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Warlock #10 (December, 1975)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Fifty years and two months ago, the ninth issue of Warlock ended with a shocking revelation — Thanos, the Mad Titan, who’d been missing and presumed dead since the climax of Captain Marvel #33 (Jul., 1974), was alive — and had shown up to offer Adam Warlock his personal assistance in the latter’s battle against his evil future self, the Magus.  Could it be true?  Going by the cover of Warlock #10, which boldly promised us readers of September, 1975 “Thanos versus the Magus”, both in its blurb copy and in its spectacular illustration by Jim Starlin and Alan Weiss, it sure seemed like the return of the villain of Starlin’s last great cosmic epic was indeed back, and ready to throw down with the villain of Starlin’s current great cosmic epic.  But, of course, if we wanted to know for sure, we were going to have to turn past the cover and dig into the comic’s contents, beginning with its opening splash page…  Read More

Warlock #9 (October, 1975)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

The banner that’s emblazoned above the title logo on the cover of Warlock #9 — “Pulse-Pounding PREMIERE Issue” — can fairly be called misleading, if not outright dishonest.  After all, “premiere” means “first” (in this context, anyway), and the issue of a periodical that numerically follows its eighth can hardly be its first, now can it?  In fact, this isn’t even the premiere issue of the “Warlock” feature’s revival, which would of course have been Strange Tales #178, published back in November, 1974.  But I suppose we can forgive Marvel Comics for wanting to trumpet the return of Adam Warlock in “his own senses-shattering mag” (to quote from the cover’s other blurb) with language a little less clunky that “Pulse-Pounding Fifth Issue of Relaunch” or even “Pulse-Pounding First Issue Under This Title Since 1973”.  It was a special occasion, after all. Read More

Strange Tales #181 (August, 1975)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

When we last left Adam Warlock at the end of Strange Tales #180, he’d just been driven into unconsciousness by his guilt over his Soul Gem’s stealing the soul of Kray-Tor — the judge who’d been presiding over our hero’s show trial prior to his breaking loose and fighting back.  But, as we learned in the story’s closing panels, the woman behind Adam’s ordeal — the Matriarch of the Universal Church of Truth — had actually planned the whole thing as a way to safely subdue Warlock without hurting him, so that she could subject him to being brainwashed by her underlings in a facility she called “the Pit”.  Read More

Strange Tales #180 (June, 1975)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Fifty years ago this month, the third installment of Marvel Comics’ revived “Warlock” feature arrived sporting yet another cover pencilled and inked by Jim Starlin, as well as a 19-page story pencilled, inked, colored, and written by… Jim Starlin.

Characteristically, the auteur didn’t let his multifaceted role in the comic’s production stop him from having a little fun with the credits on its opening splash page, even at the risk of confusing any newcomers:  Read More