In a time where humanity and technology seem to grow ever more intermingled, there is a character in the Marvel Universe that sees to embody its logical endpoint: Deathlok.
There have been several Deathloks in Marvel's history. The original one debuted in Astonishing Tales #25 (August 1974), created by Rich Buckler. Set in an alternate timeline, this Deathlok was Luther Manning, a fatally injured soldier that was reanimated as a cyborg in the vein of Frankenstein's Monster. Buckler had intended to use the character in a novel but made him into a comic character.
In the mid-1970s, Marvel was negotiating for the rights to publish comics based on the sci-fi series The Six Million Dollar Man.
The Deathlok here is actually the third Deathlok (the second from Earth-616, the mainstream comic universe): Michael Collins. Collins first appeared in Deathlok (Vol. 1) #1 (July 1990), created by Dwayne MacDuffie, Gregory Wright, and Jackson Guice. Unlike Manning or John Kelly (the second Deathlok, who would later be known as Siege), Collins was a pacifistic man, turned into a weapon of war against his will. Collins would get his own ongoing series, lasting for 34 issues. Collins got to meet many other superheroes during his 90s heyday, even participating in the Maximum Carnage event over in Spider-Man's family of comic books. So, how did his on-going series debut go? Was it fully functional, or a failed test run? Let's find out in Deathlok #1!
The cover is a Denys Cowan piece. It depicts our man Mike seemingly trapped in wires. It's a basic cover that looks like it could be used as a poster. However, what I like about this cover is that it does tell us something about Deathlok: that he is a man trapped in a machine, fighting his way out in his quest to reclaim his humanity.
"The Wolf is at the Door"
Writers: Dwayne McDuffie, Gregory Wright
Penciler: Denys Cowan
Inker: Mike Manley
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Letterer: Ken Lopez
Editors: Tom Brevoort, Bob Budiansky
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco
The story begins with a monster being restrained. This creature is a Warwolf, and Harlan Ryker wants to unleash this thing. That mailman will never give him junk mail ever again!
But seriously, he's sending this critter out because he wants to tie up some loose ends. After all, Ryker has been a very naughty boy. He's committed treason, and he wants to make sure that the law can't touch him for it. All of his conspirators are jailed...except for one: Billy Hansen.
Hansen made a deal with presumably the Feds: Suspend my sentence, and I turn in evidence against Ryker. He was once the Ryker's right-hand man, so he's got a lot of dirt. Naturally, the Feds accept the deal. He's just driving along, enjoying the tunes of James Brown...until the Warwolf pays him a visit.
Page 3, Panel 5
"It's BACONNNNNNN!"
But this isn't the Warwolf's book, it's Deathlok's. Where is he, anyway? Well, he's in Paterson, New Jersey. He's looking in on his wife Tracy and son Nick. He writes a letter to her which lets us recap the origins of this particular version of Deathlok. He won't give up until he's restored to his human body and reunited with them. He doesn't send the letters, just writes them.
Mike, I get that you're all broody over being turned into a cyborg against your will, but dude, send the letters. It'll give your wife and kid some kid of peace of mind. I mean, this is the Marvel Universe! Being turned into a cyborg is probably low on the weird scale here.
He heads to the former location of a Cybertek lab in Jersey, which is being shut down. This is being overseen by Jim Dworman, who helped Collins shut the company down. This got him a promotion by Roxxon, the company that owns Cybertek (presumably as a way to help buy his silence). He's been using his new position to secretly help Collins find his human body. Collins detects an intruder in the building. He goes to check it out.
Page 9, Panel 4
"You got bacon?"
Deathlok and Warwolf scuffle, Collins realizing that the cyborg monster is wrecking Cybertek's servers and databases. It manages to do so and flees, being much faster than Collins. Thankfully, Dworman is okay.
Dworman knows what the Warwolf is, so he's able to inform Collins.
The Warwolf was a protoype, the precursor to the Deathloks. It's a cyborg, but with the brain of, naturally, a wolf. It's a living weapon, designed for assassination work. Collins's sensors detect two NSA agents arriving, so he hides out. The agents inform Dworman that something broke into their headquarters and destroyed the records of the investigation into Ryker. So far, the Warwolf is doing a pretty good job covering Ryker's tracks. After all, without rock solid evidence, the government can't get Ryker locked away. Collins's cybernetics allow him to hack into NSA headquarters, confirming the agents' statements. However, there's still the records of the court that is trying Ryker. He learns of a list of witnesses. They're all locked up, except for the earlier-seen Billy Hansen. However, we saw what happened to Billy-Boy.
Page 13, Panel 7
Collins has his internal computers calculate the Warwolf's next striking point. It determines that it will next likely hit Danbury Federal Penitentiary. Makes sense, the other witnesses are presumably there. It's also, presumably like in the real world, a low-security prison. If they die, Ryker will get away with his crimes, scot-free. Collins has to move.
He goes to the prison, where Ryker himself is interred (presumably due to being remanded). Ryker himself doesn't outright say he secretly ordered the Warwolf to cover his tracks, but his dialogue implies that even if he actually did not, he's not complaining. After all, he'll be a free man. Alarms then erupt.
They aren't from Collins himself. The Warwolf has arrived. Its target? A Cybertek accountant named John Rozum. Yeah, this is MacDuffie likely paying homage to one of his future Milestone Media compatriots. Thankfully, Collins is able to get the cyborg monster away from Rozum. During the fight, the Warwolf tries to blast at Collins with laser cannons in its eyes. Collins's internal computers note that when it's using said optical blasters, it cannot see. A design flaw that perhaps Collins can use?
The fight goes further into the prison. Collins is able to do some damage to the cyborg. It blasts at a wall, endangering some guards. Because he's a heroic man at heart, Collins is able to save them. Collins's computer reports that because of the damage to its systems; it's basically going to explode.
Collins is able to blast at the Warwolf in a way that prevents the detonation while ensuring it can't hurt anyone. The creature is now on its last legs, and on its way to meet the Grim Reaper. Collins knows that the creature is suffering and basically puts it down. The creature's suffering is over. And in further good news, the Warwolf's backup computers hadn't gotten too banged up. Dworman was able to get into it and find more evidence that Ryker orchestrated the murder of Billy Hansen and the attempted murder of Rozum. Evidence strong enough that Ryker will be put away.
Sadly, though, because the Warwolf managed to destroy most of Cybertek's records, Collins now has no clue where his old human body is located...if it still exists. In his letter, he admits that as terrible as he felt when he had to put the Warwolf down, he wished he was in its place. He walks away, lamenting that there is no one to do the same to him.
I enjoyed this little comic. McDuffie and Wright do a great job showing Collins's personality and how he operates as Deathlok, his struggles to reconcile his pacifism with his being inside a cyborg built for war. That's arguably the most interesting thing about this book. The Warwolf is a bit of a tragic character in its own right, an innocent being forced into becoming a monster, making it a nice parallel/mirror to Collins. Unlike the Warwolf, Collins is still able to guide his machine half to a better way.
If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2015 trade paperback Deathlok: The Souls of Cyber-Folk. Thanks for reading this blog entry! See you next time!
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