There were a lot of drugs being done by Marvel creators in the early 1970s. in his book, “Marvel Comics, the Untold Stories”, Sean Howe said that Jim Starlin, and Mike Friedrich would drop LSD and work on Captain Marvel. Sales went up on the book, and “soon Starlin was opening his fan mail … and finding complimentary joints sent by grateful, mind-blown readers.” When he took over Warlock, who’d been written as a “Christ-like figure” by Roy Thomas in his brief 8-issue solo title, was soon taken to Starlin, who Howe describes as a “recovering Catholic” and Starlin turned Warlock into a critique of religion as well as a protest against the “stylized stiflings of creative voices.”
Dipping into the beginning of his work with Warlock, in Strange Tales #178-181, Starlin’s psychedelic storytelling comes to the forefront. Since nobody was watching (Strange Tales was a very low-selling book, having been brought back from cancellation due to name recognition) Starlin was able to do whatever he wanted – and it worked. He took a bland, no personality character and made him cosmic!
Buckle up, this stuff is just trippy as hell.
Strange Tales #178 (February 1975) “Who is Adam Warlock?”
Jim Starlin (Writer/Penciler/Inker/Colorist), Annette Kawecki (Letterer), Len Wein (Editor)
Chapter I:
Our story begins with a recap of everything that’s happened to Adam Warlock, as told by Sphinxor from the Pegasus Star System, per instructions from “Uncle Stan”. I’ll summarize: In Fantastic Four #66 and 67, the Enclave created an artificial being that became known as “Him”. Him destroyed the lab he was created in, then wandered the cosmos. He later decided that he needed a mate, and that mate was Sif, paramour of Thor, Asgardian God of Thunder. They battled in Thor #165 & 166. He then entered a cocoon to meditate on his existence. Later (in Marvel Premier #1-2) he was discovered by the High Evolutionary, an enigmatic earthman who’d evolved himself into a God. He created the New Men, animals evolved into humanoid beings, then a second version of Earth, located on the far side of the sun, called “Counter-Earth”. The Evolutionary populated it with humans that were free of evil, but one of his creations, a New Man gone bad, Man-Beast, instilled evil in that world. The High Evolutionary gifted Adam the Soul Gem, but Adam eventually fell victim to the forces of evil on Counter-Earth and died. He resurrected himself and defeated the Man-Beast (Warlock #1-8 and Incredible Hulk #176-178). Warlock heard the calling of the stars, and he left Counter-Earth to its own devices.
Chapter II: Enter the Magus!
Now: A woman is running from intergalactic hunters, trying to find Warlock. She asks for his help, and the hunters reveal themselves as Grand Inquisitors of the Universal Church of Truth, tracking the girl since the Church has decided her soul is irredeemable. They mention the Holy Magus, then Warlock battles them, but they are able to murder the girl and teleport away. Warlock laments that he just wanted to be left alone, but now he’s got to deal with this thing. He uses the soul gem to grab her soul before she can depart. She speaks of the Universal Church of Truth, ruled by a deity named “the Magus” who came from the stars nearly 5,000 years ago. His teachings were basically good, but only applied to those within the Church, so if you’re outside the Church, the rules don’t apply. Under the current leadership, the Matriarch, to disobey Church doctrine is punishable by death.
If a world rejects the Church, the Church sends its Purification Fleet to eradicate the opposition. Before Warlock can pull any more info about Magus from her, Magus appears over his head and sends a legion of demons against him. Warlock fights them off, revealing his secret. Warlock can’t fight Magus off or ever defeat him, since Magus IS Warlock’s future self! Warlock vows to defeat Magus, no matter the cost.
Strange Tales #179 (April 1975) “Death Ship!”
Jim Starlin (Writer/Penciler/Inker), Tom Orzechowski (Letterer), Glynis Oliver Wein (Colorist), Len Wein (Editor)
Amazing splash page in this one, really capturing Warlock’s vast power as he watches a spaceship from a lingering asteroid. There’s a 1 ½ page recap of last issue.
Aboard the ship, Captain Autolycus orders the weapons to fire at Warlock, who is then captured. Warlock is bound, then thrown into the brig with all the other prisoners. There, Warlock realizes that theses beings are intelligent, yet do not speak any language he knows. He uses the Soul Gem to interpret for him. They explain that they are prisoners of the Church, who either refused slavery or were thought unable to do anything meaningful, so they were designated to be terminated and their remains broken down into useful chemical elements. According to the the Empire, only basically humanoid bipeds are considered sacred, as the Magus claims to have once walked as a human, so non-humanoids are considered to be from hell. Also, some humanoids, as we’re introduced to Pip the Troll.
Pip notes that he could probably escape alone but thinks it would be pointless for him to escape, but a whole Ark of prisoners would be hilarious. Autolycus has contacted the Matriarch, and she orders Warlock killed, as with him dead, Magus cannot exist, and she would be the undisputed leader of the Church. Autolycus doesn’t want to do it, but orders are orders. The prisoners, meanwhile, ask Warlock to lead them in revolt, which he refuses. He instead tells them the tale of Grak, the most powerful of a primitive tribe, who took more and more power for himself until he was overthrown. Warlock knows that he would fail if he led them. They get angry, but Warlock says he will fight with them, he just won’t lead.
As the prisoners start to rebel, Warlock disables a laser battery, preventing wholesale slaughter. Warlock works his way through the crew like the Bride taking out the Crazy 88 in Kill Bill, vol.1, working his way to Autolycus. Autolycus is not evil, per se, he just serves an evil master out of a sense of duty. They battle to what is essentially a stalemate, with Autolycus pulling his pistol. The Soul Gem opens up and absorbs Autolycus’ essence, leaving his body with no person. Not dead, but not alive. Warlock wonders to himself if the soul gem, being pretty evil, is responsible for the creation of Magus. He bids the former prisoners to lead themselves, free other prisoners, and create an eden for themselves. Warlock departs in a ship, but is surprised to find Pip, the Troll, waiting for him there.
Strange Tales #180 (June 1975) “The Judgment!”
Jim Starlin (Writer/Penciler/Inker/Colorist), Al Weiss (Story assist), Tom Orzechowski (Letterer), Len Wein (Editor)
(Starlin, doing almost complete creative work on this one, used anagrams in the credits, with Sam Jiltirn doing the writing, J.L. Minirats inking, and Ms. Natjirl doing the coloring. So yes, lots of LSD.)
Chapter I:
Warlock and Pip have arrived at Homeworld, a planet in a system in the Hercules constellation, home to the Universal Church of Truth. They’re there to destroy Warlock’s future self, Magus. Starlin kept his recap to one page this time, thankfully. In a bar, Pip encounters a Black Knight, and Pip being a Troll and all, the Black Knight has to exterminate him, as all Trolls, for their “degenerate ways”. Warlock disarms the Knight, but there are four more. Warlock dispatches them, but the Soul Gem wants to take their souls. He fights off the urge, then realizes that he must destroy the gem.
At the imperial palace, the Temporal Leader of the Church, the Matriarch, who wants Warlock as her slave, as that will allow her to rule the Church by controlling Magus’ past self.
In an alleyway, Warlock attempts to remove and destroy the gem, only to discover that he can’t function without it. It’s intertwined itself into Warlock’s psyche to the point where if he removes it, he becomes an empty shell. They are observed one of the Matriarch’s spy scanners, and they talk to her, revealing that she knew the danger of the Soul Gem. They will have to come to the palace to find out how she knew. Warlock disappears into the shadows, leaving Pip to fend for himself.
Warlock thinks to himself that Magus might be a construct of the soul gem, but he can’t be sure. He hopes the Matriarch can give him information that he needs to defeat Magus, since although they’re the same being, Magus is vastly more powerful than Warlock. When he arrives at the palace, She reveals to him that Magus is Warlock’s future self, and while he might not want it to happen, she won’t allow him to avoid his fate, because then she will never rule the Church and the thousand worlds in its empire. With that, she clicks a hidden switch and Warlock drops through a trap door.
Chapter II: “The Trial of Adam Warlock!”
Warlock comes face to face with Judge Kray-Tor, a gigantic head with legs and four arms. Warlock stands accused of paganism, heresy, witchcraft, and murder. The Judge informs him that his destruction will be carried out to the letter of the law, with the prosecution (a giant mouth with eyes) providing phony charges, lying witnesses, and falsified evidence. Warlock’s court-appointed defender is an eyeball that might be falling asleep. The jury of his peers is just a bunch of faceless mannequins, of course. Starlin is definitely critiquing the legal system here, as he did the Catholic Church in the previous story.
Warlock demands the charges be dropped, as the court gets its authority from Magus and Warlock IS the Magus. To complicate things, he demands that Magus try him directly. This is denied quickly, and Judge Kray-Tor tells him that they both know it’s a sham, but Warlock should play along. The first witness is one of the rebels from Strange Tales #179, but he accuses the Judge and every member of the court. He’s summarily executed, and the jury is instructed to disregard his testimony. They call a string of witnesses to accuse Warlock of all sorts of things, so Warlock objects and is gagged by the bailiffs. When the prosecution rests, the defense is asleep, so Kray-Tor asks the jury for their verdict, which is, of course, guilty.
Meanwhile, Pip goes to a tavern. In other news, water is wet. While there, a green woman approaches him, asking if he’s Pip. She’s not out to get the bounty on him, she’s instead there to help Warlock kill Magus, or, barring that, she will kill Warlock.
Back in the courtroom, Warlock is sentenced to a Church-House of Correction, essentially a brainwashing center. Warlock admits that he’d gone along with the whole thing to see how perverted Magus’ idea of justice is. Kray-Tor changes his sentence to death, but Warlock turns the tables and destroys Kray-Tor with the Soul Gem, the gem prodding him on the whole time. Warlock realizes, too late, that Kray-Tor believed he was in the right and that Warlock was the villain, and in destroying Kray-Tor, he’d proven him correct. Warlock collapses in front of the Matriarch, who knew that he’d destroy Kray-Tor. She also surmised that Warlock couldn’t be brainwashed while conscious, so she has him thrown into the “pit”, where the workers will indoctrinate him.
Strange Tales #181 (August 1975) “1,000 Clowns!”
Jim Starlin (Writer/Penciler/Colorist), Al Milgrom (Inker), Tom Orzechowski (Letterer), Len Wein (Editor)
Warlock awakens in a surreal environment, does his quick 1-page recap, then he’s confronted by Clowns. The clowns are analogs for Stan Lee (Lens Tean) and Jan Hatroomi (John Romita), who try to tell Warlock how things need to be for him to be happy. We flash quickly to the real Lens Tean, obviously a caricature of Lee. When they reach Jan Hatroomi, Warlock’s face is made over, but he rejects it (a shot at Romita redoing faces to make everything in Marvel homogenous. DC did the same thing with Kirby’s Superman when he was doing the Fourth World saga). The brainwashers have concerns about Warlock overcoming their attempts.
During the changing of the guard at the palace, Rhagor, one of the Black Knights, is accosted by the green woman from last issue. The Knight recognizes her as Gamora, the deadliest assassin in the galaxy. Pip is, of course, a bumbling incompetent. Rhagor gives up Warlock’s location and Gamora lets him go.
Back in Warlock’s brain, two more clowns, representing Marv Wolfman and Len Wein, are throwing pies at a third, representing Roy Thomas, who is on a cross. (Thomas was the only one that Starlin perceived was treating creators fairly. He had only been Editor of the comics line for a few years, replaced in quick order by Wein, then Wolfman. The latter two were not great to work for, based on my reading. Neither of them lasted in the job for more than about a year.) While Lens tries to stop the program from being overrun by Warlock when he’s interrupted by the Matriarch. Lens Tean tries to explain to her that they’re realigning Warlock’s criminal tendencies into a “socially acceptable” lifestyle, which is in line with Lee not wanting to rock the boat more than just a little bit with the comics line.
The Matriarch warns Teans that Warlock won’t be threatened into complying with them – she wants him to see the good he can do by joining them. She wants control over Warlock so she can control Magus. Outside, Gamora and Pip head for the palace. Back in the fantasyland, the tactics have changed – the clowns are building towers of garbage (Starlin’s take on the comics Marvel was putting out) that occasionally have diamonds in them. Warlock starts laughing and demands a way out. Len Teans directs him to the “doorway of madness”.
In reality, Pip and Gamora attack the technos, trashing them all. Warlock goes through and is attacked by the “Madness Monster” – realizing how evil it is. He blasts it with the Soul Gem, but it’s not affected. It reveals it is the madness of Warlock’s soul, Warlock has always denied it. He comes to terms with the monster and the helmet he’s wearing in reality shorts out and Warlock is free. Warlock says to Pip and Gamora that he now understands Magus, but he paid a high price for the knowledge: his sanity. Before he can explore it too much, Warlock is interrupted by Magus, who says that this might lead to his ultimate victory. Magus relays to Warlock that this is the moment where he realized that Magus was not all he purported to be. The true Magus is revealed, and it’s Warlock, all purple, with a giant lavender afro. I’m not kidding.
Warlock #9 (October 1975) “The Infinity Effect”
Jim Starlin (Writer/Penciler/Colorist), Steve Leialoha (Inker), Tom Orzechowski (Letterer), Len Wein (Editor)
Back in his own book, continuing the numbering from his old book, so we start with issue #9. (Nowadays, Marvel would have done a new #1, then run it for 9 issues, cancelled it, and we’d be on Warlock Volume 6 by now. My first act as czar of all comic books will be to enact a rule that prevents Marvel and DC from fucking with their numbering anymore. I don’t need to get into what a pain it’s been to track down all the various Avengers series. I digress. Shocking, I know.)
We pick up right where we left off at the end of Strange Tales #181, with Warlock, Pip, and Gamora facing off with Magus, in all his lavender glory. I guess his skin is silver, but he still looks moronic. Magus considers himself the final form of Warlock: the butterfly that has emerged from Warlock’s cocoon. Warlock won’t hear any of it and tries to attack, but Magus fends him off. They start speaking the same words, with Magus knowing where this is all going, Warlock trying to deny it. Magus orchestrated everything, from the girl running from the trackers to this very moment.
Gamora sends Pip after Magus, who quickly dispatches him. This gives Gamora the chance to contact her “master”. Gamora steps away from Magus, yet he cannot detect her. Her Master tells her to wait until the precise moment.
Magus lays out his plan for Warlock: He’s going to wait until Warlock has recovered sufficiently, then he will bathe him in radiation. The radiation will act as a beacon to bring a being known as the In-Betweener. In three hours, when the In-Betweener arrives, he will suck Warlock into his dimension. There, Warlock will be driven mad by the powers of order and chaos. Enlightened, he would emerge from his cocoon 5,000 years in the past, on Homeworld.
He had much more power, as he’d gotten to gestate for an extended period. After a year, he’d not only taken over the planet, he’d become its one true God. He’d then conquer 1000 worlds, eventually finding the Matriarch, a woman preordained to betray him. Warlock attacks, by Magus remembers the attack, easily countering it.
Gamora waits until Magus is about to begin summoning the In-Betweener to attack. At the last moment, Magus detects her and bats her away. Warlock realizes he’s about to become a god – but now he’s a stealer of souls. He does not wish to lose his humanity, but it seems to be too late for that.
Magus reveals to the Matriarch that he knows she will betray him and decides to have her killed. He orders his general to go to the room that Warlock, Pip, and Gamora are in and kill them. He doesn’t think they will succeed, but he wants to fuck with Warlock more.
Meanwhile, with Warlock seemingly defeated, Gamora decides to contact her master – she doesn’t have to update him, as he’s been following along. He phases in, and it’s THANOS. He’s here to help against Magus.
Warlock #10 (December 1975) “How Strange My Destiny!”
Jim Starlin (Writer/Penciler/Colorist), Steve Leialoha (Inker), Tom Orzechowski (Letterer), Marv Wolfman (Editor)
Part I, Chapter I: The Price!
This one picks up right where the last one left off, with the Black Knights rushing in to exterminate Warlock, Thanos, Gamora, and Pip. Thanos won’t be handled by rabble, so he smacks them away. He grabs Warlock to goad him into fighting, saying “I can’t save you without your help!” Warlock and Gamora join the fight, forming a defensive line around Thanos, who decimates the Black Knights with his eye-beams. Eventually, however, the situation becomes untenable, and they decide to retreat.
When they get outside, there are hundreds of thousands of Knights in the plaza. Warlock and Gamora want to fight, but Thanos has a better plan: blow a hole in the floor for them to escape to the catacombs. Warlock, Gamora, and Pip go through the hole, but Thanos does not follow. Warlock says that Thanos can likely handle himself. He only has 2 ½ hours left to defeat Magus, so they can’t go back for him, or anyone else who falls. Starlin messes with his 1-page recap ™ here, doing a collage and a column of typeset text. Different look for that.
Warlock says that he doesn’t comprehend what’s going on, but he realizes that his subconscious has been guiding him since his encounter with the mind-monster. It leads him to the Matriarch, dying in the pit. She dies, telling Warlock his goal is impossible. He lashes out after she passes, but Thanos appears, saying Warlock has chosen the path of the living, while he, Thanos, has chosen the path of Death. He tells Warlock that the price that Warlock will pay is pain.
Chapter II: “Who is Thanos?”
Captain Marvel does a quick origin of Thanos, and his story so far. He recaps the events of Captain Marvel #25-33; then explains how they thought destroying the Cosmic Cube would destroy Thanos. It did not, merely returning him to his mortal form, drifting at the center of the universe. Somehow, Thanos is back, and Cap lets us know that no matter what he has planned, it’s evil.
Chapter III: “The Redemption Principle!”
Thanos phases them to his ship, Sanctuary, with Warlock sensing that it possesses the power to shatter a planet. Thanos says that is not his goal, currently, only the defeat of Magus. Thanos notices that Warlock has sensed, rather than recognized, the ship’s power. Thanos says this is likely because Warlock is tapping into his future knowledge, as this is how Warlock knew how to navigate the catacombs under the palace.
Warlock asks him why is he aiding him? Thanos’ reply? Out of the goodness of his heart. Warlock notes this is an impossibility, since Thanos has no heart. Thanos agrees, but he does have dreams, and his dream is to rule Titan again, utilizing a Time Machine he’s built, as well as Warlock’s soul gem. He can’t act on the plan immediately, since Warlock’s future self might negate his plan. This is why Thanos is trying to murder Magus, first using Gamora.
Quick origin of Gamora here: Her people were eradicated by Magus’ Holy Army, so Thanos took her and raised her on Sanctuary, giving her power enough to kill Warlock. He also allowed her to get her vengeance on the Church by sending her through time to do it before it happened. Pre-revenge? I don’t know. Thanos was hoping to screw up the time stream so badly that Magus could be killed before summoning the In-Betweener. This didn’t work, as Magus was able to sense Gamora at the last moment and her attempt failed. Thanos decides that the next step should be Warlock’s suicide.
Back on Homeworld, the existence of Thanos is revealed to Magus, so he spies on Thanos. While doing this, he discovers Thanos’ time probe, sensing that he can be defeated. Magus decides to lead the fight against Warlock personally.
Warlock knows that the only way to defeat Magus is to destroy his own soul, so he agrees to have Thanos send him through time to do it.
Warlock #11 (February 1976) “How Strange My Destiny”
Jim Starlin (Writer/Layouts/Colorist), Steve Leialoha (Finished Art), Tom Orzechowski (Letterer), Marv Wolfman (Editor)
Chapter IV: “Escape into the Inner Prison!”
Magus and his knights burst into the control room via a portal, with Magus ordering them to kill everyone except Warlock. As the battle rages we get a quick recap because of course we do. I swear it was a way for Starlin to get his page count up. Thanos wants Warlock to use the soul gem to eliminate their enemies, but Warlock can’t bring himself to do it. Thanos pushes and pushes until Warlock starts to waver, the gem prodding him along as well, until Warlock lashes out, killing all of the knights.
Magus says this is just proof that Warlock that he, Magus, is not a perverted version of Warlock’s soul, but the true version. Thanos blasts Magus, saying he rejects Magus’ truth. Thanos sends Warlock through the time probe, telling him he will know what to do when he gets there. Pip tags along and they wind up in Kismet. Warlock says that he knows he must kill himself to save the universe from Magus.
Thanos and Magus battle, with Thanos telling Magus about how he is opposed to him because Magus is a force of life, while Thanos is a force for Death. Back in Kismet, Warlock and Pip spy a pair of feet, one wearing a white boot, the other a black boot.
Chapter V: “The Strange Death of Adam Warlock!”
It’s the In-Betweener!
He says he won’t fight, but Warlock attacks anyway. In-Betweener is immune to the soul gem due to his nature, being both life and death, reality and illusion, good and evil, etc. He tells Warlock, who continues to launch ineffectual attacks, that all of this has a noble purpose behind it. There’s a struggle between both life and death, and Magus is a champion of life, with a new champion of death recently arriving on the scene.
He tells Warlock that he’s got FIVE MINUTES LEFT and Warlock loses it. Meanwhile, Thanos and Magus continue to battle, with Magus having been created to counter Thanos’ scheme of TOTAL STELLAR GENOCIDE! Thanos detonates half his ship, Gamora barely escaping.
Warlock finally figures out that In-Betweener cannot kidnap him until the precise pre-ordained moment. He finds the physical manifestation of his life’s crossroads, seeing the dark path that leads to him becoming Magus. He purifies it with his soul gem, causing Magus to fade from existence, as Warlock finds a new path for his soul to go – the shortest path. He arrives at the end of his own life, some months in the future, finding himself collapsed following a battle.
This version of Warlock is a beaten man, welcoming death after the ruin his life has become. The current Warlock absorbs his soul to prevent him from becoming Magus. The only ones who remember what has happened are Warlock, Thanos, Gamora, and Pip, as they were at the center of the events. The rest of the universe will go on without the Universal Church of Truth having existed.
Thanos thinks to himself that the Forces of Life have no hero to challenge him, the champion of Death. Nobody left to stop him from committing stellar genocide. He and Gamora, who is unaware of his true plan, move on to other things, for now.
Back on Homeworld, Pip and Warlock return to a world that’s never known the Universal Church. Warlock sees the woman who would have become Matriarch – but instead of talking to her, He and Pip go and get a drink.
From some other planet... 