Warlord #2

Mar 1976 · DC · 0.25 USD

📊 ~21,567 copies sold its debut month

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“Arena of Death”

★ 1st appearance — Machiste

About this Issue

Warlord #2 (cover-dated April 1976) delivers the first appearance of Machiste, the Skartarian warrior who becomes Travis Morgan's closest ally and one of the most prominent Black heroes in Bronze Age comics — a meaningful distinction in an era when DC's fantasy line offered almost no such representation. The gladiatorial story of 'Arena of Death' also plants the narrative seed that will eventually earn Morgan the Warlord name itself: the freed gladiators become the army he leads against the tyrant Deimos, making this issue foundational to the entire series mythology. Because issue #2 was the final issue published before DC publisher Carmine Infantino cancelled the title — unbeknownst to Grell until he saw 'THE END' on the final proof page — it also stands as an accidental series finale that was rescued only by incoming publisher Jenette Kahn, making it a hinge point in one of the more dramatic survival stories in Bronze Age publishing history.

writer, artist, inker Mike Grell · cover Mike Grell

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $4

CGC 9.8 · 5 in census $180*

CGC 9.6 · 12 in census $60

CGC 9.4 · 17 in census $31

CGC 9.2 · 6 in census $20

CGC 9.0 · 7 in census $20

CGC 8.5 · 5 in census $20

Show all 12 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 3 in census $20

CGC 7.5 · 1 in census $20

CGC 7.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 6.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 6.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 5.5 · 2 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

This exact issue on ebay

Raw — NM- $25 1 listing Raw / ungraded $9.59 1 listing

Verified matches for Warlord #2 · eBay asking prices, seen 19 days ago

More listings for this title

VERY GOOD $7 MINT $12.99 VF/NM $20 Warlord #2 (Apr 1976, DC) - 1st Machiste, Mike Grell story & art $3.95

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 4 total · seen 19 days ago

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History

Mike Grell wrote and drew every page of issue #2, as he did throughout the entire early run of the series, working under editor Joe Orlando — the same editor who had shepherded the concept from Grell's original pitch (a syndicated strip called 'The Savage Empire' that had previously stalled at Atlas/Seaboard) into DC's 1st Issue Special #8 and then into an ongoing title. The issue carries a cover date of April 1976 but was actually published on December 11, 1975 per the DC Database, meaning it hit spinner racks only weeks after issue #1. Publisher Carmine Infantino, who was simultaneously cancelling most of the other titles in DC's experimental 'Adventure Line,' axed the series after this issue; Warlord did not return until issue #3 in November 1976, after Jenette Kahn took over as publisher and reinstated the title she personally championed.

Trivia · 8 facts

Cover date: April 1976; actual on-sale date: December 11, 1975 (per DC Database). Story title: 'Arena of Death.'
First appearance of Machiste, created by Mike Grell — the wandering king of Kiro who becomes Travis Morgan's best friend and one of the most prominent Black supporting characters in 1970s DC Comics.
First appearance of Drogar the Terrible, captain of the slave galley Gryfalcon, and the gladiator trainer Shebal (who dies in this issue).
The gladiator revolt depicted here — Morgan leading roughly 200 enslaved fighters to freedom — is the in-universe origin of Travis Morgan being called 'the Warlord,' a title that defines the entire 133-issue series.
Written, penciled, inked, and covered entirely by Mike Grell, making it a solo auteur effort; Grell held that full creative role through approximately issue #52.
This issue was the last published before publisher Carmine Infantino cancelled the series; Warlord #3 did not appear until November 1976, after incoming publisher Jenette Kahn restored the title to the schedule.
Warlord #2 was reprinted in The Warlord: The Savage Empire (1991 trade paperback, collecting 1st Issue Special #8 and Warlord #1–10 and #12) and in the Showcase Presents: The Warlord volume (2009, collecting through #28), and is included in the Mike Grell's The Warlord Omnibus Vol. 1 (DC, December 2025).
Machiste went on to appear in the 1982 Remco 'Lost World of the Warlord' action figure line, the Justice League Unlimited animated episode 'Chaos at the Earth's Core' (voiced by Phil LaMarr), and the 2023 animated film Justice League: Warworld (voiced by Roger Cross).