Strange Tales #178 (February 1975)

In the Marvel Universe of the 1970s, there was an interest in the cosmic side, the area of the Marvel Universe beyond Earth. Roy Thomas, Neal Adams, and the Buscema Brothers helped bring Earth into the Kree-Skrull War. But the one most associated with the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe was writer/artist Jim Starlin. 

Starlin broke into the industry in 1972, working on Amazing Spider-Man. From there, he would go to Iron Man's book. It would be here that he introduced two characters that would become household names decades later: Drax the Destroyer and Thanos. From there, he would go to Captain Marvel's book. It would be here that he would begin working on a star-spanning cosmic saga that would touch several titles. During this time, he would also bring fame to another character that would play a role in his saga, and like Drax and Thanos before him, would become a household name thanks to the MCU: Adam Warlock.

Adam Warlock first debuted in Fantastic Four #66-67 (September-October 1967), created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. At that time, he was known only as "Him", an artificial man created by a group of scientists known as the Enclave intended to be a "perfect" being. His true first steps to become a major figure in the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe occurred at the hands of Roy Thomas and Gil Kane in Marvel Premiere #1 (April 1972). Inspired by the soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar, Thomas had intended on using Him as an allegory of Christ. He and Kane redesigned the character in homage to the Billy Batson Captain Marvel. 

Afterwards, Jim Starlin would revive the character, giving him adventures that were more cosmic in scope. And the start of that era is part of the comic we're looking at this week. So, is this iconic era getting a strong start, or is it an early stumbling block. Let's look at Strange Tales #178!

The cover is a Jim Starlin piece. It's pretty cool. It depicts our man Warlock front and center, clad in his original Billy Batson Captain Marvel-inspired look. Behind him to his right is the looming face of the Magus. And on his left is a woman doing some kind of space dance pose.

"Who is Adam Warlock?"
Writer: Jim Starlin
Penciler: Jim Starlin
Inker: Jim Starlin
Colorist: Jim Starlin
Letterer: Annette Kawecki
Editor: Len Wein
Editor-in-Chief: Marv Wolfman

The story begins with a being named Sphinxor from the Pegasus star system. I'm assuming he means one of the stars that form the Pegasus constellation.

“They wanted the Cryptkeeper, but his asking price was WAY too high.”

He'll be our narrator for this little tale. And he wants to regale us with a bit of history. The history of the being once known as Him, but now known as Adam Warlock. Warlock was an Earthling, but he was not born as most Earthmen are. He was an artificial being created by a group of scientists known as the Enclave in Fantastic Four #66 (September 1967). They wanted to create the perfect being. In the next issue, he rebelled against the Enclave. He would next cross paths with Thor himself. 

“THOU WILLST GET DRESSED!”

In Thor #165-166 (June-July 1969), the then-Him had desired a girlfriend. He chose Jane Foster, Thor's then-main squeeze. Naturally, the God of Thunder didn't take too kindly to this (didn't help that Foster didn't want to be Warlock's lady), and they fought.

This brawl ended with Warlock going into space, meditating on those events. The cocoon he used ended up in the claws of another figure you may know of thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: The High Evolutionary. Unlike the alien of the MCU, the Evolutionary of the comics is a human scientist known born Herbert Edgar Wyndham. It would be Wyndham who would name him "Warlock", as well as the Soul Gem that our resident golden boy would wear on his brow. Warlock would help the Evolutionary save the artificial world known as Counter-Earth.

Let me explain. Counter-Earth first appeared in Marvel Premiere #1 (April 1971). There have been a couple of them, but the High Evolutionary created the first one. It was an artificial world created by the High Evolutionary that was populated by humans in an attempt to create a "purer" world. This world would be menaced by another creation of the Evolutionary's: the Man-Beast. Fun fact, Warlock's first name "Adam" was given to him by some natives of Counter-Earth. 

Thanks to said Man-Beast, Counter-Earth would end up much like our world, with all the problems and madness it contains. This happened in Marvel Premiere #1-2 (April-May 1971), as well as Warlock #1-8 (August 1972-October 1973). Warlock would then go on to cross paths with the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #176-178 (June-August 1974). Warlock would undergo his first death and resurrection during that time. But after the adventure was over, Warlock felt space beckon to him, and went off to wander the stars. And we're finally done with the recap of Warlock's history up to that point.

The story begins proper with a young woman running for her life.

She's being chased by a group of aliens. Unfortunately, the woman twists her ankle and falls. It seems like there is no hope left for her. However, she ended up landing near Warlock.

“She also kicked my brother Jim in the nards.”

Hooray, Warlock is here!

The aliens explain that the woman is a heretic, an infidel, and she didn't look both ways before crossing the street. As such, the Universal Church of Truth has called for her to be...cleansed of her sins, if you know what I mean. Naturally, our man Adam doesn't take too kindly to that. And since this is a space superhero story, that means it's time for a good old fashioned super-brawl.

Warlock is doing well, easily thrashing these aliens, but the tides are turned thanks to a big brown bruiser known as Borgia. In the intergalactic pro wrestling circuit, he was called "Big Borgia".

“GOOD GAWD ALMIGHTY! THAT KILLED HIM!”

Borgia is a powerhouse, able to out-muscle Adam. Which makes sense. At this point, Adam could not access all of his power. As such, to get past this big bruiser, Adam has to use the Soul Gem that resides upon his brow. Sadly, this fight allows the alien men to...cleanse the young woman. The aliens teleport away before Adam could truly unleash his fury on them. However, he needs to know more about this crazy situation that he's found himself in. But the only one that can tell him anything is dead. But that's not quite the problem that you'd think. He uses the Soul Gem to temporarily reanimate the woman, so she can tell him what the deal is with these Universal Church of Truth guys.

It's time to learn the tale of the Universal Church of Truth.

5,000 years ago, a being known as the Magus appeared and set himself up as a living god. At first, the Church preached values that seemingly could be embraced by any sentient species: "love thy neighbor", "judge not lest ye be judged", basically don't be a mean jerk to others, that kind of thing. However, this church had a darker side to it. They were rather...aggressive in bringing people into the faith, and for those living in worlds controlled by the Church, it was little more than a dictatorship. And it was forcing even more worlds under its boot. Warlock wants to know more about the Magus himself. And the Magus himself is happy to answer.

“For the last time, I am NOT the Big Giant Head!”

The Magus sends a horde of aliens to overwhelm our man, but it doesn't work. The giant head then seemingly swallows Adam...inviting him to learn the Magus's secrets. 

It was decided that the Magus should never get ideas from Coney Island again.

The Magus tells Warlock not to fight him, as well...he is everything Warlock is...including everything Warlock hates. Adam then puts it together. The word "Magus" is from Latin. It derives from an Ancient Greek term meaning "magician". And what's a synonym for "magician"? That's right: Warlock. The Magus is Warlock. At least, a possible future version of him. Warlock then wakes up.

It would be easy for him to dismiss all he saw as a dream, but the corpse of the woman he met earlier is proof enough that it was cold reality. It leaves our man with a conundrum: how can he beat his future self without becoming his future self? However, the Church still needs to be stopped, and only Warlock can do it. 

I really enjoyed this comic. I imagine some would not like the recap of Warlock's history in the beginning, but I think it's important to help show how we got here. Also, as a bit of a Marvel history and continuity buff, it's really cool to see Warlock's journey from his birth in the pages of Fantastic Four to this point. This tale is mostly recap and setup, but it works for getting readers ready for the Magus Saga, in my opinion. It also helps establish that Warlock is rather different from many other Marvel superheroes in the 1970s. He's a being trying to find his purpose, a place in the universe, and he also has the heart of a hero. I personally wouldn't have revealed that the Magus was Warlock's future self this early, just hinted at it. 

In my experience, Starlin is more known as a writer than an artist, but his art is spectacular here. It really is. It reminds me of George Perez in many ways. It's very detailed, and a has a rather strong sense of storytelling. There are parts where he uses panels to help convey motion, and it's really cool.  

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2014 trade paperback Warlock by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection.