The greatest threat to the universe, Thanos, is dead thanks to Captain Marvel and the Avengers (during THE THANOS WAR, 1973-1974). But a new cosmic religion is sweeping the universe and it’s up to the most unlikely of heroes to tackle it. Writer and artist Jim Starlin brings back Adam Warlock, just as the Universal Church of Truth begin forcibly converting followers.
Warlock was created by the criminal scientists called the Enclave to be the perfect human – a being called Him. He turned against his creators and headed into space to search for a mate. After Thor taught Him some humility when he tried it on with Sif, the High Evolutionary granted Him the Soul Gem and employed him to be the hero of Counter-Earth. Him became Adam Warlock and defended the world’s population from the villainy of the Man-Beast (during COUNT-DOWN FOR COUNTER-EARTH, 1972). Having died and been reborn to save a world, Warlock has taken to the stars again to look for new purpose. But he may get more than he bargained for…
This has to be my absolute favourite Marvel storyline from the ’70s. The concepts are, at times, so utterly insane! Especially when you compare it to most of Marvel’s more mainstream output from this decade.
Crossover: Warlock’s original ongoing title was cancelled in 1973; the character was initially given a spot in the Strange Tales anthology series, with the story jumping back into Warlock’s resumed ongoing series in 1975 which picked up where the previous numbering left off.
Spoilers: The issue/story overviews may include spoilers, so be warned!
Did we miss something? Let us know!
Previous events that directly impact this story:
- COUNT-DOWN FOR COUNTER-EARTH (1972) – ‘Him’ becomes Adam Warlock
- THE THANOS WAR (1973-1974) – The rise and fall of Thanos of Titan
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- Strange Tales #178-181
- Warlock #9-11
| Title, Issue Number & Synopsis |
| Strange Tales #178 Adam Warlock‘s soul-searching is interrupted by a woman pursued by three alien who kill her in front of him and teleport away. Warlock uses his Soul Gem to bring her back to the land of the living long enough to learn her attackers are members of the Universal Church of Truth. The interstellar Church travels the galaxy, converting alien races into mindless followers. Those who won’t follow are wiped out. The Church’s leader, the Magus, telepathically warns Warlock that to fight him is to fight himself – Adam Warlock and the Magus are the same being! 1st appearance: Grand Inquisitors, Magus, Matriarch, Sphinxor, Universal Church of Truth |
| Strange Tales #179 Warlock is taken prisoner aboard the Universal Church of Truth’s oversized battle-cruiser, where Captain Autolycus of the Church’s Black Knights lock him up with other aliens. The Magus only wants humanoid species to join his Church. One alien, Pip the Troll, asks Warlock to lead them all to freedom. The Matriarch orders Autolycus to kill Warlock, figuring the effects this could have on the Church are worth the risk. Warlock single-handedly takes out all the Church’s followers aboard the ship, but his Gem takes on a life of its own and absorbs Autolycus’ very soul into it. Now wracked with guilt, Adam Warlock is joined by Pip as they jump aboard a ship and head into space to find and kill the Magus. 1st appearance: Autholycus, Black Knights, Pip the Troll/Pip Gofern, Laxidasians, Sarks |
| Strange Tales #180 Warlock takes on a new look as he and Pip arrive on Homeworld. Warlock regains control of his vampiric Soul Gem following a scuffle with some Black Knights, then flies straight to the Matriarch’s throne room. She reveals that the Magus is Adam Warlock’s future self! Warlock falls through a trap door and soon finds himself on trial in the most insane judicial process in the known universe. It’s presided by Grand Inquisitor Kray-Tor who will find Warlock guilty whatever the ‘evidence’. Warlock’s Soul Gem sucks out Kray-Tor’s soul, causing him to collapse. He’s thrown into pit by the Matriarch’s minions. Meanwhile, Pip the Troll has headed for the nearest bar, where an unnamed green-skinned lady claims to want to join Adam Warlock’s fight against the Magus. 1st appearance: Gamora (unnamed), Kray-Tor, Judans, Sirusites, Zen-Whoberis (race), Al’Ma’an, Homeworld |
| Title, Issue Number & Synopsis |
| Strange Tales #181 Adam Warlock wakes to find himself in a surreal reality controlled by insane clown Len Teans who’s trying to convince Warlock to give in to insanity using the Madness Monster. The real Len Teans controls this ‘reality’ using a VR helmet. Pip the Troll and Gamora (the deadliest woman in the whole galaxy) break in to the Matriarch’s sacred place just as Warlock escapes the madness. The trio finally meet the Magus in his throne room… 1st appearance: Gamora (named) |
| Warlock #9 The Magus is able to predict Adam Warlock’s every move as he’s already lived through this confrontation. However, he somehow fails to sense Gamora. The Magus plans to cast Warlock into the In-Betweener‘s realm where he’ll spend centuries going insane, enter a cocoon, go mad and emerge as the Magus 5,000 years in the past on what will become Homeworld. There, he’ll take over the planet and start up the Universal Church of Truth and spend the next five millennia spreading a faith based around himself across the universe. Finally, he’ll meet his past self and turn him into the Magus, closing the loop. Just as all hope seems lost, Gamora’s employer emerges from a portal to help our heroes in their darkest hour. And Warlock’s saviour is… Thanos! 1st appearance: In-Betweener |
| Warlock #10 Thanos, Gamora, Pip the Troll and Adam Warlock escape the army of Black Knights by fleeing into the tunnels beneath Homeworld. Warlock finds the Matriarch who dies in his arms. Thanos transports the group to his ship, Sanctuary I, where he reveals how he saved Gamora as a child when the Magus massacred everyone on her planet, Zen-Whoberi (or will massacre them – Thanos travelled to the future Reality-7528 to save Gamora and raise her to kill the Magus for reasons he won’t explain). Now all the Mad Titan needs are his time machine, the Soul Gem and Adam Warlock’s suicide. 1st appearance: Sanctuary I, Zen-Whoberi (planet) |
| Warlock #11 Adam Warlock sucks the souls of the invading Black Knights on Sanctuary I into his Soul Gem. Thanos is revealed to be the ‘Champion of Death‘ while the Magus (and therefore Warlock) is the ‘Champion of Life‘. Warlock and Pip the Troll jump into the time machine, face the In-Betweener and find the crossroads of Warlock’s future fate where he cleanses the timeline with his Soul Gem. Just as the Magus comes close to defeating Thanos, Warlock’s actions erase Magus from the timeline. Warlock then meets his defeated future self (see THE FINAL CONFLICT, 1977) lying bloodied from battle and angry at having lost everyone he’s ever loved. Warlock draws his future-self’s soul into the Gem and returns to the present. Now that the Magus no longer exists, Thanos can plan his next more for interstellar genocide. Homeworld is now free of the Universal Church of Truth as it never existed. Warlock sees the woman who would have been the Matriarch alive and well. Pip convinces Warlock to go to a bar to celebrate their victory. |
| Must Reads | Issues & Fallout | Event/Crossover |
| Captain Marvel #44 (1976) Thanos’ return is sensed by Drax the Destroyer. | HOMECOMING | |
| ✔ | Warlock #12-15 (1976) Warlock continues on his journey of self-discovery without Pip & Gamora; Thanos orders Gamora to seek out Warlock and become his bodyguard; the Soul Gem reveals for the first time that it is one of six gems (which are all referred to as ‘Soul Gems’ despite their varied abilities); Drax continues his search for Thanos, endangering the lives of Gamora and Pip. | HOMECOMING |
| ✔ | Avengers Annual #7 (1977) Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 (1977) Thanos kills Gamora and Pip the Troll, so Warlock sucks their souls into the Soul Gem; Warlock loses in a brutal battle between himself and Thanos; Warlock’s past self arrives and sucks the dying Warlock’s soul into his Soul Gem (the scene is word-for-word the same as the moment when Warlock travelled to the future to meet himself); the souls of Autolycus and Kray-Tor are seen among those now residing within the Soul Gem; Adam Warlock projects his soul from the Soul Gem and turns Thanos to stone, killing him. | THE FINAL THREAT |
| Doctor Strange #26 (1977) The In-Betweener returns. | INTO THE QUADRIVERSE! | |
| Marvel Two-in-One #62 (1980) It’s revealed that Sphinxor was the one who tampered with Adam Warlock’s Soul Gem to release its vampiric side; Sphinxor is also revealed to have been employed by the Beyonders to steal Counter-Earth. | ||
| Marvel Two-in-One #63 (1980) Sphinxor first appears in-story, rather than as a narrator. | ||
| ✔ | Thanos Quest #1-2 (1990) The resurrected Thanos defeats the In-Betweener to obtain the Soul Gem; Thanos gathers all six Infinity Gems. | REBIRTH OF THANOS |
| Guardians of the Galaxy #14-15 (1991) An alternate future (Earth-691) a version of the Universal Church of Truth is discovered by the Guardians of the Galaxy ; the leader of the Church is an artificially-created child called Protegé. | ||
| ✔ | Infinity Gauntlet #1 (1991) Warlock leaves the Soul Gem, restoring himself, Gamora and Pip the Troll to physical forms to take on Thanos. | THE INFINITY GAUNTLET |
| Warlock and the Infinity Watch #5-6 (1992) Warlock gathers those he’s entrusted with Infinity Gems, forming the Infinity Watch; the line-up includes Gamora and Pip the Troll. | ||
| ✔ | Infinity War #1-2 (1992) The Magus is revealed to have returned; the Infinity Well reveals that Adam Warlock expelled good and evil from himself while he held the Infinity Gauntlet, bringing the Magus back into existence. Warlock and the Infinity Watch #9 (1992) Gamora’s origin is expanded. Infinity War #6 (1992) Adam Warlock draws the Magus’ soul into the Soul Gem; as a partial soul, the Magus can’t even interact with anyone in the world inside the Gem. | THE INFINITY WAR |
| ✔ | Warlock and the Infinity Watch #33 (1994) Adam Warlock uses Kray-Tor’s soul to defeat Count Abyss. | |
| Warlock #1-4 (1998-1999) The Magus escapes the Soul Gem while it’s in the possession of a being called Syphonn. | ||
| Captain Marvel #32-34 (2002) The Magus sucks the souls of aliens aboard a space station to try to become corporeal; the Magus is defeated by Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell). | ||
| Captain Marvel #21-24 (2004) The Magus returns to taunt Captain Marvel by turning his future son, Ely-Vell of Earth-98120, against him. | ||
| ✔ | Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (2008) The Matriarch (who may or may not be the same person) and a new Universal Church of Truth are opposed by Adam Warlock, Gamora and their fellow members of the newly-formed Guardians of the Galaxy; the Universal Church of Truth aim to restore the Magus to life. | |
| ✔ | Guardians of the Galaxy #17-19 (2009) To prevent a rift in space tearing the universe apart, Adam Warlock attaches reality to an unused timeline – namely Earth-7528, the timeline he previously ended when he prevented the Magus from coming into being – allowing the Magus persona to take hold of him in the process and becoming Adam Magus. | WAR OF KINGS |
| Guardians of the Galaxy #22-23 (2010) Adam Magus tries to turn Earth-616 into a realm like the Cancerverse. | REALM OF KINGS | |
| The Thanos Imperative: Ignition #1 (2010) Adam Magus is killed by Captain Marvel of Earth-10011 (aka Mar-Vell of the Cancerverse). | THE THANOS IMPERATIVE | |
| Thanos: The Infinity Finale (2016) Death resurrects Adam Warlock at Thanos’ request. | ||
| GODS #4 (2024) The In-Betweener gets a new look and is able to split into two separate beings. |
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| Marvel Masterworks: Warlock vol.2 | Avengers Annual #7 Marvel Team-Up #55 Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 Strange Tales #180-181 Warlock #9-15 |
| Warlock by Jim Starlin – Gallery Edition Warlock by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection | Avengers Annual #7 Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 Strange Tales #180-181 Warlock #9-15 |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Avengers Versus Thanos | Warlock #9-11 |
| Gamora: Guardian of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Solo Classic Omnibus | Strange Tales #180-181 Warlock #9-11 |
| Thanos Wars: Infinity Origin Omnibus | Strange Tales #178-181 Warlock #9-11 |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2025
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