DC Comics; 25¢ 

Much like Marvel Premiere or DC’s own long-running Showcase, 1st Issue Special was a launchpad for both new concepts as well as such characters as Dr. Fate getting a shot on their own. Although the series only ran 13 issues, 1st Issue Special #8 is standout as it’s the first appearance of writer-artist Mike Grell’s creation, The Warlord. 

US Air Force Lt. Colonel Travis Morgan, flying a covert reconnaissance mission over the Soviet Union, has his SR-71 Blackbird damaged by surface-to-air missiles. Limping into internation airspace, he piloted his wounded jet over the north pole. His crash landing, which should have put him in the freezing cold of the arctic, instead somehow causes him to end up in the jungles of Skartaris, a world at the center of the Earth. Populated by warring tribes, dinosaurs and other deadly creatures, all under an eternal sun, Morgan faced danger at virtually every turn. This issue introduced Morgan and the basic concepts that would inform the whole series. 

It was gripping, action-adventure stuff. While some of the references feel a bit dated, it’s hard not to think 1st Issue Special #8 has stood up well over time. 

After this November 1975 cover-dated issue, The Warlord #1 hit stands as a February 1976 cover-dated issue. The series ran 133 issues and six annuals. Grell, among other things, had been a very popular artist on Legion of Super-Heroes, and he had secured a commitment for the series from DC’s publisher, Carmine Infantino. However, the heavily marketed “DC Explosion” of new titles quickly became known as the “DC Implosion” with a wholesale cancellation of many of the new titles. Infantino canceled The Warlord after the April 1976 second issue. Incoming new DC publisher Jenette Kahn, however, liked the series, so it was revived seven months later with the third issue. 

Grell wrote and drew the series through #52, then continued as cover artist and writer through #71. His tenure set the tone for those who would follow him on the series and for later revivals of the title, and it also set the stage for his later work on Starslayer and Jon Sable, Freelance. 

– J.C. Vaughn