Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,959 
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Post by Crimebuster on May 6, 2014 11:37:38 GMT -5
I'm sorry to hear that Grell killed Travis Morgan in the most recent Warlord series. Better that Grell do it than some other writer, though, if Morgan had to die at all. Bummer. It was well done, at least thematically, if that makes sense. Travis died in the context of finally tying up the longest running dangling plot thread in comics, the fate of his son Joshua, which was an ongoing thread throughout the series beginning with #15 in 1978 and which was not resolved until the issue Travis died in, vol. 4 #12, which came out in May of 2010. After 32 years of buildup, it just seemed fitting for his story to end there. It closed the circle on the character. Joshua Morgan took over as the new Warlord beginning with Warlord #13:  |
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metarog
Junior Member
Waking up in an alternate universe
Posts: 25
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Post by metarog on May 6, 2014 18:59:43 GMT -5
Great artist and his Warlord run is legendary but I love the futuristic look he gave the Legion in the 70's.
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Post by Rob Allen on May 6, 2014 19:08:42 GMT -5
Great artist and his Warlord run is legendary but I love the futuristic look he gave the Legion in the 70's. He was following Dave Cockrum there, and imitated Dave's style in the beginning. I've read Grell's prose novel Sable but have never read a Jon Sable comic. How different are they? |
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Post by fanboystranger on May 6, 2014 19:19:38 GMT -5
Great artist and his Warlord run is legendary but I love the futuristic look he gave the Legion in the 70's. He was following Dave Cockrum there, and imitated Dave's style in the beginning. I've read Grell's prose novel Sable but have never read a Jon Sable comic. How different are they? I haven't read the Sable prose novel, but the Jon Sable comics are really strong action/adventure comics. There are a lot of references to the Cold War and '70s-80s political events, but they didn't make the series seem all that dated to me, mostly because there's a timeless quality to the art. You can pick up the IDW omnibii fairly cheaply online-- I think I paid $6 for volume 1 and $8 for volume 2 new at amazon markeplace. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2014 19:47:55 GMT -5
Jon Sable and Warlord for me .
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Post by hondobrode on Sept 13, 2014 0:36:54 GMT -5
Legion
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Post by Pharozonk on Sept 13, 2014 11:48:06 GMT -5
Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes
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Post by Action Ace on Sept 13, 2014 17:09:51 GMT -5
Superboy & the Legion of Super-Heroes
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Post by DubipR on Sept 13, 2014 17:19:53 GMT -5
Probably John Sable followed by Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters. Sadly, I haven't read Warlord.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2014 1:24:53 GMT -5
I would have to go with Warlord. That said, I still loved his work on Superboy & Green Lantern/Green Arrow.
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Post by Earth 2 Flash on Dec 25, 2014 12:07:42 GMT -5
I think his most beautiful artwork was on The Warlord. Having said that, my personal favorite would be his run on Green Lantern/Green Arrow.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2014 12:01:18 GMT -5
I'm like Earth 2 Flash - I think his GREEN ARROW should be note-worthy 1st, then GREEN ARROW/GREEN LANTERN 2nd, and I haven't seen WARLORD at all. So, having said that ... to me his work on GREEN ARROW should take notice.
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Post by berkley on Dec 26, 2014 23:52:25 GMT -5
I like the idea behind Warlord, as I understand it - sort of a cross between ERB planet romance and REH sword and sorcery? - but Grell's artwork doesn't look right to me, sometimes. I don't think it's bad, but it often looks awkward and stiff, and generally unattractive. Even if I thought it was better than I do, it seems to be going for a kind of Neal Adams style that has never been a favourite with me.
However, I like the idea of riffing off a combination of ERB and REH (if that is in fact what Grell was doing) so much that I might still give it a shot some time.
I'm a pretty big fan of spy thrillers too, so I might take a look at Jon Sable (about which I know even less than I do about Warlord) one of these days.
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Post by SJNeal on Dec 27, 2014 15:21:53 GMT -5
Green Arrow, first and foremost.
The only Warlord I've read is the modern stuff, but I'd love to read the classic run. The only collection I'm aware of is the B&W Showcase volume...? Maybe someone more knowledgeable can recommend a starting point for the single issues?
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Post by rom on Apr 16, 2017 13:38:30 GMT -5
Mike Grell is one of my top-ten all-time favorite comic artists. Excellent semi-realistic - but at the same time stylized - art that I've always been hugely impressed with. I grew up on his Classic Warlord series in the '80's (even though I know it started in the '70s') & that's definitely one of my top favorite fantasy series - in some cases I like it even better than Conan the Barbarian (which I was also a huge fan of). I liked the "science-fantasy" aspect to Warlord, i.e. the idea that the fantasy world Morgan (the Warlord) accidentally ended up in was actually part of Earth...
I also remember reading the superb First series John Sable, Freelance back in the '80's. Excellent series also, and was just as good in many cases as Warlord - but with a more realistic tone/vibe.
I truly wish Classic Warlord by Grell would be reprinted in color at some point. I know that a long OOP Trade came out in the early '90's reprinting the first 10?!-or so issues, but that volume is quite difficult to get ahold of now. I'm not counting the b&w showcase volume, since those comics weren't in color.
My favorite stand-alone Grell book was Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, from the late '80's. Wow, what a great story, with amazing art by Grell. This was one of the first trades I read back in the early '90's when I was getting back into comics again, so I have some nostalgia associated with this series (even though I didn't read it on it's first release).
Even though this story has a definite late '80's vibe/tone, I still think it holds up well today. The Pacific Northwest is my favorite part of the country, so I liked that setting as well; the contrast between the urban Seattle streets & the forest near the end of the story was very nicely done. IMHO Ollie's mid-life crisis was somewhat revolutionary as well; you usually don't see comic book characters worry about getting older, so that added a dose of realism to the series.
Also, in the past year I've been reading the Green Arrow by Mike Grell Trade Paperbacks, which reprint the GA series that Grell wrote (but didn't draw) from the late '80's - '90's. I've read through Volume 5, and am now on Volume 6.
This is a great series, with superb art by various (including Ed Hannigan & Dick Giordano in the early issues), and some superb covers by Grell. The reproduction is fantastic as well. I like how this is a continuation of TLH. The stories are very dark & grim at times, and I really like the Seattle, WA setting.
I like the emphasis re: having a couple of panels of action sequences without a lot (if any) dialogue in certain fight scenes; very cinematic in a way. Very mature/adult storylines in many of these issues as well; taking advantage of the then-relatively new direct market format.
The sequence in Volume 2 re: GA being stuck on that island & training with that ninja-like woman (who was also in The Longbow Hunters) seems to be the source material that was used for the "Arrow" TV series island storyline - this was obviously changed quite a bit for "Arrow", however.
Like the two issues reprinted in Volume 4 that featured The Warlord teaming up with GA; he and GA could have been twins. Obviously this was no coincidence, since Mike Grell also created The Warlord comic.
Really liked the storyline about the oil spill - this was obviously ripped from the headlines at the time (late '80's/early '90's).
Some of the artwork in Volume 5 by artist Grant Miehm reminded me quite a big of the iconic Steve Ditko's art. In fact, if I hadn't known better I would have thought it was Ditko's - it was that close.
The storyline in Volume 5 re: GA being on the run & having to shave his head/beard was interesting.
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