Marvel’s got a wide assortment of characters trapezing through its comics, but one of its most eclectic characters in all history has been a rare sight in recent years: Death’s Head. Although he had a small appearance in Kieron Gillen’s S.W.O.R.D. series, this Marvel UK refugee hasn’t really been given a spotlight since the short-lived storyarc in 2005’s Amazing Fantasy anthology, and even that wasn’t the Death’s Head we remember. He may be a largely-unknown and exotic cast member in Marvel’s universe of characters, but in a way aren’t all the best characters?
This week in Remake & Reboot, I dust off the Death’s Head character and give my informal proposal on how it could work in modern Marvel mythology.
The Concept:
He may look like a mismatched robot from another world, but that may be because he is — sort of . He’s a robotic bounty hunter (he says ‘peacekeeper’) created originally for Marvel’s Transformers comic, but was set-up in a non-Transformers comic beforehand so that Marvel could retain the copyright on the character. In a way, he’s a cosmic version of Deadpool; a gun-for-hire, with a mouth that would make grown women blush. In the modern Marvel U, I could see Death’s Head as an off-putting re-introduction to the cosmic side of things for the Avengers, perhaps even connecting him somehow with the forthcoming Ultron event that’s been teased.
Erring on the side of caution, I would at first limit Death’s Head to a miniseries led off by the aforementioned re-appearance in an Avengers book, but depending on how it did it could lead to a full series or perhaps team membership in the Avengers. Cap’s had robots in the Avengers before, but imagine him trying to control Death’s Head.
The Creators:
Writer – Rob Williams: Williams is best known for me for his stunning series Cla$$war, and recently he’s entered the second act of his career as a Marvel exclusive turning in great art on second-tier titles like Daken and Ghost Rider. I haven’t talked to Rob about Death’s Head, but for some reason this seems right in his wheelhouse and I think he could provide a unique and compelling story.
Artist – Andy MacDonald: Andy MacDonald has been one of those creators I’m surprised hasn’t had more traction with the Big Two. Last year’s two Terminator series with Zack Whedon were impressive, and the art from his upcoming OGN Decoy with Mark Sable looks positively epic.
Cover Artist – Nic Klein: Klein’s done a lot of smaller work in comics, but you’d probably know him best for the Image series Viking he did a few years back. Klein is comfortable doing both covers and interiors, but for Death’s Head I’d love to see him put all his effort in creating some dynamic and memorable covers that would help sell the series to the non-believers.
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Loved the original Deaths Head. I remember my dad took me to Odessey 7 (a comic shop in Manchester) when the 1st issue came out to get it sighned by Simon Furman !!
Variant covers, or covers: Geoff Senior. He made DH look good.
“Bounty-hunter? Oh, you can have the gun, but I’d just like to point something out — I’m actually a freelance peacekeeping agent, yes? I hate being called a bounty-hunter, right? Makes me sort’a mad, yes?”
Love this character. That SWORD appearance was pretty cool i might add. I even liked the second incarnation of Deaths Head but this original certainly has more personality.
Bring this character back. Definitely, YES!
Death’s Head is the man.
Wow, this reminds me of my youth. I bought a lot of comics at Drug Emporium when I was in middle school. They offered a discount on periodicals, and counted comics among them. They usually had a full selection of Marvel UK stuff. Death’s Head, Motormouth, Wild Thing,etc. This was the Midnight Sons era, so there was always Sleepwalker, Morbius, Doctor Strange, Nightsalkers, Darkhold. Sleepwalker really intrigued me at the time. I think they carried Terror Inc. at the time too.
Holy crap, thanks for the reminder.
Would still need to be Simon Furman writing and put him back how he was in the 12 issue mini from back in the day that was fantastic, Rather than the dumb thing they changed him into.
The main thing I remember about Death’s Head is that he showed up in the comic section of Doctor Who Magazine in the late 80’s.
I’m not sure exactly how I ended up discovering Death’s Head, but I remember getting a kick out of the old Furman stories back in the 90s. Handled right, I would definitely be keen on seeing the character again . . .
I actually really liked Death’s Head II when it first came out. Also, fun fact, “Marvel U.K.” was my introduction to the acronym “U.K.”
Yes.
But it must be Simon Furman writing again.
At least initially. He wrote the first series, the second series and Death’s Head 3.0.
Having said that, Paul Cornell sticking him in Captain Britain and MI13 was pretty awesome too, so, if he’s not DC-exclusive, he would be a great choice too!