Deathlok #1 (1991)
“The Wolf is at the Door”
Writer: Dwyane McDuffie
Pencils: Denys Cowan
“Deathlok” just sounds cool. The name’s not be confused with “Desslok” from “Star Blazers”, nor “Dethklok” the world’s seventh largest economy. In all three cases, it’s further proof that the name just sounds COOL, darnit!
Not only is the name cool, but Marvel’s Deathlok looks cool, too!
Like a lot of other characters, my first exposure to him was in the “D” issue of 1982’s “Official Guide to the Marvel Universe”. He only had a half a page, but darnit, this guy looked COOL! I was also thrilled to find out: “whoa, he’s a good guy?! Cool!” Even better, he had a tagline: “Deathlok the Demolisher”. Whereas most heroes had words like “The Incredible”, “The Amazing” or “Here Comes…” Deathlok was sub-titled as THE DEMOLISHER. Bad ass! Dude sounds like a frickin’ pro wrestler! Hell, I’d pay money to see a movie with that title, just cuz’ it’s so damn awesome (“sorry, can’t go. I’m going to see DEATHLOCK the DEMOLISHER, tonight”). I was astounded how Deathlok could NOT be the most popular character in Marveldom.
You could even make a case that Deathlok was so bad-ass that DC may have ripped off his design for their popular Cyborg character. Strangely enough, “Deathlok” was originally known as just “the Cyborg”, so choose your own adventure there.
When Deathlok first appeared in the 70’s, he was from the alternate future of 1990. When the actual year of 1990 rolled around (in the “real world”), someone decided to dust off Deathlok and create a second version of the character in “Marvel Comics Presents”. He still looked basically the same, but had a slightly updated look.
Aside from the cool name and look, this Deathlok had a pretty engaging backstory. Michael Collins was unwittingly duped into becoming the Deathlok cyborg, thanks to the manipulations of the evil “Cybertek” company. How do we know Cybertek is evil? Well, they were actually backed by Roxxon, so there ya’ go. Anyways, Michael’s wife and kid think he’s dead and he can’t bear to face them as Deathlok. So he observes their lives from afar, writing them unsent letters, and hoping one day he’ll be back to normal and free of Deathlok. To keep himself company, Collins has the computer side of Deathlok to talk to and prevent compplete insanity. The conversations between Collins and the computer work as a great narrative sequence and add several elements and pathos to the story.
I should also mention that Michael Collins and his family are African-American. Why is this a big deal? Well, the whole “presmued dead guy, ashamed to tell his wife and kid of what he’s become” may sound familiar… for fans of SPAWN. Another competing character who took almost the SAME FRIGGIN’ DYNAMIC of an estranged African-American, called it “original” and ran with it. What was Spawn’s last name? Simmons. Not at all unlike “Collins”. Sure, it’s not a smoking gun and there are always similarities amongst comic book characters, but I can’t help but think Spawn ripped off Deathlok.
So Deathlok looks cool and his backstory is cool… but how’s the story of his debut issue? Fairly ordinary. Harlan Ryker, the evil boss behind Cybertek has dispatched another of his creations, Warwolf, to track down and kill fomer employees. Whereas Deathlok is a human cyborg, Warwolf is an actual WOLF being cyborg-i-fied (although….he kinda’ looks like a horse). Now that’s just evil.
Deathlok is on the trail of Ryker and runs across War-Wolf. After the obligatory fight, Warwolf is damaged beyond repair. It’s just a helpless animal being used, so Deathlok temporarily rescinds his “no killing” command and puts Warwolf out of its misery. Collins has a nice little monologue to conclude the issue:
…that didn’t make me feel as bad as when I did when I had to put Warwolf down. Because as I pulled the trigger, just for an instant, I wished I had been in Warwolf’s place. But I’m not some dumb animal. I’m Deathlok. And there’s no one to put me out of my misery”
Just like Bill Bixby as TV’s Hulk, the issue ends with Deathlok walkng off into the night along a rainy road. Not a great story in terms of action (cyborg vs. dog), but the characterization of Deathlok is top-notch. Deathlok was integrated into the rest of the Marvel Universe, but it seems that he never found enough interest to last very long. Aside from Warwolf, I couldn’t tell you any other Deathlok villains, so the lack of quality bad guys might’ve been an issue. Or, it may have been that unlike the original Deathlok who was in a dystopian future, this Deathlok was in modern times and didn’t seem so special among the various heroes, monsters and whackos of Marvel.
He’ll still pop-up every so often. Probably because he looks COOL, dammit!
Summary: Deathlok looks COOL and fights a cybo-dog.
Cover Price:1.75
Rating: 1.25
