Outside of himself, I think Milgrom does the best with Starlin's pencils.

I was always under the impression it came from being the first "man" created by the Hive, although it wasn't the Hive that named him Adam. Or the Jesus Christ parallel with Counter-Earth was too obvious so they went with another Biblical name that would at least have some significance to the role he played. If I recall correctly there was even a doubting Thomas in Adam's group of followers on Counter-Earth. Not to mention his crucifixion on the cover of Hulk #178. Wait, are we sure Starlin didn't write all of Warlock.

Strange Tales #179



Creative Team: Starlin, Glynis Wein handles colors (Hmmm, wonder why...), Orzechowski does the letters, Len Wein edits (and lets the wife do the colors, instead of Starlin).

Okay, I'm kidding. Stuff like that did happen, as some staffers have grumbled about editor's girlfriends getting jobs they weren't qualified for; but, Glynis Wein was a well respected colorist and I would tend to believe Starlin was okay with it. He might have not had time and asked for the help. Anyway...

Synopsis: Warlock is standing on a small asteroid, as a Universal Church of Truth starship bears down on him.



He goes into flashback mode, then returns to the present and attacks. the ship's captain applauds his courage and orders the ship to fire, which takes Warlock out, though it doesn't kill him. He is chained and dumped in the hold, with the other prisoners. The menacing looking group moves in and Warlock uses the Soul Gem to scan them. Now, he understands their language and they have heard of him and praise him. They tell their story: they are from defeated worlds and are used as slave labor. Those who refuse are terminated and their bodies broken down for valuable elements. They also reveal that only humanoid life forms are considered to have been created in the Magus' image and only they are within the realm of the chosen. Everyone else is beneath and fit only to serve and be tossed aside. Gee, that sounds familiar.

Warlock is introduced to Pip the Troll, who wants to organize a mass breakout, to really stick it to the Church. meanwhile, The Matriarch, mortal leader of the UCT, sends orders to the ship, upon hearing that it has captured Warlock. In her mind, she contemplates whether destroying Warlock would also destroy the Magus (he has ordered Warlock be kept alive) and leave her in complete control. She decides it is worth the risk. The ship's captain, a knight of the Church, receives his order, which all but tell him to murder Warlock. he is torn between the honor of it and his duty to the Church. He decides to obey. The prisoners ask Warlock to lead them and he drones on with a parable about a caveman and how the strong lead and exploit the weak and he won't do it. He won't lead anyone. Sounds like the reasoning behind the ineffectiveness of the EIC, at 70s Marvel. And the reason why the job did stick, between Roy and Shooter. Anyway...

The others go off to rebel on their own and Warlock easily slips his bonds to go help (but not lead). The prisoners find that someone has laid out a laser battery that had been set for an ambush. Troops are dispatched and are taken out, one by one, from the shadows, above and below, with a WUMP...WAK....KAK...KATU....BTOK...and my favorite, STOK!

Warlock comes face to face with Autolycus, the captain. He respects him and senses no evil in him; but, he won't stand aside, so Warlock attacks. He tries not to kill; but, Autolycus pulls a pistol and the Soul Gem reacts and Autolycus' life flashes before Warlock. He passes out and comes to to find Autolycus stripped of his soul, a lifeless husk that isn't dead. Warlock frees the others and tells them to go. he will go to confront the Magus and the Matriarch. He finds that, despite his desires, Pip the Troll is tagging along...



Thoughts: Interesting issue, as we are introduced to the roguish Pip and see that Warlock is afraid to lead, lest he be corrupted by the power given him. Uh, hunh. Warlock later tells the prisoners that wise men rule themselves. Okay. Very philosophical and the main reason why so many Marvel books fell to deadline doom. The idea that wise men can rule themselves is heavily predicated on "wise." Problem is, self-interest and ego tend to mess the whole thing up and nothing ever gets done, as witnessed by committees, especially without a good leader guiding them. In my experience, a good leader is someone who takes the ultimate responsibility for achieving a goal, and the blame if it is not achieved. They do so by providing direction where it is needed, allowing talents to flourish and move in the direction that benefits all. A leader arises because the group isn't wise enough to direct themselves and someone steps in to fill the void, until no longer needed. A good leader will develop the others until they are wise enough to rule themselves. Bad ones will seek out a vacuum like that, no matter what. In my estimation, the philosophy that Starlin is spouting is the very reason why the Marvel Bullpen was in such chaos, after Roy Thomas stepped down, until Jim Shooter took over. Creators weren't wise enough to regulate themselves and blew deadlines left and right. It got to be so you never new if you would get a new issue the following month or another reprint.

Warlock still leads, even if he won't admit it. He doesn't give orders; but, he takes it upon himself to free the prisoners and defeat their captors. Whether he admits it or not, he was leading the prisoners. He then abandons them to their fate, because he doesn't want to face the loss of life. I'm starting to see how Warlock and the Magus could be the same person. They are the opposite ends of the spectrum: chaos or order, anarchy or dictatorship. The extremes are never the place to dwell and, despite Rand and Ditko, A is rarely just A; quite often, it is B,C,and D, at the same time.  The Magus could come about when Warlock faces his failures for avoiding leadership and he goes too far with it.

Pip adds some levity and personality to things, as Warlock is kind of dull, on his own. It's not surprising that he was never a strong seller, as he is pretty bland. The villainous side is far more interesting, as are the supporting characters, starting here, with Pip. It will be interesting to see how he plays off the more dour Warlock.

Meanwhile, we see the political elements of the Universal Church at odds with the spiritual leader. This is the story of "organized" religion; certainly the history of the Catholic Church. You start out with the philosophy and then a hierarchy is built upon that. Then, dogma and doctrine arise which have nothing to do with teaching and more to do with controlling the believers. We see that not everyone is created in the Magus' image. Funny how that rationalization for treating those who are different arises. Starlin paints a pretty grim picture of the Church and it is no wonder, given his description of his religious upbringing. Question is, will he offer us a counterpoint, somewhere down the road? Will there be a Protestant Reformation of the Universal Church of Truth? We will have to see.

There is a definite Moorcock influence going on here, as witnessed when the Soul Gem steals the soul of Autolycus. This is straight out of Elric and his sword, Stormbringer, which sucks out the soul of its victims and feeds the energy to Elric. Without it, Elric withers, subsisting on drugs to make him function. He hates what it does, yet he needs it and uses it. The Soul Gem is the same. Moorcock and Elric (and the other aspects of the Eternal Champion) were quite popular, at this time and he seems to figure quite heavily in cosmic themes, in comic books.

Something tells me, when Warlock does appear in the MCU, much of what we see here will not make it to the screen, especially the Universal Church of Truth.

Strange Tales #180



Creative Team: Sam Jiltrin-story, Jim Starlin-art, JL Minirats-inks, Tom Orzechowski-letters, Ms Natjiril-colors, Len Wein-editor. Gee, I've never heard of most of these people. Alan Weiss gets a shout out for inking assist. Guess ol' JL wasn't fast enough. No wonder I didn't see more of his name; can't even do one job!

Synopsis: First off, Adam got a change of clothes...



Pip and Adam are walking down the street on some unnamed planet. I really wish they'd clue you in on the names of the planets in these things. I mean look at that page above. Where the heck is it supposed to be? I mean, I'm not asking for some repetitive mantra or something...

Anyway, they are at the home planet of the Universal Church of Truth (Cosmic Rome) and are out shopping or taking in the sites, while we get the obligatory recap. We learn that Adam's costume was altered, for the sake of anonymity, 'cause nothing says "anonymous" like a big, flowing red and yellow cape, with a skull clasp! Pip bumps into someone, tells them to watch out, then realizes it is a Black Knight of the Church and trolls are on their dinner menu (well, death list) and the fight is on. Adam takes him out, then attends to four others behind him, while fighting to stop the Soul Gem from sucking out their souls.



Heavens to Moorcock; Elric even....! The Matriarch is alerted to Aadam's deeds and is pleased, as she realizes a living Adam can do more to solidify her power than his death, especially if he is gunning for the Magus. Adam tries to remove the Soul gem and nearly fries his brain with the loss, causing Pip to put it back in place. Warlock is dependent on it to live! They are soon contacted by the Matriarch, who knows about it and promises the secret of it, if he comes to the palace. Pip recognizes the obvious trap and says Warlock is too smart to fall for that and Adam confirms this by disappearing to go to the Sacred Palace.

Warlock rationalizes the need for knowledge for doing something so blatantly stupid, while avoiding the eyes of the palace guards. He surprises the Matriarch in her throne room and she tells him that the Soul gem did not create the Magus, as Adam believes; but, that the Magus is his future self. She wants to keep ruling and Warlock's death would prevent the Magus from creating the Universal Church and, thus, her power base. So, she will keep him prisoner until he comes to her reasoning. She then does the old cliche of hitting a trapdoor switch and dumps Adam into it.

Instead of a dungeon, Adam finds one seriously f-in weird dude...



...surrounded by other weirdoes. The big head with four arms is introduced as Kray-tor, the Grand Inquisitor. Adam is restrained and put on trial, in a satire of a kangaroo court. A witness who testifies against the court is destroyed, while others give coached replies to charges. The judge hides nothing about the sam trial, as the prosecutor is stated to be lying, the defense attorney has no mouth to voice objections or make motions, and the judge as already stated the prisoner will be executed. It's all something like this...



Warlock is obviously found guilty. meanwhile, Pip is out searching, by way of a tavern, where he runs into a pretty sexy green woman, who is looking for Warlock. Pip tells her he is off at the Sacred Palace and asks about her interest. She replies that if he is out to kill the Magus, she will join him; if he isn't, she will kill him.

Dunh-dunh-duh.................!!!

Adam is sentenced to "correction" and then blows his top, attacking the insanity of the court...

(NSFW language...)



Adam orders the Soul Gem to devour Kray-tor's soul, then is horrified by his actions and faints, at the Matriarch's feet. She expected it and has him picked up and dumped in a pit, where his mind will be manipulated.

Thoughts: Well, first off, that is one weird design, for Kray-tor and the rest of the court is pretty bizarre, to boot. The trial is yet another commentary on the Chicago 7 sham trial. That trial had been satirized in the pages of Green Lantern/Green Arrow and The Hulk....




Earlier, we see the influence of Michael Moorcock, as Warlock tries to control the Soul gem; but, it's influence over him grows and he will "die" without it, just as Elric can never be free of the sword Stormbringer. He fights it, but succumbs to using it in righteous anger, as the Matriarch knew would happen, as she remarks about everyone being the "hero of their own story." Jiltrin is being very metaphorical here, in the grand tradition of the satirist, like Swift or Twain.

Meanwhile, we get our first glimpse of Gamora, though she has not yet revealed her name. At this point, she is an homage to Star Trek's sexy green chicks, in a fishnet bodysuit.

The Matriarch is drawn as a golden-skinned woman, matching Warlock, so you are left to wonder if she is of his race or family. As he is an artificial being, is she? Is she the daughter of the Magus? We will have to see. One thing is for sure (well, to me): she seems to be the inspiration for the ruler of the Sovereign, in GOTG 2 (unless there was something from their later series that introduced a similar character). She does introduce his birthing chamber, at the end, which is supposed to come into play, down the road (post Avengers 4, but in GOTG 3). It would seem she is a cross between the Matriarch and Kismet, aka Her, aka Ayesha (as the character is named in the film). The name Ayesha is taken from H Rider Haggard's novel, She (as in "She-who-mus-be-obeyed") about an immortal woman in a hidden society, deep in Africa.



Starlin, Jiltrin, Natjiril and Minirats are starting to cook!

Kray-tor is seriously letting his title go to his head.  And ever since seeing him there have been these odd dreams of dancing 4 armed heads frequently judging me?!? Gotta love the 70's influences eh?

Strange Tales #181



Creative Team: Jim Starlin-insanity (that's the credit!), Al Milgrom-inks, Orzechowski-letters, Len Wein-edits. Steve Ditko gets a tribute for inspiring alternate reality concepts.

Synopsis: Adam Warlock finds himself floating in a Ditko-esque cosmic landscape and confronted with a bunch of Bozos...



...they invite him to take part in Red Nose Day; but, he can't be bothered to help the less fortunate; or, something like that. They give him a clown face and red nose, to be like everyone else and he disposes of it. To-may-to/tom-mah-to! Meanwhile, a Black Knight is waylaid and gives up the location of Warlock to Pip and .....



Back at the ranch, Warlock sees a blond man, with glasses, secured to a cross, with clowns throwing pies at him. The head Bozo speaks of the blond man trying to buck the system and paying for it, after putting people first. The man looks suspiciously like Roy Thomas. The Head Clown is Lensteans and there is another, called Jan Hatroomie. Behind the scenes, we see guys with antenna that look like 1970s Stan Lee and John Romita, but with antenna.
The Matriarch shows up and chastises Prof Teans (Len, to his friends), that Warlock is too sharp for their drugs and VR scenario, as witnessed by him taking out Teans two cohorts, who look like Andorean versions of Marv Wolfman and Len Wein.



While this goes on, Pip and Gamora head for the Sacred Palace. Lensteans and Adam watch as a group of workers build a tower o trash, only to see it fal again. Adam finds a diamond among the rubbish, which Teans said is probably why the tower falls. Warlock can't find his way out of the madness. Pip and Gamora bash technician heads, while Warlock goes through the Doorway to Madness and meets the Madness Monster. He soon realizes that it is his own dark side and he must come to terms with it, to defeat the Magus,as it helped create him. He finally sees things as they are and the VR helmet falls away. The Magus appears on a monitor, then Warlock and friends are led to a chamber, where they find the real Magus...



...who looks like he played in the ABA



Thoughts: Brian Cronin did a Meta-Messages on the subject of this issue. Rather than the climax of the storyline, it is a diversion into commentary about the state of Marvel and creative freedom vs toeing the company line of mediocrity. Starlin seems to feel that Roy Thomas tried to buck the system and promote quality storytelling, giving creators their freedom to experiment. There is much truth in that. In the meantime, he seems to feel that Stan was interested in only consistency, no matter how drab and boring and that John Romita, through art corrections, was his henchman. He depicts Wein and Wolfman (who were the editorial bosses of the time, with Wolfman running the magazines and taking over from Wein, when he stepped down as EIC) as guys who toed the company line. Is this a fair assessment? Well, maybe, from Starlin's point of view, at the time. Roy was pretty hands off, while Stan had John Romita tweak things, including Kirby covers and other work. When Roy stepped down, in frustration with his lack of real power, as EIC, things got chaotic, with the psistion changing to Wein, then Wolfman, then Conway. Starlin would quit after disputes with Conway, who didn't last long and Archie Goodwin tried to woo Starlin back, to little avail (other than finishing his saga).

For all of the talk of towers of rubbish and diamonds within, even the more creative powerhouses like Starlin were still mostly working within worlds and with characters created by Lee, Kirby and Ditko. Warlock was yet another Lee/Kirby figure, tweaked by Roy, then picked up by Starlin. Even Thanos had his origins in the New Gods, even if he started out to be more Metron than darkseid. It was still Kirby's influence. His cosmic realms are Ditko, as he acknowledges. The closest you could come to an original creation in this period is Howard the Duck and even he owed much to Donald, Daffy and Uncle Scrooge. I think Starlin is venting some anger of things at the time, through the perspective of youth and office politics. He makes points about art coming from more than formulaic dictates. I think the older Starlin would probably reconsider much of this, particularly some of his caricatures. It may not be quite Funky Flashman & House-Roy mean; but, it isn't far off. Still, at least Starlin takes a stance, which many of his contemporaries didn't, nor many of his predecessors or successors. Starlin did go on to experiment with his own work, something outside a Marvel template, though with some repetition of past work.

In terms of Warlock, this does nothing to really advance the story, other than ringing Pip, Gamora and Warlock together, then bringing them in front of the Magus. Those threads will be picked up in the next installment, in the revived Warlock comic. As diversions go, it is an interesting philosophical statement and satire. Whether it is mean-spirited or not is up to the reader.

Yeah, it is a weird dichotomy that Roy, who pushed for more creative freedom, over time, has always been more the Marvel company man, even when he wasn't management.

I kind of had the impression that Wein and Wolfman were more interested in writing comics than running things; certainly Wolfman, who kid of stuck to writing after his EIC stint (apart from self-editing).  Wein still dabbled in editing; but, kept it more on the small scale.  I suspect it was more, "This is what the boss wants, it's my job to deliver it."  They were comic fans made good, so were probably cool with being in a comic.  Roy was probably more upset about digs at Stan and John, as he has always seemed (from a fan perspective) to be a bit protective of Stan and his legacy.  Probably fitting, as a writer/editor, who was mentored by Stan.

The Marvel EIC job was untenable, in that time.  The expansion of the line, at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s really pushed things beyond what an EIC could handle, on their own.  The line editor system, with the EIC running the editorial team, probably worked better.  That's whee I think Shooter excelled, as a guide to other editors.  Archie Goodwin was probably next next best prospect and he seemed more comfortable with a more limited amount of books.  Everything I've read makes it sound like Gerry Conway was the worst candidate to hold the job, as his ego got the better of him.