I'm allergic as hell, and I'd want one.

From Warlord #66, "wizardwar' Written by Mike Grell (maybe Sharon Grell), art by Dan Jurgens and Mike DeCarlo. Now Sharon Wright, Mike's ex-wife ghost-wrote a batch of 'his' last issues. I'm not sure I noticed the switch, even re-reading a big box of issues. While I don't have a complete run, I would hazard an opinion: the first 86 or so issues of Warlord are awesome, the rest of the series (which, sadly, I do have most of) not as good.

This issue was my first of the series, and there's virtually no recap. Who is the Warlord? Where'd he get a gun? Who are all these characters? Fortunately, 'Holy crap, that cat is awesome!' covers a multitude of sins. And I like Dan Jurgens artwork in this issue more than on anything else he's ever done, even now. Whether that's from DeCarlo's inks, or that rosy tint of nostalgia that my ophthalmologist is trying to correct, I don't know. But there's action, there's the Evil One, a centaur, a dwarf magician; there's a redhead with a switchblade stiletto in her sword, and there's a werewolf. What more do you people want?

Although I didn't realize it at the time, Jennifer Morgan, the Warlord's daughter, was a relatively new addition to the cast. She had only been Sorceress Supreme for a few months, and I don't think she's even referred to as such in this issue. Still, since this one takes place in ancient Skartaris during the age of the Wizard Kings...yes, I played D&D as a kid, how did you know?...Jennifer does a lot of the heavy lifting this issue. Kinda like if you had a JLA story with Hawkman, Flash, Green Lantern and Superman; but Wonder Woman did 90% of the work: a lot of characters, and some have a moment to shine, some don't.

Since I don't have some of the issues before this one, I don't know exactly why Travis is so cool with his daughter's newfound magic powers. He doesn't baby her or give her orders this issue, and she makes most of the plans. As far as the magic goes, it looks like Jennifer's the boss of that. I like her costume too, but it's a Mike Grell design, so your opinion may vary: if you liked his Legion of Super-Heroes costume designs, then they might work for you. Plus, Skartaris is probably ass-scorchingly hot every day, and everyone shows a ton of skin, male, female, or it. Hell, there's more fabric in my shirt than the Warlord's entire 'costume.'

And even today, when I hear the name Shakira, I don't think "travel-sized Latin-pop bellydancer." I think "Cat-woman-fur bikini." Don't judge me.