The Warlord is a

sword and sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S), or heroic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of Romance (love), romance, Magic (fantasy), magic, and the supernatural are also ...

character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. Created by writer-artist

Mike Grell Mike Grell (born September 13, 1947) is an American comic book writer and artist, known for his work on books such as '' Green Lantern/Green Arrow'', '' The Warlord'', and '' Jon Sable Freelance''. Early life Grell studied at the University of ...

, he debuted in '' 1st Issue Special'' #8 (November 1975). The titular character, Travis Morgan, obtains the name "Warlord" as he fights for the freedom of the people of Skartaris.

Development

Grell described the Warlord's genesis "as a comic strip called ''Savage Empire''... ''Savage Empire'' was born of my admiration for

Hal Foster Harold Rudolf Foster, FRSA (August 16, 1892 – July 25, 1982) was a Canadian-American comic strip artist and writer best known as the creator of the comic strip '' Prince Valiant''. His drawing style is noted for its high level of draftsmanship ...

's ''

Prince Valiant ''Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur'', often simply called ''Prince Valiant'', is an American comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full s ...

'' and

Burne Hogarth Burne Hogarth (born Spinoza Bernard Ginsburg, December 25, 1911 – January 28, 1996) was an American artist and educator, best known for his work on the ''Tarzan (comics), Tarzan'' newspaper comic strip and his series of anatomy books for artis ...

's ''Tarzan'', combined with my fascination with archaeology and lost civilizations". Grell described pitching his idea to DC Comics: "I completely revised the concept from ''Savage Empire'' into ''The Warlord''. The story of an archeologist who stumbles through a time portal and winds up in Atlantis became the story of US spy pilot whose

SR-71 The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a retired Range (aeronautics), long-range, high-altitude, Mach number, Mach 3+ military strategy, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Co ...

is damaged while on a mission over Russia and plunges through an opening at the North pole into the world at the center on the earth, where creatures of from mythology and Earth's ancient past co-exist amid fantastic cities and leftovers of the civilization of

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

... drawing on many sources, including my own US Air Force experiences to lend a note of authenticity to the characters background. Choosing the new setting was easy, as a kid one of my favorite books was

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

's 1864 classic ''

Journey to the Center of the Earth ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel written by French novelist Jules Ve ...

'', I lsodrew on...'' The Smoky God, The Hollow Earth'', and

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...

' ''

Pellucidar Pellucidar is the fictional internal surface of a Hollow Earth invented by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. In a crossover event, Tarzan, who was also created by Burroughs, visits Pellucidar. The ...

'' series".

Publication history

The character the Warlord debuted in '' 1st Issue Special'' #8 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

d November 1975). The decision to give the Warlord his own series had already been made by the time his ''1st Issue Special'' debut went into production. He starred in ''The Warlord'' #1 (February 1976), followed by an eight-month hiatus after issue #2, picking up again with #3 (November 1976). The title lasted 133 issues until Winter 1988. Creator Mike Grell wrote and drew the comic for six years, handing over the art chores after issue #59 (July 1982). Issues #53 through #71 were ghost-written by Grell's then-wife Sharon Wright.

Backup features

A continuation of

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

's '' OMAC'' series, by

Jim Starlin James P. Starlin (born October 9, 1949) is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, an ...

, was featured as a backup for several issues (#37–39 and #42–47). '' Arak, Son of Thunder'', created by

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

and

Ernie Colón Ernesto Colón SierraColón in English translation of Via (July 13, 1931 – August 8, 2019) was a stateside Puerto Rican comics artist, known for his wide-ranging career illustrating children's, superhero, and horror comics, as well as main ...

, first appeared in a special insert in ''The Warlord'' #48 (August 1981).

Claw the Unconquered Claw is a sword and sorcery superhero in comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Claw the Unconquered'' #1 (June 1975), in which he was created by writer David Michelinie and designed by artist Ernie Chan. Similar in many ways ...

appeared in a two–part backup feature in issues #48–49 by

Jack C. Harris Jack C. Harris (born August 30, 1947) is an Americans, American comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics. Biography Early life and career Jack C. Harris attended the University of the Arts (Ph ...

and

Thomas Yeates Thomas Yeates (born January 19, 1955) is an American comic strip and comic book artist best known for illustrating the comic strips ''Prince Valiant'' and ''Zorro'' and for working on characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Career Thomas Yea ...

. ''Dragonsword'' was a backup feature by

Paul Levitz Paul Levitz (; born October 21, 1956) is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002 to 2009, he worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles. Along with publisher Jenette Kahn ...

and Yeates which appeared in #51–54 (November 1981–February 1982). ''

Arion Arion (; ) was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb. The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant of Corinth. Although notable for his mu ...

'', a sword and sorcery title by writer

Paul Kupperberg Paul Kupperberg (; born June 14, 1955) is an American writer and comics editor. He is currently a writer and executive editor at Charlton Neo Comics and Pix-C Webcomics, and a contributing author with Crazy 8 Press. Formerly, he was an editor for ...

and artist

Jan Duursema Jan Duursema (; born October 27, 1954) is an American comics artist known for her work on the ''Star Wars'' comics franchise. She is the creator of Denin and Vila from Naldar, the Twi'lek Jedi Aayla Secura and the Kiffar Jedi Quinlan Vos. Car ...

, began as a six–page backup feature in ''The Warlord'' #55 (March 1982). Another backup feature was ''The Barren Earth'' by writer

Gary Cohn Gary David Cohn (born August 27, 1960) is an American businessman and philanthropist who served as the 11th director of the National Economic Council and chief economic advisor to President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2018. He managed the administ ...

and artist

Ron Randall Ron Randall (born November 22, 1956) is an American comic book artist best known as the creator of the character Trekker. Career A graduate of The Kubert School, Ron Randall's first published comic book work was a two-page backup story titled ...

, which was concluded in a four–issue limited series. A Bonus Book in issue #131 (September 1988) featured artist

Rob Liefeld Robert Liefeld (; born October 3, 1967) is an American comic book creator. A prominent writer and artist in the 1990s, he is known for co-creating the character Cable (comics), Cable with writer Louise Simonson and the character Deadpool with wri ...

's first work for DC.

Volume 2

A six-issue miniseries ran cover-dated January to June 1992. It was written by

and penciled by Dameon Willich, with inks by

Rick Hoberg Richard Renick Hoberg (; born June 7, 1952) is an American comics artist and animator. Newspaper strips Hoberg began his career in comic books in the mid-1970s, working for Russ Manning on ''Tarzan'' comic books for overseas distribution (1975� ...

(#1-3) and Tim Burgard (#4-6).

Volume 3

DC attempted to update ''The Warlord'' in 2006 with Bruce Jones writing and

Bart Sears Bart Whitman Sears (born 1963) is an American comics artist, toy and packaging designer and author, known for his work on such books as ''Justice League Europe'', '' Legends of the Dark Knight'', ''X-O Manowar'', ''Turok'', '' Violator'', ''The He ...

providing the art. This series restarted the concept, beginning with Travis Morgan arriving in Skartaris. The series left a number of story points unanswered as issue #9 finished on a cliffhanger, while the tenth and final issue had a standalone story set sometime in the future.

Volume 4

''The Warlord'' returned in an ongoing series written by Mike Grell in time for the original series' 35th anniversary. The series started in April 2009, featuring art by Joe Prado and Chad Hardin. It ran for 16 issues.

Fictional character biography

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

veteran

pilot Travis Morgan passed through a hole in the Earth's crust while flying over the north pole in 1969 and landed in the underground world of Skartaris. There, Travis, wielding his .44 AutoMag pistol and joined by Shamballah's Princess (later Queen) Tara, becomes The Warlord and battles villains such as the evil sorcerer

Deimos Deimos, a Greek word for ''dread'', may refer to: In general * Deimos (deity), one of the sons of Ares and Aphrodite in Greek mythology * Deimos (moon), the smaller and outermost of Mars' two natural satellites Fictional characters * Deimos (comi ...

as well as various kings. He gained various sidekicks such as

Machiste Machiste is a supporting character in ''Warlord (DC Comics), Warlord'', a sword and sorcery comic book published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Warlord'' #2 (March 1976), and was created by Mike Grell. Fictional character biography Machist ...

, Shakira, Russian scientist Mariah Romanova, and his magic-wielding daughter Jennifer Morgan. In one story arc, Morgan even becomes the U.S. President in the far future. Although The Warlord has a superficial resemblance to the DC character

Oliver Queen Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' No. 73 on September 19, 1941 (cover dated November 1941), th ...

, he is based more upon his creator Mike Grell, who was a former member of the Air Force. Grell is caricatured in Warlord's first appearance, '' 1st Issue Special'' #8, sporting The Warlord's signature shaggy goatee. Grell and editor

made a

metafiction Metafiction is a form of fiction that emphasizes its own narrative structure in a way that inherently reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story ...

appearance Appearance may refer to: * Visual appearance, the way in which objects reflect and transmit light * Human physical appearance, what someone looks like * ''Appearances'' (film), a 1921 film directed by Donald Crisp * Appearance (philosophy), or ...

in the story "Gambit" in ''The Warlord'' #35 (July 1980). Volume 4 of the series begins with an explorer finding preserved dinosaur remains in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. She takes the head of one to a doctor and an expedition is set up to retrieve more samples. The team is spotted by the Chinese government and flee into the caves after losing several members. They discover a portal and after walking through find themselves in Skartaris, where they encounter Travis Morgan. Morgan is attacked by a giant bird and kills it with the help of Shakira. Refugees enter Shamballah and Morgan discovers that a new god has taken over the Shadow Kingdom and has overrun Kiro, Machiste's homeland. One of the refugees is injured and carries a gunshot wound. Travis later battles his son Joshua, also known as Tinder, who kills him and assumes the Warlord title.

Other versions

An alternate universe variant of Warlord appears in '' Flashpoint''. This version is a pirate captain.

In other media

Television

The Warlord appears in the ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is an American superhero animated series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation with DC Comics in season 3 and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Universe, and ...

'' episode "Chaos at the Earth's Core", voiced by

Paul Guilfoyle Paul Vincent Guilfoyle () (born April 28, 1949) is an American character actor. He was a regular cast member of the CBS crime drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', on which he played Captain Jim Brass from 2000 to 2014. He returned for ...

. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.

Film

The Warlord appears in '' Justice League: Warworld'', voiced by

Teddy Sears Edward M. Sears (born April 6, 1977) is an American actor, known for his roles as Richard Patrick Woolsley on the TNT legal drama series '' Raising the Bar'', Patrick on the first season of FX anthology horror drama ''American Horror Story'' ( ...

Video games

The Warlord appears as a character summon in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''.

Merchandise

* In 1982, Warlord received a 5.5" action figure in the

Remco Remco Industries Inc. was an American toy company. Founded in 1949, it is known for toys integrating technology and innovation from their inception. The company's slogan in its early TV commercials was, "Every Boy Wants a Remco Toy...And So Do ...

line "Lost World of The Warlord". * In 2007, Warlord received an action figure in Series 4 of

DC Direct DC Direct is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery that sells collectibles based on DC Comics characters (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.). Prior to 1998, merchandise sold by DC Comics was branded with the DC Comics logo rather than with t ...

's "First Appearance" figures. * In 2010, the ''Justice League Unlimited'' incarnation of Warlord received an action figure in the DC Universe: Justice League Unlimited Fan Collection.

Collected editions

* DC Comics reprinted several early stories from ''The Warlord'' in ''DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest'' #10 (June 1981). This

digest size Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine, but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately . It is also a and format, similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes evolved from the printing ...

collection included a new wraparound painted cover by Mike Grell and an introduction. * ''DC’s First Issue Specials'' collects ''1st Issue Special'' #8, 272 pages, March 2020, * ''The Warlord: The Savage Empire'' (1991) - collects ''1st Issue Special'' #8 and ''The Warlord'' #1–10 and 12, November 1991, 240 pages, * ''

Showcase Presents ''Showcase Presents'' is a line (comics), line of black-and-white paperback books that were published by DC Comics (from 2005 - 2016) at an average rate of two per month. Much like Marvel Comics' ''Essential Marvel'' volumes, each book usually incl ...

: The Warlord'' (2009) - collects ''1st Issue Special'' #8 and ''The Warlord'' #1–28, September 2009, 528 pages, * ''DC Through the 80s: The End of Eras'' collects ''The Warlord'' #42, 520 pages, December 2020, * ''DC Through the 80s: The Experiments'' collects the Arak and Arion stories from ''The Warlord'' #48 and 55, 504 pages, May 2021, * ''Warlord: The Saga'' - collects ''The Warlord'' vol. 4 #1–6, March 2010, 144 pages, * ''Countdown Special: OMAC'' #1 (2008) - collects OMAC backup stories from ''The Warlord'' #37–39 as well as ''OMAC'' #1 and ''DC Comics Presents'' #61.

References

External links

*
The Warlord
at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe {{Authority control 1976 comics debuts 1988 comics endings 1992 comics endings 2007 comics endings 2010 comics endings Characters created by Mike Grell Comics by Dan Jurgens Comics by Michael Fleisher Comics characters introduced in 1975 DC Comics fantasy characters DC Comics male superheroes DC Comics military personnel DC Comics titles Defunct American comics Fantasy comics Fictional aviators Fictional swordfighters in comics Fictional United States Air Force personnel Fictional Vietnam War veterans Fictional warlords Fiction about the Hollow Earth Lost world comics