Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Warlord Wednesday: When the Gods Make War

Let's re-enter the lost world with another installment of my issue by issue examination of DC Comic's Warlord, the earlier installments of which can be found here...

"When the Gods Make War"
Warlord Annual #6 (1987)
Written by Michael Fleisher; Art by Pablo Marcos

Synopsis: It turns out the aliens Morgan tangled with in issue #121 were mining a previously unknown element that can increase the killing power of Apokolips’s forces. Desaad has named it “Darkseidium” to suck up to his master. Darkseid has gathered the forces of Apokolips for a a full scale invasion of Skartaris to acquire the element.

The New God Lightray has been held captive by Desaad. A couple of careless guards allow him the opportunity to escape after accidentally filling him in on the invasion plans. Lightray flies back to New Genesis and shares what he has learned with the other New Gods. Highfather, their leader,dispatches Lonar to Skartaris to join forces with the Warlord. When Lonar swoops do on his space horse, Morgan is wary at first but the New God convinces him they’re on the same side.

In Kiro, Tara has located Y’Smalla, the woman who's been masquerading as her, but before she can get revenge Desaad shows up. He tells Y’Smalla about the impending invasion and gives her orders to assassinate Machiste.


In Shamballah, Morgan and Lonar are marshaling the troops for the assault. They don’t have to wait long.


All across Skartaris, the gods wage war against humanity!

To be continued...

Things to Notice:
  • This is the last Warlord Annual of this series and the last one period, to date.
  • This issue features pinups by Gil Kane and Dan Jurgens. 
Where it Comes From:
The guest stars and villians in this annual spring from the mind of Jack Kirby, a cosmology that is often referred to as the "Fourth World." The concept made it's debut in Jimmy Olsen in 1970 and blossomed into four interrelating titles. Essentially, it told the story of the conflict between the new gods from New Genesis and their foes on the world of Apokolips. Kirby's titles only lasted until 1973. In 1977, an attempt was made to revive the series, but it died almost as soon as it was begun due to the "DC Implosion." By the time of this annual, however, the characters and their conflict had been integrated into the wider DC Universe--as had Warlord with the events of recent issues.