Deathlok

Updated: The Definitive Guide to Deathlok

November 9, 2017 by krisis

Today I bring you an updated guide of a character who tended to operate on the fringes of the Marvel Universe until he got pulled into the MCY via Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – The Definitive Guide to Deathlok.

Deathlok is a character who is really eight different characters. Maybe it would be easier to describe him as a concept – a lot like The Terminator. Did that pique your interest? Before you head to the guide, get the short story on Deathlok, including where he’s been recently and what amount of his comics have been printed in collected editions to date.

10 Marvel runs from the 90s you might have missed (and that ought to be omnibuses) – 1990 to 1997

May 3, 2017 by krisis

It’s our third installment of backwards time travel through Marvel runs that could easily fit into an omnibus volume to help inspire your votes on the Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot.

Today I’m taking a slightly different perspective than I did for 1998 to 2008 and 2008 to present. For those installments, I focused on runs I knew well or at least could recommend from context. However, when it comes to runs I’ve read, the 90s are pretty thoroughly covered over both by existing omnibuses and the current votes of the poll. Add to that how much of this period are covered by the end of runs from the 80s, that I’ve already mapped X-Men, and my temporary avoidance of exhaustively mapping Fantastic Four and Spider-Man, and the pickings wind up being pretty slim!

Thus, this list comes with a caveat – I’m not necessarily suggesting you run out and buy and read all of these runs right now. I mean, I own nearly all of them, and even having not read them cover to cover I can tell you that most of them are very 90s comic books.

However, they also represent under-collected material that’s relatively unknown to modern readers. While it might be more reasonable to see all of it covered with Epic Collections, I think it would be more expedient to see them collected in this format than to wait around for trade paperbacks.

Ready to dig deep into the extreme 1990s? [Read more…] about 10 Marvel runs from the 90s you might have missed (and that ought to be omnibuses) – 1990 to 1997

Definitive Deathlok Collecting Guide and Reading Order

The Deathlok comic books definitive issue-by-issue collecting guide and trade reading order for omnibus, hardcover, and trade paperback collections. Find every issue and appearance! A part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated October 2017 with titles scheduled for release through March 2018.

Deathlok has a curious history in the Marvel Universe.

The character was originally introduced in 1974 as Luther Manner, an American soldier reanimated in the future as a cyborg and then sent back to the past Terminator-style (but, years before the first Terminator movie!). This time-displaced Deathlok I [CBDB] has made only limited appearances after his initial run of stories in the 70s and 80s.

After the appearance of a short-lived, all-robotic Deathlok II [CBDB], third and fourth versions were introduced in rapid succession. Deathlok III [CBDB] was John Kelly, whose human brain interfered with his Deathlok mission and was promptly terminated.

Deathlok IV [CBDB], Michael Collins, replaced Kelly as the consciousness in that unit and anchored his own series – struggling to contain the more murderous urges of his cyborg body’s programming.

Late in that series, we meet Deathlok V [CBDB] – present-day Luther Manning. An unrelated Deathlok VI [CBDB] is introduced as part of a 1990s X-Men crossover meant as a launching-pad for a trio of tech-focused heroes.

A decade later, Wolverine encounters a potential future seemingly inhabited entirely by Deathlok versions of heroes like Captain America and Spider-Man. Luckily, one self-conscious and seemingly unfamiliar unit stood against them (again, cribbing from Terminator – only this time Terminator actually happened first). This Deathlok VII [CBDB] – known as Unit L17 – joins Wolverine’s covert X-Force team, and later becomes a guest-instructor at the Jean Grey Institute.

With Deathlok appearing in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television show, the core concept of a human soldier made into a killer robot seems to be entrenched firmly in Marvel’s narrative. A new title was launched with Deathlok VIII [CBDB] to more-closely align to the show.

We even met a female version in 2013 – AKA Deathlocket [CBDB] – in Avengers Arena (but she’s not tracked in this guide). [Read more…] about Definitive Deathlok Collecting Guide and Reading Order