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Warlock Chronicles #3: Review

Sep 1993
Jim Starlin, Tom Raney

Story Name:

Dealing with the devil

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Warlock Chronicles #3 Review by (December 31, 2022)
This issue is a tie-in to Infinity Crusade #3. It concerns the deal made between Adam Warlock, Mephisto and Thanos.

This issue, like others in the IC event, refers to Cosmic Containment Units. These are things that were previously known as Cosmic Cubes, but the name change is probably because the aren't all cubic.

Mephisto changes form several times in this issue, including into the 1 from Daredevil #263-284.

Mephisto's description of CCUs seems based on 3 of the Cosmic Cubes seen so far. The 1st Cube chronicled was created by AIM in Tales Of Suspense #79 and later used by the Red Skull and others. But in Captain America Annual #7 the Shaper Of Worlds declared that it was an evolving sentient being and took it into space. It later appeared as the entity Kubik in New Defenders #150. The Shaper was also revealed as an ex-Cube in Quasar #10. But Fantastic Four #319 Kubik and Shaper showed up to tell Molecule Man and the Beyonder that they were halves of what should have been another Cube, and now they merged to become that Cube which later turned up in Fantastic Four Annual #23 as the being Kosmos.
However while this does say say that Cubes evolve into sentient beings, none of it really suggests that they were also sentient beings *before* they were Cubes. And indeed FF#319 instead states that all Cubes are actually created directly or indirectly by the Beyonders (who are not the same as the Beyonder).





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Warlock Chronicles #3 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
This issue begins with a scene from Infinity Crusade #3 in Thanos' starship where Mephisto tells him and Adam Warlock that he knows a secret about Cosmic Containment Units. But he will only reveal what it is if they promise to give him 1 of those held by Goddess after they defeat her.

It continues with Mephisto admitting that he wants 1 because it can grant its holder nearly any wish they can imagine. He already has such power in his own realm Hades, but not outside it. Warlock says he'd prefer it to remain that way. The devil gets angry but Adam reminds him how he recently defeated him in his own domain (Silver Surfer/Warlock: Resurrection #4), and forcefully shows the demon how much more 1-sided the contest would be here. But Mephisto claims that they will fail against the Goddess without the information he has. Thanos agrees to the terms over Adam's objections.

Mephisto reminds them that it is well-known that CCUs are energy beings who have metamorphosed into the CCU form on the way to becoming advanced entities. And it is generally agreed that in the CCU state they aren't sentient. However the demon says now that the CCUs do retain some sentience and that the beings they *were* imposed limits on the wishes that they could grant, making them not omnipotent. But he also adds that these restrictions can be overcome by force of will, but that no single entity could do it. However billions of souls bound together in a universal will could do it. And this is the plan behind Goddess' plan to create such a megabeing.

But they still don't know what Goddess would use the resulting control of her CCUs for. Thanos teleports Adam back to Monster Island to continue investigating this. And he contacts his own base to send Dreadnaught-666 to pre-planned coordinates.

Warlock enters the void that used to be his room in the castle on Monster Island and uses the Orb Of Eternity to try to contact that cosmic entity again (after IC#1 where Eternity dismissed the then-unknown problem as trivial). An entrance materialises which leads to a realm composed of variously-shaped coloured blocks ('the building blocks of reality'). There he finds Eternity and Infinity mingled in a Mobius-strip infinity symbol. He tells them what he now knows is happening but they still claim it is beneath their notice, and they send him back to Earth where his room is no longer a void.

But now he says he knows what Goddess' real plan is, and he calls on Thanos to teleport him back to his starship. He won't discuss things with Mephisto present and forces him to leave. The devil reminds Thanos that they still have a deal. Then Warlock takes his Soul Gem and places it on Thanos' brow. As the Titan realises what is happening he strikes Adam down with the Gem. But it's too late. Warlock's being becomes enmeshed with his own, and with it comes the truth that Adam uncovered.



Tom Raney
Keith Williams
Gina Going
Tom Raney (Cover Penciler)
Keith Williams (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Jack Morelli.
Editor: Craig Anderson. Editor-in-chief: Tom DeFalco.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.


Plus: Eternity, Infinity.

> Warlock Chronicles: Book info and issue index

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