Death’s Head Review: Marvel Heroes #33 – The Brute and the Bounty Hunter!

Death’s Head’s final appearance (to date) came in March 2011, within the pages of Marvel Heroes, a magazine-style format aimed at younger readers and published by Panini (who now hold the Marvel UK licence). On the cover – fighting for space among the other features and a ‘Free Vortex Blaster’ – is a pretty good Death’s Head and Hulk by Simon Williams. They are both facing the same direction, so it doesn’t really portray the promise of the caption: “Hulk vs Death’s Head! ‘Nuff Said!”.

The creatives involved were: pencils and inks by Simon Williams; colours by Jason Cardy and Kat Nicholson; letters by Tim Warren-Smith and editor Ed Hammond. The writer responsible for this resurrected guest-spot was, of course, creator Simon Furman.

This story is actually in two halves, the first part being “The Hero Inside” by Ferg Handley and John Ross. We begin with Bruce Banner meeting with a facsimile Betty Ross. Realising he has been duped by General Thunderbolt, he promptly goes green and tussles with the Hulkbusters for a few pages, before getting tagged with an electronic device that brings Banner’s consciousness to the surface.

Thunderbolt and S.H.I.E.L.D. Assistant Director Maria Hill arrive to explain the situation: an alien race called the D’Bari are threatening to conquer Earth (their own homeworld was destroyed by the Phoenix in X-Men #135). They have demonstrated sufficiently advanced weaponry to cause concern, but in order to capture Earth intact, they have issued a challenge of champions. As Earth’s champion must be human (thus ruling out Thor etc.), they have decided that Hulk is their best chance for victory.

Banner/Hulk agrees, and the D’Bari are told that the challenge has been accepted. They respond by urging haste, saying their own champion is not known for his patience. We see a familiar silhouette and a metallic arm pulling on brown gauntlets. “Especially when there’s a fee at stake, yes?”

“The Brute and the Bounty Hunter” begins on the Blue Area of the Moon, where Banner/Hulk is in the ruined Kree city, waiting for his opponent. Monitoring nearby, S.H.I.E.L.D. discover that, sure enough, there isn’t much time left before the neural regulator fails and Hulk’s personality returns.

With his payment of ten thousand shanix confirmed, Death’s Head teleports into battle. He tosses Hulk around and they exchange a few punches. Meanwhile Thunderbolt is conspiring with one of his officers, Yoth, to wait until Hulk has won, then attack him while he is exhausted and weakened.

In the D’Bari ship, the commanders are arguing. Apparently their show of strength and threatened invasion is one almighty bluff – hence their reliance on hired help. One of them, G’Aspx, is repelled at the thought of using a bounty hunter (having lost his lifemate to the mercenary Tyrus Krill). He teleports to the moon and finds an old Kree cannon, vowing Death’s Head will not live to enjoy his earnings.

Back to the duel, Death’s Head’s attacks have been wearing Hulk down, and the mean, green characteristics start to resurface. Lurking nearby in a Hulkbuster suit, Yoth is waiting to strike as G’Aspx gets ready to fire on Death’s Head. But the mechanoid’s internal sensors detect the weapons-lock of G’Aspx’s cannon – he realises the double-cross, immediately cancels the deal and offers Hulk a plan.

Hulk punches out Death’s Head, then leaps over him to G’Aspx. He lifts up the cannon and redirects its fire to the orbiting D’Bari ship, ending their threat. Back on his feet, Death’s Head returns the favour by blasting Yoth before he could attack.

Yoth confesses all, and Death’s Head offers Hulk the chance for payback. In the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, something teleports behind Thunderbolt and a large green finger taps him on the shoulder…

It’s easy to pick holes in this story: would Earth really be threatened by a D’Bari? Is Hulk really the best choice of champion – especially without the power of his monster rage? If Hulk lost, how were S.H.I.E.L.D. planning on telling everyone on Earth they had pack their bags? For a story like this, I guess the only important question is: does it entertain? And for that, I’d say it earns about half marks.

For a 13-page story, far too much time is spent setting up the premise (which, as I’ve noted, seems pretty thin). It doesn’t take much to put Death’s Head’s against an opponent – the only motive he needs is a contract. Setting up the D’Bari plot means we only get a few pages of the headline fight – and that doesn’t really get beyond the introductions.

The double-double-cross is trademark Furman, as is Death’s Head and Hulk trading opponents. I’m not sure there’s enough space to make it work here, and perhaps cutting down to a single act of treachery might have given the story a bit of needed elbow-room.

Moreover, there is something of the deus ex machina about how this is resolved. Death’s Head displays some very specific sensors to pick out, not only a threatening weapon, but the specific race aiming it. He also manages to talk sense to a half-crazed Hulk very quickly.

While it’s great to see Death’s Head return (there really isn’t much he won’t do for ten thousand shanix), the character does little more here than go through the motions. While the way he turns on his employers is fair enough (if a little sudden), his initial tactics against the Hulk lack his usual cunning. In a straight fight, Hulk must surely be his superior in power, yet Death’s Head deals with him as if he were little more than, say, Backbreaker. There’s also a little too much tough-guy and not enough dry wit, so I don’t think he’ll be winning over many new fans from this cameo.

Simon Williams’ artwork is nicely rendered, the inking is solid and the colours are strong. Death’s Head’s appearance is equal to many of his previous stories and a lot of respect is being paid to the character, including some of the original touches (such as the raised mechanical eyebrow). The movement in the panels seems oddly two-dimensional: the protagonists don’t seem to be really hitting each other with any impact. I know this has a younger readership, so perhaps has to tone down the violence, but Hulk and Death’s Head are reeling from punches that don’t even seem to connect.

In terms of Death’s Head’s chronology, this story struggles to find a place. He is human-scale and in his original uniform, so unless is happened between his encounter with Doctor Who and Dragon’s Claws, it presumably occurred right after he was stolen from Lupex, but before he became Transformer-scale. It’s probably not worth worrying about, since I assume the ‘Marvel Heroes’ stories are outside regular continuity.

And that concludes my Death’s Head reviews. It’s been great fun to revisit these old issues, and I’ve gained a new appreciation for a much-overlooked character. Thanks to all who took part in discussing the adventures of everyone’s favourite freelance peacekeeping agent. I hope you enjoyed it, yes?

Death’s Head Review: S.W.O.R.D. #1-5 – No Time To Breathe

For more than a decade after his death at the hands of Minion, Death’s Head remained deactivated. But, true to maximum that only Uncle Ben stays dead in comics, he resurfaced in 2005 as a supporting character in the five-issue run of S.W.O.R.D. As Death’s Head only appears briefly, and the short-lived run makes up a complete story, I’ll look at them as a whole.

The creative line-up ran as follows: Kieron Gillen, writer; Steven Sanders, pencils; Craig Yeung, inks; Matt Wilson, colours; Dave Lanphear, letters and editor Nick Lowe.

The covers are quite a mixed bag. The first three, by John Cassaday and Laura Martin, are all portrait-style: the first is a standard team-assembly of S.W.O.R.D. commander Abigail Brand standing in front ofBeast, Sydren and Lockheed. The second is co-commander Henry Gyrich with some sinister underlighting standing before an ‘Aliens Go Home’ message. The third is a semi-comical one of the little dragon Lockheed, wreathed in fire and brandishing a couple of handguns.

The last two covers are by Mike del Mundo, and have a more realistic style, albeit with a much more surreal composition. While they are both interesting to look over, I’m not sure either would have me grabbing it off the shelves (although the series was cancelled by that point). The difference in styles is jarring, although the biggest problem is the overall depiction of Beast. All five covers show Hank McCoy’s flat, feline face instead of the long-snouted version drawn by Sanders. It’s each artist’s choice, I suppose, but such inconsistency for a main character between cover and inside pages feels wrong.

Now to the story. For the uninitiated, the Sentient World Observation and Response Department is the alien-facing counterpart of S.H.I.E.L.D. From its orbital space station, The Peak, it seems to operate as a mix of Deep Space 9/Babylon 5 and Men In Black – monitoring and negotiating with Earthbound aliens.

In what seems a typical day, Abigail Brand is confronted by a number of red alerts: a fleet of Drenx pirate ships are threatening Earth; a mysterious signal has been picked up; and her alien half-brother, pursued by a ruthless bounty hunter, is seeking sanctuary. Putting the affable Sydren in charge of negotiations with the Drenx, Brand heads off to deal with her wastrel brother, Lothi, who has stolen an valuable artefact.

The bounty hunter turns out to be Death’s Head, appearing by hologram to introduce himself as a ‘freelance personnel recovery specialist’ and offer Brand a cut of the bounty. When given a flat refusal, he quickly accepts – only to activate his spacecraft’s stealth mode, blast a hole in The Peak and steal Lothi anyway.

Brand gets Beast and Lockheed ready to pursue, but first she needs find out how to overcome the stealth technology. She visits a top-security prisoner – a charming robot called Unit – who provides her with the answer. But while Brand is away chasing Death’s Head, her co-commander Gyrich is undermining her to their superiors. He begins putting into action plans to extradite all the aliens on Earth.

The S.W.O.R.D. agents find and board Death’s Head’s vessel, only to be caught by its owner. The real surprise comes with the scale – Death’s Head towers above them, Transformer-size. There follows a lopsided battle where Brand’s team try to stay alive (although they do manage to cost the mechanoid an optic sensor, as well as Beast suggesting the classic ‘freelance peacekeeping agent’ as a new title) before escaping with Lothi.

Meanwhile, Gyrich mobilises S.W.O.R.D. against the resident alien super-heroes (Noh-Varr, Adam X, Hepzibah, Beta Ray Bill etc) and with surprise and low cunning, manages to round up almost all of them.

Ignorant of this, and having returned to The Peak, Brand is again called by a surprisingly-cheerful Death’s Head: “Hello again, human friends. You catch me in the middle of doing a little accounting. It appears you owe me one alien, one artefact, one eyeball and whatever is costs me to refit the gaping hole in the side of my ship.” They agree a deal: the artefact in return for free passage for Lothi. Brand is then captured by Gyrich and thrown into the brig.

While Lockheed is hunted through the air vents (which explains the John McClane style of cover for #3), Beast confronts Unit, who he deduces has been putting his unique problem-solving ability to Gyrich’s service. Beast then frees Brand, and they escape with the aid of Death’s Head (who has happily accepted this rescue as a new contract).

Some of the threads from the beginning of the story now begin to pay off: the mysterious signal turns out to be a teleportation beam for Metroliths – giant rock-monsters who invade Mount Rushmore. Though deposed as S.W.O.R.D. commander, Brand feels obligated to resolve this. She attempts to communicate with the rocks as Death’s Head fights to keep them in check (in a characteristic show of dark humour, he loses his temper at being knocked down and tries to fire a missile at a Metrolith: “No deadly force, Brand said. It’s possible you could live through this, yes?”). Brand eventually convinces the Metroliths that Mount Rushmore is not a rock creature in distress and they quickly apologise.

The other story thread comes from Sydren’s ongoing negotiations with the Drenx (mainly by offering the pirates endless cups of tea). As Sydren is taken away by Gyrich’s men, the murderous aliens learn that the base is in disarray and that Unit is being held prisoner. They force their way into the detention cells and Unit (his face now adjusted from human to Drenx) helpfully tells the pirates how they can capture the entire station.

The Peak quickly and bloodlessly falls to the Drenx, who then set up an ambush for the returning Brand and Beast. The ambush is quickly reversed by the arrival of Death’s Head and his minigun attachment. While the mechanoid bravely holds off the pirate ships (“Can’t … give up … now … Just … think … of … the … bonus.”) Brand frees all the alien superheroes, who tear the invaders to shreds.

Pursued by Beast, the chief Drenx seeks help from Unit – who asks for his liberty in return. Before McCoy can stop him, the Drenx frees the robot. With a sinister look in his eye, Unit kills the Drenx with a thought, then allows Beast to re-activate his energy cage. He explains that he helped the Drenx only to ensure a peaceable takeover, but warned Brand about the ambush because he does not resent his prison. He is happy to remain as the indispensable advisor to S.W.O.R.D. while he considers his next long-term move.

The series concludes with Brand forcing the resignation of the disgraced Gyrich, and hence becoming the sole commander. Death’s Head cheerfully departs with his fee while Brand and Beast meet with the high-commander of the Drenx fleet. In a neat turnaround they point to the number of superheroes on the planet and suggest that S.W.O.R.D. exists not to protect Earth from aliens, but to protect aliens form the Earth. The Drenx quickly take the hint and take off, leaving Brand and Beast to enjoy the Earthrise together.

The whole series makes for a really good romp. Though following the single narrative of Gyrich’s plan, there’s still plenty going on in each issue. Plot threads are nicely set-up (the Metroliths, the return of Death’s Head, the Drenx threat) and developed logically. The whole idea of an alien-specific agency has a lot of potential for story, and it’s a pity this run got cancelled.

As the main character in all this craziness, Abigail Brand comes across as the most moral, level-headed and capable. These are all good (and standard-issue) qualities for a leader, and there are some moments of dry humour in her tough-as-nails attitude, although her borderline-infallibility does make her a little dull at times.

Beast has long since been established a genius-intellect court jester, and he makes for a nice pairing for Brand, both as sidekick and romantic foil. He also gets to interact with Unit – one of the best characters in the title.

The concept of Unit is that he was created, many ages ago, but a utopian race that sought to bring paradise to the universe and realised they needed hard measures to do so. They would drop a ‘unit’ robot on a difficult planet, who would begin manipulating its rulers until it became compliant or destroyed. These utopians were seen as tyrants by other races and eventually annihilated, leaving only Unit – who must redeem their memory by bringing peace to the universe. This explains his endless patience and helpful attitude, while at the same time giving out a ‘Hannibal Lector’ vibe of a deranged genius in a cage.

As for the other mechanoid of the series, I really enjoyed Death’s Head’s return. For a character that’s only ever really be written by one writer, Kieron Gillen did a great job of capturing the essence of the mechanoid, while adding his own touch. Nicely menacing to begin with (and the idea about making him Transformer-scale was inspired), Death’s Head comes into his best when he has Brand as a client, combining polite subservience with light disrespect in a way that seems more British in tone than Furman’s original (a mercenary Jeeves, rather than the lone gunslinger, perhaps). I’d happily read more of this character from this writer.

The character design of Death’s Head is new, and very well done by Steven Sanders. The original ‘battered body-armour’ look is given the ‘blue samurai’ colours and some impressive weapon attachments (mace, missile etc). The skull-head looks like a hockey-mask with smaller tusks and bigger horns – most of the personality is conveyed by the deep-set glowing red eyes.

The rest of the artwork looks great and flows nicely – there are a few impressive splash panels, but it doesn’t interrupt the story moving apace. It can sometimes veer into cartoony, although that’s hard to avoid when you have lots of non-humans as lead characters. And there are some lovely background touches that appear on a re-read (Death’s Head skull-themed furry dice in his spacecraft, the holographic ‘yes’/’no’ icons that appear when he makes his offer).

In terms of where this belongs in the Death’s Head chronology, my guess would be the start of his career, post-Lupex. The giant size would suggest it occurs before he met The Doctor, as does the fact that he seems to discover his ‘freelance peacekeeping agent’ catchphrase. As this is 2005, it would allow him to change his uniform, get a new face and hop over to the Transformers universe in time to begin the hunt for Galvatron (nice timing by Gillen there).

Next issue: the very last (so far) appearance of Death’s Head as he takes on The Incredible Hulk in “The Brute and The Bounty Hunter”

Issues 1-5 were collected (with a marketing-savvy ‘X-Men’ prefix added) as X-Men: S.W.O.R.D. – No Time To Breathe

Death’s Head Review: What If #54: What if Minion Had Not Killed Death’s Head?

The final appearance of Death’s Head (for a dozen years, at least) came in the pages of the ‘What If’ series. The old creative team is reunited – Simon Furman writer and Geoff Senior artist – with Janice Chiang letters, Sarra Mossoff colourist and Rob Tokar editor.

The cover, also by Senior, is big and brash: an over-muscled Minion goes toe-to-toe with a spikey-armoured Death’s Head. Beneath them are items from fallen Marvel heroes: Captain America’s shield and War Machine’s helmet. The caption asks, “What If … Death’s Head I had lived”, which does the job, although I would have added a question mark, and using a big, thick Roman numeral does immediately make you assume it means “Death Head II” (which makes no sense).

It’s a strong image – both protagonists are tearing into each other – although nothing like as gory as some of the Death’s Head II covers. Minion’s blade looks to be doing no more than surface damage to Death’s Head’s face, while the mechanoid’s fist appears to be punching into pink jelly, rather than flesh. Death’s Head’s legs are also bent at an impossible angle, just to fit them into the frame.

Manhattan 2020. In film-noir style, Dr Necker is walking through a dark, rain-streaked alley in a hat and trenchcoat. She rendezvous with Spratt, who introduces her to Death’s Head, rebuilt after his near-death at the hands of Minion. We are treated to a full splash page of the mechanoid’s third uniform, which mostly consists of enormous arms, extra guns and lots more spikey bits. His head is unchanged and looks quite small atop this titanic construction.

Necker reveals that Minion has (somehow) become a liability for A.I.M. and offers him the chance for revenge. Though angry at Necker for setting Minion after him, Death’s Head is prepared to listen – but not for free. As Spratt reminds him, there’s no profit in vengeance.

The narrative is picked up by Uatu the Watcher, who reveals this prologue to be a ‘What if’. He recaps the story of the Death’s Head II limited series, then speculates what would happen if Death’s Head had teleported away a split-second before Minion killed him.

In this universe, Minion forgets about the escaped Death’s Head and goes on to assimilate and kill his next target, Reed Richards. However, without Death’s Head’s body for Strucker to possess, there can be no Charnel, so Minion is left waiting for a threat that never materialises. Instead, Strucker lures Minion into a trap and possesses him instead. There follows a classic sci-fi monster-attack sequence where Minion/Charnel destroys an A.I.M. installation.

This brings us up-to-speed with the prologue: in a shipwrecked freighter that serves as an atmospheric office, Spratt is counting out Necker’s money as Death’s Head accepts the contract. He requests use of a time machine and a really big gun.

Travelling back to 1992, Death’s Head convinces the grief-stricken Fantastic Four Three to help him, since all that remains of Reed is now trapped in a killing machine. Using similar powers of persuasion, he recruits Captain America, War Machine, Luke Cage and Namor to his cause. Necker is impressed at gathering so much power for free, which Death’s Head attributes to his understanding of the ‘super-hero mentality’.

We jump straight into a full-on superhero dogpile on Charnel. They land some good hits on the creature (I especially like Sue Richards’ nasty method of creating a force-field inside Charnel’s body, then popping it), which concludes with Thing dropping a building on him.

Of course, this has only succeeded in making Charnel mad! Having adapted to the attacks, he fights back, killing the heroes in quick succession (once again, a special mention for his means of dispatching War Machine – a narrow blade configuration through the eye slits).

Death’s Head has so far remained on the sidelines, allowing the superheroes to sacrifice themselves, so Charnel is worn down (something Necker views with admiration). He now steps forward, toting a gun the size of a Buick, and blasts Charnel. He follows up with an attack that uses everything in his arsenal, including gouging Charnel with his tusks. Though outmatched, Death’s Head goads Charnel that he is too thuggish to access any of his 105 personalities to win the fight.

Charnel takes the bait and taps into Reed Richard’s intellect to ensure maximum suffering for Death’s Head. Before he can strike the final blow, he freezes, allowing the mechanoid to decapitate him. The escaping energies cause Charnel to spectacularly explode.

In a neat reversal, Death’s Head is left holding Minion’s skull. He explains to Necker and Spratt how he tricked Charnel into giving control to Reed Richards’ personality and ponders the nature of heroism, “Struggling against impossible odds, risking almost certain death to help those in trouble … I just hope it’s not catching, yes?”

It’s a fitting swan-song for the character. Death’s Head is allowed to show off his sardonic, cool, ruthless personality for the last time, as well as being granted a plausible victory against his nemesis, using cunning rather than brute force. And at the story’s end, he finds himself no wiser or nobler, with just a shrug for fallen comrades and an eye for the next paycheck.

Furman admitted that he found writing this to be a “deeply satisfying and cathartic experience”. Aside from sparing his creation at the expense of its successor, it does give him the chance to demonstrate how he would have written the all-superhero brawl against Charnel. Though hardly original, I liked the battle. There were some nicely inventive ways for the heroes to attack (and get killed) by the monster (compared with the fairly blunt methods used in 2020 Vision) and Death’s Head stays in character as a cynical manipulator. It could be argued that Minion is also in character as a superpowered machine that can’t be beaten by any other Marvel superhero, even some of the greatest, which may also have been Furman’s point.

Though clearly favouring Death’s Head, Furman does a good job of working with the established story: Strucker’s grudge against A.I.M. is maintained (and expanded upon, given we actually get to see Charnel destroy some installations in this version) and the inclusion of Reed Richards as target #106 is good continuity. It also makes for a satisfying twist: Death’s Head gives Reed’s personality control over Minion, just as Reed gave Death’s Head control over Minion in the ‘true’ story.

Senior’s artwork is very good, though a long way from his best and perhaps his art isn’t suited to the reduced colours of the US print. His depiction of movement and action is still great, however, so there is plenty to enjoy in the explosive, brutal slugfest against Charnel (although I wasn’t convinced by the squishy pink-gore of the cyborg’s insides). Charnel’s attack on the A.I.M. installation is also very well handled – single-frame depictions of the sudden assault that match the pace of the text and keep the attacker out of view until the final reveal.

Death’s Head’s new look is a parody of the fashion for big guns and big muscles, but Senior keeps the augmented mechanoid looking formidable, rather than ridiculous. Compared with the bloody and overly-detailed work of the Death’s Head II series, the artwork already seems to be out of step with its contemporaries, but it’s certainly no worse for that.

The What If #54 was republished ‘Death’s Head Volume 2’.

Death’s Head Review: Doctor Who Monthly #173: Party Animals & The Incomplete Death’s Head #1-12

For this, I’m attempting the rather-ambitious goal of thirteen issues in one review. The Incomplete Death’s Head series was published around the launch of Death’s Head II. It reprinted most of the original mechanoid’s tales, and was given a framing story featuring Minion and Tuck.

The Doctor Who Monthly #173 was published two years earlier. It has practically nothing to do with Death’s Head, except for its puzzling inclusion in the ‘Death’s Head Volume 2’ collection. It only really makes sense when it was retroactively included in the framing story, which is why I include it here.

The framing story of The Incomplete Death’s Head was written by Dan Abnett, pencils by Simon Coleby, inking alternated between Simon Coleby and Neil Bushnell, lettering was either Annie Parkhouse or Gary Gilbert, colour David Leach, and the editor was John Freeman (also credited with the ‘plot’ for issue 1, so I guess this was his idea).

The cover to the first issue is by Liam Sharp and Hank Kanalz, and it’s quite a good one. Minion poses dramatically (behind him, Tuck just poses) and examines a glowing sphere that contains a portrait of Death’s Head. The real treat is that the sphere is a cut-out circle and the cover opens, like a pop-up book, to reveal the rest of Death’s Head facing many of his enemies: Mayhem, Big Shot, Plaguedog etc. Everyone is charging towards the mechanoid and, though I have my usual reservations about the way Sharp depicts movement, the whole image would make decent poster art.

The story begins with Minion and Tuck unexpectedly transported to a mysterious, hi-tech location. We later discover this is Maruthea – an ‘impossible’ space station in the centre of the space-time vortex. Quickly defeating the robot guardians, they discover they are in an archive dedicated to the original Death’s Head.

With one panel, the Pyra and Lupex origin is swiftly covered (the omission of the actual story is odd, but the high standard of that story’s artwork might have been ruined in this format) and move on to the next step: Death’s Head was stolen, programmed to be a bounty hunter, and set up in business where he ran into the unfortunate Tex.

Minion plugs himself into the archive to learn more, and a missing piece is added to the Death Head story: he was stolen again and sent to a parallel universe (i.e. The Transformers universe) where his size was considerably increased. To circumvent copyright, the computer screen shows a poor quality image of Death’s Head fighting an off-colour Galvatron. The story concludes that, during this robot war, Death’s Head was caught in the gravitational well of a collapsing planet and accelerated into the Crossroads of Time (not exactly matching the original story, but perhaps easier to explain in the limited space).

After viewing his adventures with The Doctor and Dragon’s Claws, Minion is intrigued to know more about Death Head, since without that dominant personality he would never have gained his own free will. He is suddenly blasted by electrical feedback and his mind is pulled into the cyberspace of the archive.

The consciousness of Minion then meets the consciousness of Death’s Head, which has materialised within cyberspace. Over the course of the series, they both review the past adventures of the freelance peacekeeping agent, peppered with moments of action (such as when the memory of Big Shot comes alive and attacks) to keep things interesting.

In the real world, Tuck is attacked by the creator of the archive: Hob. The diminutive robot valet survived the explosion of the Dogbolter Temporal Rocket, but his master went missing. Obsessed with finding Dogbolter, and rebuilt in mechanical-spider form, Hob created the archive to study Death’s Head (although he is ignorant of the Minion incarnation). His apparent hope is to trap Death’s Head and The Doctor, in the hope that they can be made to find his master.

As Hob has Tuck in his clutches, and Minion watches helplessly, the actual Death’s Head and The Doctor both arrive at Maruthea, which segues into the Doctor Who story ‘Party Animals’ (Gary Russell script, Mike Collins pencils, Steve Pini inks, Glib letters, John Freeman editor)...

The Seventh Doctor and Ace arrive at Maruthea to join the birthday party of a satyr named Bonjaxx. The party is a crowded scene of every character the artist can imagine (ranging from a Sontaran to Captain Britain to Star Trek’s Worf to Bart Simpson). The Doctor is told that someone is looking for him, and he wonders if it is Death’s Head, who is sat alone, drinking a cocktail with a little pink umbrella.

He is then met by another eccentrically-dressed chap with a female sidekick. They chat to each other, amiably and enigmatically, as a massive brawl erupts around them. After a comment about the First Law of Time, they step into their respective TARDIS’ and reveal the not-too-surprising truth that The Doctor has just met a past/future incarnation of himself.

And back to the framing story, Hob joins the brawl and faces off with Death’s Head. Watching from cyberspace, the virtual Death’s Head points out that his past self might actually be in danger, since causality means nothing in Maruthea.

With The Doctor gone, Minion fears that Hob will vent his frustration on Tuck. Death appreciates looking out for his partner, and admits that, given the chance, he would have tried to save Spratt (probably the nicest thing he’s said about his deceased sidekick). He offers to shunt the cyborg back into reality on the condition that he doesn’t let Hob kill him (presumably because he wants to save himself for the pleasure of being killed by Minion later on).

Minion leaps back into life and attacks Hob, severing the arm that held Tuck captive. He then teams up with the real Death’s Head and the pair make short work of blasting, then slicing, Hob into pieces.

In the aftermath, Death’s Head makes some quick deductions about the cyborg who moves like him and shares his name, and decides that Minion cannot be allowed to live. Before violence starts, Death’s Head is zapped and falls to the ground. The Doctor has returned to blast him, once again, with The Tissue Compression Eliminator (which has been modified into a Deus Ex Machina device, since it knocks Death’s Head unconscious and wipes his memories of the whole encounter).

Confronted by Minion, The Doctor confesses that he was the one who sent Death’s Head into The Transformers universe, trying to bring out his capacity for good by shaping his adventures. He was also the one who brought Minion and Tuck here, so they could conclude the unfinished business with Hob. Minion appreciates the save, but dislikes being manipulated, and so warns The Doctor against doing so again (and, continuing the theme of Minion being tougher than any other comic character, The Doctor meekly accepts). Minion and Tuck return to their own time, while The Doctor helps Death’s Head back to his feet.

As a way of reprinting the old Death’s Head titles (although I’m not sure I believe the promotional rhetoric that Death’s Head II was so amazingly popular that audiences demanded to know more about his namesake), this was nicely done. Like a compilation episode of a long-running sitcom, the framing story gave Minion a good little adventure, and even filled in some of the blanks of Death’s Head’s backstory.

Minion and Tuck still in ‘tough guy and sidekick’ mode, although space is limited to give them much more scope for character. Their initial wisecrack responses to the archive reports – commenting like Beavis & Butthead – get a little tired, but once danger kicks in, things improve. I like how some reprints are used to support an argument – such as the She-Hulk episode about time-travel – rather than have the characters passively watch them.

Having Minion speak with the cyberspace ‘ghost’ of Death’s Head was a nice touch. It’s interesting that Minion only took the mechanoid’s personality, not his memories, and it helps to give them different perspectives. And I still think that Abnett writes the first Death’s Head better than he does the second one.

Coleby’s artwork gets stronger as the series goes on. The initial line work is fairly thin and insipid to begin with, but does improve once Bushnell’s inks add some depth and atmosphere to the panels. Everyone has over-emphasised guns, muscles and blades, even by Minion’s standards, but that’s nothing new. I did like the nightmarish creation of Hob: a mechanical-spider with his little round head as an angry nodule on the end of his Alien-esque tongue.

Story-wise, it was a clever move of Abnett (or Freeman) to bring Hob back into the narrative, since Dogbolter was one of the more obvious loose threads of the series. Hob’s logic about capturing Death’s Head in order to find his master is a little skewed, but I’m happy to give him some crazy-robot leeway. It also gives a good reason to bring in The Doctor and the short story of Maruthea.

As for ‘Party Animals’, unless it figured into a large narrative about The Doctor’s future self (and I don’t think it did), I couldn’t really see the point. Aside from the glimpse of a future Doctor (and given they had free rein to create anything, a middle-age man in a dapper jacket is hardly original), there’s no drama or resolution in this story. The artwork is functional, although it tries too hard to capture Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, and Collins clearly had fun in depicting a diverse range of characters.

Generally that story felt like a bit of end-of-term silliness , and only just manages to fit into the wider narrative. It’s surprising that this made it into the republished volume – since it’s hardly a Death’s Head tale – whereas the more significant framing story did not.

I’m also not convinced by the final reveal: that The Doctor has been manipulating Death’s Head’s life – as far back as sending him to hunt Transformers. Apart from its very implausibility, Death’s Head’s career has hardly been a positive one – that’s part of his appeal – and making him the puppet of The Doctor somehow undermines his story.

Next week: Furman’s revenge – as we visit a parallel universe that asks: What if Minion Had Not Killed Death’s Head?

The Doctor Who Monthly #173 was republished ‘Death’s Head Volume 2’.

Death’s Head Review: Death’s Head II – The Wild Hunt #4: 2020 Vision!

The fourth and final chapter of Death’s Head II – The Wild Hunt was created as follows: Dan Abnett, story; Liam Sharp, pencils; Andy Lanning and Liam Sharp, inks; Helen Stone, colours; Peri Godbold, letters; and John Freeman editor.

After some previously mediocre covers, this one is a treat. In a wraparound cover, the Charnel monster is fighting Minion, Tuck, Necker and an assortment of Marvel heroes. Charnel looks menacing (and recognisable as the original Deaths Head), the bursts of gunfire and magic give some vibrant colour to the image, and everyone is strongly portrayed. Even the caption, “The Final Battle!” adds to the drama.

A couple of complaints: some the combatants – notably Minion and Rhino – don’t seem to be facing their enemy. It could be argued that they’re manoeuvring or flanking, but it doesn’t look very dramatic. Another problem is that Liam Sharp elected not to draw Charnel’s legs, settling for a brief outline that is coloured the same as the background, and so makes him look like a floating torso.

We begin in ‘The New York Wasteland’ of 2020. Not the 2020 we saw last issue, but a new future that will come to pass with Charnel ascendant. Four of Earth’s heroes – Spider-Man, Daredevil, Dr Strange and the Punisher – have adapted to this tough world (mainly by adding lots of guns and pouches to their uniforms and, in Spider-Man’s case, growing a pony tail).

The Punisher’s War Journal narrates the captions: the defeat of Thor’s people by Charnel means they have no hope for victory. They are attacked by hordes of featureless demon-drones and then by Charnel himself – who is now in the form of a giant red spider-creature. Daredevil and Dr Strange are quickly killed, but Spider-Man manages to swipe a disc from Charnel’s chest before his is also slain. The Punisher is offered mercy if he returns the disc, but he flings it away to safety. In a rare moment of subdued storytelling, we see only a distant explosion with the caption: “Punisher’s War Journal ends.”

The disc is collected by former-villain Rhino and brought to the bunker of this era’s Avengers: Wolverine, She-Hulk, The Scarlet Witch and Captain America. Mister Fantastic, who has been trapped in a shapeless putty form, outlines the plan: the disc is a time-travel device and they will travel back to 1992, when Charnel first appeared and was at his weakest. The five remaining heroes time-jump and Reed wishes them luck.

In a New York shopping mall, 1992, Minion arrives with Tuck and Necker. They have armed themselves with a couple of enormous guns and, continuing the strange fashion decisions, Minion has exchanged his peasant tunic for a leather bolero jacket. Minion is being flippant about the impending confrontation with Charnel, which irritates Necker and causes Tuck to defend it as ‘just his way’.

Minion is suddenly attacked by the 2020 Wolverine, stabbing him through the stomach before he breaks off a claw against Minion’s multi-purpose arm (that would be his unbreakable claw – and it’s mentioned in the story that this Wolverine still has his adamantium). Wolverine seems merely bemused at this, and Captain America calls for a truce.

The protagonists soon compare notes, and conclude the quasi-Oedipal running gag that Dr. Evelyn Clarice Sarah Necker shares a middle name with Captain America’s mother. They realise they all want the same result, although the Avengers are fighting to end their future, while Minion is trying to protect his (and can’t see the appeal of their self-sacrifice).

Charnel materialises – the Strucker/Death’s Head hybrid that destroyed A.I.M. – quickly clobbers the Scarlet Witch, kills She-Hulk and bats away Rhino. Minion faces him, and they both sense their connection with the original Death’s Head – before Charnel blasts him too.

Wolverine leaps in, then Captain America and then, walking from the fires like the liquid Terminator, Minion re-joins the fray. Necker retrieves Rhino, who sheds a tear for She-Hulk, and Tuck revives the Scarlet Witch, who hits Charnel with her hex power. Unexpectedly, Charnel drains her hex energy and uses it to transform himself into the unstoppable juggernaut of 2020. His awesome power is demonstrated as he effortlessly annihilates Captain America, Wolverine and Rhino.

In a desperate effort, Minion leaps at Charnel and attaches the 2020 time-travel disc next to the 1992 version already on Charnel’s chest. With one final hex bolt from the Scarlet Witch, both discs are activated – one set for prehistory, the other for the thirteenth century – and Charnel is torn apart. Minion claims to be an expert in dealing with split personalities.

With Charnel destroyed, the 2020 Scarlet Witch happily fades from existence. When Necker tries to take Minion home, he refuses, saying he doesn’t believe she ever intended to pay him, or that the future A.I.M. now has the means to do so. Angrily destroying her gun, he claims that the entire mess was her fault and she should consider the blood on her hands.

Stealing a truck, Minion and Tuck drive away, as the present-era Avengers and Fantastic Four arrive. In no mood to explain, Necker time-jumps away. The final page has Minion’s truck, pursued by a Quinjet, Fantasticar and what appears to be The Hulk, as he promises Tuck, “action, adventure and heinous intrigue – and that’s just on the subway. Whatever happens – I can promise it won’t be dull!”

And so ends the Death’s Head II limited series. Having lined up all the pieces in the previous issues, Abnett delivers a solid tale. The action was handled well, and that’s pretty much all there was for this story.

Taking the series as a whole, I was less impressed. The idea is a sound one: title character is created to battle an destructive evil force and, after a few turns in the road, eventually defeats him. As an introduction/origin story it could have worked very well, especially as the original Death’s Head (or at least parts of his body) are worked into the final battle.

The problem is that, after four issues, I am still no closer to know anything about Minion. In the first issue, he was a blank slate; and in the second issue, a blanker one. By the final two issues, there was no trace remaining of the Death’s Head personality, but nothing had replaced it. He haggles relentlessly over his fee in issue three, but seems uninterested in payment by issue four. He scorns the suicidal heroism of the 2020 Avengers, but then joins in anyway. Flippant wisecracks are fine as a trait, but every character needs a motivation beyond simply moving to the next page.

The way he defeats Charnel is neatly done (although the idea that Minion is an expert in ‘split personalities’ doesn’t bear close inspection) and the time-disc as a MacGuffin is well-played. It might have worked better if Charnel had been in his original form – and very obviously composed of two halves – but it’s a good ending (and conjures up the intriguing possibility that Death’s Head’s original body has been banished somewhere in prehistory…)

As I mentioned previously, the story arc of confronting and defeating Charnel more properly belongs to Necker. Although she takes a back-seat in this issue, and quickly departs the scene before we can properly register if she has learned anything, or is remotely upset at having lost her project.

Tuck actually manages to do less this issue than previously, and it’s made no clearer why Minion needs or values her as a sidekick. The one interesting point is when Tuck tells Necker that his attitude is ‘just his way’ – having a partner who can understand his jumbled personalities would be an asset, except we have no reason to believe that she knows Minion any better than Necker, or has any sway over him.

In terms of storytelling, the switch to an alternate future is unexpected (although less so than the Robin Hood planet). Alternate apocalyptic futures can be fun – everyone gets to look a bit meaner and be killed at random – and Abnett does well with it (although from a visual point of view, I’m not sure if ‘meaner’ translates to ‘add more pouches’).

Sharp’s artwork is probably the best it’s been so far – he seems to do leaping better than running, and the all-action nature suits his style. In terms of character design, both versions of Charnel are suitable horrific (I preferred the unholy hybrid original to the larger ‘alien queen’ version) and there’s plenty of gore, magic, gunfire, explosions and shattered scenery filling the pages. There is also a surprisingly touching display of emotion on Rhino’s face as he mourns She-Hulk.

Some of the character costumes are more questionable. Most of the future superheroes wear a vertical stripe from chest to crotch, which gives unity but does look peculiar and turns Captain America’s star into a comet. Rhino’s seems not to be wearing the all-over suit that gives him his powers (certainly his arms are bare) and everyone seems to be tattered and bandaged, in modified uniforms, except for the Scarlet Witch, who has a pristine version of her original costume.

Despite his healing factor, Wolverine is among those wearing bandages, and the scene where he breaks off a claw is an example of the writer trying a little too hard to make Minion the toughest-hero-of-them-all. Which, to me, sums up the whole problem with Death’s Head II.

Next week: Death’s Head meets Death’s Head II meets Doctor Who – I’ll be looking at the framing story of The Incomplete Death’s Head as it connects with the Doctor Who story ‘Party Animals’.

Death’s Head Review: Death’s Head II – The Wild Hunt #3: Outlaws!

The third instalment of the Death’s Head II limited series kept the same creative line-up: story by Dan Abnett; pencils by Liam Sharp; inks by Andy Lanning; letters by Peri Godbold; colours by Helen Stone; and the editor was John Freeman.

The front cover competes with the previous issue for non-action. Minion and Tuck – a feisty redhead wearing a skimpy costume, some large tattoos and a number of blades – are posing in a forest, doing nothing but looking directly ahead with grim expressions. Minion is wearing a medieval tunic and bearskin cloak which, considering he doesn’t need to wear clothes, looks like a terrible disguise or a strange affectation. The captions tell us “On the run in the far future … Death’s Head and Tuck are partners in crime”. As we don’t know who Tuck is, and the swords and trees don’t look too futuristic, this doesn’t add much.

As with last issue, the back cover has a better idea, but a worse execution. Minion is off-centre and awkwardly posed, duelling swords with a muscled opponent who is almost standing behind him. Tuck and Dr Necker (one of whom we don’t yet know, the other we wouldn’t recognise) are in the background, and the caption promises, “Swords, sorcery and big guns!”. The image looks like an interior panel and looks like some speech balloons have been removed.

The story begins in 3442AD on the forest planet of Lionheart. An unseen narrator explains how a caravan train (drawn by dinosaur beasts, rather than horses) is travelling warily though the forest. As feared, they are attacked by swashbuckling bandits led by Minion – who is calling himself The Hood.

Inside one of the wagons, a group of nuns suddenly produce weapons to “Lock and load – and blow those stinking robot outlaws apart!” (none of them actually have guns – which we learn are prohibited on Lionheart – but I guess the gag took precedence over story consistency). The Mother Superior gets the drop on Minion, but is stabbed in the back by another nun, who throws off her wimple to reveal Tuck in disguise. She has been tracking The Hood for months and wants to join the band.

In the aftermath of the battle, Tuck gives her reasons for joining with some heavy exposition: the King of Lionheart is fighting a crusade light years away, while the corrupt authority exploits the people to enrich themselves. ‘The Hood’ and his band are the only ones fighting back. Minion explains that his band of cybernetic outlaws are united by the laws that forbid artificial sentients, not by any high ideals. Tuck reveals that she is also artificial – a replicated organic – and deserving of a place in the band (forgetting that she wanted to join for a cause that Minion doesn’t apparently believe in). Minion gruffly relents.

Back in 2020, Spratt – now sporting a broken nose – and Baron Strucker V are working to repair the original Death’s Head. Strucker notes that the damage was too extensive to be repaired by 2020 technology (which does explain why the technically-able Spratt would need extra help). Spratt also notices that Strucker’s tools are sorcerous ingredients, so the Baron clearly has a non-scientific solution in mind.

Returning to 3442 and the citadel of Lord High Protector Roderick, an indolent, boastful noblemen. Roderick is flirting with his harem when he hears news of The Hood’s recent attack. He gives orders to fetch ‘Major Oak and the Huscarls’ before returning his attention to one of the woman. She removes her veil to reveal “Lady Evelyn Clarice Necker of Aym”, dressed in a Princess Leia slave girl costume, and continues her odd running gag about sharing a name with Roderick’s mother.

In the outlaw’s camp, Minion and Tuck share a fireside moment as he recaps the past two issues. He has been in Lionheart for a year and, contradicting his earlier cynicism, claims to be enjoying the life of a popular hero.

The peace is broken by the sudden attack of Major Oak, the muscled opponent from the back cover, and his Huscarls. As the Merry Men are slaughtered, Necker and Roderick watch from the sidelines. Necker discreetly changes back into her A.I.M. uniform and knocks Roderick unconscious.

Minion – his arm configured for a sword – duels with Major Oak and proves his superior fairly effortlessly. While Oak keeps coming back at him, Minion is relaxed enough to make fun of his dialogue. Oak gains a brief advantage and, in one of the issue’s good jokes, tells Minion to “Prepare to meet thy maker”. He is then shot in the back by Necker (who decided to violate the anti-technology laws in style, by brandishing an enormous gun).

The outlaws decimated and royals neutralised, Necker tries to reassert control over Minion’s programming. When that fails, she offers payment and they haggle for the space of a page (which is fairly laboured, but I guess the point was to show, in addition to his unparalleled fighting skills, what a hard negotiator Minion is). Tuck insists on coming along and all three time-jump away.

Moving to 2020, Spratt is horrified to see that Baron Strucker has merged his own body with the remains of Death’s Head, becoming a mechanical-sorcerous hybrid. He claims he will seek revenge on A.I.M. for spurning his family line. The terrified Spratt tries to run, but is killed with a mere spark from Strucker’s eye. Towering over Spratt’s corpse, Strucker quotes Revelation and re-names himself ‘Charnel’.

Minion, Tuck and Necker leap into A.I.M. headquarters, presumably some time later, as Charnel has already visited and killed everyone. The place is a grisly mess of skeletons, fused together with magic. Using the time tracker, Necker discovers that Charnel has gone back to 1992, where he will threaten the timeline and their very existence!

There were some exciting pages prior to this cliffhanger, but for me, the rest of the issue fell flat. Minion is thrown into a Robin Hood homage, and given a new sidekick, with no real reason for either. Playing around with different genres is fine, but not when the central character is so ill-defined. The story ends where it could have ended last issue: an independent Minion being coerced by Necker. And while the Charnel sub-plot was good, the whole issues feels like filler: written to meet the demands of a four-part series, when there was only enough story for three.

After allowing some leeway for his jumbled-up personalities, I’m still no closer to getting a handle on the Minion character. The ascendency of the Death’s Head personality – promised at the end of last issue – is nowhere to be seen. While prompted to action by good deeds and/or the promise of money, he doesn’t seem motivated much by either. In battle and at rest, everything is met with a smart-alec/tough-guy response which just makes it seem as if Minion is bored.

The addition of Tuck does little to open up Minion, as they don’t have any chemistry. Her hero-worship gives no edge to their relationship, and since Minion doesn’t seem to care either way, it also lacks the comedy of Death’s Head’s exasperation with Spratt. Maybe Tuck is going to turn out to be Charnel-kryptonite, justifying a whole issue to get her into the story (although since she’s usually depicted striking a pin-up stance, I’m guessing her reasons for inclusion are otherwise).

It’s not a good issue for Dr. Necker either. Adding a whole year to the story not only robs her quest of its desperate urgency, but makes her seem incompetent. With little to do but show up and hire Minion, Necker is reduced to cheesecake poses in Roderick’s harem. Her comment to Roderick that time-line archives were very precise about this period is an odd one: a) for someone trying to infiltrate the royal court, b) considering the date is over 1400 years after Necker’s own time and c) raises the question of, if she was so well-informed, why did it take a year to find Minion? I don’t think it has an explanation, other than Abnett couldn’t be bothered to make sense of it.

This seems to be a problem for whole of Lionheart. There’s nothing wrong with having a futuristic Robin Hood setting with cod-dialogue, but the writer has to take it seriously. I like a good pun (and even a bad one), but having a road that leads from ‘Finder’s Keep’ to ‘Loser’s Weep’ is just painful to read. Characters lapse from medieval-speak into “Give me a break” and “Pronto”; Minion makes a huge deal of mocking the expression “Beshrew me” – it feels like Abnett has created this world, wants us to buy into it, but then makes fun of it anyway.

Sharp’s artwork has gone back a step from last issue. Things are looking too dark and too detailed, as if it has been shrunk down from a larger format. For an issue filled with swordplay and swashbuckling actions, the depictions of action still need a lot more energy. Also, the dinosaur-steed are almost cartoonishly poor.

The one solid thread is the Strucker sub-plot. It’s a well-trodden irony, but I like that A.I.M. inadvertently created the very threat they tried to avoid. The depiction of Strucker/Charnel is very good – Sharp seems to improve when he’s being less literal – and the scene of death at A.I.M. is wonderfully macabre. His journey back to 1992 is a bit contrived – why would Charnel endanger his own creation when he could just go forward to conquer? But it does give the heroes something to chase after.

And finally, RIP Spratt. He wasn’t always my favourite sidekick (although, as this issue shows, there are worse options), but it was fun whenever he got under Death’s Head’s metallic skin to irritate him. The little scavenger deserved a better end.

Next week: an epic conclusion from an apocalyptic future! The Marvel superheroes take on Charnel in “2020 Vision”!

P.S. There's a great overview of the entire history of Death's Head in Starburst's interview with Simon Furman. I especially liked the letter of congratulation from Stan Lee after Issue 1 was released.