Favourite Comics: Strange Tales issue 178 – Warlock

After his own self-titled comic “The Power of Warlock” ceased publication after only 8 issues in October 1973, Adam Warlock was brought back as the main feature in the (then) long running Strange Tales comic in February 1975. I can still vividly recall the day I first saw the above iconic Jim Stariln cover in one of the many newsagents (now a café) in my local town. My abiding memory of this comic wasn’t initially about the stunning art or storyline, but in my brothers reaction to seeing the comic. By this time he wasn’t really a big comic book fan being (to me as a 14 year old) way too old for comics at 20 years old (little did I know I would still be reading them decades later lol). But he was so taken with the book that he asked me to pick up the next issue which I did until the series finished in Strange tales issue 181 before being catapulted back into his own title “Warlock” in October 1975 (taking up its numbering from the first series with issue 9) which my brother (and myself of course) also read until that series finally ended in November 1976 with issue 15. Every time I see the above cover it not only reminds me of that great Starlin series but more importantly to myslef, it provides a memory of my late brother sitting in our living room chair in his office suit (grey flares and a thick 1970s tie) after he had finished work reading that issue.

The opening splash page of Jim Starlin’s Warlock.

Starlin provided the above wonderfully paced and designed 4 page recap of Warlocks origin before beginning his own tale where a woman attempts to warn Warlock of the Universal Church of Truth before being assassinated by the Grand Inquisitor. Later in this issue the Magus reveals himself to Warlock (see below), who it turns out is an alternate version of himself who has become corrupted with power and sets himself up as a God. As the series develops it becomes self-evident that Starlin has used Warlock/Magus as metaphor for those that follow faith blindly without questioning its leaders motives. Religious iconography aside the series was an exceptionally well written and illustrated comic book adventure.