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February 23, 2006
DC Comics New Warlord: Is a Reboot Necessary?
I'm cranky again. I tried to make a pledge to myself, not to be cranky for just one day. Then I read this week's new Warlord #1 from DC Comics and fell off the wagon. It's written by Bruce Jones and drawn by Bart Sears. Jones decided to reboot the series from scratch, starting in the present day, with test pilot Travis Morgan crash landing in Skartaris. Skartaris, for those who don't know, is one of those Pellucidars, Savage Lands, Lands-That-Time-Forgot places. Located in an extra-dimensional realm (rather than the Earth's core), Skartaris has sorcerers, demons, barbarians, ancient kingdoms-perfect for any family vacation. In the new first issue, I thought the black and white pages that retold Morgan's origin were flashbacks. A few pages later, when almost nothing happens in the present, I realized I was wrong. It is a complete reboot. We see Morgan's plane go down, but most of the story centers on Tara, a princess who's about to be rodgered to death by a barbarian fighter unless she gets some big muscle protection. Enter the stranger from another land: Travis. I just told you the entire plot of Warlord #1 in half a paragraph!
It's OK and I suppose I shouldn't shoot down a title based on one issue. But I can't understand why it was necessary to reboot Warlord. It's hard to imagine now, but Warlord was one of DC's most successful titles when it was published in 1976. Written and drawn by Mike Grell, I often found Warlord to be more interesting than Conan, because it took a man from the 20th century and plopped him into a savage world. Grell pretty much institutionalized the double-page splash that occurs everywhere now, on pages 2 & 3. He developed a colorful cast of supporting characters (especially the women) and villains Morgan teamed up with various heroes in the DC Universe, including Green Arrow when Grell wrote that series. I can't see throwing all of this away.
Bruce Jones has done this before, ignoring everything that has come before to do his own thing. Hulk and Kazar are prime examples. I would rather that Jones had kept the history, tweaked the characters to modernize them, and add new layers of mystery into Skartaris. Oh well…how many old farts are left to recall the old Warlord, which ceased publication in 1988? Venting all of this hasn't made me any less cranky. It's time to break out those Partridge Family 8-tracks. Come on get happy! Nuff said.
