Marvel Treasury Edition: Rampaging Hulk

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Adam Warlock, Counter Earth, Gerry Conway, Herb Trimpe, High Evolutionary, Hulk, Inhumans, Marvel Comics, marvel treasury edition, Rampaging Hulk, Roy Thomas, Warlock

Marvel collected some of the Hulk’s adventures in two Marvel Treasury Editions. #24, with the staggeringly low cover price of $2, finds Hulk playing a major role in the early development of Adam Warlock. Warlock here is in transition. Fantastic Four #67 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby gave us the origin of Warlock, though he had not even a name back then. (It’s reprinted in Marvel’s Greatest Comics #50 if you want to own the issue without spending an arm and a leg on it.) After this story, Jim Starlin would take on Warlock and make the fledgling character truly great. Starlin’s first issue recalls some of the key plot points from the issues presented here.

In the opening chapter, Hulk tangles with the Inhumans and gets shot into space where (hopefully) he can’t hurt anyone. Greg Pak ran with this same idea in recent years, landing Hulk on a distant planet where he becomes a great warrior and leader, Gladiator-style. Gerry Conway sets Hulk on “Counter-Earth” instead, where the High Evolutionary has created some anthropomorphic Ani-Men (animal + men) that have become caught up in a war. It seems that these “furries” have many of the same conflicts we do!

This conflict brings Warlock and the Hulk together, and our lumbering green Goliath finds one of the few friends he will ever make in comics. Hulk’s love and dedication for his new friend take on an innocent, childlike tone that gives us another side of his character, while Warlock plays out a Christ story in his capture, death, and heroic resurrection.

Along the way we get some glorious Herb Trimpe splash pages, and a giant-sized two-page spread designed for this edition. Trimpe’s art really sings in this large format. Though the political and religious themes of the story seem aimed at a more adult reader, the writing is geared for young readers, too. Trimpe’s artwork embraces the childlike silliness of comics while delivering some fairly intense pathos and drama at the same time.

We read this Treasury Edition several times as a kid in the early 1980s, just after it came out in 1979. It was fun to pick up and read again, even if the story wasn’t quite as fresh these days as it was back then. Trimpe just kills it, as you can see on many of the pages in this post.

You can usually find Marvel Treasury Edition #4: Rampaging Hulk in stock for a reasonable price. It’s perfect for fans of the classic Bronze-Age Hulk as well as Warlock collectors.

Thanos of Titan Has Come to Make Amends!

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Adam Warlock, Gamora, Jim Starlin, Pip the Troll, Thanos, Warlock

Always trying to conquer the universe just to destroy the whole damn thing can become a stressful occupation after a while. Jim Starlin’s stony-faced Titan, Thanos, ponders his failure to win as the ultimate bad guy of all bad guys ever, and he has a change of heart. For the first issue of Thanos’ short-lived solo series, Starlin brings back his familiar cast of characters: Adam Warlock, Gamora, and Pip the Troll. Starlin’s story takes up the first half of this series, with Keith “Legion of Superheroes” Giffen picking up the script for the second half.

Collector’s Guide: from Thanos #1. Reprinted in Thanos TPB #4. Reprinted in Thanos: Epiphany.

The Infinite Well Remembers My Touch!

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Al Milgrom, Galactus, Infinity Wars, Jim Starlin, Magus, Ron Lim, Thanos, Warlock

Ron Lim goes all out with cosmic fireworks for the final showdown of Infinity War. While we couldn’t get into this series at all, despite being fans of Starlin’s older work, we do like a good light show.

This series follows the events of Infinity Gauntlet. Jim Starlin brings back Thanos and Warlock for another struggle for the fate of the entire universe. Warlock’s evil other self, the Magus, intends to conquer everything. We would have preferred the Magus stay dead after all the trouble Warlock went through to make sure he never existed. But, these Warlock/Thanos events proved too popular for Marvel to let the dead rest. And who are we to begrudge Jim Starlin the opportunity to cash in at Marvel with characters he revitalized or created in the 1970s? After the Metamorphosis Odyssey, he’d certainly earned the artistic right to crank out several volumes of standard superhero fare for a mainstream audience.

Collector’s Guide: from Infinity War #6; Marvel, 1992. Reprinted in Infinity War TPB; Marvel, 2006.

The Beginning of Adam Warlock!

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Adam Warlock, Fantastic Four, first appearance of Warlock, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Warlock

Adam Warlock began his career at Marvel as part of a mad experiment in Fantastic Four #66 and #67. We knew this much from Jim Starlin’s recap when he took over Warlock in the 1970s. But, it wasn’t until more recently we got our hands on reprints of this tale in Marvel’s Greatest Comics #49 and #50. Jack Kirby’s artwork on Warlock’s first appearance knocks us out!

Jim Starlin’s Psychic Battle Motif: Infinity Abyss 3

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Doctor Strange, Infinity Abyss, Jim Starlin, moondragon, Thanos, Warlock

In the third issue of Infinity Abyss, Jim Starlin uses one of his favorite themes: the psychic/mystic battle in which the two combatants appear to merge. Here we see the bodies of Doctor Strange and Moondragon appear as a single entity. Starlin uses this device to show antagonists struggling for ego supremacy. They fight to maintain their very identities while subsuming the identity of their opponent.

The final page of Infinity Abyss #3 recapitulates this struggle on the cosmic plane. The two beings Eternity and Infinity appear before Adam Warlock in a similarly merged being.

We’ve looked at Starlin’s use of the dual identity before in a psychic battle between Thanos and Galactus. Tomorrow, we’ll dig deeper into the Starlin archives for a scene from Dreadstar.

Collector’s Guide: Collected in Infinity Abyss TPB. Originally printed as Infinity Abyss #3; Marvel, 2002.

Jim Starlin’s Warlock Takes on 1000 Clowns!

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1000 Clowns, Jim Starlin, Warlock, Warlock Special Edition

In the mid-1980s, we discovered Warlock. We’d been rocking out with Dreadstar and wanted to read more from this cat Jim Starlin. We liked the series, but it wasn’t until we got to 1000 Clowns that we realized Jim Starlin was talking to us. He was writing a metaphor about our lives. Yes, just for us, little Martians that we were.

In 1000 Clowns, Jim Starlin lays it on the line. The people telling you what to believe and telling who you are — they’re all tools. They’re clowns, and they are indoctrinating you into their ridiculous beliefs. Starlin further demonstrates the only way to overcome their programming is to confront the deepest, darkest side of yourself. Starlin cautions that although you will gain incredible self-awareness this way, it may also drive you a bit insane — this integration with what Carl Jung called The Shadow.

Jim, you just about drew the roadmap for our teens and twenties, and we’d like to thank you. It was a rough ride at times. But, like Warlock, we eventually found a way to alter our unalterable future.

Collector’s Guide:
– Originally printed in Strange Tales #181; Marvel,
– Reprinted in Fantasy Masterpieces #11; Marvel Comics, 1968.
– The complete Starlin Warlock epic was reprinted in 1982 as Warlock Special Edition and again in 1992 as the Warlock Limited Series. Both reprints are the same material, but with different covers.

Note: Starlin might have taken the title to this story about non-conformism from a 1962 play called A Thousand Clowns.