Amazing Adventures #20
Published and © by Marvel, September 1973
Title: “The Warlord Strikes”
Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic New York, Killraven and his allies battle human thralls, a Martian tripod and a cyborg called Warlord.
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Penciler: Herb Trimpe
Inker: Frank Giacoia
Review: Following in the shadow of issues by Neal Adams and Howard Chaykin (see reviews of Amazing Adventure #18 and #19), you’d think this Herb-Trimpe-drawn outing would represent a major artistic drop-off. Not so. To be fair, those previous issues were plagued by unsympathetic inking. In contrast, Trimpe’s pencils exude a simple, almost-Kirbyesque power and Frank Giacoia’s inks do little harm. This issue isn’t high art, by any means, but the Trimpe/Giacoia team delivers serviceable support for this action-packed Marv Wolfman script. Killraven also gets a new costume: It’s a tad less homoerotic, but still every bit as ’70s chic!
Grade: B
Second opinion: “3 out of 4 stars.” – Comics Buyer’s Guide #1655, July 2009
Cool factor: Let’s go with the Herb Trimpe art – words we don’t type all that often around here!
Notable: First brief appearance of Old Skull.
Collector’s note: According to the Grand Comics Database, there is a 6p British variant of this issue. … According to MyComicShop.com, there is also a Mark Jewelers variant.
Character quotable: “Your sword is for slaying kittens, not mutants.” – Killraven, apparently a dog guy
Editor’s note: This review was written circa 2014.
