Deathlok M-Tech Marvel Comics 1999

Deathlok: M-Tech

1999

Marvel Comics

In 1999 Marvel decided to try and leverage the excitement surrounding cyberpunk by issuing an imprint, called 'M-Tech,' that took existing characters and presented them in a cyberpunk milieu. The three comics in the imprint were Machine Man (re-christened X-51, to try and draw in X-Men fans), Warlock, and Deathlok.

None of the titles sold well enough to survive a year. The M-Tech Deathlok appeared in 11 issues, from September, 1999, to June, 2000.

 

Being a fan of the Deathlok franchise, I am interested in showcasing the good and bad of the M-Tech incarnation of the character to any party who may be wondering if this limited series is any good.

 

[ My previous post on Deathlok's first appearance, in 1974 in 'Astonishing Tales,' is here; an overview of the compilation of that early run of Deathlok is here; Deathlok's 1983 team-up with Captain America is here; an overview of the 1990 Prestige format incarnation is here; and an overview of the 34-issue followup of that incarnation, is here.]

 

The M-Tech version of Deathlok was completely independent of the earlier incarnations, with this Deathlok being a cyborg containing the soul and personality of a deceased SHIELD agent named Jack Truman. 

The Truman Deathlok was intended to be a super-soldier in service of SHIELD, but predictably he was uneasy with any role as a utility man / assassin for the organization. Throughout the 11 issues there is much psychodrama on the part of Truman and his struggle to accept that he is part man, and part machine.

 

The initial issues of the M-Tech character see Truman fighting a rogue SHIELD force and leveling a good chunk of Las Vegas in the process. During this struggle, Truman / Deathlok utilizes a 'Tibetan Mind Trick' to transfer his consciousness into that of a boy named Billy Bailey........?! This idea is fully as lame as it sounds, and after issue 3 the Billy storyline abruptly vanishes. 

The major story arc in the series involves a new supervillain, dubbed the Clown, who is introduced in issue 4, as a hitman whose path eventually crosses that of Jack Truman.

One of the more high-profile guest stars in the series is Nick Fury.

Where the M-Tech Deathlok does well is with the artwork by Leonardo Manco. It has the super-detailed, stylized nature of 1990s comic book art, and is ably colored by Mark Bernardo, with letters by Comicraft.

For two issues, there is fill-in artwork, assigned to Matthew Smith and Eric Canete, with (in my opinion) less than stellar results.........

Casey's writing is the weakness of the M-Tech Deathlok. Aside from the above-mentioned Little Boy Billy Bailey plot device, and the regular references to personal angst and existential despair, the writing has an ad hoc, disjointed quality, as if Casey paid only partial attention to the series. The Clown character is introduced in issue 4 but soon recedes to the background, sharing story beats with the legacy (i.e., 1941) villain the Ringmaster. The rivalry between the two villains get resolved in the final issue, so things are not left dangling as they could be with some book cancellations.

For all of the intent on cyberpunk that underlined the M-Tech imprint, in Deathlok, the cyber aspects are at best an occasional motif, with Deathlok 'jacking in' every now and then to advance a plot point.

Summing up, the 1999 M-Tech edition of Deathlok never really does much with the cyberpunk concept and comes across as something of a missed opportunity. If Marvel's management had stuck with the series for another year, and there had been some concentration in terms of the writing duties, it's possible the series could have done better. But as it stands, it's best recommended to diehard Deathlok fans.

If you're going to investigate the M-Tech version then I recommend purchasing the 456-page 2015 trade paperback, 'Deathlok: Rage Against the Machine,' which not only features the 11 issues of the Deathlok title, but several issues of Cable and Uncanny X-Men that lay out the backstory to the life, death, and 'cyborgization' of Jack Truman. There also is a Kindle edition available.