Death's Head (comics): Difference between revisions
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Writer [[Simon Furman]] needed a one-and-done bounty hunter character for a story in ''The Transformers'' in 1987... but when he saw [[Geoff Senior]]'s initial concept designs, both recognised the potential in the character. With tweaks to the <s>bounty hunter</s> freelance peacekeeping agent's dialogue and role in the story, Death's Head was born. His unique appearance, characteristic speech patterns, and dark sense of humour endeared him to readers, with his name being a frequent presence on the letters page – and that was just the ones they printed. He became something of a staple of ''The Transformers''{{'}}s post-{{TF|The_Transformers:_The_Movie|movie}} stories, recurring twice more, including in 1988's epic {{TF|The_Legacy_of_Unicron!|"The Legacy of Unicron!".}} Death's Head was a hit – and Marvel UK was ambitious for more.
In 1988, at the behest of editor [[Richard Starkings]], Marvel UK made a play for the American market. At the time, British comics were produced weekly, as anthology titles (hence the Transformers sharing their magazine with... well, everybody else on this wiki), and in a physically larger size than American format comics, which were monthly affairs focussing on a single character. Marvel UK planned to make its own American-style books, so that they could sit alongside the exotic imported U.S. comics in speciality shops... and, across the pond, share shelf space with the standard monthly periodicals on new comic book day rather than be sequestered in some other section. Death's Head was again singled out for his potential, but first he had to be divorced from his roots in a licensed series. From a fictional perspective, Death's Head left ''The Transformers'' diving through an exploding time portal in "The Legacy of Unicron!", before colliding with the [[TARDIS]] in the ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' story {{Tardis|The_Crossroads_of_Time_(comic_story)|"The Crossroads of Time",}} a misadventure that saw him reduced to human size by [[the Doctor]] and dropped off on Earth in the year 8162. Out of universe, Marvel published the ''Death's Head'' solo tale "[[High Noon Tex]]" in a surprisingly successful blag to claim legal ownership of the character. This all paved the way for Death's Head to put a guest appearance in Marvel UK's first U.S. format book, Furman and Senior's own {{Marvel|Dragon's_Claws_Vol_1|''Dragon's Claws''.}} {{Marvel|Death's_Head_Vol_1|Death's Head's own solo book}} was next to roll out, followed by other attempts to break America in the form of {{Marvel|Sleeze_Brothers_Vol_1|''The Sleeze Brothers''}} and {{Marvel|Knights_of_Pendragon_Vol_1|''Knights of Pendragon''.}} (Though not typically named alongside these titles, Marvel UK's {{Joe|Action_Force_Monthly|''Action Force Monthly''}} was also printed in the American format, and sold in the U.S. as ''[[Action Force (comic)|G.I. Joe: European Missions]]''.) If there was any doubt that Death's Head sold books, he was the main focus of the cover to anthology title {{Tardis|The_Marvel_Bumper_Comic|''The Marvel Bumper Comic''{{'}}s}} fifth issue, despite the {{Tardis|Meet_Death's_Head_(comic_story)|story within}} being one page with one panel.
Even though ''Death's Head'' received ringing endorsements from Marvel U.S., such as a letter of praise from {{Marvel|Stan_Lee|Stan Lee}}<ref>[https://x.com/SimonFurman3/status/1062264295201914880 Simon Furman posts Stan Lee's letter on twitter]</ref> and a cameo in {{Marvel|Fantastic_Four_Vol_1|''Fantastic Four''}} penned by {{Marvel|Walter_Simonson|Walter Simonson,}} the book's sales figures proved disappointing (at least to the pencil pushers that crunched the numbers), and the series ended at ten issues – though not without introducing a time travelling element to allow for more flexibility in appearances further down the line. Death's Head's big revival came in the pages of [[fandom:britishcomics:Strip! (Marvel UK) Vol 1|''Strip'']], a Marvel UK fortnightly anthology aimed at older readers. The serialised story printed across eight issues finally told Death's Head's origin; it was collected in graphic novel format as {{Marvel|Death's_Head:_The_Body_in_Question_Vol_1_1|"The Body in Question",}} released alongside {{Marvel|The_Life_and_Times_of_Death's_Head_Vol_1_1|''The Life and Times of Death's Head'',}} which collected most of his ongoing series. After this, Death's Head had a couple of years subsisting only on brief roles in other titles, largely written by his creator, Furman. DH bowed out of comics with a silent raised glass across a bar in the ''Doctor Who Magazine'' cameo cavalcade story {{Tardis|Party_Animals_(comic_story)|"Party Animals",}} written by continuity gremlin {{Tardis|Gary_Russell|Gary Russell.}}
In the 1990s, Marvel UK appointed [[w:Paul Neary|Paul Neary]] as editor-in-chief and, to try and capitalise on the comic book speculator boom, Neary took a second stab at launching U.S. format books. The first out the door was {{Marvel|Death's_Head_II_Vol_1|''Death's Head II''}} by {{Marvel|Dan_Abnett|Dan Abnett}} and {{Marvel|Liam_Sharp|Liam Sharp,}} a four-issue mini-series telling the tale of how Death's Head was assimilated into the body of an edgy, musclebound cyborg with a huge gun arm, as was the style in the 90s. He was joined in this shared corner of the Marvel Universe by titles with names like {{Marvel|Motormouth_&_Killpower_Vol_1|''Motormouth & Killpower'',}} {{Marvel|Warheads_Vol_1|''Warheads'',}} {{Marvel|Hell's_Angel_Vol_1|''Hell's Angel'',}} {{Marvel|Digitek_Vol_1|''Digitek'',}} and a revamped {{Marvel|Pendragon_Vol_1|''Knights of Pendragon''}} – and that was just in 1992. Until 1994, Marvel UK would produce its own little pocket universe, with characters crossing over, joining forces, and even participating in their own {{Marvel|Mys-Tech_Wars|"events".}} Death's Head II appeared in at least fifteen of these series, five of which bore his name in the title, and three of which featured spin-off characters made on the same assembly line as his new cyborg body. One of these series was {{Marvel|Incomplete_Death's_Head_Vol_1|''The Incomplete Death's Head'',}} which reprinted most of the original Death's Head's adventures with a new framing sequence starring Death's Head II reliving and learning from an archive of his former self's memories. For legal reasons, strips from ''The Transformers'' were excised, but the ''Doctor Who'' connections weren't – with the whole limited series build around continuity points from Death's Head's dealings with the Doctor, with massive significance given to the seemingly-inconsequential "Party Animals"!
Death's Head II was the poster boy for this whole revamp, which makes the other part of this story quite odd... See, in the UK, several of these new series were serialised in ''[[w:ukcomics:Overkill|Overkill]]'', an anthology for older readers following in the footsteps of ''Strip'' but more specifically gunning for the ''[[w:2000 AD|2000 AD]]'' audience; given this aim, all that silly superhero nonsense had no place in ''Overkill''. And so comics like ''Motormouth'' and ''Pendragon'' were specifically written so that exactly half of their page counts were given over to pre-existing, mostly U.S.-originated heroes, so that these B-plots could be completely excised for their ''Overkill'' printings; for example, a reader who picked up ''Pendragon'' in the U.S. could enjoy a tale with eleven pages of [[Iron Man]] on the fringes of the eponymous knights' plot, but a UK fan reading ''Overkill'' would be blissfully unaware of Tony Stark's involvement. This blanket superhero ban apparently meant that even Death's Head II was verboten.
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Revision as of 10:49, 31 May 2024
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| Format | Guest character | |
| First TFUK appearance | Issue 113 (guest) Issue 167 (solo) | |
| Final TFUK appearance | Issue 151 (guest) Issue 207 (solo) Issue 301 (reprint) | |
His name is DEATH'S HEAD. He kills people for money. If you're one of his targets then that's all you're going to know about him; if you're thinking of hiring him then be warned – he's expensive and he always collects on his debts!
History
The story of Death's Head is one of potential and ambition.
Writer Simon Furman needed a one-and-done bounty hunter character for a story in The Transformers in 1987... but when he saw Geoff Senior's initial concept designs, both recognised the potential in the character. With tweaks to the bounty hunter freelance peacekeeping agent's dialogue and role in the story, Death's Head was born. His unique appearance, characteristic speech patterns, and dark sense of humour endeared him to readers, with his name being a frequent presence on the letters page – and that was just the ones they printed. He became something of a staple of The Transformers's post-movie 
stories, recurring twice more, including in 1988's epic "The Legacy of Unicron!". Death's Head was a hit – and Marvel UK was ambitious for more.
In 1988, at the behest of editor Richard Starkings, Marvel UK made a play for the American market. At the time, British comics were produced weekly, as anthology titles (hence the Transformers sharing their magazine with... well, everybody else on this wiki), and in a physically larger size than American format comics, which were monthly affairs focussing on a single character. Marvel UK planned to make its own American-style books, so that they could sit alongside the exotic imported U.S. comics in speciality shops... and, across the pond, share shelf space with the standard monthly periodicals on new comic book day rather than be sequestered in some other section. Death's Head was again singled out for his potential, but first he had to be divorced from his roots in a licensed series. From a fictional perspective, Death's Head left The Transformers diving through an exploding time portal in "The Legacy of Unicron!", before colliding with the TARDIS in the Doctor Who Magazine story "The Crossroads of Time", 
a misadventure that saw him reduced to human size by the Doctor and dropped off on Earth in the year 8162. Out of universe, Marvel published the Death's Head solo tale "High Noon Tex" in a surprisingly successful blag to claim legal ownership of the character. This all paved the way for Death's Head to put a guest appearance in Marvel UK's first U.S. format book, Furman and Senior's own Dragon's Claws. 
Death's Head's own solo book was next to roll out, followed by other attempts to break America in the form of The Sleeze Brothers and Knights of Pendragon. (Though not typically named alongside these titles, Marvel UK's Action Force Monthly 
was also printed in the American format, and sold in the U.S. as G.I. Joe: European Missions.) If there was any doubt that Death's Head sold books, he was the main focus of the cover to anthology title The Marvel Bumper Comic's fifth issue, despite the story within being one page with one panel.
Even though Death's Head received ringing endorsements from Marvel U.S., such as a letter of praise from Stan Lee [1] and a cameo in Fantastic Four penned by Walter Simonson, the book's sales figures proved disappointing (at least to the pencil pushers that crunched the numbers), and the series ended at ten issues – though not without introducing a time travelling element to allow for more flexibility in appearances further down the line. Death's Head's big revival came in the pages of Strip, a Marvel UK fortnightly anthology aimed at older readers. The serialised story printed across eight issues finally told Death's Head's origin; it was collected in graphic novel format as "The Body in Question", released alongside The Life and Times of Death's Head, which collected most of his ongoing series. After this, Death's Head had a couple of years subsisting only on brief roles in other titles, largely written by his creator, Furman. DH bowed out of comics with a silent raised glass across a bar in the Doctor Who Magazine cameo cavalcade story "Party Animals", written by continuity gremlin Gary Russell.
In the 1990s, Marvel UK appointed Paul Neary as editor-in-chief and, to try and capitalise on the comic book speculator boom, Neary took a second stab at launching U.S. format books. The first out the door was Death's Head II by Dan Abnett and Liam Sharp, a four-issue mini-series telling the tale of how Death's Head was assimilated into the body of an edgy, musclebound cyborg with a huge gun arm, as was the style in the 90s. He was joined in this shared corner of the Marvel Universe by titles with names like Motormouth & Killpower, Warheads, Hell's Angel, Digitek, and a revamped Knights of Pendragon – and that was just in 1992. Until 1994, Marvel UK would produce its own little pocket universe, with characters crossing over, joining forces, and even participating in their own "events". Death's Head II appeared in at least fifteen of these series, five of which bore his name in the title, and three of which featured spin-off characters made on the same assembly line as his new cyborg body. One of these series was The Incomplete Death's Head, which reprinted most of the original Death's Head's adventures with a new framing sequence starring Death's Head II reliving and learning from an archive of his former self's memories. For legal reasons, strips from The Transformers were excised, but the Doctor Who connections weren't – with the whole limited series build around continuity points from Death's Head's dealings with the Doctor, with massive significance given to the seemingly-inconsequential "Party Animals"!
Death's Head II was the poster boy for this whole revamp, which makes the other part of this story quite odd... See, in the UK, several of these new series were serialised in Overkill, an anthology for older readers following in the footsteps of Strip but more specifically gunning for the 2000 AD audience; given this aim, all that silly superhero nonsense had no place in Overkill. And so comics like Motormouth and Pendragon were specifically written so that exactly half of their page counts were given over to pre-existing, mostly U.S.-originated heroes, so that these B-plots could be completely excised for their Overkill printings; for example, a reader who picked up Pendragon in the U.S. could enjoy a tale with eleven pages of Iron Man on the fringes of the eponymous knights' plot, but a UK fan reading Overkill would be blissfully unaware of Tony Stark's involvement. This blanket superhero ban apparently meant that even Death's Head II was verboten.
Death's Head stories in TFUK
- The Transformers: "Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!"
- The Transformers: "Hunters"
- The Transformers: "Fire on High!"
- The Transformers: "Vicious Circle!"
- The Transformers: "Headhunt"
- The Transformers: "The Legacy of Unicron!"
- Death's Head: "High Noon Tex"
- Death's Head: Death's Head (ad)
Death's Head reading orders
Publication order
Readers may also be interested in the following, which depicts a timeline that diverges from Death's Head II issue 1:
Uh, spoilers.
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Chronological order
Flashbacks depicted in the above two stories take place early in Death's Head's life, but they are a terrible place for a new reader to start.
The above two stories are light on continuity and can theoretically take place any time between issues 1 and 8 of Death's Head.
The framing sequence for the above issue features Death's Head from just after his appearance in "Party Animals", but for the other characters it takes place after the following:
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