective it was clear "what went wrong": the initial issues had formulaic, dull stories involving silly animal men. Friedrich's plots made the comic more engaging (certainly when Dr Doom and The Brute were introduced) but I guess it was too late by then. Something did change, though....
ONE PANEL WONDER:AVENGERS #118
Warlock gets a one-panel Cameo appearance in December 1973's issue of The Avengers. The Avengers, Defenders and other heroes take on Dormammu, Doctor Strange's foe from Hell. Presumably, the implication is that Warlock is involved in fighting some aspect of Dormammu on Counter Earth.
By this time, however, Warlock no longer had his own comic and it looked like his battle with the Man-Beast would never be resolved. However, Warlock's return happens pretty quickly...
WARLOCK: THE ESSENTIAL WARLOCK
A starting point for following Warlock is Marvel's Essential Warlock collection. It's a black and white reprinting of the initial run of the 1970s comic. Unfortunately it doesn't include the two issues of Fantastic Four that presented the origin of Him (proto-Warlock) and two follow-up issue of Thor. Apart from that it's a pretty comprehensive tome, weighing in at nearly 600 pages. It includes:
- Marvel Premiere 1-2
- Warlock 1-8
- Incredible Hulk 176-178
- Strange Tales 178-181
- Warlock 9-15
- Marvel Team-up 55
- Avengers Annual 7
- Marvel Two-in-One Annual 2
The volume spans 1972 to 1977.
The most famous pronoun name that probably comes to mind for you would be the guy who was forming in this cocoon:
When Him emerged from his cocoon, he would eventually evolve into Adam Warlock after an encounter with a very pissed-off Thor and, later, the High Evolutionary. Before that, Him had a very brief history:
Now, you may well ask: what's a Him without a Her?
Similarly created by the same men who created Him, Her originally emerged as Paragon, a male; but when Paragon returned to his cocoon, he became aware of Him and subsequently decided to change his sex so that the two could mate. Unfortunately, death had already claimed Warlock, and when Her located him she was unable to restore him to full life. Afterward, she departed for the stars.
That takes care of all the pronouns except for the following, which to my knowledge are still unused:
- You
- He
- She
- We
- Us
- Me
"Fool! It's pointless to try to escape the power of--You!"
Probably a good idea to continue to keep the rest of these under wraps.
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