The Life Of Adam Warlock Reviewed By Adam Warlock

[adam_warlock_2099]

I am going to try and piece most of the major appearances and stories of Adam Warlock from his inception in Fantastic Four #66 to his most recent appearance in the second series of Guardians of the Galaxy.

It's a long road. One I have traveled both forwards and backwards. It started with the Baxter reprints of Mr Starlin's Warlock and traveled further and further forward to reach where at the present time, there wasn't much going on with Warlock. It was the journey backwards to his birth that took me on quest to not just gobble up everything of Mr Starlin's (which also sparked a quest for Thanos' beginning and life) but everything Warlock. What was he like before Mr Starlin wrote the stories that grabbed my attention and kept it? What was it about Warlock that appealed to me so? What was it that made me see a piece of myself in the character?

While Mr Starlin's work on Warlock (and most everything else he's written) was what attracted me to the character, it was by far all that there was to the character. This is complex character that starts with a mission to save a planet from a tyrannical man-beast, only to be thrown to the clutches of a universal church of zealots bent on using intimidation and indoctrination to control the entire universe and he seems the only one with the will to stand against them.

But there are other people whose take on Warlock are just as entertaining. Mr Pak wrote an excellent mini series that kept true to the character but was completely new.

Ultimately we find Warlock at the end (thus far) or his appearances (life) back in the saddle as a cosmic pawn of the universal church. I wonder what is to become of him and his life. Shall he be reborn again? Bursting from his cocoon as yet another facade of a different writer's pen? We wait to see.

I hope that you will join me as I share with you a fictional character that has never been as influential as Adam Warlock has. If at the end of this journey there is more to add than I will keep walking till I get to the end. And I hope I have to keep walking. I wouldn't want an entertaining character to die before he can entertain more.

[benday-dot]

This is complex character that starts with a mission to save a planet from a tyrannical man-beast, only to be thrown to the clutches of a universal church of zealots bent on using intimidation and indoctrination to control the entire universe and he seems the only one with the will to stand against them.

I loved the Man-Beast cycle. But, of course, as you mention, AW really began in the pages of Fantastic Four as "Him", and, then carried on over to Thor, both under the watch of his creator Jack Kirby. I'm glad you are starting back at the very beginning. It's a long and winding road the character takes from Kirby through Kane and Starlin, with some first rate stops in between. But, it was with those earliest FF and Thor stories that we really get a sense of the characters essence, an essence that even his greatest realizer. Starlin, remained faithful toward.

[shaxper]

Having next to know knowledge of, nor interest in, Adam Warlock up until this moment, I'm now quite excited to explore his history and discover what makes him so important through your eyes.

Bring it on!

[adam_warlock_2099]

Fantastic Four #66 (Sept. 1967)

Writer -- Stan Lee
Pencils -- Jack Kirby
Inks -- Joe Sinnot
Lettering -- Artie Simek
Cover -- Jack Kirby

"What Lurks Behind The Beehive?"
Synopsis

-- Ben -- The Fantastic Four return from a battle with the Kree. Ben and the rest of the Fantastic Four go to visit Alica Masters so that Ben can explain why he was unable to make the date that they had arranged to go on the previous day. However they arrive to find she is gone with no indication that she left in a conventional matter. Ben figures she's wife another man because of his monstrous looks.

He is wandering a park when a local officer notices that he is down and walks over to cheer him up. He tells him that everyone likes him because he is so strong. People envy his life because it is full of adventure and danger. Something most people don't have in their lives. While they are talking a group of children approach Ben and excitedly surround him. Their teacher (I assume, though not specifically mentioned) tells the children to scatter and not annoy Ben. She tells Ben that he's the bravest, smartest and most wonderful man she knows, and that she will be the envy of all women when they found out she kissed The Thing. Feeling better about himself Ben reunites with the rest of the team.

--Johnny -- Johnny patches up a previous quarrel with Crystal on the roof of the Fantastic Four's building. He then joins the rest of the team as well, just as Reed is able to create a device that can detect just how Alica disappeared from her home.

--Sue-- Sue consoles Ben from the start. When Alica disappeared and Ben thought it was another man, Sue countered that Alica was far to fond of Ben to do such a thing. When Ben lashes out at Reed as he leaves Alica's house to brood about his predicament, she yells at Ben that Reed was and is his friend.

When Ben becomes impatient as Reed tries to set up his machinery, Sue again tells him that Reed is doing his best and that when they discover how she disappeared that they will find her.

--Reed-- Reed creates a heat image tracer that will help him discover how and possibly with whom Alica has left with. I can trace the still remaining body heat signatures in the room, giving them a doorway to find out what happened to Alica. When Reed gets it working and setup they return to Alica's home. Here they find that unknown man is strange garb took Alica. It appears that it was willing as Alica took the stranger's hand and they then seemed to walk through the wall of her home in a flash of light and disappear.

--Alica-- So far she is the only one that is apart of the discovery of him. Alica finds that the Citadel of Disciple is a place where world famous scientists have come together for "the most amazing experiment". Each of these scientist has faked their own deaths so the world doesn't even know they exist anymore.

Alica comes to find out that these scientist have found a way to create human beings. Their goal though is to create a race of superior beings that can end war, crime and illness. As Alica discovers more amazing things with in this Citadel, she also discovers the purpose in her abduction.

The being they have successfully created is too powerful. His power emits such an intense light that none of them can come near enough to even see what their creation looks like. So they want Alica to get close to him and feel his face and sculpt it as she is blind and unaffected by the light he emits.

One of the scientist, Hamilton, accompanies Alica into the vault that they have their creation locked into. As they advance they find a fiery wall of energy keeping them from advancing close enough for Alica to complete her mission.

Next:The Power of ... HIM!

Grade B ... I have never been a big FF fan of the old days. It was a time that the FF represented to me that is lost to me. I can read some other books of the 60's and all, but the FF has never appealed to me. To top it off I am "that guy" that has never cared for Mr Kirby's art. (Though he did some fantastic covers of Him in Thor.)

The story had a nice setup and background story to get you ready for the actual appearance of Him as is promised will be in the next issue. What will he be? Will Alicia come to harm? We'll find out in the next issue.

[shaxper]

I have never been a big FF fan of the old days. It was a time that the FF represented to me that is lost to me. I can read some other books of the 60's and all, but the FF has never appealed to me.

At the very least, give FF #48-50 a try (The Galactus trilogy). It would definitely rank as one of my top ten stories of all time.

[CromagnonMan]

Grade B ... I have never been a big FF fan of the old days. It was a time that the FF represented to me that is lost to me. I can read some other books of the 60's and all, but the FF has never appealed to me. To top it off I am "that guy" that has never cared for Mr Kirby's art. (Though he did some fantastic covers of Him in Thor.)

Same, i can never bring myself to read them and enjoy the like of Reed Richards and Johnny Storm, but they had some brilliant supporting characters like Him/Warlock. I will know what you are on about once you start on Strange Tales feat. Warlock, but FF is a mystery

[adam_warlock_2099]

At the very least, give FF #48-50 a try (The Galactus trilogy). It would definitely rank as one of my top ten stories of all time.

I'd like/plan to get the first Essential volume of FF for Silver Surfer appearances as well. There is a lot of his appearances outside of his first series that I have not read.

Same, i can never bring myself to read them and enjoy the like of Reed Richards and Johnny Storm, but they had some brilliant supporting characters like Him/Warlock. I will know what you are on about once you start on Strange Tales feat. Warlock, but FF is a mystery

Surprisingly I think Ben is the character that turns me off to the issues Mr Lee wrote. I think the most extensive length of FF that I have from #200-300. I think Mr Bryne and Marv Wolfman wrote most of those. Granted I haven't read them in probably 10 years, but it was the first FF comics that grabbed and caught my attention.

[Roquefort Raider]

Ultimately we find Warlock at the end (thus far) or his appearances (life) back in the saddle as a cosmic pawn of the universal church. I wonder what is to become of him and his life. Shall he be reborn again? Bursting from his cocoon as yet another facade of a different writer's pen? We wait to see.

I was extremely frustrated by the most recent end of Adam Warlock.

To begin with, I think he should have stayed dead the first time around (an opinion shared by Jim Starlin, incidentally). Since his return in the pages of Silver Surfer and the Infinity gauntlet, Adam had lost all his charm; from the innocent Christ-like figure of Counter-Earth to the tormented unwilling messiah of Jim Starlin's run, he had become a shrewd manipulator closer to Thanos than to his initial incarnation.

Then came Abnett and Lanning's inspired decision to have Adam reborn again, but too soon, before he was ready; having him be the same physical person, but a re-booted, less mature version of himself. He had regained his innocence and a large part of his mystery. His development in the pages of Guardians of the galaxy was a bit fast for my taste (especially since he became the Magus yet again a little too early), but he was still an interesting new version of himself, with a lot of potential once again.

Then he was summarily killed for the sake of a disappointing "cancellation event" miniseries! Egad!!! All that preparation for nothing???

I fervently hope that some new manipulation of the timeline will bring Warlock back again, and that it will be the recent version, not a brand new one. I'm all for letting dead heroes die, but not when they're killed as fodder for some "event" stunt!

Say, Adam, will you cover the Paragon-Her character in your reviews?

[adam_warlock_2099]

Thanks for the interesting post Rob. It seemed from the start, in #66 that benevolence was the highlight of the story. It actually seemed that Ben's hot headed summation of Alica's abduction was the most malevolent part of the story. But even before it was said out loud, Hamilton's actions betrayed the rest and it was apparent that there was more to the story than was being let on. Thanks again for your insight Rob.

Rougefort -- I have yet to finish GotG. The last issue I read was where Adam appears at the end of the issue edit:as Magus:edit and kills Gamora. But I plan to purchase those by the time I get to the end of course. I was enamored by Abnett & Lanning's writing of Adam. I thought it the next best to Starlin's. Maybe I will see it different this read through, but I do agree that it was VERY rushed and not near as well paced as Strange Tales and Starlin's run of Warlock.

As far as Her/Kismet there are quite a few issues that involve Adam that is part of my review that she is in as well. But I hadn't though about incorporating her alone with in his lifetime. If there are any issues of Her's that would like to suggest I would be more than happy to hear.

[Babylon23]

Here's a link to the Jack Kirby Collector article highlighting the differences between Kirby's intent and Lee's finished script. The stories are substantially different: http://twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/24compare.html

Ther'es an issue of JKC that actually reprints the original pencils complete with Kirby's border notes and compares them with the printed tale.

[matt levin]

This is what I have for Adam Warlock:
Thor 165, 166 (as the 'cacoon-wrapped' "Him")
Power of Warlock 1, 2 (which leads directly into--)
Marvel Premiere 1-8 (Gil Kane, IIRC, then Starlin)
Strange Tales 178-181 (Starlin's big moment)
Warlock 9-15 (more Starlin)
Avengers KSAnnual 7
Infinity Watch 1, 2 (after which I was so discouraged by his characterization that I've not followed him since..... )

hope this's helpful. The issues I have, I treasure!

[adam_warlock_2099]

Thor #163
April 1969

Writer -- Stan Lee
Pencils -- Jack Kirby
Inks -- Vince Colletta
Letters -- Sam Rosen

"Where Dwell The Demons!"

We start with Thor standing on top of a building wondering of the whereabouts of his Lady Sif. She was reported in the vicinity but disappeared. However, Thor soon sees a military convey and knows that there must be grave danger ahead. He follows to the head of the convey to find large funnel of energy that reaches to the sky. A solider tells Thor, that there was a strangely costumed female that was here, that vanished before their eyes when she tried to investigate this funnel of energy.

Thor is then intent of going after Lady Sif. But even Mjolnir can't seem to breach the funnel. Not much later Thor can see shadows inside the funnel. As they become clearer he knows that they are going to come out of the funnel. The army readies itself to fire at whatever comes out to help Thor. But too quickly arms reach out from within the funnel and pull Thor in before the army even has a chance to fire.

Within the battle ensues immediately and Thor upon defeating his enemies finds his Lady Sif bound to a strange machine by the man whose minions he just defeated. He is leader of Mutates and thinking Thor is but another "smooth-skinned" he boasts of his power and Thor's defeat at his hand. But Thor proves the stronger and frees Lady Sif from her bondage.

Sif then tells Thor that she has learned that the funnel is a entrance to another world. But as they investigate this world they come to realize that it is not a different world but a different time. Earth's future! A future where something has cause the mutation of humans, who had then turned on those that didn't.

Upon further investigation they finally come to what was the target of this funnel. The Atomic Research Building, which was where the tunnel was placed in the present time. Thor sees a man walking out of the building that seems very much human. Perhaps he had been in the building when the funnel enveloped it.

The man however is Pluto, lord of the underworld. He has allied himself with the mutates that fought against Thor. When Thor realizes who he is talking to Pluto with Eterna-Power slows Thor and the Lady Sif from their advance. Here he tells them of his plot to take the Mutates to the surface world, and with their help Pluto can conquer the surface world and destroy Odin.

Thor manages to free himself of Pluto's field of power but the Mutates attack Thor and Sif with weapons of unimaginable power. Both are knocked unconscious.

In the last three panels the reader follows down a tunnel inside the Atomic Research Center, to a room. NO ADMITTANCE! UNKNOWN BIOLOGICAL SPECIMEN In this room there a metal container. In the last panel the door opens to this metal "coffin" and inside we see the cocooned head of a unknown being.

There is a secondary story of a few pages that find Odin trying to seek the origins of Galactus and surmount the dept of his potential danger to Asgard.

A-

Thor issues of Mr Kirby's have been the one spot I have enjoyed his art. Back in the pre-internet days I never paid much attention to names. But I wonder if it is Mr Colletta's inks that have helped me enjoy his art more. Maybe it's just that I haven't read a Thor issue in a while and I am enjoying it all over again.

As far as the story goes, Thor is one of those (especially with Mr Lee and Mr Simonson's writing) characters and settings where I really don't pay any mind to reality, plot holes, exaggeration, etc. It's a book that makes no attempt to do so. Even Reed's stuff has some vague realm of realism, or at least the foundation of science or the speculation of the advancement of technology at the time. Thor has no need for this. In a world of mad gods, demons, magic and aged speech, there is no place for something to "make sense". And that is what I like about Thor. Radioactive spiders, gamma rays, cosmic rays, unknown chemicals, mutant genes ... all based on something that was known or speculated at the time. But Thor ... pure escapism. Pure fun.

Interestingly, there is a letter on the letter pages submitted by a man that lives in the same town I do. Same zipcode, but google maps cannot find the street name or address. I guess in the 42 years since then the street name may have changed, or just doesn't exist anymore.

Next Thor #164 "The Final War!"

[adam_warlock_2099]

Thor #164
May 1969

Writer -- Stan Lee
Pencils -- Jack Kirby
Inks -- Vince Colletta
Letters -- Sam Rosen

"Lest Mankind Fall!"

I'd like to start off with saying what a nice full page pose of Pluto by Mr Kirby and Mr Colletta. His imposing stature compliments his boasting of the power that he wields.

As Pluto prepares to invade 20th century Earth with his Mutate soldiers, we are turned to Balder's plight where the Queen of the Norns punishes him for spurning her kiss, tormenting him with the memory of her and what he did. Odin who hears Balder's lament for respite, whisks Balder away from where ever he was to Earth.

We now see Thor, Sif and Pluto still within the energy tunnel. Pluto makes a statement to Thor before he engages Pluto and his Mutates in battle. One must think it is probably the same creature we saw in the last three panels of our last issue.

"Stand aside Asgardian! He who lies within those walls must now be Pluto's victim. For I know nit the measure of his nameless power."

Balder quickly sees Pluto's energy funnel and goes to find out what is going on. As the army men explain to Balder what has happened, before he can try and enter the funnel, Thor breaks through the funnel.

Thor, Sif, Balder and the US army battle Pluto and his Mutate slaves. While the Mutates are few in number they wield weapons of awesome power that Pluto has given them. These weapons can bring down entire buildings.

At that moment Zeus is informed that his brother Pluto has left is underworld domain and is on Earth vexing the human race with his army of Mutates. Thor, Sif, Balder, and the US army continue to battle Pluto and the Mutates. Thor comes face to face with Pluto for the final battle. Pluto has sheathes himself in stygian flame, supposedly unable to be harmed. But is not Thor the god of thunder and storm? Pounding the handle of his enchanted hammer to the ground summons a torrent of rain that extinguishes his flame.

Zeus then appears intervening between Pluto and Thor. Zeus reminds Pluto that the eternal covenant cannot be violated. Olympus belongs to Zeus and the netherworld to Pluto. With that Zeus casts Pluto back to his realm.

Again in the last three panels we see the cocoon shaped like that of a man. Except in the very last panel we see a hand break through the cocoon.

B

I liked the issue alright, but I think it's the anxiousness of wanting to see just what this creature is. I wonder if there was the connection made by readers from FF #66, 67 to these Thor issues when it was two years since the FF issues. Anyone here read these issues when they came out? Did you think of the FF issues when you did?

It's a pretty basic issue of good gods versus evil gods, with humans caught in the middle. It wasn't a particularly memorable issue, but it wasn't bad. I guess I just don't have much to say about.

Next Thor #165 "The Being Within!"

[shaxper]

I liked the issue alright, but I think it's the anxiousness of wanting to see just what this creature is. I wonder if there was the connection made by readers from FF #66, 67 to these Thor issues when it was two years since the FF issues. Anyone here read these issues when they came out? Did you think of the FF issues when you did?

What an odd choice to have scattered Adam's slow immersion into the MU in this fashion. I wonder why it was done in this way? It reminds me a bit of how Jean Grey's return in the 1980s was slowly spread out across the pages of The Avengers and the Fantastic Four before we really understood what it was. It made sense there because it was an established character that fans would be excited to "discover" again, but I don't see the point in doing that with a new character unless there was some kind of groundswell of fan demand to see more of him at this early stage.

[adam_warlock_2099]

Wow. Not a fan of Kirby?

I don't find his work distracting ... I find it brutish? Monsters, Mutates, gods, Eternals, and dragons, classic Mr Kirby work. But I find his humans, Reed, Sue, Johnny, to site recent examples ... well brutish. I don't know how else to describe it. Especially in the face. They almost look neanderthal like.

Triple wow. Colletta's pretty much the most hated inker I'm aware of in comicdom.

Is it his actual work, or was he a silver aged Liefield? I don't find anything distracting about his work, but I look at art pretty subjectively, since I am not an artist of any kind.

What an odd choice to have scattered Adam's slow immersion into the MU in this fashion. I wonder why it was done in this way? It reminds me a bit of how Jean Grey's return in the 1980s was slowly spread out across the pages of The Avengers and the Fantastic Four before we really understood what it was. It made sense there because it was an established character that fans would be excited to "discover" again, but I don't see the point in doing that with a new character unless there was some kind of groundswell of fan demand to see more of him at this early stage.

Perhaps in those days, MUCH unlike today if Marvel wanted to bring back Him and do a story with Thor they would actually do it in Thor. Instead of bringing him back to FF and then over to Thor. Maybe sell a couple of filler of Him on FF and then get to the story they were going to do anyway in Thor.

Either that or was Thor possibly selling better at the time than FF, and they figured more people would see Him in Thor than if they did it again in FF? I was always under the impression FF was a solid best selling comic in those days over almost any Marvel title.