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Christmas, Comic Reviews, Transformers

TRANSFORMERS AT CHRiSTMAS: #41

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There may not be any snow on the logo but #41 of Marvel UK’s The Transformers is much more festive than last year’s (not difficult). Now with Ian Rimmer as editor Optimus Prime is in full festive mode thanks to Mike Collins (Axel Pressbutton, Doctor Who, Dragonlance) and Mark Farmer (Sláine, Excalibur, JLA) and the insides are full of cheer including the first seasonal strip, a really fun change to the letters page for the week, a huge competition and decorations all over the editorial page. It’s our first proper Christmas comic of the run and this issue celebrates its 40th birthday today!

Of course it should go without saying Lew Stringer got in on the Christmassy feels too with his always funny Robo Capers and on the right the piece about the office party and poor Soundwave is brilliant. I’ll show what that led to below but first up is Christmas Break-er and regular writer Simon Furman takes a (circuit) break as James Hill (Masters of the Universe, Forest, Misadventures of Adam West: Dark Night) writes, William Simpson (Judge Dredd, Hellblazer, Vamps) draws, Gina Hart (Rupert Bear, Rogue Trooper, 2000AD) provides her usual gorgeous colours and friend of the blog Richard Starkings (Elephantmen, Transformers: Generation 2, Nemesis of the Daleks) letters.

Josie Beller aka Circuit Breaker is back and we get a quick recap of how she was almost fatally injured by the Decepticons and left paralysed, only for the genius computer engineer to create circuitry that enabled her to move again (and fly and fire electric shocks of course, this is a comic after all). Some online reviewers have mocked this image of Soundwave, saying it’s riddled with errors but they’ve spectacularly missed the point. It’s clearly Josie’s hate-filled mind recollecting a traumatic, terrifying moment. The embellishments to his face and hands are telling of her mentality and I think it’s a clever way to get that across pictorially.

Josie has clearly become a bigot after her encounter with Shockwave and his troops. Throughout the comic’s run she’d constantly try to kill Autobots, screaming that all robots are murderers no matter how much evidence is shown to her that there are two diametrically opposing sides. This ended up being the first Transformers strip I ever read when it was reprinted a few years later in a winter special (which we’ll get to eventually but for now you can check it out on Instagram) so I’ve a personal fondness for stories featuring this character. We loved to hate her.

But what about Optimus Prime dressed up as Santa Claus? It’s not as ridiculous as it sounds. Buster Witwicky is teaching the Autobots about Christmas and they’re throwing him a festive shindig to thank him for all his help, while also acknowledging everything they’ve put him through! But Prime is subdued, worried about his abilities as leader and endangering this planet and its people. Having him dressed like this while he contemplates only raises the emotion in his scenes.

At this point in the comic’s run we were seeing him develop beyond the simplistic and stereotypical leader we were used to in the cartoon. But Prowl is worried about the party and doesn’t understand why they’re doing it while still at war. Jazz is also confused with humans. For example, Buster talks about how Christmas means charity to him but Jazz questions why Circuit Breaker chooses to destroy with all of her powers instead. Swap out “powers” for “money” and you get the point James Hill is getting across here.

The main plot involves Josie getting a taste of her own medicine when she witnesses a child falling through ice into a frozen lake. She whips off the clothes she’s been using as a disguise and melts the ice with her electrical energy to rescue the girl. Discovering she’s not breathing, Josie adjusts her output to generate a tiny enough electric shock to restart the girl’s heart and save her life.

But the family turn on Josie, yelling and calling her a freak, even accusing her of breaking the ice in the first place despite seeing her save the girl. To me, this shows how we as a race can react to even the best of intentions with hatred just because a person is different or we don’t understand them. No matter what we see, people can still be led to distrust and hate through mob mentality and assume completely the wrong thing. Sadly, this feels very contemporary.

A while later, Jazz almost crashes from driving too fast in the snow and his quick reactions lead to him ejecting Buster and transforming. While he stands over his unconscious friend this is of course when Josie sees them and assumes he’s attacked the boy, despite what she’s just gone through herself. This is also the second time Jazz has been on the receiving end of her shocks. It’s Buster who stops it all, although why he worded his protestations as he did instead of simply saying there are good and bad Transformers is anyone’s guess. It probably wouldn’t have made a difference anyway.

It’s a strip that’s harmless fun but it’s one with a strong message at its core, one that’s perfect for a Christmas read, especially for the younger readers. How people who grew up with these comics have basically turned out as real life Circuit Breakers is beyond me. Back to the issue at hand and the surprise change to the Shockwaves page was that it had become Rat-Chat for one week only!

There were some brilliantly inventive letters sent in by fans over the course of the run (I laughed at the reference to Fame here) and they were so devoted to their favourite characters and the stories being told. Our letter answerers were always funny. Soundwave had no tolerance for Autobot fans, Grimlock liked to tell readers he was their favourite and later Dreadwind was incredibly sarcastic. Here, Ratchet has a good laugh choosing the anti-Soundwave letters and even the Stock Exchange chosen fits with the theme.

Oh, and the “puttup” thing was the phrase Soundwave used when he had to talk about an Autobot. In case it wasn’t clear, a later strip would show him spitting and the lettering in the panel used the same phrase. Moving on and right beside this page are a bunch of potential presents for the readers in the big Christmas competition. It had several prizes up for grabs but the one that stands out for me is the Transformers Train and Battle Set!

It’s such a shame there’s only a teeny tiny, badly reproduced picture of it. During the real time read through of the comic I did a few years back I strained my eyes as much as I could on this but to no avail. Thankfully, I’ve now discovered Transformers Wiki and they’ve got loads of images and information on it. I’d have loved this as a kid! Lots of transforming train parts and the small little robots that came with it even appeared in the cartoon along with the locomotive! Any Transformers fan will want to go and check that out.

The Machine Man of 2020 may not have anything Christmassy about it but it’s still a very special episode because it contains a showdown between our hero and none other than Iron Man. But why are they fighting? Well, this isn’t Tony Stark. This is Arno Stark, The Iron Man of 2020. This was the first story he appeared in before returning in another back up strip of Spider-Man’s. Arno isn’t a hero. He inherited Stark Industries and uses the suit in his role as a mercenary for hire.

The character would reappear on and off in various Marvel titles and his own one-shot special. He’s actually appeared on the blog before in the final issue of Death’s Head when he went up against the Freelance Peace-Keeping Agent in an excellent finale to that series. Aaron Stack (Machine Man) takes a beating before he finally flips the script on Arno, and as you can see the storyline ties in neatly with this issue’s Transformers with its similar anti-bigotry theme.

Written by Tom DeFalco (Archie, Amazing Spider-Man, Thor) and Barry Windsor-Smith (Conan the Barbarian, Weapon X, Solar Man of the Atom) the art in these final fight scenes is just incredible. Barry also drew and coloured all of this, and there’s not a single example of that staple of 80s American comics of solidly colouring whole sections or characters in one colour. Instead, everything here is intricately detailed and looks gorgeous. It’s just a coincidence this is the chunk of the strip that ended up in this issue but it feels extra special as a result and adds to the overall feel of a very special issue.

To round off the review of this 40-year-old comic are a couple of adverts. The first is for the latest Marvel UK specials. I’ve covered the Transformers one as part of the Instagram read through and it’s a lovely thing with its card cover and spine, the last time the Collected Comics series would be presented in this way. Then, taking over the back page were the top-selling toys of Christmas 1985.

I’ve never seen an original Megatron toy in the real world (complete with his, um… trigger) but I do remember Optimus Prime. A friend owned him in his original metal form before he was made of plastic. After previous Transformers toys had been selling like hot cakes with brandy cream, the release of the two most popular characters in the UK caused a sensation, with Optimus becoming the number one gift that year.

We’ve reached the end of our second festive issue of the comic but there’s more to come this holiday season. In four days, on Christmas Day itself there’ll be a full review of the very first Transformers Annual! So, while the kids are playing with their new toys you can take a trip back to when Santa brought you everything you could’ve wished for too. I’ll see you then.

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Comic Reviews, Death's Head

DEATH’S HEAD #10: A STARK ENDiNG

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It’s been such a fun ride but all good things must come to an end (to use two clichés) and this is the final issue of Marvel UK’s Death’s Head, which came to an exciting end on this day 35 years ago when he clashed with Arno Stark, the Iron Man of (the then-futuristic year of) 2020. The cover is by regulars Bryan Hitch and Mark Farmer, but for the strip itself Bryan goes it alone, with Euan Peters (Knights of Pendragon, Action Force, Transformers colourist/designer/editor) colouring behind Annie Halfacree’s letters, with Steve White editing and Simon Furman bringing it all to an end.

Not that the story reads like an ending. Strangely, even though the final issues of both Dragon’s Claws and Death’s Head were flagged as such in the editorial pages of Transformers, neither of their last editions actually said so, although with hindsight it’s clear the editorial team knew. While the Head Lines page still includes the “Subscribe Now!” banner it’s followed by a glimpse of Death’s Head crossing back over into Fantastic Four after they’d appeared in #9. It’s clear this is telling us where we can see him now that his comic is over, but at the time it could easily be mistaken for a regular plug for a crossover before #11.

Now trapped in 2020 (what a year to be sent to!) Death’s Head is making the most of things and business is good. In fact, in a turn up for the books, for once the far future dystopian time of the comic (8162) actually has less crime than 2020 according to our main character. So he can afford to be choosy. As such, he’s suspicious about his latest client. But first, let’s check in on our special guest.

Both of Iron Man of 2020’s stories so far were selected as back up strips in Marvel UK’s Transformers comic

So who is the Iron Man of 2020? Arno Stark may have inherited Stark Industries but he’s no hero. Instead, he uses the suit in his role as a mercenary for hire for individuals and sabotage for corporations. This was his third appearance in Marvel comics. The first was in the rebooted Machine Man of 2020 mini-series where the old tech of Machine Man won over the futuristic Iron Man thanks to his having a good heart.

Then in Spider-Man, in a plot I won’t go into detail about Arno travelled back in time to 1986 to avert a disaster involving his home city, his business and his family. But his means of doing so put him at odds with Spidey, who defeated him. Upon returning to the future his entire city had been destroyed, taking his family with it. In a surprise turn, we were left feeling sorry for him. Both of these stories were selected as back up strips in Marvel UK’s Transformers comic.

There’s no mention here of the events in the Spider-Man strip but he is in New York, a different city than normal so it would seem to follow on after it. In the opening pages we find out he’s been hired to protect some foreign dignitaries. The only thing is, they don’t seem to understand why; they haven’t hired him and say they aren’t in danger. Some hitmen do turn up and Arno kills them all very easily, after being told to take no prisoners. But something doesn’t sit right with him about the job.

We then take a trip to a large mansion somewhere and a very rich man by the name of Chance and his English butler Athey have been watching the events pan out. In fact, their conversation has acted as a running commentary over the opening pages. They’re part of The Dicemen, a group who appeared in various Marvel comics although there’s little information about them online. They’re basically a bunch of rich elites who like to play games with other people’s lives.

One hard and fast rule of The Dicemen is to never use the same players twice, but Chance thinks there’s more fun to be had in using Iron Man again, especially when Athey shows him a news report of Death’s Head taking down some local warlords. The game is on. Athey will approach both of them, Death’s Head for a hit and Arno as the protector. Then, after eight pages of strip in his own comic it’s time for the Freelance Peace-Keeping Agent to finally make his entrance.

That reminds me of something we’d have seen from RoboCop. I love it. This criminal group have kept a young child hostage for a ransom and Death’s Head easily disposes of them, partly thanks to a collapsing ceiling in the middle of the fight. After seeing him rescuing another young boy last month and how he speaks to this child does our anti-hero have a soft spot we didn’t know about? I do like how the kid is seen playing with his face spikes as they exit the building together.

Arno isn’t the only one suspicious of the job he’s been given. Death’s Head’s inner thoughts betray what he really thinks about Athey after he’s hired to kill two diplomats and given half the large fee up front. It all seems too easy. So both men have been hired and in the middle of a shopping mall the diplomats are arguing with Iron Man that they didn’t ask for, nor need protection as he pushes them into a lift, and it’s time for Death’s Head to tell someone else to talk to the hand.

The fight scene is classic Death’s Head and classic Simon Furman, with the quips matching the violence panel after panel. But Arno is deadly serious and the anger he feels at being potentially set up is taken out on the mechanoid as he blasts them both into the night sky, shouting that he won’t let him butcher innocent people in what feels like (when reading this fully, in context) that he’s trying to convince himself he’s actually doing the right thing. It’s actual character development from someone who only cared about money before. It seems losing his family has brought out his better side.

Then we turn the page to this spread below which contained a genuinely shocking moment had the front cover not used it to promote the story. You can’t really blame them though, of course they were going to use it. Although, from the speech balloon on the cover I thought Death’s Head had taken over Iron Man’s suit somehow, so I was initially a bit disappointed I was wrong in that conclusion. That disappointment soon turned to laughs when I saw what happened next though.

Again his hand is used as a great gag and over the next page or two Death’s Head tells Arno that he believes him and agrees that they should work together to get to the bottom of who has used them, however he’s still angry with him and just has to work that out of his system first, by beating seven shades of blue out of him. Then, clipping his head back into place like a Transformer Headmaster he’s able to detect a camera filming them for Chance and locates the signal controlling it.

Cue a few pages of Chance panicking before Athey, a long time loyal member of The Dicemen himself, shoots his boss point blank in the face and sets the scene up to look like a suicide. He leaves their money in cash so as to trick Death’s Head and Iron Man into hanging around, but they soon pick up a detonation signal and narrowly escape the destruction of the mansion. Then it all very suddenly ends in two panels.

This is directly after the explosion panel. It feels very cut down and a bit of a rushed ending, making way as it does for two pages of panels with yellow borders, telling of how Spratt arrives in 2020 and crashes Death’s Head’s ship, somehow bringing Big Shot with him who takes up the final splash page, coupled with a Happily Ever After caption! While this may have been the original cliffhanger taking us to #11, the rushed ending with Iron Man makes it seem like this whole section was added in at the last minute. But why do this for the final issue?

It’s not how I expected it to end. Yes, Death’s Head has been a surprising comic on many occasions but I did expect something along the lines of how the final chapter of Dragon’s Claws wrapped things up satisfactorily while leaving things open-ended. Was the chop brought down suddenly on the writer? It’d explain why the secretive woman hinted at in the last couple of issues isn’t mentioned, the mystery not revealed, actually not even acknowledged here. That’s incredibly annoying. But perhaps there’s hope in a graphic novel to come. More on that below.

There’s a bit of a dig at those
high up in Marvel UK

After the strip comes the Head to Head letters page and a chance for the comic to throw out more hints that this is the final issue. Perhaps there were instructions from on high to not mention the end for some reason. Perhaps they didn’t want potential buyers flicking through the pages, realising there’d be no more and not buying it. Whereas, mentioning it in stablemate comics may lead those readers to part with their pocket money for a collector’s final issue. This is all speculation of course.

However, as you’ll see there’s a bit of a dig at those high up in Marvel UK in the answer to the first letter. For the second letter, in response to a lack of free gifts the reader is told to go and check out a different comic, but the most obvious (again, with hindsight) hint comes at the end of the response to the final letter. It was always annoying when a comic just stopped without telling us, so kudos to the team for trying to tell the readers without really telling them.

So what’s next for Death’s Head on the blog? Is that the end of it? Not quite. After his original series he popped up in a serialised story in Strip (between #13 and #20) which was then collected in graphic novel The Body in Question. Given the real time nature of the blog you can expect that in October next year. It’s a long wait for me but I set these rules so I must follow them. I can’t wait to read it though. Will I be covering his return as Death’s Head II and III? Let me finish his original timeline first and we’ll see what the future holds.

After that frustrating ending I really can’t wait for the graphic novel to see if any further questions are answered. If they are that would explain some things about this issue. Don’t tell me if you know though! I’ll find out next year. This series has been a blast from beginning to end. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to read his own comic after I enjoyed him in Transformers decades ago, but Death’s Head was certainly worth the wait, yes?

iSSUE NiNE < > THE BODY iN QUESTiON

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Comic Reviews, Death's Head

DEATH’S HEAD #9: HEAD WiTH A HEART

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With a cover by none other than the legendary Walt Simonson (Thor, Star Slammers, Jurassic Park) and Mark Farmer, the penultimate issue of Death’s Head contains no official warning that the comic was about to come to an end. There’s a bit of a hint on the editorial page which has a ’Next Issue’ panel in place of the usual subscriptions offers, not that readers at the time would’ve picked up on this as they’d have been too excited at the prospect of our Freelance Peace-Keeping Agent meeting Iron Man next month.

After a price rise last issue we got another one this month too, by 5p again. I remember the second half of 1988 and into 1989 my comics always seemed to be increasing in price, such were the struggles of an industry at a time when readerships were declining in the face of competition from television and computer games while production costs were soaring. Death’s Head would become a casualty of these changes soon enough but let’s enjoy the issue at hand first.

The editorial describes how last month The Doctor dropped off Death’s Head in the middle of Earth’s Dark Ages, which is actually 1989. Given writer Simon Furman‘s Dragon’s Claws took regular swipes at the 80s UK government (in the comic’s future vision of Britain) this could be more about accuracy than a quick joke. Simon is back after a month away from the comic and co-creator Geoff Senior finally makes a very welcome return as artist.

I didn’t even know the big rock guy
is the leader!

As you can see The Fantastic Four are the special guests this month. I’ll admit this is the first comic featuring them that I’ve ever read. I’ve never seen an issue of theirs and never saw the cartoons as a kid or any of the movies, so I really am going into this blind. I didn’t even know the big rock guy is the leader! It starts off very light-hearted with The Thing and The Human Torch bickering in a very superhero way.

Clobberin’ Time continues new editor Steve White’s brief time behind the wheel, with regulars Louise Cassell and Annie Halfacree on colours and letters respectively. That title soon becomes tiresome though. I understand it’s The Thing’s catchphrase but he uses it so frequently I feel like shouting, “Okay, okay, I get it, kids are meant to be copying him!” at the pages. Perhaps this is keeping within character but it’s just so annoying. What is good is the funny moment this sequence ends with, where it looks like they’ve made up.

Meanwhile, up on the roof someone isn’t too happy at being dropped off in the wrong time again, much like how he ended up in 8162 in the first place, even if he did settle in there and made it his (lucrative) home. However, not only is he out of time he’s also in precisely the wrong place as The Fantastic Four’s security system automatically opens fire. I have to say for the good guys their security system is very much shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later. Although it does lead to a laugh or two thanks to Death’s Head quips and his long-running bad luck.

Their building is a bit naff though, as huge holes are blasted open and its roof is destroyed as the automated weapons try and fail to take down Death’s Head. You’d think their HQ’s walls would be a bit more secure, that they’d stand up to their own security. But it’s all a bit of daft fun so we’ll not get caught up in the details (this isn’t Twitter). Using his rocket boots to fly through one of the aforementioned roof holes he finds himself in what could be described as their garage, full of hi-tech gadgets and transport.

Convinced this level of tech on 1980s Earth could mean they’d have access to a time machine, Death’s Head thinks aloud, “Just hope they’re nice, sane, normal people…” when he gets a rock hard tap on the shoulder. Meanwhile, back in the Los Angeles of 8162 Spratt is still fighting with their pet vulture (see #5) and takes another phone call from the mysterious woman in previous issues who’s been proclaiming she’s his business partner’s love. This time we also see part of her attire.

I’m still none the wiser although I’m assuming she must be a known character, given how she’s slowly being introduced. The Evil Dead’s Death Nell? If you remember the identity of the caller please don’t tell me in a comment or on socials; no spoilers! Hopefully I’ll find out in our final issue. As for this special crossover event it boils down to The Fantastic Four’s not-so-fantastic security program going rogue and dispatching a hovering droid to see off everyone.

At the beginning of the issue Reed Richards is working on one of the computer chips powering it and he was interrupted by the infighting, inadvertently making a mistake and corrupting the programming. At least this is the suggestion that’s thrown out by Reed, it’s never actually confirmed. With their bickering and the over-zealous zapping at Death’s Head having destroyed a lot of the building, it goes into full defensive mode.

During a protracted fight between the team and their new visitor it becomes clear that Death’s Head’s supposed fighting back is a case of mistaken identity. It was actually the computer attacking them but they were too busy assuming it was Death’s Head that they didn’t see the obvious. Between these reactions and the way their system was programmed I don’t have much faith in this superhero if my first impressions are anything to go by.

Eventually they calm down and think rationally, realising they need to team up with this comic’s lead character when Reed and The Invisible Woman’s child is put in danger. With Death’s Head being a mechanoid and able to hack the system that’s trying to kill them, soon it comes down to our ruthless hunter of bounties (I didn’t say it), a paid assassin, a mech programmed for self-preservation, to rescue a child.

The droid has handcuffed itself to the young boy in his bedroom, coldly using him as a bargaining chip. Now, our anti-hero isn’t exactly known for being subtle. Clicking a laser cutter onto his arm to snap the connection to the boy he leaps into the room and actually ends up damaging the droid and setting off its self-destruct! For a brief moment we see the Death’s Head we’d expect to see if this were any adult human, but it appears there’s a glimmer of a soul behind the facade.

That third image says it all and with the constant countdown you can feel the palpable sense of desperation in that penultimate panel. Superb, exciting stuff that Geoff’s penmanship is just perfect for. This may be the printed page but somehow he’s always able to make his art feel so animated when the script calls for it. After the umpteen pages of fighting earlier in the comic, after the build up in the story prior to this, this is single-handedly the most dramatic and exciting moment.

The panic it sets off is key to what’s next,
the story for our final issue

Yes, Death’s Head had to save the kid in order to gain access to their time machine but you can tell that’s not the reason he put his own life at risk. Ultimately though, this brave and heroic moment earns him the trust of The Fantastic Four and they set up their machine to take him back to 8162, a device that transports him in a green bar of energy from the feet up.

As he disappears, The Thing tells him that he had him all wrong, that the mech must be “what passes as a superhero in 8162”, to which Death’s Head tells him no, he was right all along. He then finally introduces himself by name and tells them what he does for a living…

This was a suitably funny final line for the character and the panic it sets off is key to what’s next, the story for our final issue. Back in the earlier days of reading Marvel UK’s Transformers for the blog’s Instagram the Machine Man of 2020 back up strip introduced a future-version of a certain main character in the publisher’s lineup. The hero’s identity had been completely taken over by another person. In the year 2020 Iron Man was no longer Tony Stark, he was Arno Stark.

No longer a hero, the Iron Man of 2020 was a mercenary-for-hire (which should make things interesting next month) and after being defeated by Machine Man he reappeared in a Spider-Man comic (also published in Transformers) when his family were held hostage by a killer and he had to travel back in time for the story’s resolution. The story ended in disaster, with Arno losing and seeing his city of the then-far future destroyed. His next appearance after that was in #10 of Death’s Head.

I knew Iron Man was to be the special guest star in the final issue but I had no idea it was this version and I’m super excited to see what happens. I really loved his two stories in Transformers. He was clearly the bad guy in his first appearance and for all intents and purposes was exactly the same when he returned. He was forced into a position of doing the right thing but in doing so went up against an actual hero, so young readers’ loyalties were tested. It made for fascinating reading.

I’m hoping for more of that kind of storytelling in Death’s Head next month. The pieces are certainly in place for an explosive finale and a suitably powerful send off for what has been a brilliant comic series. If it’s as good as it has been so far, and as good as those Iron Man of 2020 appearances were, then it’ll certainly take the edge off having to say goodbye. The final contract is on Monday 5th August 2024, right here.

iSSUE EiGHT < > iSSUE TEN

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Comic Reviews, Death's Head

DEATH’S HEAD #6: A GOOD YARN(iE)

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The first time K.I.T.T. (programmed for human preservation) faced off against the evil prototype K.A.R.R. (programmed for self-preservation) in season one of Knight Rider the paradox of “What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?” was brought up. As a huge fan of the show, when I opened this sixth issue of Marvel UK’s Death’s Head its inclusion as the opening of the editorial made me smile. The militia group Sudden Impact are promoted as equals to the Peacekeeping Agent, so while their cliffhanger last time felt lacking it’s made up for here.

They’re a clichéd lot though, with an overly shouty commander and a ragtag collection of men and women that look like they’ve walked straight out of an 80s action figures catalogue. You might also notice the art style is somewhat different to what we’re used to. That’s because this issue is pencilled by Liam Sharp (Judge Dredd, Batman, Spider-Man), inked by Paul Marshall (Mean Machine, Firekind, Sinister Dexter) and coloured by Louise Cassell (Doctor Who Classic Comics, Transformers, Captain Britain) alongside regular letterer Annie Halfacree and all under the auspices of editor Richard Starkings. The cover above is by the usual pairing of Bryan Hitch and Mark Farmer.

An army general arrives with some troops and confirms he’s there to hire Sudden Impact to tie up some unnamed loose end, which I initially thought would be Death’s Head. His men start to bad-mouth the mercenaries’ looks but Mayhem (their very original-named leader) gives them the go ahead to fight back. Physically. Soon the troops, who vastly outnumbered them, are all beaten but the general doesn’t care. He just agrees Mayhem’s team are the right people for the job.

We catch up with our anti-hero in a luxurious compound in the middle of nowhere, where he’s been hired to ensure a nervous government witness gets to trial. It’s a cushty job for once, so far involving nothing more than relaxing and watching TV. But we know a large team of maniacal, murderous mercenaries are on their way and it would appear he’s the last line of defence. Surely an impossible mission? It’s just as well he has Tom Cruise there too!

As writer Simon Furman describes it in the following panels, the attack is less a battle and more of a slaughter. Tom… I mean, Marshal Lek and his politicised police force are no match for Sudden Impact and the star witness begs Death’s Head to do something. So naturally he responds by telling him they’ll go and find the chess set! We’ll get back to that.

First we get the plot laid out for us as we meet Minister Carson, a corrupt official who has been selling parts of the US armed forces to foreign adversaries for substantial payments. The General we met earlier actually thinks this wouldn’t stop a lot of Americans from still voting for him. Given today’s climate and the blind followers of certain presidential candidates in that country this isn’t as far fetched as it once may have been.

Before we return to the action we catch a quick glimpse of Spratt back at their office. After not appearing at all last month and on one solitary page this time around it feels a bit like he’s taking a back seat after being promoted as Death’s Head’s partner in earlier issues. Such a shame. Here he’s reduced to trying to answer the phone while being attacked by their rescued vulture (see #5), only to discover someone on the line addressing Death’s Head as “my darling”.

That’s all we get of that particular storyline for this issue before we return to that chess set. Yep, he wasn’t kidding and he’s set it up in a secured safe room and ignores the fighting outside. Of course Lek isn’t too happy but you can’t fault Death’s Head’s logic below, and it’s nice to see him back to working to the letter of his contracts which was such an important rule in #1 and yet seemed to be broken or forgotten about last time. 

With Lek’s small army taken out already and the mercenaries breaking through into the safe room, it all rests on the star of the comic to take down Sudden Impact one member at a time. What we’re treated to next are several pages of perfect 80s action, similar to how certain issues of Dragon’s Claws (also written by Simon) felt like 80s action movies translated directly to the page. What this means for this character is one exciting take down after another, each accompanied by a Schwarzenegger-like punchline.

With six now taken out already a disappointed Death’s Head laments about how they were meant to be unstoppable but yet it’s all a bit easy for him. Missile launchers, flame throwers, aerial attacks, stealth moves… nothing works and we see the team reduced to its final members over these pages. While it’s all great fun I can’t help but wonder would it have been more exciting if this had been one seemingly unstoppable mercenary rather than a group?

As it stands, Sudden Impact seem little more than cannon fodder, but if it had been Mayhem himself taking up all these pages with attempts to kill Death’s Head, relentlessly coming back for more, it may have felt more dramatic. However, it’s great fun and if there’s anything we’ve learned about the comic by this sixth issue it’s that fun is the main aim here, not drama.

So who cares if they’re cannon fodder? Who cares if it could’ve been more dramatic with one merc? With killer lines like “Buck stops here, yes?” this is so enjoyable and so reminiscent of the aforementioned Arnie and his over-the-top action flicks of the time that the only thing I’m unhappy with is the fact there are only four more issues to go. It’s a title that really stands out as something different, something only Marvel UK could’ve produced.

This is one of the best issues of Death’s Head yet for sheer fun value

We then get to briefly meet the senator whose witness is at the centre of all this violence and it appears our star isn’t exactly working for the good guys. Senator Letterman knows the only difference between Marshal Lek and terrorists are their uniforms and when he realises the extra law enforcement he ordered to escort him are handling a massive riot elsewhere in the city he demands they be called away.

The citizens can kill each other for all he cares, they’re all expendable as long as they’ve already voted for him, and the police aren’t the public’s, they’re his. Whether we see this horrible little squirt again or whether he’s just an example of the larger government I don’t know, but it does show that Death’s Head really is an anti-hero rather than an out-and-out goodie. He might do what’s morally right when the situation calls for it, but he’ll take a contract worth good money from anyone who can afford him. It makes for a more interesting character.

At the top of this review I mentioned a classic episode of Knight Rider and how excited I got with the editorial of this issue. Well, I can only imagine how excited I’d have been reading the page above (which ends the fight) without the foreknowledge of that introductory page. Also, on the penultimate page of the story the “conscientious objector” line from the cover is meant to be the final gag of the story. A shame both of these moments were somewhat spoiled already then.

But in a rare case for our main character, in this story he fails to do what he was hired to do. Beaten, Mayhem asks Death’s Head how many of his team has he killed. The tally stands at eight, to which Mayhem simply replies “Nine” before the building holding the witness explodes. Death’s Head had missed one. Lek laments, he believes Letterman will be taking a contract out on him next. As for Death’s Head’s response, it’s as typical as you’d expect from him.

As he simply packs up and leaves Lek with Mayhem I’ll admit I smiled. How very in-character. As per previous issues the final page is unrelated to the story and sets up a cliffhanger instead, this time involving a cigar-smoking horse(!) planning to kill Death’s Head. I’ll leave that for next month because we’ll need to read the next issue to make sense of that one, but for now we wrap up the first issue in the second half of the comic’s run (not that anyone knew this at the time).

It may not have had the most involving plot this month but that needn’t matter. I’m here for this character and this was a brilliant story for him. It gave him the perfect set up to unleash everything that made him so beloved by readers at the time (and still to this day). Full of action and comedy, this is one of the best issues of Death’s Head yet for sheer fun value. With four issues left I hope the momentum keeps up alongside some great stories. We’ll find out with #7’s review later this month on Monday 29th April 2024.

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DEATH’S HEAD #4: DOG-GEDLY BRiLLiANT

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The front cover to this fourth issue of Death’s Head may be drawn by the familiar team of Bryan Hitch and Mark Farmer but inside Plague Dog is drawn by renowned Transformers artist Lee Sullivan (also Havoc (RoboCop), Doctor Who), with Annie Halfacree on letters, Nick Abadzis colouring and Simon Furman writing of course, with Richard Starkings editing. While I love Geoff Senior’s art being in every issue of Dragon’s Claws, I like the mixing of styles here.

Last month we saw Death’s Head’s new office wasn’t the perfect purchase Spratt seemed to think it was, having spent his new partner’s hard earned cash before he’d earned it. This issue sees that picked up and developed into two separate stories, one for each of our main characters. While our mechanoid anti-hero is hired by one gangster to hunt down and kill his rival’s pet mutt, Spratt comes face-to-face with it in their new property.

We kick things off with Death’s Head arriving at Jules ‘Kneecap’ Venici’s birthday party in his usual understated style. A huge birthday cake arrives but Venici has seen this movie before and fills it full of lead. Surprised at finding no one inside he still insists on killing whoever sent it because his own actions have made him look stupid. He then sits down to eat a slice, not noticing the highly conspicuous waiter in his latest in a long line of ridiculous wigs.

Predictably a huge shoot-out occurs between all of the gangsters and our lone hero, although even in this dire situation there’s time for some comedy. Elsewhere, Spratt is checking out their new digs and the lights are out. After we see a clawed hand swiping down in the darkness he lets out a blood-curdling scream and we’re led to believe the hand has made contact, until you read the following caption. Simon once again playing with our expectations.

I particularly like Spratt’s reaction to the sound effect of the plague dog, the alien monster used by Venici to take revenge out on those who wrong him. Last month we saw someone who looked like an undertaker sell the office to Spratt and in this issue we find out he is in fact called The Undertaker, a killer-for-hire whose method of assassination is somewhat gruesome.

But yes, that sound effect. We get all sorts of wording to describe sounds in our comics. Sometimes they’re downright bizarre to say the least. The fact Spratt correctly names this rather random sound effect is very funny and just shy of the character breaking the fourth wall and identifying he’s in a comic. It genuinely made me laugh. Back in the other half of the story, as the issue constantly flicks back and forth between the two scenes, Death’s Head is still at it even when cornered and out of ammunition.

Death by cocktail sausages! As a form of getting back at the bad guys it seems appropriate for this blog. Death’s Head isn’t the only one up against the odds, nothing to shoot with and having to use his ingenuity to get out of a tough scrape. As the rotten internals of the office building collapse around him, Spratt is trying desperately to escape but is hopelessly out of his depth.

In fact, the crumbling of the building saves him on more than one occasion, luck playing a huge part in keeping him alive. He could be learning a thing or two from his new boss though, or perhaps they’re just more suited than the mechanoid realises, because despite his fear (or perhaps because of it) he can’t help making quips.

Slipping out of his boot and shoving it into the monster’s mouth (complete with another joke) he makes a run outside and finds a car parked (well, hovering, it’s in the future after all). This is Spratt’s speciality. Quietly boosting cars is a particularly useful skill that Death’s Head needs him for. There’s a little bit of tension here as Spratt struggles to get inside, panicking as the plague dog bears down on him.

The engine doesn’t immediately kick in either and the tension rises further as the thing makes a leap for him and crashes through the rear window, clawing at the interior, getting closer and closer to Spratt until it finally places a claw on his shoulder. The escape vehicle now seems to have become a death trap. We know Spratt can’t die, but even if he takes off surely the thing’s head and arm are already inside so what can he do? Well…

Just like last month when an accidental slip of the hand by Spratt turned the tide of battle, here his mistake with the gears sends him rocketing backwards, squashing the monster against the building. Fuel tank ruptured, the dog roaring out to his “Foood!” as it starts to push the car off itself, Spratt characteristically can’t help but bask in his glorious victory, no matter how accidental.

The final spread of the issue sees The Undertaker making a phone call, apparently to activate the plague dog at its lair. So are we to assume he actually sold the lair to Spratt? His job also done, Death’s Head makes his way to the office and finds chaos has ensued, although Spratt seems somewhat subdued and not showing off for once. Of course, our mechanoid friend can always turn a situation around when money is concerned and our story ends.

On the next page a somewhat tacked on cliffhanger has The Undertaker hiring someone called Big Shot, a muscly man with a big gun. I can’t help but be a little underwhelmed with this after last month’s ending. Surely having a plague dog lying in wait was the more dramatic cliffhanger. I’m aware I haven’t read the next issue to see how good this guy is with his gun, but I feel this is a bit of a muted ending by comparison and the two should’ve been the other way around.

Head to Head is the comic’s new letters page and there’s an anonymous letter from my home city of Belfast. Although, if this person had actually read Death’s Head’s adventures in Transformers and properly understood them I don’t see how they could think he’s commonly seen as a full-blown villain. Not too sure who “Bob” is that the first letter is addressed to (Richard Starkings is the editor and Jenny O’Connor the Managing Editor) but there’s definitely a lot of high praise here and I agree with it all.

I just wish Lierne Elliot had been right when he said “seems we have a hit here”. Of course, it may have seemed that way at the time, especially since this was a comic based on a very popular character from another Marvel UK title, but alas the sales figures wouldn’t be good enough to make up for the cost of producing the comic, as Richard explained to me in the introductory post to this series.

But let’s not dwell on that, we’ve another six months of this to go!

On the back page is an advertisement for a new fortnightly Marvel comic that would never actually appear. The William Tell TV series was apparently shown on ITV, although I don’t ever remember seeing it advertised. There’s a chance it either wasn’t broadcast on Northern Ireland’s UTV or it didn’t last long before ITV pulled the plug, despite it running for three seasons of 72 30-minute episodes in France and elsewhere, where it was known as Crossbow.

I remember this comic advert alerting me to the TV series and yet I still never caught it in any TV listings magazines. Marvel’s confidence must’ve been knocked as the plan for a fortnightly changed to a Summer Special, an annual and a run of strips in the Marvel Bumper Comic, plus a collected graphic novel, the strips for all of these already created for the defunct fortnightly. This is why I think the show must’ve failed to pick up viewers here in the UK, as Marvel suddenly realised the audience wasn’t there for what they’d assumed was going to be a hit.

You just might see some of it on the blog at some point though, as the Bumper Comic is on the cards for the future, I just don’t know when yet, but you heard it hear first! (As if you’d hear it anywhere else.) For now, that’s us finished with another outing for Death’s Head… well, really more of an outing for Spratt this month. We return to Earth of the far future on Monday 4th March 2024.

iSSUE THREE < > iSSUE FiVE

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