DC Thomson, publishers of Beano, Dandy and notably Commando introduced the first weekly comic devoted to war. Warlord, with its emphasis on blood and guts didn’t attempt to pull any punches and its influence on the comic world was profound. Not only did the appearance of Warlord lead to IPC quickly responding with Battle Picture Weekly six months later but it also blew away the ‘spiffing work’ and ‘well done old chap’ era of  boy’s British comics forever.

Warlord issue number one appeared on 28th September 1974 and included a free gift of ' 8 Replica Medals'. Stories in the first issue were Union Jack Jackson, Bomber Braddock, The Toffee-Apple Tankbusters, Fearless Fegen, Wingless Wonder, Codename: Warlord, Fighting Planes of World War II, Young Wolf, and Spider Wells.

Warlord, like many comics before it, introduced us to characters that had once lived in the text world of the story papers. One such character was Braddock, who had originally appeared in the story paper Rover.  However, Warlord was different, with the emphasis on violence and language that was new to the world of British comics. The retelling of Stories such as Union jack Jackson and Braddock left an indelible mark on the world of British comics which would set the standards for years to come.