Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Warlord Wednesday: Everything Changes

My issue by issue examination of DC Comics' Warlord continuesThe earlier installments can be found here...

"Everything Changes"
Warlord (vol. 4) #15 (August 2010) Story & Art by Mike Grell.

Synopsis: Following the events of last issue, scientists are filling General Ketchum in on the signal that originated from 4 ancient sites (in Egypt, Mexico, Bolivia) and is directed at Orion. They give him a crash course in various fringe theories including the ancient astronauts--and the hollow earth. That's where the coordinates encoded in the signal are located. The "scientists" (you could doubt there credentials at this point) also tell him about the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012 with its the annotation: "They Return."

In the hollow earth, Joshua and crew are making their way back to Shamballah. Joshua is worried about what the alien had said: "We expected you to be more civilized. More useful."

When they get home, our heroes find a pleasant surprise. Thanks to the weirdness of Shamballan time, Tara has given birth already:


Joshua realizes it was his link with his new sister that healed him after he was burned by the dragon's breath. Jennifer explains that Morgana is linked to her, as well. The baby isn't just destined to be a mage; she is somehow magic herself in a pure and powerful form as it hasn't exist since the beginning of the world.

Joshua carves a horse for his new sister (He doesn't see when it becomes a winged horse in her hands.), then he and Alsyha go off for some private time. Later, they see a black hippogriff in a pond. Alysha approaches it, but then:


Alysha grabs on to the net to try to save the animal. Joshua has no choice but to follow, and the two are taken aloft. They manage to cut the hippogriff free before the raiders have reeled them in, then ride away on the animal's back. They fly over the area of devastation where the dragon's ship crashed. Alysha notices the surrounding area looks like the Nazca lines: the alien was making a landing strip!

They return to the palace convinced that trouble is coming. Joshua retrieves one of his father's belonging from a box: it's Morgan's automag. Joshua suggests McBane better teach him how to use it.

Things to Notice:
  • Those scientists apparently spent a lot of time watching In Search of...
  • The "time works different here" thing is back in full force, after being officially abandoned by Grell's successors on the original series.
Where it comes from: 
After being absent for over a decade, the fringe theory is back in Warlord: ancient astronauts, ufos, and (of course) the Hollow Earth. The last bit is significant, because DC had repudiated the Hollow Earth explanation of Skartaris after Grell left.

The time Ewan McBane refers to in the Dark Ages was the dust veil of 535-536 AD.

While Morgana was presumably named for her father, the name is an obvious reference to Arthur's sorcererous half-sister Morgan (or Morgana) le Fay.

1 comment:

garrisonjames said...

Nice to see the fringe-stuff return. I did not know that Travis had another heir. It could get pretty interesting watching how the next generation handles things, like the return of whomever. Sorry I missed these issues...