1st Issue Special #8

History

Mike Grell originally conceived the property as a syndicated newspaper strip called 'Savage Empire,' rooted in his admiration for Hal Foster's Prince Valiant, Burne Hogarth's Tarzan, and his personal Air Force service history. He pitched it to DC publisher Carmine Infantino, reportedly revising the concept on the fly — transforming an archaeologist-into-Atlantis premise into a spy-pilot-into-hollow-Earth story during the very meeting — before Infantino sent him to sell editor Joe Orlando on the idea over the course of a full day's conversation at Orlando's home. DC purchased the concept and Grell wrote, penciled, and inked the 18-page debut story himself; crucially, the decision to give Warlord its own ongoing series had already been made before the 1st Issue Special issue even went to press, meaning the anthology slot likely served as an expedient way to fill a vacant slot in the 1st Issue Special schedule rather than a genuine market test.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance and origin of Lt. Colonel Travis Morgan (the Warlord), a Vietnam veteran U.S. Air Force SR-71 pilot who crash-lands in Skartaris, a prehistoric lost world at the Earth's hollow core.
• First appearance of Tara, Morgan's future wife and the warrior princess of Shamballah, and of Deimos, the sorcerous high priest of Thera who becomes the series' primary villain.
• The 18-page story — titled 'Land of Fear!' — is entirely written, penciled, and inked by Mike Grell, with lettering credited to Ben Oda; cover colors by Tatjana Wood.
• Travis Morgan is never actually called 'Warlord' within this issue; the title would not be applied to the character until several issues into the subsequent ongoing series.
• Grell embedded a caricature of himself in the story, depicting his own likeness in Warlord's signature winged helmet and goatee — a self-portrait that fueled a long-running fan debate about whether the character's look was based on Green Arrow (it was not).
• 1st Issue Special was a 13-issue DC anthology conceived by publisher Carmine Infantino; of all its featured characters, the Warlord and the New Gods revival (issue #13) were the only two to spin off into ongoing series.
• The ongoing The Warlord series launched just months later with issue #1 (cover-dated January/February 1976) and ran for 133 issues and six annuals through 1988–89, with Grell writing and drawing the book for approximately six years.
• The debut story has been reprinted multiple times: in The Warlord #11 (1978), Warlord: The Savage Empire (1991/1992 trade paperback), Showcase Presents: The Warlord vol. 1 (2009), DC's 1st Issue Specials hardcover (2020), and The Warlord by Mike Grell Omnibus Vol. 1 (2025).

Full credits

Key issues in 1st Issue Special

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#2 1st appearance — Abdul Smith

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#5 1st appearance — Mark Shaw

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#6 1st appearance — Bananas