When the mad scientists called the Enclave tried to create the perfect being… Him was born. Once he was done punishing his creators, Him headed into space to find a mate, namely the Asgardian called Sif. Thor repelled Him for trying to claim his occasional love interest, forcing him to leave Asgard and return to the stars to float in the void in his creepy cocoon.
The last thing we’d expect is for Him to return as one of the strangest heroes of the Marvel Universe! His new adventures as Adam Warlock would turn him into a sci-fi Christ analogue and introduce the Soul Gem – the first of the Infinity Gems.
He’d also meet the man he’d see as a father figure. The High Evolutionary had, himself, attempted to make a new breed of human in the form of his New Men – super-evolved from animals. His hopes of removing evil from the world were dashed when one creation, the Man-Beast (part man, part wolf), turned out to be depravity personified. The Evolutionary would continue to find ways to evolve humanity into a more benevolent race, unaware that the Man-Beast was plotting against him…
Get ready for the birth of Adam Warlock. But be warned… it’s really odd.
Series Launch: In the ’70s, Marvel ran anthology titles to launch new books; Warlock’s story begins in the anthology series Marvel Premiere, then continues in his own title.
Anthology Issues: When an issue contains multiple stories, the relevant story is denoted with square brackets. For example, [2/5] refers to the second story of the five stories in that issue.
Spoilers: The issue descriptions and fallout section contain spoilers, so be warned!
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- Marvel Premiere #1 [1/2]
- Marvel Premiere #2 [1/2]
- Warlock #1-2
| Must Read | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| ✔ | Marvel Premiere #1 On the other side of the Sun, the High Evolutionary discovers a floating cocoon containing the artificially-created being, Him, who he takes aboard his ship and allows him to observe the creation of a new version of Earth. This rapidly evolving Counter-Earth was intended to be a world devoid of evil, but when the Evolutionary takes a nap, his ‘wayward son’ the Man-Beast infects the inhabitants with the killer instinct that makes it no better than the true Earth. Him emerges from the cocoon in a new form and defends the High Evolutionary from the Man-Beast and the rogue New Men who make their way to Counter-Earth. The Evolutionary dubs Him ‘Warlock‘, plants a gem on his forehead and allows him to try and save this failed experiment from destruction… 1st appearance: David Carter, Jason Grey, Sir Raam, Ellen Roberts, Soul Gem, Counter-Earth New identity: Him as Warlock |
| ✔ | Marvel Premiere #2 Warlock crashes on Counter-Earth giving him a concussion. He now only knows his new name. The rebellious teenagers he meets dub him ‘Adam Warlock‘. Man-Beast twisted this new world to remove any chance of replicating the heroes of the true Earth. With Adam Warlock his only obstacle, he sends his rat-man Rhodan and his winged Hounds of Helios to dispatch him. Warlock regains his memories and discovers his Soul Gem has the power to transmute the New Men back to their original forms. Rhodan returns to rat form and is eaten by a cat. 1st appearance: Bruce Banner of Counter-Earth (cameo), Reed Richards of Counter-Earth (cameo), Barney Roberts, Eddie Roberts, Victor von Doom of Counter-Earth (cameo) New identity: Warlock as Adam Warlock |
| Must Read | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| ✔ | Warlock #1 Having rejected their parents, the teenagers agree to follow Warlock when he heads into the city, but soon sends them to find refuge with the sister of a street preacher when he comes under attack from airborne New Men. The street preacher leads Warlock below ground and reveals himself to be the Man-Beast in disguise… 1st appearance: Astrella Carpenter (unnamed) |
| ✔ | Warlock #2 The Man-Beast stirs up riots in New York. When his teenage friends come under attack and deny their connection to Warlock, the ‘hero’ becomes enraged and destroys the UN building, the White House and several major landmarks across the Earth. Man-Beast reveals it was all a dream created by his hypnotic powers, but escapes Warlock to avoid devolving. Warlock realises what he could have become and reunites with his teenage friends. |
| Must Read | Issue(s) & Fallout | Event/ Crossover |
| ✔ | Incredible Hulk #158 (1972) Counter-Earth’s version of Bruce Banner first fully appears; the Hulk and Rhino from the true Earth briefly battle on Counter-Earth before returning home. | |
| ✔ | Warlock #3 (1972) Warlock continues his war against the rogue New Men. | |
| ✔ | Warlock #4-5 (1973) Victor von Doom of Counter-Earth first fully appears; the Prophet’s sister is actually revealed to be Astrella Carpenter, the sister of President Rex Carpenter of Counter-Earth. | |
| ✔ | Warlock #6 (1973) First full appearance of Reed Richards of Counter-Earth. | |
| ✔ | Warlock #7 (1973) Victor von Doom drains the energy from Reed Richards that turned him into the monstrous Brute; von Doom is killed when the device he uses to save Richards explodes. | |
| ✔ | Incredible Hulk #176-179 (1974) The Christ analogy continues with Adam Warlock being dying and (after spending more quality cocoon time) being reborn; the Hulk returns to Counter-Earth and helps Warlock defeat the Man-Beast; Warlock leaves Counter-Earth, including his gang of teenaged friends, and the Hulk is returned to the true Earth by the Recorder. | |
| Captain Marvel #41 (1975) First appearance of the Mind Gem. | HOMECOMING | |
| ✔ | Fantastic Four #175-176 (1976) Galactus attempts to consume Counter-Earth, but is deterred by the true Earth’s Fantastic Four and the High Evolutionary; the Counter-Earth Reed Richards escapes the planet, is bombarded with cosmic rays that turn him back into the evil Brute and ends up on the true Earth. | |
| ✔ | Fantastic Four #177-179 (1976-1977) Brute joins the Frightful Four on the true Earth; able to return to human form, Counter-Reed takes the real Mister Fantastic‘s place among the Fantastic Four and casts the real Reed Richards into the Negative Zone. | |
| ✔ | Fantastic Four #181-184 (1977) The Fantastic Four defeat the Brute, leaving him hurtling through the Negative Zone. | |
| ✔ | Strange Tales #178 (1975) Adam Warlock discovers the Soul Gem has a vampiric need to absorb souls. | THE INFINITY EFFECT |
| Marvel Team-Up #55 (1977) First appearance of the Time Gem and Power Gem. | HOMECOMING | |
| Avengers Annual #7 (1977) The Space Gem and Mind Gem first appear. | THE FINAL THREAT | |
| ✔ | Marvel Two-in-One #2 (1977) Adam Warlock dies in battle with Thanos; Warlock’s past self sucks the soul from his dying body into the Soul Gem. | THE FINAL THREAT |
| ✔ | Marvel Two-in-One #62-63 (1980) Adam Warlock’s body is revealed to have been buried on Counter-Earth; it’s discovered that Sphinxor stole Counter-Earth on behalf of the cosmic-powered Beyonders. | |
| ✔ | Thanos Quest #1-2 (1990) Thanos gather all six Soul Gems and renames them the Infinity Gems. Silver Surfer #44-45 (1990) Thanos combines the power of the Infinity Gems to create the Infinity Gauntlet. | REBIRTH OF THANOS |
| ✔ | Infinity Gauntlet #1 (1991) Warlock is resurrects himself again in order to oppose Thanos. | THE INFINITY GAUNTLET |
| ✔ | Warlock and the Infinity Watch #3-4 (1992) Following his resurrection, Adam Warlock checks in on his father-figure, the High Evolutionary and learns that Thanos destroyed Counter-Earth while he was in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet (presumably killing all of the inhabitants, including Warlock’s teenaged friends). | |
| Warlock and the Infinity Watch #5-6 (1992) Warlock clashes with the Man-Beast again and escapes him with help from the Infinity Watch. | ||
| Fantastic Four Unlimited #3 (1993) The Brute’s attempt to return to the positive matter universe is thwarted by the Fantastic Four, Annihilus and Blastarr. | ||
| Heroes Reborn #½ (1996) A second Counter-Earth is created by Franklin Richards to home the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. | HEROES REBORN | |
| Heroes For Hire & Quicksilver Annual (1998) The High Evolutionary completely devolves the Man-Beast to wolf form and removes all memory of his experiences. | THE SIEGE OF WUNDAGORE | |
| Paradise X: Heralds #1-2 (2001-2002) The Brute is revealed to have escaped the Negative Zone to Earth-1123 where he took the place of that reality’s Reed Richards and become President of the USA; Brute clashes with Spider-Girl (of Earth-1122) and Wolverine (of Earth-811) when they discover the truth. | ||
| Uncanny Avengers #1 (2015) It’s revealed that Counter-Earth has somehow been recreated and populated by New Men possibly by the High Evolutionary; the Avengers Unity Division oppose the High Evolutionary’s extermination of flawed New Men. | ||
| All-New, All Different Avengers #8 (2016) The Brute is seen as a prisoner in Pleasant Hill on Earth-616. | STANDOFF | |
| Champions #15 (2018) The Avengers and Champions put a stop to the High Evolutionary’s efforts to merge Earth and Counter-Earth. | WORLDS COLLIDE |
See how this story fits into the wider Marvel Universe with these reading orders:
| Collected Edition Title | Collecting… |
| Adam Warlock Omnibus | Avengers Annual #7 Fantastic Four #66-67 Incredible Hulk #176-178 Incredible Hulk Annual #6 Marvel Team-Up #55 Marvel Two-in-One #61-63 Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 Strange Tales #178-181 Thor #165-166 Marvel Premiere #1-2 Warlock #1-15 |
| Marvel Masterworks: Warlock vol.1 | Incredible Hulk #176-178 Marvel Premiere #1-2 Warlock #1-8 |
| Collected Edition Title | Including… |
| Annihilation Classic vol.1 Marvel Firsts: The 1970s vol.1 | Marvel Premiere #1 |
Reading Order © 2025 Omniverse Comics Guide
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