Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Wednesday Comics: Weirdworld

"Where Lost Things Go"
Weirdworld #1 (August 2015), Written by Jason Aaron; Art by Michael Del Mondo

Synopsis: Arkon, Lord of Warlords, has been fighting is way across the land he has dubbed "Weirdworld," one of the sections of Battleworld, looking for his lost home of Polemachus. Finding himself on a floating island, after defeating a group of squidsharks, he is about to give in to despair and step off the edge, when a group of ogres trying futilely to wrangle a flying dragon comes in view.

Arkon grabs hold to one of the ropes on the dragon and holds on as it dives to attack the ogre's friends in a tank below. The dragon with a little help from Arkon makes short work of the ogres. Arkon manages to climb onto the dragon's back. The two fly along for a while, but then the dragon swallows a piece of over-sized bait, shot up on a line from a body of water below. The two are dragged into the depths, where Arkon encounters:

Apes in diving suits.

Meanwhile, the surviving gun ogres report back to their mistress. They tell her that the man they fought called himself Arkon spoke of a place called Polemachus.



Commentary:
The name (and fantasy elements) are the only things this series seems to have in common with the Doug Moench/Mike Ploog created series in the '70s. (I've discussed that one before.) This one seems to be a hodge-podge of Marvel weird pulp fantasy elements--and things re-imagined as weird pulp fantasy, not unlike the DC Elseworld JLA: Riddle of the Beast did with a more high fantasy approach.

Arkon and Polemachus first appeared in Avengers vol. 1 #75 (1970). Arkon was the leader of a war-like extradimensional realm that was always coming into conflict with superheroes of earth for one reason or another. He and his macho warriors eventually went to war with Thundra and her gynocratic regime in Femizonia--before Arkon and Thundra fall in love.

Morgan Le Fay also has a long Marvel history. She first appeared in the Atlas era in Black Knight Comics #1 (1955). Her first official Marvel Universe appearance was Spider-Woman vol. 1 #2 (1978). 

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