Warlord #5
Published and © by DC, February-March 1977
Title: “The Secret of Skartaris”
Synopsis: Morgan and Tara learn the secret history of Skartaris – but a forgotten subway might make it all for naught!
Writer: Mike Grell
Artist: Grell
Review: Warlord is nothing if not consistent. Creator Mike Grell again relies on practiced genre tropes – hidden caves, ancient-but-advanced societies, a mix of science-and-sorcery. And his reliance on convenient plot twists can be, well, convenient. But Grell clearly loves the world he’s building here and that passion is contagious. His art offers similar joy. Yes, the anatomy can still be shaky at times and his inks look rushed in places. But there’s a dynamic energy here. In an era where comics – and particularly DC comics – often felt like product, some authentic love for the material goes a long way.
Grade: B+
Cool factor: Grell is a fun storyteller …
Not-so-cool factor: … but those plot coincidences have to go.
Character quotable: “Scrolls of blood! Hah! Scrolls of baloney!” – The Warlord, a man who knows how to call BS
Editor’s note: This review was originally published by Sequential Reaction (Vol. 1) on July 7, 2016.
