Warlord Wednesday: Double Entendre

Let's re-enter the lost world with another installment of my issue by issue examination of DC Comic's Warlord, the earlier installments of which can be found here...

"Double Entendre"

Warlord (vol. 1) #57 (May 1982)

Written by Mike Grell (Sharon Grell); Penciled by Mark Texiera; Inked by Pablo Marcos

Synopsis: Travis Morgan struggles back to consciousness and find himself chained in a dungeon--and locked in a metal mask. Slowly, his memories of recent events--his double, the ambush--form in his mind.  He yells with rage as he realizes his wife is “in the hands--and arms--of a man she believes to be him.”

Darvin (he of the impressive moustache) is not fazed by the outburst. He shuts the door to Morgan’s cell and tells Griff, his lackey, to summon the troops. Soon he’s meeting with his gang of urchins. He tells them the dungeon is off limits, and if they should have to go near it, they should be quiet; he doesn’t wish their guest to know where he is. One of the kids asks who their guest is. Darvin thinks a moment, and replies that it’s a...

After the other kids leave, Darvin asks where Tinder is. When Griff replies that he’s probably out practicing his craft on his own, Darvin gets angry. He’s afraid Tinder will get caught and give them all away to the authorities. He orders Griff to go out and find him.

Meanwhile in the palace, Graemore (he also of the impressive moustache) and Tara are getting reacquainted--and Graemore is falling in love once more. Tara is distracted from Graemore’s mooning over her by Morgan walking by. Morgan ignores her--because he isn't Morgan, of course.

The Morgan impostor, but isn’t, strides into the office of Praedor, his co-conspirator. The impostor even fools him at first. Their plan is to have the impostor (in the guise of her husband) steer Tara the way they want. Then Shamballah can return to being the sort of dictatorship they want it to be. Praedor reminds the impostor to wear the sword and gunbelt as Morgan always does. The man says he’ll remember and takes his leave.

Elsewhere, Griff is “looking for Tinder” by leaning against a wall and eating an apple. By chance, he does catch sight of the boy botching a bit of cutpursery. Griff helps Tinder get the best of the irate, sword-wielding mark, and the two boys escape.

The two goof around for a bit. They climb the palace walls to peak over onto its grounds. Then Griff says he’s got to get back to guard a prisoner. That sounds fun to Tinder.

Back at the palace, the impostor is getting to know Morgan’s gun:

He finally winds up shooting it off (though not in his own face). Tara runs to see what’s going on. She finds the impostor examining the hole he made in the wall, somewhat shaken. He tells her he was fooling around and it went off.

Tara doesn’t believe him, but she changes the subject. She tells him that Graemore is between jobs, and she offered to let him stay for a while. She expects Morgan to get angry, but he’s not bothered at all. Surprised at his reaction, she throws her arms around him and they kiss.

Meanwhile, the real Travis Morgan remains locked away in Darvin’s dungeon.

Things to Notice:

• There's a double, but no real double entendre this issue.
• The impostor doesn't seem to have really studied Morgan very much to pull this impresonation off.

Where It Comes From:
Morgan gets an iron mask this issue, making the inspiration from Dumas even more explicit.

A "double entendre" is, of course, is a phrase intended to have a two meanings--one of which is usually sexual or risque.