Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Number One Comics Podcast. I am your host, Jonah. With me is Bill. Bill, thanks for joining me. Of course. Appreciate it. And today, as the intro indicated, we are talking about Death Lock Number One. This was published by Marvel Comics. Cover date, July 1991.
Cover price, $1.75. Writers were Dwayne McDuffie and Gregory Wright. Penciler was Dennis Cowan. Gregory Wright was also the colorist on this. Now, there have been several characters to carry the name Deathlock. Luther Manning was the original Deathlock. He was introduced in Astonishing Tales, number 25, way back in 1974. Manning disappeared from comic pages following an appearance in Captain America back in 1983.
A New Decade brought us a new Deathlock with Michael Collins. This Deathlock first appeared in a four-issue miniseries in the summer of 1990. The following summer, in 1991, Deathlock received his first ongoing series, and this is the first issue of that ongoing series. I quickly want to go over Deathlock's power and abilities. And as I mentioned, he's a cyborg. And so he can do all kinds of things that cyborgs can do. He can plug into telecommunication systems, especially analog telecommunication systems.
This was way before Wi-Fi and stuff like that. I think dial-up was barely a thing by this point. Yeah, right. But yeah, he can do that. Of course, he's got the speed, the stamina. He's got an onboard computer that talks to him or that he talks to. He's got a very cool pistol that he can set to different settings, stun or non-lethal, that sort of thing. He's got a backpack, which I always thought was a jetpack when I was a kid, but it's not a jetpack. It's just a backpack. Yeah. I think I had the Deathlock action figure where it had the like...
hose connected from the back to the gun. That was one of the Toy Biz's best action figures. I'm going to call it right now. And it had the little panel. Yeah, it would pop up and you could see his brain. That was so cool. Yeah, that was, I think, probably one of the Toy Biz's best figures. Had that as well. Love that figure. Tell me about your experience with Death Lock because you were a kid of the 90s, a Marvel reading kid of the 90s. What was your experience with Death Lock? Never really, like...
saw him before this comic came out it was i never really saw him as a main character he was always kind of like that team-up character yeah he was in like a spider the revenge of the sinister six in the spider-man comics yep um he was in maximum carnage was like the big one yeah that i remember um but i always thought like he's just cool looking you know he is very cool looking i was a huge death lock fan ever since you know first seeing the trading card i this is a comic i picked up off the shelf um just because i mean the cover is as we'll talk about uh the cover is dope well and i think too that um around this time like the terminator terminator 2 had come out so cyborgs were kind of like all the rage like robocop this largely explains why a few of my favorite marvel characters not only are my favorite marvel characters like 90s characters like sleepwalker dark hawk luke cage night thrasher death lock but a few of them like death lock and death's head 2 in particular they're cyborgs and so i was a big fan of cyborgs back in the day i still am as an adult uh this stuff is very cool to me so yeah i was a huge fan of this character loved this run uh let's go ahead and talk about the issue starting with the cover
At the top, it reads, first issue collector's item. At the bottom, it reads, he's mean, he's a machine, and now he's monthly. The title of the book is in a yellow and blue block lettering, which I think looks really good. We see our titular character coming at us through a mess of silver chrome cables. I've always loved this cover. The title's striking. The character is in his red and orange suit with his cybernetic limbs. He just looks so good. I dig the human head that looks all gross and decomposed on him. I've always thought of that. I thought it was just a cool visual compared to a Robocop type.
cyborg or you know any number of other ones out there what were your thoughts on the cover itself covers gorgeous absolutely gorgeous and it's it's very 90s too um Of course, Marvel during this time, there was a new first issue every week, if not every month. And this is one of the cooler ones. Especially in the early 90s especially, because this is when a lot of those characters like Ghost Rider reappeared. And so not only was it, it was a mix of brand new characters and reimaginings or rehashes of existing characters. And I'll talk more about that because I've got thoughts on that. Let's dive into the issue itself. We open in a Roxxon branch warehouse in Lynchburg, Virginia.
With its limbs and torso secured, we see a sleeping creature called Warwolf. An incoming message from Harlan Riker awakes the beast. Elsewhere in Virginia is a national security agency processing center where Riker himself is in NSA custody. Riker finishes his call giving the war wolf, I'm probably going to mispronounce that several times because that is a hard word for me to say, war wolf its marching orders. One of the NSA agents tells Riker that the call was intended for his lawyer and he's going to need a good one. Riker's bosses at Roxanne have essentially thrown him to the wolves, which Riker finds an interesting turn of phrase. The war wolf tears out of its enclosure.
In a green VW Beetle, Harlan Riker's former right-hand man and best friend is out on bail after turning state's evidence against Riker. Most of his other co-conspirators are all already incarcerated. Now, as for Billy Hansen, this dirty rat, he is currently stuck in traffic. In his rearview mirror, he sees the werewolf tearing through stopped car after car as it rushes towards him. He loses sight of the beast for just a moment.
He realizes, or he is one of the ones that also helped design this beast, so he recognizes it. But he only loses sight of it for a moment. The werewolf tears through the compact car, exploding it into a thousand pieces. We then cut to Patterson, New Jersey, where Deathlock is sitting in a tree using his cybernetic telescoping vision to secretly observe his family from afar. His internal computer identifies the mother and son as Tracy and Nick Collins. Basically, he's like talking to his computer at this point. He could never not recognize his own family, is what he tells it. The computer asks if he would like him to store the image, but Deathlock declines. He could never forget what he lost when they turned him into this. He vows to some way get his life back. On a pad with pencil, he begins composing a letter to his wife, Tracy.
In this correspondence, he states that Nick, his son, is his pride and joy. He's happy Tracy decided to go back to school to get her doctorate. He goes on about his work with cybertech. He believed he was working on a program to control artificial limbs and help people walk again. He eventually learned he was really working on a cyborg killing machine called Deathlock. He reported his discovery to his boss, Harlan Riker. Riker was actually behind the entire thing. The next thing that he knew, that Deathlock knew, he woke up to the realization that his brain was inside the cyborg body.
Riker had made a mistake in that Michael was awake within the cyborg and was able to take control of the prosthetic body. But this was not before Riker had turned Deathlock into a murderer. He was able to stop Riker and turn him over to the authorities. All of this that we're being recapped on is what happened in that miniseries, basically. He also learned his body, his human body, still existed and that he could, at some point, hopefully be restored to it. He needs to find his body and the doctor that had performed the surgery. Now later, in another part of Jersey, at the main lab of Cybertech, is Jim Dworman. He recently risked his job and life to help Michael shut Cybertech down.
Jim thought he'd end up in jail or at least fired for his actions. Roxxon, Cybertech's owners, promoted Jim as a means of limiting their culpability in Cybertech's actions. He's been supervising Cybertech's decommissioning ever since. Jim has sent his men home for the night and meets Deathlock at a gate so that Deathlock can come inside and search for his body. As soon as they're inside, Deathlock registers an intruder in the records room.
Investigating, Deathlock comes across the werewolf. The beast clobbers Deathlock into a wall. He asks his computer what just hit them. The computer tells him it's a cybernetic assassin that predates his own design, and its brain is that of an actual wolf. Because of that, the computer asks if the no-killing parameter that Michael had set up is still applicable. Yes, is his response. The werewolf turns its attention back to its mission, which is to destroy Cybertech's database. Then it retreats.
Deathlock pursues, but even at max speed, he's not fast enough. The Warwolf was able to travel as fast as 317 miles per hour. That's pretty fast. Deathlock returns to Jim inside the lab. Deathlock is inquiring about Warwolf when two NSA agents approach. Deathlock hides out of sight while the two agents discuss with Jim that their evidence against Riker keeps getting destroyed. In another part of the lab, Deathlock connects to the telecommunication network and hacks into the NSA system.
While most of the pertinent files have been destroyed, he is able to access files on Riker's case. He learns that most of the subjects fitting Riker's profile are held in Danbury Mack's security penitentiary. One subject, Billy Hansen, was released. He learns the name of Billy's case officer. He calls the case officer and, posing as an LA Tribune reporter, learns that Billy was killed around 8 p.m.
Deathlock uses his computer to plot Warwolf's next move, the Danbury Penitentiary. Jim has gotten Deathlock a helicopter, and while Jim warned the NSA the other witnesses that are imprisoned are all in danger, they felt that the prison was adequately protected. Deathlock doesn't believe it's adequately protected from the Warwolf. Deathlock is going to talk to Riker. Try and make him turn Warwolf off. Inside the prison...
Riker is laying on a cot in his cell. He's approached by Deathlock. Deathlock asks him about Warwolf being programmed to kill those that would testify against Riker. Riker assures Deathlock would be safe in that case because the cyborg's testimony has been discredited since they couldn't determine if he was sentient or just a piece of hardware. Riker taunts Deathlock, angering the cyborg. Riker remarks Deathlock wouldn't kill him because of Deathlock's moral code. An alarm goes off in the prison, but it's not because Deathlock has been discovered, but rather it's because something else broke in.
Deathlock remarks, what could that be, sarcastically? The computer within Deathlock doesn't get sarcasm. This blasts a hole in the wall and debris begins to fall towards a couple of...
penitentiary guards. Deathlock is able to push them out of the way. The werewolf continues shooting plasma blasts. Deathlock's computer notes that due to an error, it can't cease the firing. This is eventually going to lead to a heat exchange failure and detonation. Deathlock pulls his gun out and he sets it for maximum damage. He fires a single shot right into the beast. The shot depowers the werewolf's plasma projection system. The computer notes a second shot could damage the werewolf's defensive capabilities beyond self-repair parameters. Do it, Deathlock responds to himself. He fires again. The energy burst blows a hole through the back of the werewolf.
The werewolf is critically injured. Deathlock has his computer rescind the set no-killing parameter. He's not going to let the poor beast suffer, and with a final shot, he puts it down permanently. Deathlock escapes the prison. He later found the werewolf had a backup memory that could show Riker was responsible for Billy Hansen's murder.
Bad news, however, is that the werewolf was successful in destroying Cybertech's records and that he may never recover his human body. Deathlock remarks in a writing to his wife putting the werewolf down made him feel bad because in that moment he pulled the trigger he'd wished it had been him in that poor beast's place. But he's not some poor dumb animal. He's Deathlock, and there's no one to put him out of his misery. Womp womp. To be continued.
Bill, thoughts? Well, number one, artwork in this is amazing. It's good. I mean, like, stock early 90s Marvel artwork, it's really good. Dennis Cowan's really, really good. And he's still doing good stuff today. Well, and Mike Manley worked on this as well, correct? Yeah. Yeah. When we talked about Darkhawk, however many episodes ago that was, he was also an artist on that. He's a very busy guy in the late 80s, early 90s, worked on a lot of things for Marvel and DC. Yep. Story's really cool. I like the visuals, the action, the use of, like, the tactical data kind of on the page, if you will. It was really cool.
I always thought this character would have made a perfect, like, 90s action movie or, like, a cartoon or something like that. If they had the right budget, a live-action Deathlock would be dope. Yeah. But kind of as I had mentioned before, I'd mostly seen him in, like, supporting roles before. Never read, like, a Deathlock-centered story before this one. So it's really cool to see. Yeah. I really like – I mean, I liked Deathlock's entire run. It's actually much shorter than I always remembered it being. And we'll kind of talk about that and, like, what came next. But I love his run.
This one in particular, it's a really good starting or setup issue. It does a good job in the first couple of pages of recapping us on what had come before so that if you hadn't read the miniseries, you still know who this character is. And you're immediately caught up with what's going on. And it does it in such a way that I think is pretty clever where it's not just expository dialogue. It's him observing his family. He's writing a letter to his wife. So it's done in a way that makes a lot of sense. So I really like that.
As you mentioned, the art's really good. I love the action sequences. The battle between Warwolf and Deathlock is pretty well done each time. Let's see what I was going to say. The style that they use, I'm trying to think of the term for it.
There's a certain kineticism to it in those early 90s books that I think is missing in a lot of today's comics. It's not cartoony. That's not the right word for it, but it's clearly a comic book. It's not trying to be overly realistic. It's not photorealistic is where I'm going with that. And so I really like it. But yeah, I think it's really good.
art is really really solid uh especially my favorite image in this is when the war wolf tears through the vw bug and like just like just car parts flying everywhere i thought that was like so cool looking yeah um and then yeah dude the shot where uh the other shot i love too is where he shoots the b he shoots the war wolf and it gets it's like bat gets blown out that's so cool looking uh the it's also very smart from a storytelling perspective to have him and his computer interact with one another. Yes. Cause he's always got somebody to talk to. So he's not just narrating to us. He's able to talk to the computer and that fills us in on a lot of the details. Like you said, it kind of fills us in on what's going on with the technology. I think that's, that's very, very clever. Well, and he's not like inherently a soldier. No, he's a, he's the complete opposite of the previous death lock who was a soldier. Right. Michael Collins is a pacifist. Does not, yeah, he does not, you know, nonviolent. So he's kind of like, he's kind of bouncing off his computer a little bit. Like, okay, what's the best way to do this without like creating collateral damage or putting innocence in?
Danger. And I like it too, because even with his computer, he has the ability, like you're saying, when he's falling, he's like, I need to turn so that this thing's not landing on top of me. So he uses his computer to figure out how to do that. Yeah, it's very, very smart. The...
One thing that I think this issue does really well is flesh out Deathlock as a three-dimensional character. He's not just a guy who's going through the motions. There's an emotional journey that we're going on with him. He's severely conflicted. He's struggling with his humanity being taken from him. Besides just having a cool design, the character itself is something I've always been a fan of. I love the conflict between a pacifist who's in a killing machine's body. Much like...
The warrior in the woman's body from Mantra with Malibu Comics. I just love that clash of identities within the one being. It's always been interesting to me. Any other thoughts on the issue itself? We'll talk about what came next. I think that was it. What came next? Like I said, this series, as a kid when I was reading it, it felt longer than it was. It only ran for 34 issues. It did have two annuals. He did appear in a 2006 miniseries called Beyond, which was written by creator...
I think it was written by his creator, if I'm not Dwayne McDuffie. In this six-issue story, a group of heroes and villains are abducted by a cosmic being, the Beyonder, and taken to Battleworld 2. Well, battle, as the name implies. He also had a supporting role in the 2023 Black Panther run by Eve Ewing, who I've not read that. I'm not a big fan of Eve's work, so I haven't had a chance to check that out. Michael Collins is one of the many characters to hold the name Deathlock. Luther Manning, as I mentioned, was another one. He was recently featured in The Red Hulk, which we did cover that issue one.
the one thing that i wanted to mention is i always have to remember this because and i think i'm starting to figure out where i draw the line because i've said before i don't like generally speaking like derivative characters where it's like not an original character it's a copy of another character and what's funny is what i have to remember is sometimes that derivative character is somebody's first version of that character. Like I think of Deathlock. So this was my first version of Deathlock. I didn't know that there was one that existed in the 70s and 80s because he had been, you know, no one had seen him for like nine years before this book was published. So Michael Collins is my Deathlock. I like Luther Manning Deathlock just fine. I think, again, Deathlock as a whole, I think is a very cool character. Michael Collins is my preferred Deathlock.
And I always have to remember that because, you know, when I, when I shit on some of these like new versions of existing characters, I have to remember that it's probably somebody's first version of that character. So here's where I think where I draw the line is when you have this, when you have the same two characters running around or predominantly featured at the exact same time is where it really starts is where it bothers me. Like when you've got, uh, when you have even with like, cause again, uh, I love Johnny blaze ghostwriter, but Dan catch was my first ghostwriter. I liked the two when they were together, but I don't see the need for a Danny Catch ghostwriter who has all the exact same abilities essentially as a Johnny Blaze ghostwriter. Like, give me one or the other, right? So that's kind of, I think, where I draw that line. Just like, I don't need two Captain Americas running around. Give me Sam Wilson or give me Steve Rogers. I like both as Captain America. I don't need them both at the exact same time in the exact same book. So is that the same thing that happened with this iteration of Deathlock? Did he like...
eventually just kind of get phased out and they just so new so what if i'm not mistaken i think the way the way it worked is the luther manning version of death lock was a was not in the marvel 616 so this is the first version of this character in the marvel 616 gotcha uh to my knowledge At some point, because even the Deathlock in Red Hulk, if you remember, he even talks about how he was taken from another dimension. So they did not exist in the same dimension. Now, at one point, they did cross over where they brought Luther Manning into the Michael Collins Deathlock title. But I think it was, again, he was taken from another dimension. I think what happened is I think Deathlock actually, one of the Deathlocks, I can't remember which, recruited other Deathlocks from other dimensions to kind of team up.
The body, the Deathlock body that Michael Collins' brain is put into, I think was originally designed for a soldier that was more Luther Manning-like named John Kelly, who goes on, John Kelly does go on to become Siege, another Deathlock character, another cyborg-type character called Siege, who didn't have a lot of screen time at all. But anyway, that's my take on it. So yeah, they're not in the same universe, typically speaking. Okay, let's go ahead and rate it. Bill, would you buy the next, at least read it, skip it, or rather poop scoop after Warwolf?
I would definitely buy the next one. Yeah. This is a good comic. And it's very, again, it's very 90s, but at the same time, that's what got me into comics. Yep. Was kind of the style and how these 90s characters that aren't by any means really popular today. Yep. These are the ones I always drifted towards. Like, especially the ones that looked cool. Yeah. You know, I went for Darkhawk because he looked cool and I was like, that's a really neat looking suit. I want to know more. Yep. You know, Deathlock was the same way.
Yeah, I think that's really what got me into comics in the first place was just the ones that look cool. Yeah, I don't know if it's nostalgia for me, but there is something about those early 90s designs. And again, I know Deathlock's design really kind of predates even that, right? Right. But like you said, the Darkhawk, the Sleepwalker, the Night Thrasher, all of those.
early 90s designs, it does resonate with me. And it's something that I really think is missing from a lot of today's comics, especially Marvel comics, when we are introduced to a new character, the designs are not always awesome, in my opinion. And I have to look at the X-Men because I love the X-Men. I liked all the 90s era Jim Lee X-Men suits. But then when I see a new X-Men comic out and they're all wearing the same stuff, they're all wearing the same uniform, I'm like... That's why I was never really big into New Mutants because they all had kind of the same...
black and yellowish, dark blue and yellow, whatever it was, you know, type design. And I think with a lot of the characters that they introduced today, I think of the new characters that they've introduced in Uncanny X-Men. Yeah, the designs just don't grab me like they did back in the day. And, you know, Marvel's got an event coming up. called Armageddon, and I think they're introducing new characters in that. And they've shown at least one of the designs for one of the new characters, and I was like, it looks like bad 90s design. It's not a good 90s design. I can see what they're maybe going for, but it misses the mark, in my opinion, and the names. The names that come up with these days are just dumb. And they're so unmemorable where I couldn't even tell you what the character's name was that I saw, other than I remembered it was ridiculous sounding. It sounded like a pharmaceutical marketing game for a drug. But anyway, for me, it is a buy as well. I know this issue didn't do a lot to set up the next issue necessarily.
But the character is dope and I would definitely want more of them. So it would be a buy for me. Yeah. Well, that's going to do it for this episode. Thanks for joining us. Special thanks to the Field of Geeks Network for helping to make this podcast happen. Thanks to Raven X for the theme song. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts. You can find us on YouTube at Field of Geeks. You can also find us on Facebook at the Number One Comics Podcast. For Bill, I'm Jonah, and we'll see you guys next time. Peace.