Warlord #16

Warlord #16, published by DC Comics in December 1978, represents the mid-run momentum of Mike Grell's influential sword-and-sorcery series. Grell, who both wrote and illustrated the title, drew significant inspiration from the hollow-earth adventure tropes popularized by Edgar Rice Burroughs, grounding the fantastical setting of Skartaris in a gritty, muscular aesthetic that distinguished it from the prevailing superhero comics of the era.

The issue fits into a period where Grell was refining the character arc of Travis Morgan, a downed pilot thrust into a prehistoric subterranean realm. By this stage in the series, the visual style had become a hallmark of the Bronze Age, characterized by Grell's dynamic, flowing line work and his penchant for detailed, adventurous landscapes that earned the title a dedicated following among readers looking for fantasy-based escapism outside the mainstream Justice League continuity.