Warlord (& Wonder Woman) Wednesday

Here's another installment of my examination of  the adventures DC Comics' Travis Morgan--The Warlord.  The earlier installments can be found here...

"Land of the Lost" (parts 1-5)

Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #179-183 (May-September 2002) Written by Phil Jimenez, Penciled by Roy Allan Martinez & Gabriel Rearte, Inked by Martinez, Andy Lanning, Ray Synder & Marlo Alquiza

Synopsis: Wonder Woman and her boyfriend Trevor Barnes wind up in Skartaris accidentally (thinking they were going to ancient Atlantis). They fight some dinosaurs and meet some little people who tell them where they are:

It's seems that Villainy, Inc. (a collection of Wonder Woman foes led by Clea, queen of the Atlantean remnant Venturia) shot for Atlantis and wound up in Skartaris, too. They quickly recovered from the mistake and went about conquering Shamballah.

They have Morgan and Jennifer in a cage while the the sorceress Jinx, does nasty body-warping things to them.

Villainy, Inc. also discovers the computer core beneath the city. Cyborgirl is able to interface with the computer, which Clea believes will allow them to control all of Skartaris and power enough to potential take over the Earth.

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman has freed some captives from Giganta and a group of giants. She begins building an army from the disparate human and nonhuman cultures of Skartaris. She takes that army to Shamballah.

While Wonder Woman takes down Giganta, then fights Clea, Trevor and the army get into the palace and free Dr. Poison's captives/potential subjects--including Machiste and Shakira. Those two attempt to free Morgan and Jennifer, but Jinx attacks them.

While all that's going on, Trinity reveals her plan She had known they were coming to Skartaris all along. Her tendrils allow her to begin to take over Cyborgirl so that she can interface with and reboot the Skartarian master computer. She's actually a creation of the ancient Atlanteans that built the computer, a viral vector intended to reset the system and turn back time to the rule of the Atlanteans.

Waves of energy emanate from the palace, devolving and de-aging the Skartarian forces fighting on both sides. Wonder Woman leaves a subdued Clea and storms the castle. She saves Machiste and Shakira from Jinx and finds Morgan and Jennifer who tell her where to find the computer core.

Dr. Poison comes to save Jinx and is almost taken down by Morgan and friends, but escapes with (of course) poison. She runs to the computer core, too.

Trevor (who's already there) fills Wonder Woman in on what's happening. Dr. Poison's suggestion that Trinity is a virus and is currently confined to the core--but will spread to all the computers in Skartaris--gives Trevor and idea. He talks to Cyborgirl, convincing her to fight Trinity and regain her humanity. She does and manages to contain the Trinity virus in the core, which Wonder Woman destroys with Clea's trident. The energy wave stops.

Evil is defeated. Clea is presumably de-aged and nowhere to be found. The Warlord gets cheers:

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman and Trevor (who did most of the world saving) are going to do a bit of rebuilding before heading home.

Things to Notice:

• Wonder Woman spends five issues in Skartaris, but Morgan and crew only appear in a few panels.

Where it comes from: 
Clea and Villiany, Inc. conquered Shamballah to take control of the super-computer beneath it, first seen in issue #15. Not only does the computer differ in appearance from previous portrayals, but Clea says it controls all of Skartaris--something it's never been shown to do before.

There are many humanoids depicted that seem call backs to previous issues (centaurs, titans, dwarfs, fishmen, winged men), but none of them are depicted in such a way as to make it clear--in fact, some seem very different in character.