Deathlok
1990, Marvel Comics
Deathlok was offbeat, not your usual Marvel hero. His storyline took place in a dystopian, future USA of 1990, one independent of the 'Marvel universe.' Deathlok was as much an antihero as a hero; he had no qualms about killing people, either with firearms, or via throwing a knife into their midsection:
This was transgressive stuff in '74, when the Comics Code Authority still was in power and depictions of death in comic books had to meet the CCA's standards.
The Deathlok franchise lasted for 12 issues of 'Astonishing Tales' before being discontinued. He popped up here and there over the next two decades, in books like 'Captain 'America' and 'Marvel Team-up.'
In the summer of 1990, with the Great Comics Boom going on, Marvel decided to reboot the character as a four-issue miniseries in 'prestige' format, meaning square-bound books, printed on a higher quality of paper that was less marred by the flexographic printing presses then in use at World Color.
The four issues are compiled in the graphic novel 'Deathlok: The Living Nightmare of Michael Collins.'
As scripted by writers Dwayne McDuffie and Gregory Wright in issue one, the new Deathlok started out as the computer scientist Michael Collins, who worked for Cybertek Systems, a subsidiary of the malevolent Roxxon corporation. After a series of misadventures, Collins had his brain encased in the body of a cyborg designed for military operations.
Wresting control of the cyborg from Cybertek and its amoral CEO, Harlan Rykker, Collins at first is devastated to realize he is consigned to life in a cyborg body. Later, he decides to use his considerable powers to fight injustice and perhaps find a way to reacquire human form.
The remaining three issues in the series see Deathlok combating various adversaries in the employ of Cybertek, while working to reestablish his relationship with his wife and son, who have been told that Collins is in a coma and receiving care from the company.
While Luther Manning, the human inside the 1974 incarnation of Deathlok, was caucasian, Michael Collins was black, as were the 1990 writers McDuffie, and penciller Denys Cowan. With the launch of the Deathlok yearly series in 1991, McDuffie would work racial issues and concerns into his plots.
Reflecting an intention to convert the four-issue miniseries into the launcing point for a formal series, and using tie-ins with other characters for marketing purposes, this incarnation of Deathlok took place in the Marvel universe. Thus we see guest appearances by Nick Fury, and Z-list X-Man 'Sunfire.'
While I was, and am, always happy to see the Deathlok character appearing in the Marvel publication schedule. However, the 1990 reincarnation, while it featured some great artwork by Butch Guice, was not as good as the original Deathlok. The Michael Collins character abhorred killing, and thus one of the edgier aspects of the franchise was neutered. Placing the new Deathlok in the present-day Marvel Universe may have been sensible from a promotion and marketing standpoint, but it removed the existential, almost nihilistic quality that made the original series memorable. If you're a Deathlok fan, the 1990 edition is worth reading, but be aware it lacks the imaginative quality of its first incarnation.
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