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 Warlock continued 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!"
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| The Avengers #118 |
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...
