I just happened to catch an episode of Justice League Unlimited a week or two ago, and I was surprised to find the story set in Skataris, with the cast of Mike Grell's Warlord comics of the 1970s and '80s joining better known heroes (I was also surprised and pleased to see Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E. as featured characters, but that's beside the point for now). The episode captured the fun of sword-and-sorcery storytelling. Bruce Jones takes a much darker approach with the material in this new comic-book series, and there was little fun to be found. To be honest, I spent the entire issue wondering why Jones was starting the story over from the beginning. Most readers know where the story is headed, and the origin story is a rather familiar one.
Air Force ace Travis Morgan is fearless and dedicated, and when he loses control of the experimental jet he's testing over a frozen wasteland, he refuses to bail out, confident he can bring her in safe and sound. What he doesn't know is that he's being spirited away to a hidden land, where barbarians terrorize innocent people, where skills with a blade determine dominance and where impossible monsters lurk. Even more gruesome than those scaly monsters is a brute named Brovis, the king of Kolosis who aims to conquer the rest of Skataris as well.
Bart Sears's dark, thick-lined style suits the rough, brutal quality of the warrior world in which this story is set. He depicts the villain's acts clearly, conveying their horrific nature, but at the same time, the artist's communication of violence isn't over the top. The art overall, and especially later on the issue, is handled rather loosely, giving it a sketchy, unfinished look at times. A black-and-white color scheme sets apart the scenes set in the title character's former life, but since they're not flashbacks, I'm at a loss as to explain why the B&W approach is employed.
We've seen this origin archetype before, and not just in Mike Grell's original Warlord series. It's served as the origin from everything from John Carter, Warlord of Mars to Planet of the Apes to Army of Darkness. By starting back at the beginning, perhaps Jones hopes to explore old characters in new ways or introduce new characters and directions to Travis Morgan's world. But for now, it feels more like he's going through the motions. His journey to Skataris and confrontation with an ogre of a dictator lacks suspense, as the cover and past stories have already informed the reader of where the origin tale leads.
Furthermore, starting from scratch doesn't seem to make the story any more reader-friendly either. Jones touches upon Morgan's history back in the "real world" and hints at some drama pre-Skataris. I can't imagine why, since the whole point of the origin is that Morgan gets stranded in an unreal world. Perhaps we'll revisit those other characters later on, but a return to conventional life to a visit from those characters to the savagery of Skataris might diminish the notion of the permanence of Morgan's new life. 3/10
