Warlord #131 (September 1988)
Written by Michael Fleisher; Art by Jan Duursema
Synopsis: Maddox and Morgan are having a drink in Xur-Chemosh, reminiscing about old times. That is until Maddox reveals he was the one flying the MiG that Morgan shot down just before ending up in Skartaris. Morgan is drugged by the wine and when he wakes up he’s in a dungeon. Maddox plans to make him pay for those years he spent in the gulag.
Meanwhile, Aoife wakes up on the beach. She’s captured by soldiers and brought to the palace before Maddox and Mariah. Maddox is interested in her jeweled headband and wants to take it. Aoife realizes Maddox is evil and tries to attack him. He has her taken away. He backhands Mariah when she tries to intervene, then apologizes in typical abuser fashion.
Mariah asks about Morgan. Maddox tells her that he must have wandered off. In reality:
And that’s just the first torture he’s got planned!
Leaving that ugly scene gives us a chance to check in on the rest of Warlord’s cast. Jennifer’s spying on Khnathaiti’s spell casting. The evil sorcereress is calling on some ancient beings of darkness and it’s got Jennifer worried. Shakira is making out with two handsome shepherds when a bolt of energy strikes her and she disappears.
In Xur-Chemosh, a suspicious Mariah is armed and back in her old outfit, sneaking around:
Maddox is convinced Aoife’s headband activates the one mysterious machine in the ship he found. When he leaves to try it, Mariah sneaks in the free Morgan. Unfortunately, Maddox catches her in the act. He chains her up too, so she can watch Morgan die.
Before that though, Maddox tries out the headband and the weird device. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn’t the summoning of an angry eidolon of a long-dead Atlantean sorcerer—but that’s what he gets! It seems Garn Daanuth’s acolytes escaped the destruction of Atlantis in the ship to start anew in Skartaris. And the device?
Aoife begins to get images in her head. She sees a baby, found with the diadem in the crashed ship. The priests of Xur-Chemosh handed her over to an executioner, but the man couldn’t bring himself to kill a baby outright and set her adrift. She was found and raised by the people of Cuchulainn. The headband was passed down through the generations until it came to rest on Aoife’s brow. Aoife is a distant descendant of the acolytes of Garn.
Aoife manages to tap the devices power to allow her to free herself and Morgan. Just in time too, because the angry eidolon of Garn is beginning to shake Xur-Chemosh apart. They rush to the rescue, but Maddox won’t give up the headband without a fight. Morgan prevails, of course, and Aoife reclaims the diadem just in time to stop a massive wave from destroying everything. Being pure evil, Garn isn’t super-happy about this turn of events, but Aoife is of the proper bloodline, so he lets it pass.
Morgan and Aoife bid their good-byes. Mariah (amazingly) is going to stay with Maddox because he “in spite of everything” she knows he loves her. What’s a little attempt to boil her friend in oil and make her watch, right? Morgan, prudently, has confiscated all Maddox’s guns.
Things to Notice:
- This is the final chapter of "Maddox's Revenge."
- This issue has a "Bonus Book" story that features the second professional publication of Rob Liefield.
Where It Comes From:
Garn Daanuth is a from Arion, Lord of Atlantis. He's Arion's twin brother and as such some sort of great-uncle to Power Girl.
Garn Daanuth is a from Arion, Lord of Atlantis. He's Arion's twin brother and as such some sort of great-uncle to Power Girl.
Drink and confession, never a good combination.
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