Thread by @Comrade_Bullski

For our second obscure deep dive today I want to talk about something near and dear to my heart, a title most of you have not heard of but one I cannot help but love. This will be a thread focused on a single comic, a single canon. This is a thread about... WARP!

MAJOR DISCLAIMER:
This thread more than any I have done so far will deal with mature themes and EXPLICIT sexuality. Please do not read this with your kids or if you are underaged or feel like this might squick you. Beyond this point, there be mature content.

The story of WARP! has many beginnings.

This is one of them, the Marvel comics of Steve Ditko, especially Doctor Strange.

Chicago-born Stuart Gordon (1947-2020) was raised strictly by his parents and only allowed kid-friendly entertainment such as Disney comics but in his senior year in college in 1969 he decided to try out some of the then-recent Marvel comics on the urging of some friends.

Quote Gordon in Comic Book Creator #10: "A friend said that Marvel Comics went well with pot and acid. He was right."

If you recognize Gordon's name it's most likely because he went on to create a number of classic horror movie such as Reanimator which made him a cult figure. But that future was yet very far away in 1969.

After graduation, Gordon and his wife Carolyn moved back to Chicago where they founded the experimental, off-Broadway Organic Theater Company, which survives to this day. There the Gordons assembled a crew of writers, actors, stagehands and others sharing their ideas.

Technically the Organic Theater had started in Wisconsin where Gordon studied, but after having been tear gassed while protesting Vietnam and other incidents the officials there effectively shut the couple down at every turn, forcing them to move.

In Chicago the company finally got rolling, putting on plays protesting against authoritarianism, fascim and other oppression such as a stage production of George Orwell's Animal Farm. But all the while, Gordon had this idea in his head...

One of Gordon's recruits to the Organic theater was playwright Lenny Kleinfeld in whom Gordon found a kindred spirit and together the two of them started an ambitious project - a three part play where the audience would have to return three nights to see the conclusion.

(I THINK this is the same Lenny Kleinfeld since his biography says he was a playwright in Chicago, but since he doesn't have a lot of information online I am somewhat guessing. He is now a novelist)

Serialized plays were certainly nothing new, but what the Organic Company put up in 1971 was perhaps the world's first play based directly on comic books... the brainchild of Gordon and Kleinfeld working together... WARP!

Warp consisted of three full-length plays: Warp I: My Battlefield, My Body; Warp II: Unleashed, Unchained! and finally Warp III: To Die... Alive!

The cast of Warp included Carolyn Purdy-Gordon as the villainess Valaria and future award-winning actor and dancer André De Shields as Xander. Cecil O'Neal originally played Lord Cumulus but bowed out and was replaced by John Heard midway through the original run of the play.

Warp was HEAVILY inspired by comic books as well as fantasy and science fiction and featured impressive and ambitious set design and costuming, including many action scenes, fights and stunts as the epic saga unfolded.

Enjoying success in their venue, Gordon and Kleinfeld decided to make a big gamble. They would bring Warp! beyond the alternative theater stage... to Broadway. And for that, they contacted none other than up-and-coming comics artist Neal Adams.

Adams was interested by the offer to not just do the poster but also redesign the costumes and sets of Warp to become even more fantastic, daring and flashy (image courtesy of TwoMorrows here) which the costume designer then had to translate to reality.

In 1973 Neal Adams was a rising superstar and already a recognized master of his craft. The hope was that his involvement would bring a little extra star power to the off-beat production as they competed in the cutthroat Broadway scene.

Here's an example of how costume designer Laura Crow attempted to break down Adams' designs into something that could be made and worn.

And so Warp came to the venerable Ambassador Theatre on Broadway in January of 1973, opening with bold, bright colors and spectacle...

...seven short weeks later it was over. Reviews were mixed and it seemed the big audiences were confused and even put off by the cosmic spectacle put on the stage. The planned chapter II and III never happened despite the hopeful note on the closing notice.

Of course the legacy of Warp didn't die in that cold, unforgiving January of 1973. The plays were still performed many times from the 70s until today (picture from the 1996 version) and live on as a fascinating snapshot of a long-gone era of comics and geek fandom.

But of course Warp spawned one more legacy... the version most familiar to me and the one I really want to share with you today. Perhaps it was inevitable... Warp the comic book!

The full history of First Comics is beyond the scope of this thread but suffice to say that in their original publishing period of 1983-1991 they published some very good comics by some very good creators and are well worth your time to seek out.

First featured almost entirely creator-owned comics and most were published in full color, allowing artists and writers such as Tim Truman, Mike Grell and Howard Chaykin to do basically whatever they wanted under the watchful eye of editor Mike Gold.

And so it was that in early 1983, Warp made the jump from the stage back into the medium that spawned it originally, all those years ago. It's finally time for us to talk about the far-out STORY of Warp and the odd way the title ended.

The original creative team of Warp consisted of Peter B. Gillis on scripting duties...

...and one of the most underrated comics artist to work in that era, Frank Brunner. Brunner had already made quite a name for himself for his fantastic visuals on Doctor Strange and many other titles and was the perfect fit for a title like Warp which he both plotted and drew

Please beware that past this point there will be SPOILERS aplenty for this series. If you wish to experience this ride of a comic on your own, DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT.

The initial ten issues of Warp faithfully adapt the original three plays, with a little bit of extra content added here and there.

The story begins peacefully and mundanely enough, with lowly bank teller David Carson and his colleague/girlfriend Mary Louise

Alas, all is not well with David who has spent years institutionalized, the victim of strange mental breakdowns...

Only seven pages in, David finds himself elsewhere after another attack and confronted by the insect sorceress Valaria who again insists that David is this mysterious "Lord Cumulus"

You see there's also this wizard called Lugulbanda from someplace called Fen-Ra who is searching for David.

After Valaria tries to murder David/Cumulus with insects, Lugulbanda saves him and tells him that he is indeed the chosen hero who will fight great threats coming in the future.

Lugulbanda tells Cumulus that someone named Lord Chaos is coming who is totally unhinged and wants to destroy the universe and also introduces him to Sargon, Mistress of War!

Sargon and Lugulbanda instruct the still confused David in how to use his impressive physical and mental powers, something which all natives to Fen Ra can accomplish but Lord Cumulus is especially good at. Cumulus and Sargon also establish a will-they-won't-they dynamic right off

(If you're wondering, she's got a Red Sonja vow thing where she has to dedicate herself utterly to war)

The first issue ends with the introduction of the first antagonist, Lord Chaos! And another absolutely smashing Brunner piece.

The story is absolutely littered with geeky references, by the way. Chaos' fortress is called "Rottwang", later on we see a reference to Cthulhu...

The first issue also establishes another ongoing feature - little backup stories at the end of each issue expanding on the characters and the world beyond the play. The first is written by none other than John Ostrander.

Later issues see a bunch of these features but they are sadly mostly forgettable side stories, even if we did get a few drawn by Steve Ditko himself!

Issue 2 starts off with David and Sargon going on a mission and David almost gets turned into a zombie by a tree which the heroes only get out of by Sargon casually rewinding time to before Cumulus touched the tree's fruit. Oh and the tree turns out to be one of Valaria's kids.

Valaria pops up and seemingly kills Sargon (leading to the previous page of Cumulus swearing revenge) and this leads to David fighting Chaos and his followers Valaria and the ape-man Symax for the first time.

In issue three, Chaos taunts David with the fact his beloved Mary Louise is now getting together with somebody else since David is seemingly comatose, and this bamboozles David/Cumulus so hard he goes along with Chaos' plan like a big dummy.

Meanwhile Valaria prays to "Kuthalu" who is here a Wirrn from Doctor Who's "The Ark in Space" and the goddess rewards her by impregnating her and she lays an egg. Yep. Valaria's powers include popping out monsters.

On his metaphysical journey to Earth which Chaos sent him on, David bumps into God. Like. THE God. The creator-deity of all creation. He chooses to appear as a bondage slave.

It's not entirely random, though. You see, Cumulus is the son of the creator.

Back on Earth in spirit form, David discovers to his horror that Lord Chaos beat him there and is now inhabiting his body and is uh... yeah. He's gonna be a bad man. So David does the only logical thing - possess his girlfriend to fight his old body!

This little altercation goes from bad to worse when a priest enters, gets possessed by monkey-man Symax and stabs David's body to death!

And that was why this part was called My Body, My Battlefield. Lugulbanda gives his condolences and I'm just gonna call this guy Cumulus from now on. Also sick John Carter reference, bros.

In issue #4 Valaria's offspring finally hatches and turns out to be Xander, an Annhilius-like monster from another reality who has exterminated all life where he comes from and intends to do the same in our universe! Whups!

Xander rewards Valaria with an orgasm and bullies Chaos into serving him.

Chaos of course isn't the servile type and despite Xander's relentless mental onslaught runs off to Fen-Ra to seek the aid of Cumulus and co, which leads to the revelation that Chaos and Cumulus... are brothers, both the offspring of the supreme deity. DUN DUN DUN

In issue 5, despite their great powers Cumulus and Chaos are powerless against Xander who puts them in bondage, as you do. And then... and then...

...in order to prevent her from ever birthing a rival to him, Xander has Symax the ape-man seal Valaria's vagina up with his laser scalper.

Yep.

This happens.

Understandably upset, this eventually convinces Valaria to switch sides and free the brothers. Incidentally, Chaos is constantly spouting puns and making jokes while also being an absolute dog of a person, it's so weird.

The trio make their way back to Fen-Ra, but Sargon is not thrilled to see Valaria and uh-oh turns out they're sisters? DUN DUN DUN!

This turns out to be pretty irrelevant as Xander remotely kills Valaria on the very next page, impaling her like a butterfly.

If you're by now thinking "Wow, Valaria's life is total shit" you're right. This is it for her, by the way. You never see her again except in flashbacks, even though she is the most iconic character for the series.

Issue six quickly goes from bad to worse when Xander turns out to already be in Fen-Ra and effortlessly mentally enslaves Lugulbanda and Sargon in his quest for the holy crystal of Fen-Ra, said to contain all knowledge of this universe.

Xander decides to have an enslaved Lugulbanda executes his charges Cumulus and Chaos... and...

...this turns out to have been planned by Lugulbanda all along as this is the moment where Cumulus and Chaos finally discover how to combine their powers and transform into the holy being - Ego!

Xander quickly finds his powers are useless against this newcomer, who effortlessly breaks his mental domination on Sargon and shrugs off his killing rays.

And so Warp II ends with Ego utterly obliterating Xander, ending his threat.

Ego breaks down into Cumulus and Chaos again who are blissfully unaware of what just happened and happy to be alive!

Lugulbanda reveals he had the true crystal stashed away from Xander and the issue ends with the revelation of a new threat - the ULTIMATE threat - Infinity!

The brothers are dispatched to find out more about the mysterious Infinity and through a quick joining into Ego to travel (now accomplished by easier means) they find themselves on an endless battlefield fighting monsters, giant ants and cowboys!

Cumulus correctly susses out that these creatures are all artificial beings puppeteered by something else, prompting the gigantic Dagon (more Lovecraft references) to reveal himself!

However even Dagon turns out to be nothing but a puppet, sending the brothers onwards to search for Infinity again!

After nearly passing out in a strange foggy valley, the brothers seemingly find their foe in issue 8 and man is it a sight to behold.

Despite a mighty battle, Infinity explains it exists in every reality at once and thus can just shift itself to another one where it wasn't destroyed. Thankfully Infinity seems to like to play with its enemies...

This leads to the ABSOLUTE FUNNIEST two pages in the whole run. to wit:

That top panel.

Cumulus dies! But it's okay because the whole "Infinity" bit was just a shared dream caused by a species of giant slugs with hallucinogenic farts called Snurtles.

Yep.

Crisis averted.

Understandably upset, the brothers return to Fen-Ra which is still being gradually destroyed by the actual Infinity, and they try to figure out what they should do. They decide to contact He Who Dreams, their father and the supreme being.

They figure out he's been inside the crystal this whole time and free him, but he's at the end of his rope and just... just a huge asshole. Seriously, He Who Dreams, why you gotta be such a douche?

Asshole god-dad informs the brothers that Infinity is basically unbeatable - it is the constant force of entropy and destruction and can only be held at bay. But he is dying and needs to be replaced by the only being who can do so - Ego. This is why Cumulus and Chaos exist.

And so, after some final agonizing philosophizing about the fact they were created to just be halves of a whole, Cumulus and Chaos agree to be merged into Ego one last time with the god-sword...

And Ego ends the vigil of the old He Who Dreams who withers away to nothing before she takes up the divine sword and retreats into the crystal to forever keep the universe together.

Lugulbanda removes Sargon's memories of Cumulus and she basically goes off to tidy up Fen-Ra and so issue ten closes with the end of Warp III. The universe is saved, our protagonist and villain are now more... what else is there?

...join me again after a short break for the CONTINUING saga of Warp...

First off, I want to say if you're still with me at this point? Amazing.

Second, if you liked this brief summary of the events of the original plays in Warp 1-10 you can seemingly buy this whole run as a trade paperback from First's online store.

1first-publishing.myshopify.com

I have never shopped from here myself so I'm not sure how it works, but it might be worth a look just for the great comics available. Anyway, on with the show!

So where the hell do you go from here? Well, sales on Warp seemed to be good enough for First to want to continue the series and make it an ongoing, but Frank Brunner was not interested. He was there to adapt the plays and so left the project after finishing issue 10.

Gillis stayed on and assumed full writing duties and was now joined by Jerry Bingham and Mike Gustovich on art. Nothing against either of them but this was a massive drop in art quality and a major blow for the series for me.

Let's talk about the Warp Specials first. These were essentially additional issues with stories expanding the setting, mostly by offering backstories not given by the plays. The first Special dedicated to Lord Chaos even came out before the adaptation in 1-9 was done.

In this issue by Gillis and superstar artist Howard Chaykin we find out that Chaos basically has Superman's origin, except he was a weird kid with an imaginary friend driving him to do bad stuff.

The issue chronicles how Chaos gained his followers and his conflict with the original incarnation of Lord Cumulus, the guy Sargon knew and thought David was vastly inferior to.

Chaos, unaware of their bond and with some help, kills Cumulus.

But guess what? Strike him down and something something. I want to stress, none of the stories from this issue out are based on the plays at all. This is purely stuff invented from the comic and the Star Wars influence is probably not coincidental, despite the plays predating it

Special #2 is a treat because Gillis joined by a very young Marc Silvestri! Yep, future creator of Top Cow, superstar X-Men penciler, and here he is doing the art for Warp. And it's really good art too, this issue is probably the coolest non-Brunner issue visually.

The issue explores the relationship between the original Cumulus and Sargon a bit more, and reveals that Dagon (remember him?) was a real guy from Fen-Ra who built a giant robot version of himself!

Unfortunately for him, Dagon is thoroughly outwitted and teleported to another dimension along with his robot by a Fen-Ra noblewoman named Meroe, who is a lover of Cumulus...

...but that was a big ruse of hers to summon the ancient evil Ylem into Fen-Ra! That doesn't end well for her, as Ylem kills her first.

Sargon and Cumulus drive Ylem off, and Dagon is stranded on the eternal battlefield to await the events of the regular series.

Special #3 picks up the story of Chaos after his murder of Cumulus in the first Special and bridges the events to the ongoing series.

For their attack on Fen-Ra, Chaos, Valaria and Symax are banished to a forsaken dimension where Chaos discovers the vengeful spirit of an ancient "demon" calling herself Sycorax.

I'm gonna skim over most of this because Valaria impregnates herself by Sycorax, molts into a young version of herself who promptly jumps into bed with Chaos and ages back to her regular appearance as she gets more pregnant. Ehm. Why.

Chaos meanwhile gets revenge on these two Fen-Ra nobles by making them orgasm forever in a floaty crystal while he eats their lifeforce.

In the end Chaos tricks Fen-Ra into attacking as revenge for that and he uses the power of Sycorax to turn most of Fen-Ra's warriors into stone, leaving only Sargon alive. This eventually kills Sycorax, and Valaria's baby turns out to be that tree from way back in Warp I!

Unfortunately the remaining ongoing issues of Warp are considerably slower in pace, less entertaining to me and less interesting, so I will go over them at a quicker pace.

In issue #10, Sargon discovers that Lugulbanda basically lied about everything in the finale (great retcon very smooth) and in fact Cumulus and Chaos are imprisoned in the crystal along with Ego who is there... sister? Who was cursed by He Who Dreams to not have her own body.

Lugulbanda goes absolutely apeshit and tries to KILL GOD to end all existence but ends up releasing everyone from the crystal and gets absolutely wrecked.

We basically rehash the end of issue 9 AGAIN with the brothers merging with Ego and going into the crystal and THEN time rewinds and everyone just kinda wakes up and well. Basically we have clumsily retconned our way back to the general status quo in the midst of the adaption.

This issue also sees the start of the ongoing "Outrider" backup by Gillis and Bill Willingham. The titular Outrider is a Fen-Ra noble who engaged in a forbidden tryst and was banished and his lover was transformed into a giant space-hawk that he rides on but can't have sex with.

Outrider is an extremely Elrician protagonist and his strips are a little too angsty for me, including sequences where his bird-lover tries to kill them both just to get out of this endless misery she's in. He reminds her of all the sex they had and that changes her mind. Lovely.

Issue #11 begins three subplots which will essentially last through the remainder of the comic. Cumulus physically goes to earth, Chaos goes to Cynosure for antics and Sargon leaves Fen-Ra to go to her homeworld after 35,000 years.

Cumulus basically finds some new wizards who send him back to earth (still as Cumulus) to check up on Mary Louise, which goes HORRIBLY as she saw him die and get buried and is now indeed with another man.

Meanwhile Chaos goes to Cynosure, this multiversal nexus city which featured vaguely in certain First titles and loosely connected their universes together. There he sets himself up as a new power and plans a heist.

Sargon, heartbroken by her memories of the original Cumulus and all the shit she's seen, decides to visit her homeworld of Umlatek.

Oh yeah, Chaos finds himself opposed by this artificial man named Lord Phaeton who is the main protector of Cynosure...

...and who actually showed up much later in Tim Truman's Grimjack, which was largely set in Cyosure, thus becoming the longest-lasting Warp character in print!

Cumulus' disastrous attempts to reestablish life on earth leads to him clashing with a mysterious hooded figure who claims to be death itself!

Sargon's homecoming goes equally badly, with her discovering that her people vanished some 20,000 years ago and a reptilian species now inhabit her planet, with barely any memories left of her past. Not to worry though, they offer her a job which she accepts!

There's also this subplot about the demon race Sycorax came from threatening Cynosure and Fen-Ra but Lugulbanda and his cadre of quirky vizards basically trick them and sic Ylem on them and that's that.

Cumulus' fight against "Death" goes badly until he's bailed out by a mysterious woman named Caprice who tells them to knock it off...

Turns out "Death" is just a jealous lover of Caprice who thought Cumulus was her future love and uh... please remember this moment a few posts down the line.

The Chaos subplot leads to basically nothing as Phaeton eventually thwarts him, despite hims cunning plan of building Doombots of himself piloted by cockroaches.

Sargon ends up leading the reptile race to victory in a space war by literally directing their forces, but it's not very interesting aside from thise fantastic cover.

It's almost over now. The Chaos and Cumulus subplots collide when Cumulus returns to Cynosure, only for them to briefly form Ego.

Sargon and Outrider meet up during her war effort and he revives her after she's slain, while an increasingly distraught Cumulus rebels against his manipulators and somehow splits Ego in two, claiming her power for himself!

With everyone back on Fen-Ra, Lugulbanda decides to FINALLY restore Outrider's bird to her original form. I feel really bad for her so at least she got a good end.

The cast figure out that Cumulus has gone off the deep end, and he rampages through Fen-Ra with the others helpless to stop him...

Fortunately the LITERAL deus ex machina arrives in the form of Caprice, who turns out to be He Who Dreams in disguise.

So uh. Yeah Cumulus was making out with his dad a few issues back with the implication they were going to become lovers.

Cumulus airs his daddy issues while also becoming just as big of a dick as He Who Dreams is, and eventually he realizes this and accepts his fate.

And so the saga of Warp concludes with David back in a hospital on Earth with Sargon keeping watch over him, despite what a jerk he's been to her.

I won't lie. I don't think the stories published after the original adaptation are good, and certainly don't hold a candle to the original story. I understand First wanted to keep a succesful title going, but the energy vanished and it became just a rather average title by ending

Regardless, I think Warp is fantastic. A true product of its time, a bold experiment, and a cool idea that has merit. I would not mind seeing it come back in some form, depending how the rights issue looks.

Thank you for coming on this journey with me. This is the third time I do this deep dive for the internet and I hope it at least brought you some entertainment and a look at a lost world.

From idea to play to comic and beyond, Warp is a look at those heady pre-internet fandom days, those days long before big-budget comics movies and video games.

Thank you all so much for reading, please engage as much as you want, and I'll see you all in Fen-Ra.