Warlords Part 1
Brian Michael Bendis and David Walker Writers
Michael Avon Oeming (p. 1-3, 8, 15, 17-18), Mike Grell (p. 4-7, 16), John Timms (p. 9-14, 19-22) Art
Gabe Eltaeb Colors
Wes Abbott Letters
Timms and Eltaeb Cover
Grell and Lovern Kindzierski Variant Cover
Brittany Holzherr Editor
Jamie S. Rich Group Editor
Superboy created by Jerry Siegel.
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.
Our main cover shows and angry/evil Superboy decked out in full Warlord gear with blood dripping from his sword and hoards of monsters looming behind him. Nothing remotely close to this happens in the book. Apparently this cover is inspired by someone named Frazzetta (it's tough to read). Maybe it's supposed to be Frank Frazetta? But I don't really care. This cover does not fit the tone or content of this issue.
Our variant cover (which I nabbed from dc.fandom.com) is a rather unappealing '70s style pinup of Warlord and Young Justice. It's drawn by Mike Grell, who began drawing Warlord back in the 1970s. And I'm sure that style worked great for that time. But today? I feel like there's a reason nobody draws like that anymore.
Half this issue deals with Superboy and Warlord in Skartaris. Superboy spends most of the time crying because he can't catch a break and just go back home. Warlord provides his backstory, which only serves as an excuse for Grell to draw all his old favorite characters again. But we don't care about any of that. We're only here for Impulse, who is currently ... sitting around doing nothing.
Our heroes are still in Port Oswego, Oregon, standing around talking and checking their phones, despite last issue's triumphant charge to rescue Superboy. It's very strange. In between issues, they all decided to suddenly stop and talk some more. In fact, they've been sitting around talking so much, that Miguel's Spider-Man knock-off powers have worn out. Bart is understandably frustrated, telling Tim to stop worrying about the details.
Fortunately, the plot intervenes as several devices and items simultaneously begin glowing and emitting pink lightning. The Wonder Twins use a device they took from the Hall of Justice to trace the source of this energy surge to New Mexico. Bart makes the connection that Conner said the secret S.T.A.R. Labs base that sent him to Gemworld was in New Mexico. So Cassie announces that they're going to Nevada (huh?!). Tim tells Bart they need backup, so Impulse takes off, asking Drake to text him where he's going. (And I'm left wondering where Bart keeps his phone in his suit. Or is his phone built into his goggles somehow?)
Anyway, on the last page of the comic, we see the reinforcements Bart found: Spoiler, the new Aqualad (based off the version from the Young Justice animated series), Arrowette and Sideways. Aqualad proclaims them to be the "real" Young Justice and Arrowette says she's been waiting a long time for this.
I suspect this issue (and series) went through a lot of last-minute rewrites. First of all, last issue was incorrectly labeled the finale of a storyline, when it should have been the beginning of this new storyline. But when they bumped that "official" beginning back, this issue had to basically repeat all the setup from last issue. And I'm not sure what David Walker's role was here, but it can't be a good sign to randomly bring in a co-writer for no reason.
This issue was a complete mess. The three different artists had styles that were about as jarring as possible. Story-wise, Bendis is relying way to heavily on the factor of nostalgia to make up for a lack of plot. And he's even messing up the nostalgia factor! Old fans of Young Justice like me can't even get excited about Arrowette because we had to wade through so much of Mike Grell's soft porn Warlord nonsense! Warlord was way before my time, and I'd imagine before the time of the target audience of this book. If you were like me and picked up this series because you wanted to see Impulse, Superboy and Robin back in action, the last thing you wanted was a massive homage to a comic you've probably never heard of from 1978.
After a solid year on this series, I still have a hundred questions about my favorite character. And sadly, I've resigned myself to the reality that I'll never get satisfactory answers. In the meantime, let's check out the new house ads:
A lost kingdom. A dark secret. A brave princess. Amethyst. (Is it too much to ask for an Impulse miniseries?)
Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey.
A DC Nation interview with Tom Taylor, writer of DCeased: Unkillables.
Next time, we'll take a quick look at Superman: Heroes #1.
Actually, I lied. Since Impulse only appears on the cover, I'll just show it here.
Next time (for real) will be Action Comics #1020.
