Review: Warlock the Complete Collection by Jim Starlin

Last week, I reviewed the Captain Marvel collection by Jim Starlin. That was a great view of Starlin's entry into Marvel comics, developing his characters such as Thanos, his cosmic concepts and artwork grew with each issue. He left Captain Marvel after he finished his Thanos saga, and the letters page announced he would be taking on Warlock as his next assignment!

For those of us who read Warlock in the early 70s, this held great promise. Warlock was already a somewhat cosmic character, created by Jack Kirby in the Fantastic Four. Later he graduated to his own series starting in Marvel Premiere 1 and then his own self titled magazine. This era is covered in Warlock Masterworks Warlock Vol. 1. Gil Kane's artwork is pretty nifty, and Roy Thomas sets up a unique scenario for Warlock, with Counter-Earth. It is heavily steeped in 70s sensibilities and echoes of Jesus Christ Superstar. There are so many Christ parallels right up until the end, which has Warlock flying off to the stars for further adventures. The story wrapped up in Hulk 178 (after Warlock's comic was cancelled), which appeared in August 1974 cover dated comics, just 1 month before Starlin's exit on Captain Marvel. It's a good volume for 1970s Marvel / Warlock completists or fans of Gil Kane (sadly he doesn't draw all of the stories but does do most of the covers).

Shift forward 5 months later to comics cover dated Feb 1975: Strange Tales 178 featuring Warlock is published. Jim Starlin does everything: the writing / pencilling / inking on this issue and the next couple. His artwork is glorious and it really pops when you read this digitally in Warlock by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection (Warlock (1972-1976)) I thought Starlin's artwork could not get any better by the end of Captain Marvel but here he takes it to another level entirely. After a brief recap to get readers acquainted with Warlock, the reader is introduced to the Universal Church of Truth which is out to punish a young rebel who is seeking Warlock's help. We get our first distorted view of the leader of this church, The Magus.

The 2nd Warlock story by Starlin, Death Ship in ST 179, may be my favorite issue of this run. The pencils and inks by Starlin are superb and in fine detail. From the cover you get the idea that Warlock is trapped with a bunch of crazy alien monsters. Incidentally, take a close look at the upper right hand corner of the cover. The Comics Code seal of approval was changed by Starlin to read Approved by the Cosmic Code. No one caught his change, perhaps because deadlines were tight and things were rushed out the door at the mid-70s Marvel Bullpen.

The splash page is terrific. Warlock looks enigmatic and mysterious in space. The background is finely rendered. At this point in time, Strange Tales was published bi-monthly, which means it came out every 2 months. Starlin must have taken the lead time to work on the first few issues of this series. Warlock is captured and taken prisoner on this ship, which is manned by Captain Autolycus. He is sent to the brig but quickly learns these are not menacing aliens but persecuted beings who have been harmed by the Church.

Warlock's tale takes a wild twist into Michael Moorcock territory during his battle with Autolycus, who has gotten the better of him and about to deliver the final death blow. The gem upon Warlock's forehead - given to him by The High Evolutionary in Marvel Premiere 1, a strange undefined source of power - suddenly roars to life and steals the soul of Autolycus! The Captain's memories flood in Warlock and fill him with a sense of dread. For fans of Moorcock, they could see the similarities between the Soul Gem and the Stormbringer, Elric of Melnibone's sword who not only took souls but lusted after them. Re-reading this again, decades later, I paid close attention to Marvel Premiere 1 where the High Evolutionary gives Warlock the gem.  It really seems to come out of left field. The HE has the gem and gives it to Warlock for an extra boost to his power set for the mission on Counter-Earth. No explanation is given as to how the HE came to possess this gem; HE doesn't make any claim to have manufactured it on his own.

I am not going to review the Warlock saga issue by issue - other people have done that better than me, Back Issue Magazine 34 has a great recap. How did it feel to be reading these tales, as a young person in the 1970s? It seemed revolutionary! In the Captain Marvel stories, Starlin had some interesting concepts, not necessarily about Thanos and Death, but rather about the nature of a warrior. In Warlock he seemed to be taking on several themes. The duality of man's own nature. The tyranny of a church. Order vs Chaos. The possibility that a tyrant such as the Magus was actually a Champion of Life. Did certain tyrants throughout our actual history move humans forward?

The Magus was fully revealed at the end of Strange Tales 181, a bizarre polar opposite of our hero, who had been battered mentally through various tortures and possibly driven insane. The design of the Magus is pure genius. I never thought a purple hued guy with an afro would be such an incredible villain. But here he is, with a skull accessory on his metal belt, no less! He also has the thunderbolt on his chest, something that Warlock discarded a few issues earlier, because it drove Starlin nuts to draw that constantly.

At the end of Warlock 9, Thanos steps into the battle, and that was a complete shock. It was unclear was happened to Thanos in Captain Marvel 33 after the Cosmic Cube was shattered. He was a God, then he was no more. He was not erased from existence, but as Warlock 10 explained, he was stranded in space and rescued by his robotic ships. Thanos became aware the that Magus was a Champion of Life, and as Thanos was the opposite, a lover of Death, that made them enemies.  Thanos started playing a long con to wipe out the Magus, which included helping our hero Adam Warlock. And that long con involved suicide, which I don't believe I had ever read in a mainstream comic before. But here again was something really cool, which was that Starlin wasn't just regurgitating the work of Stan and Jack. Starlin was developing his own mythology and expanding on it wherever he went.

A special note must be made about the work of Steve Leialoha, who took over finishing the art over Starlin's layouts after he stopped doing full pencils / inks. Very rarely do you see two artists mesh so well together. You can think of Kirby / Sinnott or Byrne / Austin, and Starlin / Leioloha are a great team right up there. Steve Leialoha is a fine penciller / storyteller in his own right, having published neat stories in magazines like Star Reach.

I can't review this issue by issue as I said, but each one does look gorgeous on my iPad as I read the Kindle / Comixology edition. When it was on sale it was $3 and I got another free digital trade as part of a promotion. Greatest three bucks I ever spent. Re-reading Warlock by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection made me feel like a kid again, and while some things don't age well, I feel like this material does.

The whole saga is here, Strange Tales to Warlock to Avengers Annual 7 and the conclusion in Marvel Two In One Annual 2.  Warlock was cancelled in 1976, according to that article in Back Issue, due to a paper shortage - the comic sold pretty well at the time. A year later, in 1977, Archie Goodwin offered Starlin the opportunity to return and finish things up in Avengers Annual 7. This was almost by accident. But it gave Starlin a unique opportunity to tie up the ending of Warlock's tale and provide a mirror scene to the one in Warlock 11 - his death. And then there was the final coda to Thanos' story in Marvel Two In One Annual 2, featuring The Thing and Spider-Man rescuing the Avengers in space.

Warlock and Thanos returned 13 years later. The latter in the pages of Silver Surfer (issue 34) and Warlock during The Infinity Gauntlet series. During this gap in time, we thought that was pretty much the end of their story. Yet they have returned again and again and soon will make full appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nuff Said!

Marvel Super Heroes 47 Hulk cover / original art by Jim Starlin

Since I am on a Starlin rediscovery kick lately, here's a 1974 reprint cover I am crazy about: Marvel Super Heroes 47, featuring The Hulk!

I love Starlin's Hulk! He captures the fierce monstrosity of the character and the transformation here from Banner into the Hulk is classic. It captures the original intent to make this monster related to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Here is the original art to this cover, which looks nifty in black and white.

At this point in time, Marvel Super Heroes was reprinting Tales to Astonish. The Bronze Age Babies twitter account recently asked which we preferred on reprints - the original cover from the comic being reprinted, or a new cover? That is easy for me, hands down I liked the new covers because they gave artists like Starlin a shot to draw these classic characters.

Nuff Said!

Review: Captain Marvel by Jim Starlin, The Complete Collection

A couple of weeks ago, Marvel had a fire sale on many of their Kindle / Comixology digital collections. I grabbed many of them (too many) and one of the first that I re-read was Captain Marvel by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection. This retails now for $9.99, during the sale it was $4, but it's a great trip down memory lane regardless of the price. This could be called Thanos Volume 1, because it not only includes Captain Marvel #25-34 by Starlin and others, it also includes Iron Man 55 by Starlin and Mike Friedrich (first appearances of Thanos and Drax the Destroyer), Marvel Feature 12 (The Thing and Iron Man vs the Blood Brothers, working for Thanos), Moondragon's origin from Daredevil 105. The collection ends with the first and probably the best Marvel Graphic Novel ever, The Death of Captain Marvel. Plus covers and material from various reprints over the years.



Naturally reading the original comics is great, but let's face it, unless you've got them perfectly preserved they degrade over the years / decades. Reading these digital versions is a blast because the colors and details really pop. Take the cover to Captain Marvel 25 as an example - I doubt the copy I have in my longbox looks that good. I bought the original off a newsstand in 1973, knowing nothing about the character other than the Avengers held him in high regard. I did know a lot more about Rick Jones, having read about him in reprints where he was Captain America's sidekick.

The collection doesn't start with Captain Marvel. It begins with Iron Man 55, where Drax and Thanos enter the Marvel Universe for the first time. Starlin's artwork is a bit rough in this story and the first few CM issues. He doesn't write the dialogue for these stories, but he's clearly the plotter and designer of all these new characters. Starlin introduces so many great new characters in these stories, I suspect in hindsight it's incredulous that he developed them for Marvel. His debut issue of CM involves Mar-Vell facing a horde of enemies, which is really a test conducted by Super-Skrull to report back to Thanos on the Kree warrior's abilities.



Starlin's artwork is a bit rough in these first few issues. But he's improving with each one of them. I loved issue 26, where The Thing fights Captain Marvel. The fight is due to mistaken identity - Mar-Vell believes The Thing is really Super Skrull; The Thing can't explain the situation because his vocal cords have been silenced. Flimsier excuses have been used before! It's the beginning of a beautiful partnership between Starlin and The Thing.

Jim Starlin really ratchets up to the next level with Captain Marvel 31.  This is the issue where he writes the full story for the first time, and he has Al Milgrom inking him for the first time. The cover is iconic and was used on slurpee cups and other stuff. Mar-Vell transformed from a Kree warrior to a the Protector of the Universe by becoming "Cosmically Aware". This was a very 1970s concept, like if you meditated enough or became one with nature you could improve things more than with just sheer violence. But it seems Starlin had a plan for this character from the start. In the early stories, Mar-Vell is a very capable warrior but a bit reckless and prone to mistakes. A very strange, almost Ditko-esque being named Eon helps Mar-Vell walk through his past mistakes and to transform into something new. And into someone with blond hair instead of silver, because the latter made him look too old!



Starlin's original cover to Captain Marvel 29. John Romita clearly re-touched the face and neck, which probably did not please Starlin.

What were the immediate changes in Mar-Vell due to Cosmic Awareness? He became aware of himself and his surroundings. He began to see bigger patterns. He still fought like hell, in the next issue there was a terrific battle with the Controller. But at least Mar-vell tried to talk the villain out of it before kicking his ass.



Thanos gets a hold of a Marvel object that is so powerful, you wonder why anyone would lose track of it: the Cosmic Cube. After years of villains fumbling around with this object, Thanos is the one to finally make full use of it. He becomes a God, or an Insane God as the next issue teaser states. By this point, Iron Man, the Destroyer, the Titans and others have teamed up with Captain Marvel to fight Thanos and the odds were insurmountable.



By the time the final issue of this story came to a conclusion, the tension was ratcheted higher and higher. Thanos was learning to use the full extent of his godhood, although you wonder why he doesn't just evaporate Captain Marvel into atoms. This could be explained by a discovery made later in the Infinity War: Thanos has some defect of character that does not want himself to succeed. Perhaps that is too easy of excuse, but I bought into it!



Thanos does decide to terminate Mar-Vell's life right upon his discovery about the Cosmic Cube having some residual link to Thanos' godhood. In this issue, Starlin makes the next leap forward in storytelling and artwork. It's such a mind-bending battle with Thanos in the proceeding pages, as he warps reality around Mar-Vell and Drax. Then he decides to pull the plug on Mar-Vell, by aging him quickly, but not before he can fossilize and destroy the Cosmic Cube.



After this epic was done, for the readers at the time, minds were shattered. Wow. This guy Thanos had taken things to a extent no Marvel Comics villain had ever accomplished before! I was going to be a Starlin / Captain Marvel fan for life. What was going to come next? Could we look forward to years of Starlin on Captain Marvel? This was beyond compare. Unfortunately, the next issue arrived, Captain Marvel 34. The plot/artwork is by Starlin, dialogue by Steve Englehart, and it sets a new status quo for Mar-Vell's post-Thanos adventures. He battles a new villain, Nitro, a guy who explodes and reforms himself back together afterward. At the very end of their battle, Mar-Vell gets exposed to some lethal poison gas (powerful enough to destroy a whole city), collapses, and is seemingly dead. I remember thinking, well, Starlin will solve this problem next issue.

Wrong! We got the shock of our lives, when Captain Marvel 35 (not included in this digital collection, I scanned the above from my collection) arrived with artwork by Alfredo Alcala! A nice artist on the black and white mags, but not on CM! The letters page explained that the Nitro issue was Starlin's last one. He was leaving to work on another somewhat cosmic character: Warlock! But this would set up a pattern for Starlin. He didn't mind killing off characters when he was done with them. Captain Marvel survived the poison gas and went on to many more adventures courtesy of Englehart / Milgrom and other creators - but there were longer term effects.



This Captain Marvel collection goes from issue 34 right into The Death of Captain Marvel. This was published originally in 1982; Starlin's last issue of CM appeared in 1974. This was a big event, for not only was Marvel getting into the Original Graphic Novel game, they were killing off a character, and there was no doubt that it would happen. Starlin was able to use the events of his final issue to deliver the death blow to Mar-Vell: cancer. And this story is a real tear jerker. There are no big fights, although there is an appearance by Thanos, post his final battle with Warlock from Marvel Two-In-One Annual 2. It is really a sad tale of what happens when anyone gets cancer and they can't win. They try to fight it, they accept what is going to happen and start to say goodbye to loved ones. I believe Starlin's father had died earlier of cancer, which gives a lot of authenticity to it. I cried when I read it originally; I cried reading it again.

I loved Captain Marvel by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection! It made me feel like a kid again. Nuff Said.

Avenger Annual 7 original cover art by Jim Starlin

I recently re-read the Warlock collection on Comixology - the penultimate chapter to this saga is Avengers Annual 7 from August 1977! The cover was an amazing work by Jim Starlin...



Showing the Avengers + Captain Marvel (another Starlin character) in combat with the thralls of Thanos. Warlock stands on a hill in the distance, silently observing. The head of Thanos in the background is eerie, due to the overlay process used on the cover.



For the orignal art, here are the main figures. Looks very cool even in black and white. On the horizon there is no Thanos or night time sky...



Here is the original art plus the overlay for the blue plate plus extra logo. It looks like Starlin used a razor blade to make the white streaks continue on from the hill Warlock is standing on.

I will be doing a review of this Warlock collection soon. Stay tuned! Nuff Said.

Captain Marvel, Warlock and Dr Strange by Jim Starlin

I discovered a 2004 commission or pin-up by Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom, aka Gemini!

Captain Marvel, Warlock, and Doctor Strange together, the cosmic heroes teaming up with the mystic master.  Nuff Said!

The Thing & Spider-Man vs Thanos by Jim Starlin

Here is a nifty little commission from Jim Starlin:

The Thing and Spider-Man versus Thanos!  This page would have fit right into the infamous Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2.   I found this on Starlin's Facebook page, follow him there for more action.  Nuff Said!

Thing Tuesday: Captain Marvel versus The Thing by Jim Starlin

Let's get a little cosmic this Tuesday, with the help of Mr. Jim Starlin!  No pharmaceuticals required.  :-)

This cover featuring Ben Grimm versus the Kree warrior was on The Life of Captain Marvel #2, a baxter reprint series featuring Jim Starlin's entire run on the character.  This story, you may recall, had the Thing losing his voice and fighting the good Captain, believing him to be the Super Skrull in disguise.

I came across this black and white illustration on Heritage Comics auction site, believing it to be the original art.  But looking closely, I detect quite a few differences.  The signature "GEMINI" (Jim and I, by Al Milgrom, his buddy and inker) is on the bottom here but in the first image it is on the side.  Captain Marvel's knee is higher towards the Thing's shoulder.  Did they alter the image for the final cover? 

Here is the 1973 issue of Captain Marvel that featured the original story (issue 26), a fine piece by Starlin early in his career.  Obviously a great way to bring new readers into his series, since the Thing was extremely popular back then.  Nuff Said!

Thoughts on Thanos and Jim Starlin

I hate to spoil anything for someone who hasn't seen the Avengers movie yet, but if you haven't, please read no further!

All long-time Avengers fans must have been thrilled to see that Thanos was the mystery villain behind Loki's invasion of Earth and attempt to snatch the Cosmic Cube.  I had guessed at his identity early on but was surprised to see they actually animated his face and trademark ruffled chin in the post-script.  There is an article over an SlashFilm where Kevin Feige and Joss Whedon talk about how they arrived at using Thanos.

Like most of us, Whedon was a giant-size geek who was into Jim Starlin's early Marvel work.  Everyone who read both Captain Marvel and Warlock had to buy Avengers Annual #7 where both heroes united with the Avengers to stop Thanos from destroying the universe.  I still own that issue along with the conclusion in Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2.

Seeing Thanos on the big screen was really cool, because with Whedon we have a film-maker who is basically a geek like all of us.  He grew up reading comics in the 70s and this helped form his tastes as a writer.

At the same time, it's a bittersweet feeling regarding Jim Starlin, who probably won't receive any remuneration for Thanos or any of his Marvel characters, since they were created work-for-hire.  Some of this is discussed in Starlin's recent interview with Geoff Boucher on Hero Complex.  While it is true that Marvel doesn't legally have to do anything, you would think at the least they could invite Starlin to a premiere.  The classiest move ever was by Paul Levitz after Batman Begins arrived in theaters--he gave a bonus to Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams and others who had created the characters used in the film.  Marvel and Disney don't have to do it, but wouldn't it be great if they did? 

Check out Jim Starlin's profile on Facebook, where many of these Thanos commissions originally appeared.  Nuff Said!

Ka-Zar and Zabu Jumping Out of the Comics Page by Starlin and Romita

Here is a great cover that I almost thought was done by Gil Kane.  It features a familiar theme, the hero bursting out of the comics page.

The jungle lord Ka-Zar and his best buddy Zabu are jumping out of the page directly at the reader, in Astonishing Tales #16, circa 1972.

I found the original art to this on Heritage.  It looks to me like Jim Starlin penciled this cover and John Romita inked it.  Ka-Zar really looks like he is in a typical Starlin pose, but the inking is undeniably Romita's crisp line.  Gil Kane's presence is still here, since his artwork is on the page in the background.  Nuff Said!

Four great Man-Thing pinups by Art Adams, Neal Adams, Vicent Alacazar, and Jim Starlin

Whosoever knows Fear burns at the Man-Things touch!  And these artists burn quite hard for Marvel’s favorite muck-monster. 



Art Adams drew this Man-Thing pinup for a commission in 2004.



This pinup of Man-Thing appeared in Neal Adams 2008 sketchbook.  I just love that overhead angle looking down at him.



This illuminating pinup by Vicente Alacazar appeared in Marvel Preview 8 magazine, 1976.  That kid really needs to be brave and not fearful.



Rampaging Hulk #7 magazine featured this pinup by Jim Starlin and Ernie Chan.
Note to Satanists, Death cultists, racist rednecks, murdering thugs, FoolKillers and evildoers:  Do not get stuck in the Florida everglades this Halloween!  Nuff Said!

Update: Comments from my old MT blog...

2 Comments

By Sanctum Sanctorum Comix on December 24, 2010 11:14 AM

Sweet.
I remember the bottom two from their respective publications.

However, did you know that the Neil Adams piece was also used as the cover to "Strange Tales" v4 (1998) # 2
( http://www.comics.org/issue/62213/cover/4/ )

And that Arthur Adams illo is to be the cover for THUNDERBOLTS # 154

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/preview2.php?image=solicits/marvelcomics/201103/TBOLTS154_covcol.jpg

Just helping out.

~P~

By Richard Guion on December 26, 2010 7:40 PM

No idea the Adams piece was used on the Strange Tales cover, thanks for showing me that! Yeah, I did see in the recent Marvel solicits that the Art Adams Man-Thing piece would be the alternative cover for Thunderbolts. That was an easy choice for Marvel.

Monster Monday: Jim Starlin Ghost Rider, from The Comic Reader

Beginning...a week of covers from one of the most famous fanzines of all time: The Comic Reader! 

Launched by Paul Levitz in the 1960s, and later published by Street Enterprises, TCR was a prime source of insider news on the comics world.

TCR was a digest-sized mag published in black and white for the first few years.  The magazine switched to color covers after the first 100 issues, and they were often able to snag superstar artists to draw them...like this Ghost Rider cover to issue 154 by Jim Starlin.  This cover references a story that Starlin wrote and drew for Ghost Rider #35 (1979), titled "Death Race".  I've often wondered if this image was a rejected cover that Starlin had intended for that issue.  Nuff Said!

Thor Thursday: Jim Starlin Pin-Up in Glorious Black and White

Thor brings down the thunder and lightning in this 1977 pin-up that appeared in Marvel Preview #10, by Jim Starlin.

Starlin's black and white drawings during this period were unworldly good.

I've run out of steam on Thing Tuesday.  Henceforth, let Thursday now be known as Thor Thursday!  Nuff Said!

Here is an interesting factoid from Marvel fan Klaus Nordby: Heh! Maybe it'll console you to know that the English "Thursday" is etymologically derived from "Thor's day". Here in Norway, it's called "Torsdag" -- for we spell his name "Tor". Our Wednesday is called "Onsdag" -- which is derived from "Odin's day".

Thing Tuesdays: Marvel's Greatest Comics 39 cover by Jim Starlin

I have a fond attachment to Marvel’s reprint titles from the 1960s and 1970s.  This is where I was schooled in Mighty Marvel History, after all.  Marvel’s Greatest Comics was the home to Fantastic Four reprints, and issue #39 contained the story that originally appeared in FF #52, the debut of the Black Panther.

The reprint cover was by Jim Starlin and Joe Sinnott.  At first glance, you can’t determine the identity of the penciller, because Sinnott always managed to make these characters look consistent.  But if you look at the Thing, his expression and his stance, it is unmistakably a Starlin Thing.

Here’s the original art to the cover.  My apologies to the owner or gallery, I totally forgot where I found this scan!  Nuff said.

Jim Starlin's Rampaging Hulk and Namor the Sub-Mariner

Jim Starlin did a lot of work during the first year of Rampaging Hulk magazine, featuring work with Alex Nino and with Steve Gerber's Man-Thing.  He also painted a couple of covers which are really cool.

Rampaging Hulk #5 features the Hulk's on-again off-again ally, the Sub-Mariner, who never looked more regal than in this depiction by Starlin.  Ya gotta love the nasty expression on the Hulk's face as he looks upon Namor.  Unfortunately, Starlin did not draw the story inside.

Bonus:  here's a Marvel advertisement for this issue that appeared in other black and white magazines!

Starlin's third Hulk cover painting appeared on issue #7.  I like it the least of the three, perhaps because the Hulk isn't facing the viewer as in the other covers.  Nuff said.