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Strikeforce: Morituri #1-13
Strikeforce: Morituri 1
A savage alien race called the Horde has invaded Earth, enslaving its people and plundering its resources. Scientists have devised a method of fighting back - the Morituri Process - which grants enhanced abilities to a select few compatable humans. But the transformation is fatal within a year. Now, a handful of brave voulenteers make up Strikeforce: Morituri - an elite, experimental and highly effective fighting force against the depredations of the Horde. But the heat of every battle, the celebration of every victory, and every quiet moment alone is tainted by the inescapable knowledge that, win or lose, their fate is sealed. Collecting Strikeforce: Morituri #1-13.
328 pages, Paperback
First published January 25, 2012
8 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Peter B. Gillis
388 books19 followersPeter B. Gillis (born December 19, 1952) is an American comic book writer best known for his work at Marvel Comics and First Comics in the mid-1980s, including the series Strikeforce: Morituri and the digitally drawn comic series Shatter.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 15, 2022
When I first read this in 1987, I was blown away. It still holds up nicely today. One of the rare instances of the time, published by Marvel but set in its own universe. In the future Earth has been attacked for years by a plundering race of aliens. Now humanity has developed a process to give humans super powers to fight the Horde, but it will kill them within a year. Gillis puts us inside the Morituri's heads as we see their fear of dying along with their desire to make a difference or revenge. They feel like real people, not the unstoppable heroes of most superhero fare. I really dig not only the costume designs but that they are real people of all shapes and sizes, not just the busty heroines and chiseled pec bros of most comics.
I find the Horde interesting as well once you get past the fact they have nutsacks on their chins.
They are a culture that plunders other worlds until they've used up all a world's resources.
As you can see the Horde may have visited the mainstream Marvel and DC universes along with Forbidden Planet before coming to this Earth.
They also love their trinkets and trophies
... and love Disney World so much they stole people's heads as mementos of their trip.
These guys are truly brutal, probably from all the other races making fun of them before the Horde then wipes them out.
All in all, a great series. I can't wait to move onto volume 2.
FYI - The entire series is available on Marvel Unlimited.
I find the Horde interesting as well once you get past the fact they have nutsacks on their chins.
They are a culture that plunders other worlds until they've used up all a world's resources.
As you can see the Horde may have visited the mainstream Marvel and DC universes along with Forbidden Planet before coming to this Earth.
They also love their trinkets and trophies
... and love Disney World so much they stole people's heads as mementos of their trip.
These guys are truly brutal, probably from all the other races making fun of them before the Horde then wipes them out.
All in all, a great series. I can't wait to move onto volume 2.
FYI - The entire series is available on Marvel Unlimited.
August 8, 2017
I love a good mixing of Generas in a story. This comic series blends SiFi and Superheroes very well. Great characters and art with surprises throughout the story. Very recommended
April 12, 2016
I'll admit to a basic bias on my part; I don't have a lot of affection for superhero comics that predate me first getting into comics in the mid-90s (which in itself is kind of sad, as the 90s aren't exactly known as a genre high point). The only reason I read Strikeforce: Morituri is that they're featured in a chapter of Jose Alaniz's Death, Disability, and the Superhero: The Silver Age and Beyond. But I'm glad I did read it; the book offers something outside of the usual superhero fare, with an approach to death that's rare today as well.
The plot is that in the near future, the Earth has been... invaded is the wrong word, as the aliens aren't interested in full-scale invasion but low-level pillaging. The Horde have beset themselves on earth, and in order to stop them, the world government has commissioned a strike force of superhumans who undergo the Morituri process. The process gives them strange powers, but these powers also burn them up, and each member of the team is doomed to die within a year. (Matt Fraction kind of revisited the concept in the short-lived The Order series, where people got superpowers that lasted for one year. For that matter, X-Statix had a similar approach to superheroes and death, but it's both more cynical in its take and more overtly a parody of superhero comics.) The result is a comic dedicated to a superhero vs. aliens story, but also an examination of death in a front and center way that superhero comics usually avoid.
It's the approach to death that really sets the series apart, but honestly, I slowly became a fan of the Horde as well. Visually, they're entirely ridiculous, as their chins look like, well, scrotums. Their culture is a mish-mash of alien warrior races, but it comes down to basically Klingons without the honour. And the lettering choice that signifies their speech is done in such a way that it made it actually hard to read them. Their idea of a successful raid is collecting kitsch and souvenirs that they can proudly wear on their battle costumes. I don't think they go so far as to show a Horde warrior in Mickey Mouse ears, but such a warrior would't be out of place. They're a scavenger species who don't really understand their own war-tech--it's stuff they've stolen from other species.
In short, they're pathetic--and that's the point. Our heroes aren't going against equal villains, but dying at the hands of creatures utterly inferior to them. There's perhaps a whiff of racism there, of a kind often deployed in sci-fi, that the Horde is cast as inferior specifically by giving them traits that European types often placed on "barbaric" races (it would have been very interesting if they were raiders and, say, 80s investment bankers). But it reinforces the idea that this war isn't a grand struggle--it's a bunch of people sacrificing their lives against someone who should know better.
Of course, the meat of the story is the members of the Strikeforce: Morituri coming to terms with their own imminent demise and the continual deaths of their teammates. I won't talk about the details too much because Alaniz does that pretty well (he does a very nice discussion of Anderson's superlative paneling to reinforce the book's themes, especially in issue 12). Superhero death is such a revolving door that it's hard to take seriously in comics, and the more pathos a writer attempts to give, the more it falls flat; Wolverine died over at Marvel a year or so again now, and not only was his death ludicrous, he was no sooner in the ground than surrogate characters including his son, Sabretooth, his female clone, and his alternate reality future self (comics!) stepped in to fill the void. And there's still the sense that he'll be back, sooner or later. There's no void, no sense of loss because everything seems so temporary.
And that's fine. I come to superhero stories for other things. But it's a breath of fresh air to read a different approach. Characters die in this book. They die suddenly, unexpectedly, and unfulfilled. And it's such a break not just from superhero conventions but fictional conventions that there's a weight there that's very compelling. This team is on the series for another six issues, and honestly, I think it goes downhill very quickly after they leave. The story shifts from alien invaders to secret government conspiracies, and more traditional superheroic tropes reign. The subsequent miniseries, Strikeforce: Morituri: Electric Undertow had a more cyberpunk vibe, but again, it's pretty standard 90s superhero stuff. Gillis and Anderson's run was something different, and worth reading.
The plot is that in the near future, the Earth has been... invaded is the wrong word, as the aliens aren't interested in full-scale invasion but low-level pillaging. The Horde have beset themselves on earth, and in order to stop them, the world government has commissioned a strike force of superhumans who undergo the Morituri process. The process gives them strange powers, but these powers also burn them up, and each member of the team is doomed to die within a year. (Matt Fraction kind of revisited the concept in the short-lived The Order series, where people got superpowers that lasted for one year. For that matter, X-Statix had a similar approach to superheroes and death, but it's both more cynical in its take and more overtly a parody of superhero comics.) The result is a comic dedicated to a superhero vs. aliens story, but also an examination of death in a front and center way that superhero comics usually avoid.
It's the approach to death that really sets the series apart, but honestly, I slowly became a fan of the Horde as well. Visually, they're entirely ridiculous, as their chins look like, well, scrotums. Their culture is a mish-mash of alien warrior races, but it comes down to basically Klingons without the honour. And the lettering choice that signifies their speech is done in such a way that it made it actually hard to read them. Their idea of a successful raid is collecting kitsch and souvenirs that they can proudly wear on their battle costumes. I don't think they go so far as to show a Horde warrior in Mickey Mouse ears, but such a warrior would't be out of place. They're a scavenger species who don't really understand their own war-tech--it's stuff they've stolen from other species.
In short, they're pathetic--and that's the point. Our heroes aren't going against equal villains, but dying at the hands of creatures utterly inferior to them. There's perhaps a whiff of racism there, of a kind often deployed in sci-fi, that the Horde is cast as inferior specifically by giving them traits that European types often placed on "barbaric" races (it would have been very interesting if they were raiders and, say, 80s investment bankers). But it reinforces the idea that this war isn't a grand struggle--it's a bunch of people sacrificing their lives against someone who should know better.
Of course, the meat of the story is the members of the Strikeforce: Morituri coming to terms with their own imminent demise and the continual deaths of their teammates. I won't talk about the details too much because Alaniz does that pretty well (he does a very nice discussion of Anderson's superlative paneling to reinforce the book's themes, especially in issue 12). Superhero death is such a revolving door that it's hard to take seriously in comics, and the more pathos a writer attempts to give, the more it falls flat; Wolverine died over at Marvel a year or so again now, and not only was his death ludicrous, he was no sooner in the ground than surrogate characters including his son, Sabretooth, his female clone, and his alternate reality future self (comics!) stepped in to fill the void. And there's still the sense that he'll be back, sooner or later. There's no void, no sense of loss because everything seems so temporary.
And that's fine. I come to superhero stories for other things. But it's a breath of fresh air to read a different approach. Characters die in this book. They die suddenly, unexpectedly, and unfulfilled. And it's such a break not just from superhero conventions but fictional conventions that there's a weight there that's very compelling. This team is on the series for another six issues, and honestly, I think it goes downhill very quickly after they leave. The story shifts from alien invaders to secret government conspiracies, and more traditional superheroic tropes reign. The subsequent miniseries, Strikeforce: Morituri: Electric Undertow had a more cyberpunk vibe, but again, it's pretty standard 90s superhero stuff. Gillis and Anderson's run was something different, and worth reading.
January 26, 2012
I wasn't sure how this would hold up, since my positive memories of it are about 25 years old, but I was pretty happy with Strikeforce Morituri. The frequent deaths of the characters, sometimes random but never without consequence for the story, remind me of some of the best elements of Ostrander's Suicide Squad, and the nastiness of the Horde and desperation of humanity comes through to make this a darker, more mature book than a lot of '80s superhero stuff. (And I say that as a *huge* fan of '80s superhero stuff)
Brent Anderson is good here, especially his costume designs, which combine a sort of faux-military look with classic superhero designs, and his artwork throughout is pretty solid, although of course Scott Williams is not really my lead choice for inks on anyone except for maybe Jim Lee.
The 13-issues tell a lot of strong individual stories that form a larger arc, and Gillis addresses the basic unfairness of asking young people to volunteer to die in the military, counter-balanced with its necessity in war-time, the camaraderie that comes from standing together in battle, the nature of military requirements vs. individual freedom and plenty of other themes, using super-powers and alien invaders as metaphor, another strength of '80s comics.
It's true that the characterization can be a little forced at times (Jelene's religion, Aline's shrinking violet bit, Marathon's descent into anger, etc.) but it does make each character stand out, and makes for plenty of great moments for everyone.
Really pleased that Marvel decided to collect this, an unusual superhero series from the mid-'80s, and glad that the ads inside indicate a commitment to three volumes, presumably collecting the entire run.
Brent Anderson is good here, especially his costume designs, which combine a sort of faux-military look with classic superhero designs, and his artwork throughout is pretty solid, although of course Scott Williams is not really my lead choice for inks on anyone except for maybe Jim Lee.
The 13-issues tell a lot of strong individual stories that form a larger arc, and Gillis addresses the basic unfairness of asking young people to volunteer to die in the military, counter-balanced with its necessity in war-time, the camaraderie that comes from standing together in battle, the nature of military requirements vs. individual freedom and plenty of other themes, using super-powers and alien invaders as metaphor, another strength of '80s comics.
It's true that the characterization can be a little forced at times (Jelene's religion, Aline's shrinking violet bit, Marathon's descent into anger, etc.) but it does make each character stand out, and makes for plenty of great moments for everyone.
Really pleased that Marvel decided to collect this, an unusual superhero series from the mid-'80s, and glad that the ads inside indicate a commitment to three volumes, presumably collecting the entire run.
January 6, 2020
Reprints Strikeforce: Morituri #1-13 (December 1986-December 1987). We who are about to die salute you! The Horde has invaded Earth and humanity is on the brink of destruction. When a program is created to make superhumans, it looks like it could be mankind’s last stand. Unfortunately, those who undergo the process find they are powerful but terminal. The power inside of them burns them out and nothing can stop it. It is the ultimate suicide mission and Strikeforce: Morituri is up for the challenge!
Written by Peter B. Gillis, Strikeforce: Morituri—Volume 1 is a sci-fi action-adventure Marvel Comics series. The collection features art by Brent Anderson and Whilce Portacio.
I had the first issue of Strikeforce: Morituri and remember being rather indifferent to it. When I read it, I was primarily into the classic superhero characters and while by definition, “Strikeforce: Morituri” is kind of a superhero team, it wasn’t Spider-Man, the X-Men, or the Hulk. I have seen a lot of fanfare for the series and when I had the option to pick up this volume, I did…and it was worth it.
The series feels very ’80s “post-Watchmen” but actually was released during the run of Watchmen. The series is grittier than many Marvel series and feels like a blend of other series (the artists in fact have fun making references to DC and Marvel Comics in scenes). The style feels little bit like G.I. Joe combined with Challengers of the Unknown and Justice League. It has the characters trying to be fleshed out, but it also will randomly kill them (sometimes even a bit unexpectedly in the case of Harold).
The story arc has that long planning feel with the character deaths. You have to keep resupplying the characters so the writers had to have a plan. It feels like the makers took more time and were given more time to write the story (something that wouldn’t happen today). It does have that older comic feel of being much more episodic, and you can read individual issues and still enjoy them as individual issues.
The problem with the comic is that the series does knock off its characters so quickly. Since everyone is basically human looking (minus the Horde aliens that look like they have testicles on their faces), it sometimes is hard to get a real feel for them. The characters that stand out are the recognizable ones like Jelene and Robert who are more distinguishable from the other characters (this is where it feels a bit like Challengers of the Unknown which was loaded with cardboard characters).
This volume definitely has me wanting to pick up the next collection. The series keeps moving and has lots of soap-opera style plotlines woven into the basic superhero story. This concept of the expendable team has been redone since Strikeforce: Morituri’s run (I think Valiant’s Hard C.O.R.P.s would be the most comparable story or even Harbinger), but Strikeforce: Morituri for the most part does it right. Strikeforce: Morituri—Volume 1 is followed by Strikeforce: Morituri—Volume 2.
Written by Peter B. Gillis, Strikeforce: Morituri—Volume 1 is a sci-fi action-adventure Marvel Comics series. The collection features art by Brent Anderson and Whilce Portacio.
I had the first issue of Strikeforce: Morituri and remember being rather indifferent to it. When I read it, I was primarily into the classic superhero characters and while by definition, “Strikeforce: Morituri” is kind of a superhero team, it wasn’t Spider-Man, the X-Men, or the Hulk. I have seen a lot of fanfare for the series and when I had the option to pick up this volume, I did…and it was worth it.
The series feels very ’80s “post-Watchmen” but actually was released during the run of Watchmen. The series is grittier than many Marvel series and feels like a blend of other series (the artists in fact have fun making references to DC and Marvel Comics in scenes). The style feels little bit like G.I. Joe combined with Challengers of the Unknown and Justice League. It has the characters trying to be fleshed out, but it also will randomly kill them (sometimes even a bit unexpectedly in the case of Harold).
The story arc has that long planning feel with the character deaths. You have to keep resupplying the characters so the writers had to have a plan. It feels like the makers took more time and were given more time to write the story (something that wouldn’t happen today). It does have that older comic feel of being much more episodic, and you can read individual issues and still enjoy them as individual issues.
The problem with the comic is that the series does knock off its characters so quickly. Since everyone is basically human looking (minus the Horde aliens that look like they have testicles on their faces), it sometimes is hard to get a real feel for them. The characters that stand out are the recognizable ones like Jelene and Robert who are more distinguishable from the other characters (this is where it feels a bit like Challengers of the Unknown which was loaded with cardboard characters).
This volume definitely has me wanting to pick up the next collection. The series keeps moving and has lots of soap-opera style plotlines woven into the basic superhero story. This concept of the expendable team has been redone since Strikeforce: Morituri’s run (I think Valiant’s Hard C.O.R.P.s would be the most comparable story or even Harbinger), but Strikeforce: Morituri for the most part does it right. Strikeforce: Morituri—Volume 1 is followed by Strikeforce: Morituri—Volume 2.
August 17, 2019
A truly maverick idea for it's time and one of the few titles where you really didn't know who would die, when, or how... And those scrotum chin aliens. Lots of great concepts being thrown around here. Worth diving into again.
April 15, 2020
This was a much better read than I remember. I had forgotten that Bret Anderson was the artist. The story is solid too. Marvel did something that they would never do today and that is tell a non-Marvel superhero story. It was great.
December 29, 2019
This was a fun series to revisit. I loved it when it first came out and collected as many issues as I could. Sadly, I could only collect some of the earlier issues and then the comic book stores quit carrying it. I think I have most of the collection, if not all of it, but it is nice being able to read it in a collected form like this trade paperback (well, the first thirteen issues, anyway). It was a crazy story, and science-fiction to boot, which I loved even more! There were not too many sci-fi comics being published around this time, so this was one of the few that I read. It has interesting character development; I think the author did a good (great) job with the characters, getting people to care about them before the heroes died, one-by-one. So, he did a great job with the character development. The artwork is hit-and-miss for me, but, overall, I enjoyed the artwork. I also thought they did a good job capturing the various emotions that people would go through, knowing they are giving up a potential future for a certain death within twelve months of undergoing the Morituri process.
I thought it was a great concept, myself, and wish it had gone one for several years, several hundred issues, but I do not know how many issues you can have of essentially the same thing – new heroes being created to battle horde before they die in a cataclysmic explosion of energy. On the one hand, it really is no different than the superhero comics – they tend to be essentially the same thing, over-and-over, over time, and some of them have stretched out to over one thousand issues. It would all have depended on the strength of the storytelling.
One thing that I always thought was interesting about this series was how they tried to integrate Christianity, specifically, and other religious beliefs into it. I liked that the authors were “respectful” of the religious beliefs of the characters and did not denigrate them or put them down. I think they could have had some interesting theological discussions, on the one hand, between some of the characters (as some of them were obsessed with vengeance and did not care what happened after they died; others seemed to be more atheistic or ambivalent about spiritual things), but that would probably have detracted from the focus of the overall plot, the overall narrative, and slowed things down a bit. It was a pleasant surprise to read a series that was respectful of religion, however, as it seemed most comic book writers tended to portray religious people as a bit on the crazy side, as being somehow unstable.
I think I must have missed or never read the issue that explains how the Horde obtained space flight.
There were a couple of pages that were fun because of the pictures they had on them.
The first thirteen issues were pretty crazy. Essentially, four teams are introduced in the first thirteen issues.
I was always surprised that there were not teams of heroes spread out around the globe. While it seemed like the Horde constantly attacked the United States, there were references made to other attacks around the globe. When these attacks happened, the Morituri were rarely ever sent out to face the Horde because they would not get there in time to make a difference to the Horde attack. Hence, it would have made sense to have had other teams scattered around the world to be able to repulse Horde incursions as need be. But that is merely my opinion.
It has been fun revisiting this series. The artwork was hit-and-miss throughout; there are some amazing pictures, some amazing artwork, and then there are some real stinkers as well, some places where the artwork was not as good as it could have been. I do wish there might have been some “Easter Eggs” in this compilation, where it might have some discussions with the author and artists as to their thoughts on the matter, the direction(s) they wanted to go with the series. It seemed pretty clear that the author, the artists, had a specific idea in mind, but also tried to intermix “the unknown” to keep readers on their toes as to who would survive and who would not; who might live and who might die. Because of these unknowns, I felt the authors did a “great job” of making the readers care about these characters who were guaranteed to die, to not be around for a ‘long time’ (because if they did not die in battle, the Morituri process was guaranteed to kill them within the space of a year). I am glad I decided to reread this series via this compilation paperback.
I thought it was a great concept, myself, and wish it had gone one for several years, several hundred issues, but I do not know how many issues you can have of essentially the same thing – new heroes being created to battle horde before they die in a cataclysmic explosion of energy. On the one hand, it really is no different than the superhero comics – they tend to be essentially the same thing, over-and-over, over time, and some of them have stretched out to over one thousand issues. It would all have depended on the strength of the storytelling.
One thing that I always thought was interesting about this series was how they tried to integrate Christianity, specifically, and other religious beliefs into it. I liked that the authors were “respectful” of the religious beliefs of the characters and did not denigrate them or put them down. I think they could have had some interesting theological discussions, on the one hand, between some of the characters (as some of them were obsessed with vengeance and did not care what happened after they died; others seemed to be more atheistic or ambivalent about spiritual things), but that would probably have detracted from the focus of the overall plot, the overall narrative, and slowed things down a bit. It was a pleasant surprise to read a series that was respectful of religion, however, as it seemed most comic book writers tended to portray religious people as a bit on the crazy side, as being somehow unstable.
I think I must have missed or never read the issue that explains how the Horde obtained space flight.
There were a couple of pages that were fun because of the pictures they had on them.
The first thirteen issues were pretty crazy. Essentially, four teams are introduced in the first thirteen issues.
I was always surprised that there were not teams of heroes spread out around the globe. While it seemed like the Horde constantly attacked the United States, there were references made to other attacks around the globe. When these attacks happened, the Morituri were rarely ever sent out to face the Horde because they would not get there in time to make a difference to the Horde attack. Hence, it would have made sense to have had other teams scattered around the world to be able to repulse Horde incursions as need be. But that is merely my opinion.
It has been fun revisiting this series. The artwork was hit-and-miss throughout; there are some amazing pictures, some amazing artwork, and then there are some real stinkers as well, some places where the artwork was not as good as it could have been. I do wish there might have been some “Easter Eggs” in this compilation, where it might have some discussions with the author and artists as to their thoughts on the matter, the direction(s) they wanted to go with the series. It seemed pretty clear that the author, the artists, had a specific idea in mind, but also tried to intermix “the unknown” to keep readers on their toes as to who would survive and who would not; who might live and who might die. Because of these unknowns, I felt the authors did a “great job” of making the readers care about these characters who were guaranteed to die, to not be around for a ‘long time’ (because if they did not die in battle, the Morituri process was guaranteed to kill them within the space of a year). I am glad I decided to reread this series via this compilation paperback.
March 8, 2026
Are comics books for kids or for adults?
In the United States, the historic answer has been "for kids." In the Post WWII late 40s, early 50s, there was a moral panic about imagery and content in comic books which led to the creation of the Comic Code Authority. The CCA was a voluntary self-censorship effort to prevent more forceful government censorship/ suppression. Over the years, the CCA was modified and adapted. Its enforcement was also pretty selective at times.
The CCA was very much still around in 1986 when Strikeforce Morituri first appeared. The 13 issues in this volume all bear the CCA seal.
Q: But how do you make a series with a theme as dark as Strikeforce Morituri "for kids?"
First- for those who don't know- Strikeforce Morituri follows the adventures of young men and women who have volunteered for a process that makes them superheroes. They need the powers to defeat an otherwise impervious invading alien horde. The catch is that the process has a shelf-life. Each person who receives it will die within a year. Thus, the Morituri in the title, which comes from "Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant" or "Hail Caesar, we who are about to die salute you." Main characters don't last long in Strikeforce. Thus, the story follows the group as a whole as characters die and are replaced.
Q: how do you make Strikeforce Morituri for kids?
A: You include references the adults will catch, but overall tone down the content so it passes the censors.
So there's no gore and minimal blood. No profanity and extremely tame sexuality- not even a hint of LGBT+ awareness or anything more than hetero kissing. What would otherwise be a very grimdark series feels... tamed. Neutered. Because their main audience were teens and older kids whose parents would not tolerate more. They weren't writing for an established franchise like Superman or Batman that had a built-in adult following.
If Strikeforce was made today, I think it would rival The Boys in terms of violence, gore, and overall darkness. The set-up's just right: young adults voluntarily sacrificing themselves in service to a morally ambiguous government, to fight a violent and rapacious horde of alien invaders.
But it was made in the 80s, from 1986 to 1989. Considering the constraints, they did a really good job. I haven't received volume 2 yet- I know the art changes after issue 13- but what I see in 1-13 is really good. I think Strikeforce has aged really well.
A sidenote: "paideia" means "rearing" or "education" in Greek. From the Wiki entry:
Naming the world-government Paideia in Strikeforce may be a hint that the government is fascist. Both Hitler and Mussolini encouraged the rediscovery of a lost paideia that proved the superiority of their interpretation of culture.
In the United States, the historic answer has been "for kids." In the Post WWII late 40s, early 50s, there was a moral panic about imagery and content in comic books which led to the creation of the Comic Code Authority. The CCA was a voluntary self-censorship effort to prevent more forceful government censorship/ suppression. Over the years, the CCA was modified and adapted. Its enforcement was also pretty selective at times.
The CCA was very much still around in 1986 when Strikeforce Morituri first appeared. The 13 issues in this volume all bear the CCA seal.
Q: But how do you make a series with a theme as dark as Strikeforce Morituri "for kids?"
First- for those who don't know- Strikeforce Morituri follows the adventures of young men and women who have volunteered for a process that makes them superheroes. They need the powers to defeat an otherwise impervious invading alien horde. The catch is that the process has a shelf-life. Each person who receives it will die within a year. Thus, the Morituri in the title, which comes from "Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant" or "Hail Caesar, we who are about to die salute you." Main characters don't last long in Strikeforce. Thus, the story follows the group as a whole as characters die and are replaced.
Q: how do you make Strikeforce Morituri for kids?
A: You include references the adults will catch, but overall tone down the content so it passes the censors.
So there's no gore and minimal blood. No profanity and extremely tame sexuality- not even a hint of LGBT+ awareness or anything more than hetero kissing. What would otherwise be a very grimdark series feels... tamed. Neutered. Because their main audience were teens and older kids whose parents would not tolerate more. They weren't writing for an established franchise like Superman or Batman that had a built-in adult following.
If Strikeforce was made today, I think it would rival The Boys in terms of violence, gore, and overall darkness. The set-up's just right: young adults voluntarily sacrificing themselves in service to a morally ambiguous government, to fight a violent and rapacious horde of alien invaders.
But it was made in the 80s, from 1986 to 1989. Considering the constraints, they did a really good job. I haven't received volume 2 yet- I know the art changes after issue 13- but what I see in 1-13 is really good. I think Strikeforce has aged really well.
A sidenote: "paideia" means "rearing" or "education" in Greek. From the Wiki entry:
Paideia was meant to instill aristocratic virtues in the young citizen men who were trained in this way. An ideal man within the polis would be well-rounded, refined in intellect, morals, and physicality, so training of the body, mind, and soul was important. Both practical, subject-based schooling as well as a focus upon the socialization of individuals within the aristocratic order of the polis were a part of this training.
Naming the world-government Paideia in Strikeforce may be a hint that the government is fascist. Both Hitler and Mussolini encouraged the rediscovery of a lost paideia that proved the superiority of their interpretation of culture.
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September 14, 2019The bollock-chinned alien Horde have invaded future Earth, but they're not here for conquest per se, just plunder: slaves, chocolate, whatever they can grab, really (and you can tell they're barbarians because they think Hershey warehouses are worth raiding). Plus occasional ghastly shows of strength, just to establish who's in charge. Humanity's only hope (somewhat implausibly, but never mind that) is a process which can give a certain small proportion of the population superpowers – but in doing so, will kill them within a year at most, and often much sooner. Oh, and for propaganda purposes, their fightback gets fictionalised and dramatised more or less as it happens, real footage mixed and structured into something which conveys the angle the producers need. Peter Gillis and Brent Anderson's science fiction melodrama is a curious beast, being a Marvel book about people with superpowers, but entirely separate from any of Marvel's universes*, or most of what we'd expect from a superhero story, at least back then. True, angsting about powers that come with a catch is fairly core Marvel, and there are daft costumes here, justified by that media angle, which feels terribly ahead of its time in the way it prefigured X-Statix, never mind the Kardashians et al. But the willingness to kill off key characters, not even heroically but just because shit happens and sometimes they explode? That still feels bold. In many ways it's closer kin to a war comic: the young writer who figures everything is material would be right at home in Sam Glanzman's work, though he likely wouldn't have quite such silly hair there. And an abiding note is the old impatience of the novice warrior who wants to get where the action is, scaled up to 11 by the terrible awareness of that ticking clock, that these are soldiers who really can't dodge that particular bullet. It's not perfect, and is still an artefact of its time: Gillis is good hokey, but he's still hokey, and when we see the comic-within-the-comic it doesn't feel as different as it's perhaps meant to - a couple of notches more so, but definitely more readable than anything Stan Lee ever wrote. Still, the way he can throw in episodes from unexpected perspectives, build a world then reveal it to us on the fly, get us invested in this pitch of emotion? That still works. However implausible their dialogue could be at times, however blatant the tugging on the heartstrings, they were tugged just the same.
Although it should be noted that among the braggadocio of Horde names such as Thundercrush, British readers may not find the one called Hammersmith striking quite the same tone.
*Yeah, there are a couple of joky little Easter eggs once we see the Horde's hoard, but the same goes for the DCU, Doctor Who and the fifties War of the Worlds, among others.
Although it should be noted that among the braggadocio of Horde names such as Thundercrush, British readers may not find the one called Hammersmith striking quite the same tone.
*Yeah, there are a couple of joky little Easter eggs once we see the Horde's hoard, but the same goes for the DCU, Doctor Who and the fifties War of the Worlds, among others.
November 5, 2025
I would rate this around a 3.5 overall, though I’ve graded up rather than down due to the unique concept behind the series and the fact I always liked Peter Gillis’s writing.
Strikeforce Morituri was always one of those books that I never quite got around to reading at the time, it didn’t help that the book was not one that ever got distributed to my local newsagent. Those ads did intrigue me though…
Roll forward 3 decades and I finally have no excuse, with Marvel bringing out some collected volumes, which I assume was related to some copyright issue or some opportunity arising to sell for tv or film rights.
This volume collects Strikeforce Morituri issues 1-13, from what I can see the best of the bunch by far. Peter Gillis, Brent Anderson, Scott Williams, and editor Carl Potts start strong, deliver a very different super team, and throw most conventions out the window.
Funnily enough, what gave the book its uniqueness (the fact that any member of the team could die at any time, and frequently did) was also its main weakness. Just when we grew attached to a character, they died. Rinse and repeat. The shock soon wears off when death happens all the time. These 13 issues alone see the team lose 4 members (out of 6) and their commander.
Despite these flaws, I enjoyed this collection, and I enjoyed these issues. Gillis was always a unique voice, Anderson always a top penciller, and Williams a top inker.
Recommended.
Strikeforce Morituri was always one of those books that I never quite got around to reading at the time, it didn’t help that the book was not one that ever got distributed to my local newsagent. Those ads did intrigue me though…
Roll forward 3 decades and I finally have no excuse, with Marvel bringing out some collected volumes, which I assume was related to some copyright issue or some opportunity arising to sell for tv or film rights.
This volume collects Strikeforce Morituri issues 1-13, from what I can see the best of the bunch by far. Peter Gillis, Brent Anderson, Scott Williams, and editor Carl Potts start strong, deliver a very different super team, and throw most conventions out the window.
Funnily enough, what gave the book its uniqueness (the fact that any member of the team could die at any time, and frequently did) was also its main weakness. Just when we grew attached to a character, they died. Rinse and repeat. The shock soon wears off when death happens all the time. These 13 issues alone see the team lose 4 members (out of 6) and their commander.
Despite these flaws, I enjoyed this collection, and I enjoyed these issues. Gillis was always a unique voice, Anderson always a top penciller, and Williams a top inker.
Recommended.
February 18, 2025
La tierra sufre una invasión alienígena de la Horda, una raza alienígena que surca el espacio agotando los recursos de los planetas que visita. Para luchar contra este enemigo formidable se crea el proceso Morituri, mediante el cual unos individuos voluntarios consiguen superpoderes a costa de limitar su vida a un solo año más.
Son cómics de acción bien dibujados, no es recomendable encariñarse con los personajes porque tienen los días contados, la lectura es agil y son entretenidos.
Son cómics de acción bien dibujados, no es recomendable encariñarse con los personajes porque tienen los días contados, la lectura es agil y son entretenidos.
August 1, 2021
A great concept this and it injects some real jeopardy as to who is going to go and when. New members freshen the team as time goes on and the concerns over death create different reactions from characters, who have different things to live, or die, for. Rather reminiscent of the VCs.
March 7, 2012
I didn't read this when it was coming out in the mid 80s. I read the first two issues when they were reprinted in the UK Spiderman magazine. Over the years I managed to pick up a random issue (from what will be volumes 2 & 3) but this was the first time I'd read that early set up. Oh my god, it's a brutal book. The central concept is that a process is developed to give people superpowers to fight off an alien invasion. The drawback is that the process will kill them in less than a year. And the story does not skimp on deaths either in combat or from the Morituri process itself. And sometimes those deaths are random and pointless.
But it is a very good story, full of ambition and large ideas about war, sacrifice, how far we're willing to go for freedom, how much we value or mistreat our soldiers. I can see that there are probably Vietnam parallels that played at the time but our current position in the world means those themes echo just as strongly now. The art by just-starting-out-at-the-time team of Brent Anderson & Scott Williams is clear enough with a few rough edges and enough golden hints of the great artists they'd become. The story by Peter B Gillis is strong and makes me worry about his 'mid season replacement' in the next volume by James D. Hudnell.
Overall, I'm not sure this is to everybody's taste but if you grew up with Mid 80s Marvel comics and that style doesn't drive you crazy in light of how modern comics are done, then I would say this is the comic for you.
It would make a cracking TV show as well....
But it is a very good story, full of ambition and large ideas about war, sacrifice, how far we're willing to go for freedom, how much we value or mistreat our soldiers. I can see that there are probably Vietnam parallels that played at the time but our current position in the world means those themes echo just as strongly now. The art by just-starting-out-at-the-time team of Brent Anderson & Scott Williams is clear enough with a few rough edges and enough golden hints of the great artists they'd become. The story by Peter B Gillis is strong and makes me worry about his 'mid season replacement' in the next volume by James D. Hudnell.
Overall, I'm not sure this is to everybody's taste but if you grew up with Mid 80s Marvel comics and that style doesn't drive you crazy in light of how modern comics are done, then I would say this is the comic for you.
It would make a cracking TV show as well....
March 21, 2013
Having recently reread the first two volumes of ASTRO CITY, artist Brent E. Anderson's masterwork, I was intrigued by this series, one I had heard about but not read because it came out years before I started reading comics in college. Given that it's a mid-80's Marvel comic, I was expecting dense text and some stereotyped characters--and they are there--but the overall premise overcame those flaws: the Earth, losing a cosmic invasion by the dreaded Horde, turns to the Morituri process to create superheroes that each have unique powers, but at a profound cost: the powers will burn out the individual heroes within a year without warning. The absolute certainty of death has a powerful effect on the volunteers, and that's were the appeal of this series lies: what does it do to a person's mind to know with absolute certainty that the very powers that supercharge their lives may kill them at any moment? The answer is here in STRIKEFORCE: MORITURI, and it remains a compelling read with excellent design work and visual storytelling. I'll be working my way through the other two volumes this year based on the strength of this volume.
September 25, 2014
One of the best stories you will ever read in comics, and after decades, available in trade format.
I wish that Peter Gillis had done more work in comics. The character in S:M have depth to them. You care about them very quickly; given the premise of the story, this fact makes the outcome that much more difficult on you. Anderson's art (later the centerpiece of Kurt Busiek's Astro City series) is also character-centric and by that I mean he takes care to make everyone look unique. It's also worth noting that S:M has one of the best, fleshed-out representations of a Christian woman in comics.
The big downside to loving this book is that Gillis left the series midway through volume 2. Everything that happens afterwards, in my opinion, pales in comparison.
I wish that Peter Gillis had done more work in comics. The character in S:M have depth to them. You care about them very quickly; given the premise of the story, this fact makes the outcome that much more difficult on you. Anderson's art (later the centerpiece of Kurt Busiek's Astro City series) is also character-centric and by that I mean he takes care to make everyone look unique. It's also worth noting that S:M has one of the best, fleshed-out representations of a Christian woman in comics.
The big downside to loving this book is that Gillis left the series midway through volume 2. Everything that happens afterwards, in my opinion, pales in comparison.
July 1, 2012
I loved this series back in the 80's, and was excited to hear that it was being reprinted. For a series that is 25 years old it holds up very well. Brent Anderson is one of my favorite artists and his work here is fantastic. I didn't like Peter Gillis' writing on Micronauts, but I loved his writing on this book. (Maybe I'll have to take another look at his Micronauts.)
This is volume 1 of 3 and all 3 volumes look very nice. Here's a tip about Marvel's collected editions. If you see Jeph York's name it the credits, it's going to be a nicely put together book. (On this book he is credited with Layout.)
This is volume 1 of 3 and all 3 volumes look very nice. Here's a tip about Marvel's collected editions. If you see Jeph York's name it the credits, it's going to be a nicely put together book. (On this book he is credited with Layout.)
April 13, 2013
Interesting idea of the government fighting an alien invasion by creating super heroes and the process that gives you the powers eventually killing you, but it never really clicks.
Too many plots, too little in the way of strong characterization and a general feeling of 'I should like this more than I do'.
Too many plots, too little in the way of strong characterization and a general feeling of 'I should like this more than I do'.
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