Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of another old, old, OLD Marvel Comics hit continues.
FOR PART ONE PLUS A RECAP OF ADAM WARLOCK’S FICTIONAL HISTORY CLICK HERE
PART FOUR
Strange Tales #181 (August 1975)
Title: 1,000 CLOWNS
NOTE: The writer dedicated this issue to the brilliant Steve Ditko, “Who gave us all a different reality” and it’s drawn largely in the style of Ditko’s early Doctor Strange stories.
Get ready for “Adam Warlock Meets The Prisoner.” The title 1,000 Clowns is obviously a reference to the Herb Gardner play (and later movie) A Thousand Clowns. Gardner’s play dealt with a happy non-conformist forced to try to fit in with “normal”, conventional society for family reasons.
The title and the theme of nonconformity may come from Gardner’s play but this installment of The Magus almost seems as if it’s an episode of the 1967 Patrick McGoohan series The Prisoner (previously examined here at Balladeer’s Blog). Adam’s resistance to conditioning by the Universal Church of Truth puts one in mind of the Prisoner’s resistance to the Villagekeepers. The surreal, off-kilter presentation is also reminiscent of that program.
Synopsis: Adam Warlock has come to after his lapse into unconsciousness caused by the trauma of his Soul Gem’s theft of Kray-Tor’s soul at the end of last issue. He has awakened into a bizarre alternate reality with walkways and small islands of matter floating in an endless sky. Bizarre symbols and designs ornament the skyscape like imagery from an acid trip. Continue reading
PART THREE 
PART TWO
After his clash with Warlock last time around the Magus has alerted his empire’s starships to be on the lookout for any sign of our hero. The first vessel to come across Adam is the spaceship called The Great Divide, commanded by the blue-skinned Captain Autolycus of the Black Knights of the Church (more on them shortly). 
Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the turning point story for Adam Warlock, a Marvel Comics character … and therefore probably destined to become a pop culture demi-god like almost every other Marvel figure thrown at the screen. (He was already an Easter Egg in their Cinematic Universe)
Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of the Justice Society’s Golden Age stories continues. FOR PART ONE CLICK 
ALL STAR COMICS #27 (Winter 1945 – On sale date Nov 13th) 
Synopsis: In very late 1945 some superhero comic books featured their last few World War Two-centered stories, with the implication being that they had happened earlier in the year when the war still raged. Others moved on into the Post-War Era while others were a mixture, like this Justice Society tale. 
Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of the Justice Society’s World War Two-era stories continues. FOR PART ONE CLICK 
Possible Publication Month: I’ve read anywhere from July to September 1945 so it may or may not have referred to World War Two still raging. 
Synopsis: Well the Spoiler comes right up-front since this story was apparently long known as “the lost Psycho-Pirate story.” In the original plan the fact that the Psycho-Pirate (Charles Halstead) was really the man behind the tale’s villainy was to be a surprise. 
CAPTAIN MARVEL! CAROL DANVERS! THE AVENGERS! NICK FURY! THANOS! THE KREE-SKRULL WAR! RONAN THE ACCUSER! OMNI-WAVE PROJECTORS (Intergalactic Pagers)! AND EVEN MORE EXCLAMATION POINTS!!! 
I. THE ONLY GOOD ALIEN IS A DEAD ALIEN – Ronan the Accuser overthrows the Supreme Intelligence to take control of the alien Kree Empire. Meanwhile, the Avengers help the Kree officer Captain Marvel and Rick Jones stop Annihilus from escaping the Negative Zone after Mar-Vell and Rick break out. CLICK 
Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of the Justice Society’s World War Two-era stories continues. FOR PART ONE CLICK 
ALL STAR COMICS #26 (Fall 1945) 
Synopsis: The Justice Society members are assembled at their Philadelphia headquarters because of the disappearance of scientist Herbert Crawford. Crawford had fallen into disrepute recently over his claims that a spaceship from Jupiter was headed for the Earth with hostile intentions. 
Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of the Justice Society’s World War Two-era stories continues. FOR PART ONE CLICK 
ALL STAR COMICS #25 (Summer 1945) 
Synopsis: At their Philadelphia headquarters the Justice Society of America encounter an amnesiac man who insists he somehow knows that Rob Victor, a man convicted of murdering wealthy Timothy Kimball years earlier, is really innocent. 
ALL STAR COMICS #24 (Spring 1945) 
Synopsis: This is the first issue to feature Mister Terrific and Wildcat as part of the Justice Society of America.
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