Adam Warlock

The way ahead is long ... and dangerous. I'll have no one with me who doesn't want to come.

Naked power is seldom the answer to any problem. … Only a richly complex and skillfully executed strategy will insure your survival. Time is short and I have such a plan.

Adam Warlock, originally known as Him, is a superhero that appears in the fictional Marvel Universe created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The character first appeared in Fantastic Four Vol. 1, #66 (September 1967), in cocoon form, and #67 (October 1967), in humanoid form. In later stories he eventually battled incarnations of aspects of his own psyche, the tyrranical Magus, and the fanatical Goddess.

Warlock (1972 - 1976)

• Sculptor of worlds! Is it your voice I hear? If so, then speak ... and Warlock shall heed!
  • To the High Evolutionary, No. 1 (August 1972)

• You have not called me here merely to praise yourself. Then why have you done so ... when there are things I must do on the planet you created?
  • To the High Evolutionary, in No. 1 (August 1972)

• The way ahead is long ... and dangerous. I'll have no one with me who doesn't want to come.
  • To his human companions, in No. 1 (August 1972)

The Infinity Gauntlet (1991)

Written by Jim Starlin

There are forces at work you do not perceive. I weave a delicate strategy which rash actions could rend.

I am the type who sees the future and is held prisoner by it. How many times has this little drama repeated itself to me..?

I am off to shed my Godhood.

• In my time many called me Adam Warlock. You may do so also, if you feel so inclined.
  • As he interrupts a battle between Doctor Doom and Doctor Strange, in Issue 2 : From Bad to Worse

• There are forces at work you do not perceive. I weave a delicate strategy which rash actions could rend. Patience, please.
  • To Doctor Doom, as the gathered heroes prepare to confront Thanos, in Issue 3: Preparations for War.

• Naked power is seldom the answer to any problem. Surely you must know that even this group's combined might is nothing compared to the force Thanos wields. Only a richly complex and skillfully executed strategy will insure your survival. Time is short and I have such a plan.
  • To Galactus, attempting to convince him to join with the heroes allied with him in his plans to defeat Thanos, in Issue 3: Preparations for War.

• In a short while, we confront Thanos, a being of unimaginable power whose sole goal is the destruction of all life. … Extreme measures may be called for in dealing with him. You and the Hulk have an outlook on death the others do not share … except for Doom, but he cannot be trusted.
  • Privately, to Wolverine and the Hulk, instructing them that if they get any opportunity, to kill Thanos without hesitation, in Issue 3: Preparations for War.

• We tried to do this the easy way — and we failed. Now begins the conflict I strove to avoid. It may well prove to be a battle the Universe cannot survive! Eternity, it is now your turn.
  • In Issue 4 : Cosmic Battle on the Edge of the Universe

• I was part of the Soul Gem while you possessed it, which permitted me access to your inner heart. I know you as no other being in the universe does, better than even you do, yourself.
  • Confronting Thanos, while Nebula possess the Infinity Gauntlet, persuading him to aid the heroes in their efforts to defeat her, in Issue 5 : Astral Conflagration

• Let the conflict END!
  • As he reveals himself possessing the Infinity Gauntlet, after it is lost first by Thanos and then Nebula, in Issue 6 : The Final Confrontation

• I am now The Supreme Being, seek not to dispute that claim.
  • To Thanos and the gathered heroes and villains who had sought the Infinity Gauntlet, in Issue 6 : The Final Confrontation

• Already, the distance between what I was and am is insurmountable — like an ant contemplating the Cosmos.
  I knew it would be so … yet still I hoped.
  I guess there is really nothing left to say.
  • To the final three super-heroes he allows to remain in his presence after obtaining the Infinity Gauntlet, who want him to surrender it: the Silver Surfer, Thor, and Doctor Strange, in Issue 6 : The Final Confrontation

• I begin a journey mapped out amidst the stars. 'Tis a path I cannot stray from —
  • As he goes to visit the defeated Thanos, in Issue 6 : The Final Confrontation

• Time is a repeating loop to me now.
  • To Gamora and Pip the Troll, in Issue 6 : The Final Confrontation

• I seek not revenge. Advice is what I crave.
  • To Thanos, as a fellow being who has been burdened with the wearing of the Infinity Gauntlet.

Warlock and the Infinity Watch (1992 - 1995)

• I am the type who sees the future and is held prisoner by it. How many times has this little drama repeated itself to me..?
  • No. 1 (February 1992)

• I am off to shed my Godhood.
  • As he prepares to relinquish the possession of most of the Infinity Gems to others, retaining only the Soul Gem for himself, in No. 1 (February 1992)

Quotes about Warlock

• When I finished with Captain Marvel I had turned him from a warrior into a mystic. Adam Warlock was a mystical messiah. Where to go from there? Decided to reverse course and turn him into a suicidal paranoid/schizophrenic, which was the way I was feeling at the time. I’ve always used my work to examine what is currently going on in my own life. It’s cheaper than going to a shrink.
  • Jim Starlin, on some of his early work on defining the character of Warlock, in an interview at Newsarama (15 July 2006)

External links

• Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Warlock
• Adelaide Comics and Books: "The Legendary Lost Warlock" (Interview with Alan Weiss)