I'm bringing you another Comic Book Character Spotlight this week, this time featuring Adam Warlock. You'll remember my previous spotlights which featured Green Lantern's Sodam Yat or the New Avengers' newest villain, The Hood. With Annihilation Conquest about to start tomorrow and Adam Warlock revealed as the saviour of the Kree race in last week's Quasar #4, I decided to give everyone the heads up on who this newly reborn character is. If you're new to the cosmic scene, Marvel or comics in general, you probably have no idea who this golden skinned character is and are looking for answers. Whatever your reasons, this spotlight is your source for answers. Hit the jump for the full skinny on who and what Adam Warlock is.Who Is Adam Warlock?
Name: Adam Warlock a.k.a. HimAllies: Thanos, Silver Surfer, Moondragon, Drax the Destroyer, Pip, Gamora
Enemies: Magus, Goddess, Thanos, Annihilus, Blastaar, Nebula, Inbetweener
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #66 (cameo in cacoon), 67 (full as Him), Marvel Premiere #1 (renamed Adam Warlock)
Required Reading: Magus Saga (Strange Tales #178-181, Warlock #9-15, Avengers Annual #7, Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2), The Infinity Saga (Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity War, Infinity Crusade, Infinity Abyss), Thanos #1-6, Annihilation:Conquest - Quasar #4, Annihilation: Conquest
Powers & Abilities: Superhuman strength, stamina, agility and the ability to manipulate cosmic energy to further enhance these powers. Typically adorns his forehead with the Soul Gem, which grants him even greater cosmic powers. Also possesses a cosmic awareness and vast knowledge and exists outside of Destiny's influence. Finally, Warlock is able to enter a cocoon, which grants him vast regenerative powers and usually results in his rebirth, typically with greater powers and knowledge in times of great crisis.
Origin
Adam Warlock was originally an artificially created human known as Him, which was born in a cocoon at a scientific research facility known as The Beehive by the organization called the Enclave. They created Him to be the perfect human through which they could control and use for their own personal gain.
After some rather uneventful adventures which saw Him encountering the Fantastic Four and, later, Thor, the High Evolutionary finds Him in a new cocoon state. The High Evolutionary renames Him as Adam, for being the first of his kind, and Warlock, because men would fear his power. It is also here that Adam receives his Soul Gem, given to him by the High Evolutionary. Warlock is then transported to a newly created duplicate of Earth known as Counter-Earth, where he goes on to fight one of the High Evolutionary's renegade creations.
It is not until the critically acclaimed Magus Saga, penned by the new series writer / artist, Jim Starlin, that Adam Warlock becomes the saviour character he is associated with today.Why Should I Care About Adam Warlock?
While many new readers most likely have no clue as to who Adam Warlock is, know that he is the definitive cosmic hero in the Marvel Universe. Typically, if anything major is going down in the cosmic arena, Adam Warlock is there, front and center, to rally and lead the Marvel Universe's heroes, and sometimes even villains, into battle.
In probably the greatest cosmic story ever told, The Infinity Gauntlet, Adam Warlock emerged from a new cocoon to lead every being in the universe against the Mad Titan, Thanos, whom possessed all six Infinity Gems, which granted him god-like abilities and were most recently seen in the New Avengers Illuminati mini-series. So great is Warlock's knowledge and cosmic awareness that even the supreme cosmic powers of the universe, such as Galactus and Eternity, take heed of his advice in their attempts to defeat Thanos. In the end, after the defeat of Thanos, Warlock took the Infinity Gauntlet for himself and restored order to the universe.
Adam Warlock would go on to separate the Infinity Gems from the Gauntlet and create the Infinity Watch - a group of trusted individuals to which each was granted one of the Gems, similar to how the Illuminati currently holds a Gem each. You will probably recognize several of these members, as many were featured in the first Annihilation, such as Drax the Destroyer, Gamora and even Thanos.
However, the main reason you should care about Adam Warlock is he was recently revealed as the saviour character, a role he typically appears as, that Quasar and Moondragon were searching for in the Annihilation Conquest Quasar mini-series. With this revelation comes the knowledge that Warlock will be heavily featured in the main Annihilation Conquest mini-series.Of note, however, is that Warlock was prematurely awakened from his cocoon by Quasar and the Supreme Intelligence and it is unknown what his current power levels are. Also, he is seen without his Soul Gem, which typically adorns his forehead. It has been speculated that when the Illuminati claimed all the Infinity Gems, they took Warlock's against his will and that was the cause of his new cocoon-like state. It is likely that the prematurely reborn Warlock is too weak at the present time to reprise his role as the saviour or, at the least, is weaker than previous incarnations. Further, the Phalanx, and the mystery villain controlling them, will seek to assimilate the weakened Warlock and use his powers for universal domination.
What Does The Future Hold For Adam Warlock?
Obviously, with his recent rebirth and return to the Marvel Universe in Quasar, Adam Warlock will be a major player in the upcoming Annihilation Conquest mini-series. This will place the beloved character back in the spotlight in the cosmic scheme of things and has even marked him as the saviour of the Kree race in the Conquest story. On top of this, there are talks that Annihilation will be a trilogy. Assuming Warlock survives Conquest, he would likely be a major factor in any future Annihilation-like events.Conclusion
As I've said, Warlock is the definitive cosmic hero in the Marvel Universe. With his prominent placement in the sequel to the best Marvel cosmic story in recent memory, Annihilation, Warlock's stock is sure to rise and I'd love to see him get a new series post-Conquest that deals with the Illuminati's theft of the Infinity Gems.
As a big fan of Adam Warlock, I'm pumped to see what the Annihilation team can do with him and this could be a return to the Golden Age of cosmic stories, harkening back to The Infinity Gauntlet are early Starlin Warlock stories. I'm curious to hear what everyone thinks of Warlock's return and I hope this spotlight helped people get a better grasp of who he is and what his place in the Marvel Universe is. Also, what are your thoughts on his role in Conquest? Did you see it coming? Love it? Hate it? I know I can't wait to see what happens and that's something I don't say about too many comics these days.
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