Hey gang, its Thursday already and it’s time for a new weekly feature to hit Crave Comics. Taking the place of Versus for the next 9 weeks or so will be the new update series Where Are They Now? A look at a hero that used to have a regular place at the comic book table but has fallen out of sorts. This week’s first subject is one of my favorite players in the Marvel Universe who had taken a powder until recently. Now he’s back, but is he better?

Adam Warlock

Also known as simply ‘Him’ when he first hit the scene in the late 60’s Adam Warlock is one of Marvels many forgotten cosmic characters. Initially created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby as a possible villain and later sympathetic creation of unknown potential, it wasn’t until Jim Starlin got his hands on the character that he truly took shape.

Roy Thomas and Gile Kane are the artists who gave ‘Him’ a name and a purpose, while Starlin wove the character into the tapestry of the Marvel Universe. His stomping ground was the book Strange Tales, where Starlin set the characters legacy into motion.

Enter the cosmos

To be honest, there isn’t much room in the Marvel Universe for a character like Adam Warlock. He’s powerful like Thor and doesn’t have much in the way of weaknesses. Marvel didn’t have a superman type in their regular roster until The Sentry came along recently and Adam was originally a superman type.

If not for Starlin it seems as though Warlock would have never gotten off the ground, and it was Starlins decision to move the character into the cosmic arena that he truly took off. Instead of rubbing elbows with Spidey and Cap (which the character had done previously) he was now a regular with The Watcher, Silver Surfer, and of course The High Evolutionary.

As a cosmic hero Adam flourished, starring in several short lived books throughout the 70’s and 80’s. He saw his pentacle as a driving force within the comic’s universe in the 90’s.

The Gauntlet

The Infinity Gauntlet was born out of Jim Starlins imagination some time before it actually saw print. Starlin sowed the seeds for the story early on in another story called Thanos Quest where the actual Gauntlet is conceived. The six issue event comic was the opening salvo that would have a dramatic effect on the 90’s.

After the Gauntlet there was the Infinity Crusade and the Infinity War, both being major events in and of themselves. These stories really shaped Marvel in the 90’s and saw Adam Warlock spend a short time as the sole power in the Marvel Universe.

The funny thing about Adam is that he hasn’t always had the mainstream success that he’s due. Being an epic level being with a limited back story, it’s kind of tough for a guy to have ‘regular’ adventures. Unfortunately Warlock saw the same issues that The Silver Surfer saw when his book came to an end.

Annihilation and beyond

With things on earth going at a considerable clip, Marvel couldn’t forget about the cosmos and their rich history of characters. It had been a while since the galaxy needed saving and it was time to get the band back together so to speak. In the story Annihilation Adam Warlock and his companions made a comeback. While the Earth underwent the drama of Civil War the galaxy also came under threat. The Annihilation storyline gave Adam Warlock a new breath of fresh air and rolled itself onto the new Guardians of the Galaxy book.

Currently the Guardians are dealing with Adam’s evil alter ego The Magus. Adam Warlock is one of those mysterious characters that has captured plenty of imaginations but has not quite caught on to the main. Hopefully this latest adventure will prove to be just the exposure Adam Warlock needs to hit the big time.