Warlord #1

When The Warlord first appeared in 1975, I was immediately hooked.

I was already a fan of Mike Grell's art from his work on Legion of Super-Heroes and Green Lantern.

His work included elements of Neal Adams (strong anatomy and creative layouts) and Gil Kane (lots of power packed into each page), but still managed to be unique and always interesting.

I believe his work on Warlord was his first attempt as a writer and artist, and again he didn't disappoint. He managed to fuse together the high adventure of Edgar Rice Burroughs with the sword-and-sorcery genre, and threw in some science fiction for good measure.

For those who missed it, The Warlord is Travis Morgan, an Air Force pilot whose spy plane is shot down and crashes into the arctic. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself in Skartaris, the hollow world (apparently) inside the Earth where the sun shines constantly, and dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures lives alongside primitive humans.

It's an obvious riff on ERB's Pellucidar, but it made a great setting for Morgan's adventures, and the comic enjoyed a long run. I highly recommend any of the issues by Grell.

The Warlord hasn't fared as well under other creators, so it's good to see the character back with Grell again writing. Unlike other efforts, this issue makes no attempt at "rebooting" the story.

As per Grell's usual style, the story starts out quickly and never slows down, as we meet a new group of explorers who are apparently making their way to Skartaris.

We also get a quick recap of Morgan's story, and then the story blazes on. Grell hasn't lost a step, I'm happy to say.

He provides the covers, but the interiors are by Joe Prado and Walden Wong. Their work is quite good, and only suffers in comparison to Grell's. They have a good grip on the feel of the comic - the book is in good hands.

It's good to see this comic back again, and here's hoping for another long run of stories from Grell.

Grade: A-