Death's Head (1988)
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Publisher: Marvel Comics UK (Marvel)
Publication Date: December 1988 - September 1989
Country: United States
Language: English
Notes:
The history of the "Death's Head" character, and how he eventually gained this title, is an interesting one. Originally created by Simon Furman, Bryan Hitch and Geoff Senior at Marvel UK, he was to have appeared in a self-titled comic before this one. That got nixed, but the creators were intent on using the character . . . somehow. They eventually snuck in a one-page comic strip featuring the character into the back of a number of Marvel UK titles. Having established Marvel ownership of the character, Furman could then use him as a regular character in the UK Transformer series. In continuity with these adventures, he would eventually met the Doctor (of Doctor Who). The Doctor made the previously-huge cyborg merely human-sized, and shot him off through time. He would be placed at the feet of a governmental agency named "Dragon's Claws", who would apparently end his existence by dismembering him.That was the prelude to this title, which posits him being rebuilt by a gang punk named "Spratt", who not only gives him yet a third outer appearance, but also becomes his sidekick. At this point, Death's Head is fairly divorced from the Transformers universe, but he gets more firmly integrated into the regular Marvel universe by time traveling back to team up with Iron Man and the Fantastic Four. The connection forged with Reed Richards in this title would prove especially important to the development of the character, as it was continued by future writers of Death's Head adventures in subsequent titles, and was also used as a way to introduce the character to the American Marvel comics. During this title, he also has another encounter with the Doctor. The title ended with a cliffhanger at issue 10, when Marvel UK laid off most of its creative team. Through this tiny sliver of a title, then, some (mostly British) fans posit that the Doctor, the Transformers, and most Marvel super heroes all exist in the same universe. Having said that, it should be quickly noted that, according to co-creator Simon Furman, in a 2005 interview for comixfan.com, this interesting "nexus" between the three universes is mostly an historical anomaly. "I wanted to tie this new Death's Head into the existing DH mythos," Furman said of the 2005 version, "but as the Amazing Fantasy series has evolved, we've moved further and further away from that, to the point where this is a completely new character."
Number of issues cataloged: 11

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