14: Let's Do The Time Warp Again

In addition to the regular Warp series, there were 3 standalone specials, plus 4 back up strips. The first 2 backups (Faceless Ones and Sargon) had no Peter Gillis involvement, so I'll round up the rest here.

Warp Special #1 (1983)

Pencils: Howard Chaykin
Inks: George Freeman

The origin of Warp's most charming character, Prince Chaos, is basically a Superman parody. It still fails to explain why Chaos and Cumulus are related, as they appear to be born in different centuries on different planets to different parents. Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe it's just cosmic reasons. Although I never really got how Sargon and Valaria are meant to be estranged sisters either. 

Anyhow, this special features the original heroic Cumulus, rather than his whiny rebirth David. It's the tale of how Chaos and Valaria got together and how Chaos killed the first Cumulus. It's also notable for introducing First's nexus of worlds Cynosure, which became the backdrop for Grimjack. 

Gene Day, who was working on this issue, suddenly tragically died at the age of 31. Howard Chaykin stepped in, and he's near the top of his game here, although some of his fancier panel layouts are confusing to follow. Chaos is a fun Loki style bad guy, so interesting to see him come out the winner for once. As back story though, it's pretty inessential.

Warp Special #2 (1984)

Pencils: Marc Silvestri
Inks: Mike Gustovich

Sargon's turn in the spotlight, revealing how she fell for the original Cumulus, while fighting giant toothy monsters. She also dies for the first time, although Warp characters recovered from death that often, it's hard to keep track. Most of the story is the old heroes misunderstanding between Sargon and Cumulus, before they team up to defeat the bad guy. It's a clichéd disposable tale, probably most notable for the early Silvestri art, which is quite sparse and only shows a little promise of what was to come.

Warp Special #3 (1984)

Art: George Freeman

A straight sequel to Chaos' origin in the first special, revealing how he came to be exiled in Dis, along with girlfriend Valaria and henchman Symax. Chaos hatches a plan to slaughter all the nobles of Fen-ra, which goes some way to explaining why the remaining population appears to consist of a couple of heroes and a bunch of wizards. Once again, there's some disturbingly distasteful stuff with Valaria, which definitely wouldn't fly with modern sensibilities. Overall though, this is the pick of the specials, as it's great fun to watch these morally challenged idiots play off each other, leading to many humorous moments. Freeman's stylish art and bold colours make for a very attractive read.

Valaria - Warp #7-9 (1983)

Pencils: Bill Willingham
Inks: Bruce Patterson

Valaria the insect queen is a cool femme fatale, who got treated abominably in the adaptation, before being pointlessly killed off. This 20 page backup story is set in her early days, where she strikes a bargain with an enemy to defeat a bigger threat. She manipulates the situation to her own ends, in a fairly rushed and typically for her icky climax to a sleight story. Gillis wanted to revive her into the main book, but presumably cancellation put paid to that. With a less exploitative outfit and outlook, she could've made a strong villain.

Outrider - Warp #10-17 (1984)

Pencils: Bill Willingham, Lenin Delsol
Inks: Hilary Barta, Mike Gustovich, Doug Rice, Lenin Delsol

This backup strip was only tangentially connected to the main Warp series, and all the better for it. The titular character's real name is Regulus, a lord of Fen-Ra on a decade long quest to find mystical McGuffin The Heart of The Sunrise. He's aided by his ex girlfriend Lady Chriseyde, who has been cursed into bird form Archangel. If that sounds oddly like the plot of later movie Ladyhawke, bear in mind this bird can grow huge and ride across space and dimensions. Their relationship is seriously twisted, with entitled arse Regulus using mind control to make his bewitched ex ferry him around and fight for him. Naturally, Archangel has grown to hate him over the years, even attempting murder suicide in the heart of a star. This being a cosmic Gillis comic, the sun turns out to be sentient, and protects them both from marauding hungry gas giants. Outrider has strong wacky moments like these over the course of a total of 62 pages, but if the planned spinoff series had materialised, Gillis would've had his work cut out redeeming the main character, or at least making him less punchable. Both pencillers do a fine job, although I think Delsol's scratchier line suited the strip better than Willingham's rounder, cartoonier visuals.

Regulus' story was wrapped up satisfactorily in the final issue of Warp. With the completion of their now utterly pointless quest, Lady Chriseyde got restored to human form, and the two went on their merry way. Whether separately or together is left open ended.

And that's all she wrote for Gillis' first series Warp. What started as fantasy cliché on a stick became an absurdist melodrama, cut short before it could fully diverge into something more tangible. Warp is far from a classic, but at least it's generally a bit better than I remembered.