Admittedly, most of this post is just because that panel was so cool:

Love the layout there, you don't see that sort of thing anymore. Soapbox: Comics artists (like Jim Starlin there, or Howard Chaykin, or Walt Simonson, to rattle off a couple) used to do more experimental things that could only be done in comics. Weird layouts, panels in the shape of sound effects, interesting use of panel borders, etc. Even if they didn't always work, comics are the better for them; and I wish they'd come back into vogue: comics as comics, and not just as a storyboard proposal for a movie or an installment plan for trades. End of rant.


And Starlin has to be having a bit of fun, drawing things like Warlock fighting a shark in space. As Him, the character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, but you wouldn't be wrong in saying Jim Starlin made Adam Warlock what he is. I'm not a huge fan of the character, but I do enjoy the...glumness of Warlock. He started out completely naive and idealistic, and got crucified for it. Then he tried being a bit more pessimistic and bitter, and that didn't turn out so well either. Warlock is a guy who's good and evil selves both turned out to be colossal douchebags; and now while he still does good, he's emotionally pretty dead.

Thanks to the haphazard nature of my collection, I have a pretty good batch of Warlock, without having any of the originals. These panels were from 1972's 1976's Warlock #14, but I just got it in 1992's reprint Warlock #4. There were Baxter reprints of Warlock in 1982-83; and a good chunk of it was also reprinted in Fantasy Masterpieces as the backup to the classic Lee/Buscema Silver Surfer. "Homecoming!" Story and layout by Starlin, finished art and colors by Steve Leialoha.