Warlord #27
Published and © by DC, November 1979
Title: “Atlantis Dying”
Synopsis: Sent back to the dawn of his existence, Warlord relives multiple lives – but will he return to Skartaris?
Writer: Mike Grell
Penciler: Grell
Inker: Vince Colletta
Review: From its inception (see review of 1st Issue Special #8), Warlord was an amalgamation of several popular fantasy-fiction tropes. Creator Mike Grell layers on another here, casting Travis Morgan as the latest iteration of an “eternal-champion”-style warrior spirt. Admittedly, it’s interesting seeing Warlord linked to a lineage that includes characters fictional and real, from Lancelot to Jim Bowie. But the series is struggling to grow past its inspirations, and the series’ titular character is struggling to grow at all. In fact, despite living multiple lives in this single issue, Warlord ends up exactly where he began.
Grade: B
Cool factor: The eternal-champion motif gives Grell a chance to draw some classic adventure characters.
Not-so-cool factor: Why is one of the warrior reincarnations the scientist who doomed Atlantis?
Character quotable: “I have… a feeling something is gnawing at the back of my memory… trying to get out!” – Gaius Thetalos, Atlantean scientist (and warrior spirit?)
Editor’s note: This review was written Feb. 16, 2024.
