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Marvel Masterworks #127
Marvel Masterworks: Deathlok, Vol. 1
Witness the debut of one of comics' most unique heroes-Deathlok! No longer a man, but a mockery of a man, an amalgam of reanimated flesh and computer circuitry, military strategist Col. Luther Manning has been locked in a state of living death. Stripped of his family, his humanity, but not his will, Manning has become the cyborg, Deathlok the Demolisher-a weapon of war programmed solely for destruction. A challenging blend of science fiction and psychological war journal, Deathlok set the pace for anti-heroes in the turbulent post-Watergate '70s. Illustrated by Rich Buckler and co-written by Doug Moench and Bill Mantlo, Deathlok's feature in ASTONISHING TALES forged a new path and pushed the moral relevance of Marvel Comics into a bold, and often frightening, new future. It's the complete Deathlok saga, culminating in a classic cross-time adventure with Captain America!
Collects Astonishing Tales #25-28, 30-36, Marvel Spotlight #33, Marvel Team-Up #46, Marvel Two-In-One #27, 54 And Captain America #286-288.
Collects Astonishing Tales #25-28, 30-36, Marvel Spotlight #33, Marvel Team-Up #46, Marvel Two-In-One #27, 54 And Captain America #286-288.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published November 25, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
July 4, 2019
In the war-torn future of 1990, Luther Manning is reborn as the cybernetic killing machine Deathlok!
When I was a kid, around seven or eight, a tattered issue of Astonishing Tales fell into my lap. That was my first exposure to Deathlok. I found this out of print trade paperback at a convention not long ago and snapped it up, reading to go back to the post-apocalyptic future of 1990!
Deathlok is a cyborg super soldier, gunning for the man who created him in a dystopian future, a future of a bombed out New York City full of cannibals. He's also a man at war with himself, with both his decaying cybernetic body and the computer embedded in his skull.
Deathlok was born out of the horror boom of the 1970s and is a forerunner to books like Wolverine and The Punisher that came a few years later. He's an anti-hero, leaving a high body count, but has a sensitive side where it pertains to his former wife and his former humanity.
The issues of Astonishing Tales form one long epic, leading to his confrontation with Ryker, the man who created him. After that, he returns to the present and battles the Thing and teams with Captain America.
The writing is average for the time period and maybe a little wordy on top of that. Rich Buckler's art on the original chapters is iconic, though I wonder if it's full of swipes like Buckler's later work. The remains of New York are a little clean for my tastes but I dug the rest. Mike Zeck's art on the three Captain America issues is spectacular.
Deathlok the Demolisher: The Complete Collection feels a little dated but it helped pave the way for Wolverine and the Punisher a few years later. 3 out of 5 stars.
When I was a kid, around seven or eight, a tattered issue of Astonishing Tales fell into my lap. That was my first exposure to Deathlok. I found this out of print trade paperback at a convention not long ago and snapped it up, reading to go back to the post-apocalyptic future of 1990!
Deathlok is a cyborg super soldier, gunning for the man who created him in a dystopian future, a future of a bombed out New York City full of cannibals. He's also a man at war with himself, with both his decaying cybernetic body and the computer embedded in his skull.
Deathlok was born out of the horror boom of the 1970s and is a forerunner to books like Wolverine and The Punisher that came a few years later. He's an anti-hero, leaving a high body count, but has a sensitive side where it pertains to his former wife and his former humanity.
The issues of Astonishing Tales form one long epic, leading to his confrontation with Ryker, the man who created him. After that, he returns to the present and battles the Thing and teams with Captain America.
The writing is average for the time period and maybe a little wordy on top of that. Rich Buckler's art on the original chapters is iconic, though I wonder if it's full of swipes like Buckler's later work. The remains of New York are a little clean for my tastes but I dug the rest. Mike Zeck's art on the three Captain America issues is spectacular.
Deathlok the Demolisher: The Complete Collection feels a little dated but it helped pave the way for Wolverine and the Punisher a few years later. 3 out of 5 stars.
December 3, 2016
Bear with me --- I am going to trash this book, then praise it, then trash it again. Some background: the first half of this collection consists of the original Deathlok stories published in Marvel's Astonishing Tales during the mid 70's. Deathlok is actually the dead body of Luther Manning, resurrected from cryonic storage and melded with machine parts to become a cyborg. He quickly rebels against his maker (Ryker, the main villain of the piece) and seeks his destiny in a dystopian New York City of the mid 80's. The artist, plotter, and sometimes writer of these stories is Rich Buckler --- the creator of the character. The remaining stories in the collection transport Deathlok into the Marvel Universe with a variety of team ups, most of them fairly inconsequential with different writers and artists.
Make no mistake, there are some bad comics in the first half. The coloring is often garish and made worse when printed on nice white paper instead of newsprint. The storyline requires lettering that looks like computer print (more on why later), and many letterers of the time fail horribly at making consistent computer letters. We have a character referred to as Janice and Janis on the same page. And our villain... basically, the only reason he isn't sporting a handlebar mustache and a stovepipe top hat is because it wouldn't be genre appropriate. There's a scene early on where Ryker's mistress/girlfriend Nina discovers that he too is a cyborg. As a result, he renders her unconscious and hooks her up to a military cybernetic tank. Note that Nina (as far as we know) has no experience with tanks --- Ryker apparently just needs some brain to drive the tank around. So once an issue or so, we see Nina, her head connected to a computer, driving a tank.
So why get excited about the book? First of all, this is a surprisingly anti-hero book from Marvel. Deathlok kills others (and tries to kill himself) and generally gains sympathy only because of his horrible condition. There are no connections to the regular Marvel universe in the Astonishing Tales stories, and the result is something that feels and looks independent, like an early title from First or Dark Horse. Indeed, the question of whether Luther Manning is even still alive (or just a simulation) foreshadows the similar work in the Alan Moore Swamp Thing series.
Second, there's a lot of inventiveness in the title, especially in the early issues. Deathlok has at least three voices in his head: Luther Manning, the computer that was added to his body (shown in computer lettering), and --- in the early issues --- a macabre stream of consciousness voice that is some amalgam of the first two. (Sadly, by the third issue, that voice is silenced and explained away as a bug.) You therefore get a lot of back and forth dialogue within our hero. In addition, when the art is not rushed, Buckler will pull out the stops graphically. A hallmark is the use of panels that look like frames from a motion picture: second by second records of the action. But you also get crazy perspectives (especially shots from above) and intense closeups. In short, there's a lot of creative potential in the work and a fair amount of gonzo writing. The work appears to be let down by the plotting and (I'm guessing here) the need to meet a monthly deadline.
When you reach the second half of the book (where Deathlok enters the Marvel universe), the quality goes down considerably. Most of the writers treat Deathlok as a computer controlled pawn or an angst-driven character in the mighty Marvel tradition. And everyone stops to comment moralistically on the fact that Deathlok kills. (This is a few years before killing heroes such as Wolverine or Punisher would find a niche.) The last storyline (a teamup with Captain America done by J. M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck) has promise, especially as it returns to the Deathlok "universe" to tie up loose ends. But even here, the Marvel house style takes over --- the storyline is meant to redeem Deathlok and convert him from anti-hero to hero, and the result is painful.
To be honest, my love for the work is probably based from me reading it as a kid during the 70's. Even so, Buckler's inventive streak and his willingness to do something quite different speak out. A current comics reader probably won't get much out of this, but if you want to see some of the seeds of anti-hero independent comics, this is a great read.
Make no mistake, there are some bad comics in the first half. The coloring is often garish and made worse when printed on nice white paper instead of newsprint. The storyline requires lettering that looks like computer print (more on why later), and many letterers of the time fail horribly at making consistent computer letters. We have a character referred to as Janice and Janis on the same page. And our villain... basically, the only reason he isn't sporting a handlebar mustache and a stovepipe top hat is because it wouldn't be genre appropriate. There's a scene early on where Ryker's mistress/girlfriend Nina discovers that he too is a cyborg. As a result, he renders her unconscious and hooks her up to a military cybernetic tank. Note that Nina (as far as we know) has no experience with tanks --- Ryker apparently just needs some brain to drive the tank around. So once an issue or so, we see Nina, her head connected to a computer, driving a tank.
So why get excited about the book? First of all, this is a surprisingly anti-hero book from Marvel. Deathlok kills others (and tries to kill himself) and generally gains sympathy only because of his horrible condition. There are no connections to the regular Marvel universe in the Astonishing Tales stories, and the result is something that feels and looks independent, like an early title from First or Dark Horse. Indeed, the question of whether Luther Manning is even still alive (or just a simulation) foreshadows the similar work in the Alan Moore Swamp Thing series.
Second, there's a lot of inventiveness in the title, especially in the early issues. Deathlok has at least three voices in his head: Luther Manning, the computer that was added to his body (shown in computer lettering), and --- in the early issues --- a macabre stream of consciousness voice that is some amalgam of the first two. (Sadly, by the third issue, that voice is silenced and explained away as a bug.) You therefore get a lot of back and forth dialogue within our hero. In addition, when the art is not rushed, Buckler will pull out the stops graphically. A hallmark is the use of panels that look like frames from a motion picture: second by second records of the action. But you also get crazy perspectives (especially shots from above) and intense closeups. In short, there's a lot of creative potential in the work and a fair amount of gonzo writing. The work appears to be let down by the plotting and (I'm guessing here) the need to meet a monthly deadline.
When you reach the second half of the book (where Deathlok enters the Marvel universe), the quality goes down considerably. Most of the writers treat Deathlok as a computer controlled pawn or an angst-driven character in the mighty Marvel tradition. And everyone stops to comment moralistically on the fact that Deathlok kills. (This is a few years before killing heroes such as Wolverine or Punisher would find a niche.) The last storyline (a teamup with Captain America done by J. M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck) has promise, especially as it returns to the Deathlok "universe" to tie up loose ends. But even here, the Marvel house style takes over --- the storyline is meant to redeem Deathlok and convert him from anti-hero to hero, and the result is painful.
To be honest, my love for the work is probably based from me reading it as a kid during the 70's. Even so, Buckler's inventive streak and his willingness to do something quite different speak out. A current comics reader probably won't get much out of this, but if you want to see some of the seeds of anti-hero independent comics, this is a great read.
June 1, 2018
Waaaay back in the 1970s Marvel was thinking up weird and interesting new ideas for comic stories (thanks to Stan The Man Lee) for my young mind to absorb and process. One of the ones that always stuck with me was the original Deathlok character and storyline. I was just really coming into reading SiFi back the and the was the best blend of comics and SiFi I had encountered and was for the time a very dark tale. It still reads really well today and hasn't become dated like many stories from that era. Try something different in comics and give this a try. Recommended
August 20, 2018
3.5 stars.
A comic in many ways ahead if it's time. Not sure why it took me so long to complete, but I do have all the Deathlok trades to date, so I better get moving...
A comic in many ways ahead if it's time. Not sure why it took me so long to complete, but I do have all the Deathlok trades to date, so I better get moving...
August 3, 2017
Apart from a John Byrne Marvel-Two-in-One which I'd more or less forgotten about, which (no spoilers) one would have thought the absolute LAST Deathlok story based on the 'clobberin'' he gets from the Thing, there was very little to like in this collection.
I think I bought it because as a teenage comic collector I literally could not get enough Deathlok, and the one or two parts of the storyline I did pick up were very tantalizing.
But the art is so slipshod (although Klaus Janson does a great finishing job in the last few issues of Astonishing Tales) and the story so grim and drawn out, it reminded me of nothing so much as Mike Barry's Lone Wolf paperbacks from the same era.
Not the best fulfillment of a teenage dream, to say the least.
I think I bought it because as a teenage comic collector I literally could not get enough Deathlok, and the one or two parts of the storyline I did pick up were very tantalizing.
But the art is so slipshod (although Klaus Janson does a great finishing job in the last few issues of Astonishing Tales) and the story so grim and drawn out, it reminded me of nothing so much as Mike Barry's Lone Wolf paperbacks from the same era.
Not the best fulfillment of a teenage dream, to say the least.
January 25, 2021
Action-packed tale of the near-future cyborg, and his quest for vengence and identity.
Hard-hitting Bronze Age comic story with beautifully gritty artwork, Deathlok does not disappoint.
Hard-hitting Bronze Age comic story with beautifully gritty artwork, Deathlok does not disappoint.
December 22, 2018
It's ok. I found I liked the team up parts more than the solo parts, which might show how much I was not interested in Deathlok himself.
June 8, 2017
One of my all-time-favs. And Marvel's coolest Bronze Age SF epic! Picked it up again to re-read the Captain America stories and I'm doing some sequential Cap reading. Still love all of this material! Love Luther Manning! But I do need to read my other Deathlok books that I have yet to pick up.
If you've never read Deathlok and if you like Bronze Age SF.
Well! Here you go! Nothing better.
If you've never read Deathlok and if you like Bronze Age SF.
Well! Here you go! Nothing better.
November 28, 2016
This along with the 70's Guardians of the Galaxy, the Starlin Capt Marvel and Warlock material are my SF favs. Great stuff and holds up well. Pretty timeless, I think.
December 31, 2021
Deathlok the Demolisher is one of those aesthetically pleasing characters to me. I've been in love with his design since I was first made aware of the character in 1990, thanks to that amazing trading card set known as Marvel Universe.
But aside from those couple of cards, my love and knowledge for the character really stalled out. I stopped reading comics for a while and then when I resumes, I just forgot Deathlok existed. That was until I found a copy of this book for very cheap at Ollie's.
The story of Deathlok ironically begins in 1990. America has split into warring territories due to a nuclear war. In what was Detroit Michigan, solider Luther Manning is killed in combat. Only, Manning doesn't go to Heaven or Hell. Instead, Manning is in purgatory; reanimated into a cyborg killing machine called Deathlok. Aided by an internal CPU, Manning breaks free of his programming and seeks revenge on the men who turned him into a mechanical member of the walking dead.
Deathlok's story will take the character back and forth through time meeting such mainstays of the Marvel Universe such as The Thing, Nick Fury, Spider-Man and Captain America. This collection contains all of the main Deathlok stories told by co-creator's Rich Buckler (Fantastic Four), Doug Moench (Moon Knight) and Bill Mantlo (ROM: Spaceknight). Created in 1974, as Deathlok got closer to 1990, his origin evolved. I'm very glad that Marvel decided to keep all of this in one volume because I think if I had to wait several months to read this in between volumes, I would have gotten really lost.
Not only does this collection help me fall further in love with Deathlok; it also helps with my wish list. Issues from the second Astonishing Tales series along with chapters from Marvel Team-UP, Marvel Two-In-One and many more are included. Even if I was to have paid the full cover price of $39.99, I would have saved so much cash thanks to the inclusion of those pricey extra issues.
But aside from those couple of cards, my love and knowledge for the character really stalled out. I stopped reading comics for a while and then when I resumes, I just forgot Deathlok existed. That was until I found a copy of this book for very cheap at Ollie's.
The story of Deathlok ironically begins in 1990. America has split into warring territories due to a nuclear war. In what was Detroit Michigan, solider Luther Manning is killed in combat. Only, Manning doesn't go to Heaven or Hell. Instead, Manning is in purgatory; reanimated into a cyborg killing machine called Deathlok. Aided by an internal CPU, Manning breaks free of his programming and seeks revenge on the men who turned him into a mechanical member of the walking dead.
Deathlok's story will take the character back and forth through time meeting such mainstays of the Marvel Universe such as The Thing, Nick Fury, Spider-Man and Captain America. This collection contains all of the main Deathlok stories told by co-creator's Rich Buckler (Fantastic Four), Doug Moench (Moon Knight) and Bill Mantlo (ROM: Spaceknight). Created in 1974, as Deathlok got closer to 1990, his origin evolved. I'm very glad that Marvel decided to keep all of this in one volume because I think if I had to wait several months to read this in between volumes, I would have gotten really lost.
Not only does this collection help me fall further in love with Deathlok; it also helps with my wish list. Issues from the second Astonishing Tales series along with chapters from Marvel Team-UP, Marvel Two-In-One and many more are included. Even if I was to have paid the full cover price of $39.99, I would have saved so much cash thanks to the inclusion of those pricey extra issues.
October 11, 2025
This book collects all the original issues of Astonishing Tales which featured Deathlok, then several random appearances in other comic books thereafter.
Rich Buckler created this character, and along with writer Doug Moench built a seriously messed up world for him to operate in. Luther Manning was killed, cryogenically frozen for five years, then used to integrate with machinery to form a cyborg killing machine. Initially, there were three voices in his head - the human one, the computer one, and a third that turned out to be another computer that was monitoring his actions and commenting mysteriously on what he was doing.
The first couple issues were extremely good, then quality went up and down a bit as Buckler found himself unable to meet all the deadlines, Moench left, and other writers and artists helped out. Despite Buckler's insistence in the introduction that he had complete editorial control, there were frequent changes in the series - the third voice was dropped fairly quickly, and Manning went back and forth thinking he could be returned to humanity. The last couple issues were dramatically different, as he was rebuilt and turned into a CIA operative.
Still, the overall quality for the eleven or so original issues was pretty high. Sadly, once the book was cancelled, Deathlok was reduced to an occasional guest star in other books, and the storyline became very muddled. Eventually, J.M. Dematteis and Mike Zeck tied up all the loose ends in three issues of Captain America which didn't live up to the original concept but which were pretty entertaining in themselves.
I don't know how Deathlok got past the Comics Code Authority in the 70s, because he killed all kinds of people throughout his run. He wasn't a hero though he definitely fought against a greater evil. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that his stories were set in the far future - around 1990.
Rich Buckler created this character, and along with writer Doug Moench built a seriously messed up world for him to operate in. Luther Manning was killed, cryogenically frozen for five years, then used to integrate with machinery to form a cyborg killing machine. Initially, there were three voices in his head - the human one, the computer one, and a third that turned out to be another computer that was monitoring his actions and commenting mysteriously on what he was doing.
The first couple issues were extremely good, then quality went up and down a bit as Buckler found himself unable to meet all the deadlines, Moench left, and other writers and artists helped out. Despite Buckler's insistence in the introduction that he had complete editorial control, there were frequent changes in the series - the third voice was dropped fairly quickly, and Manning went back and forth thinking he could be returned to humanity. The last couple issues were dramatically different, as he was rebuilt and turned into a CIA operative.
Still, the overall quality for the eleven or so original issues was pretty high. Sadly, once the book was cancelled, Deathlok was reduced to an occasional guest star in other books, and the storyline became very muddled. Eventually, J.M. Dematteis and Mike Zeck tied up all the loose ends in three issues of Captain America which didn't live up to the original concept but which were pretty entertaining in themselves.
I don't know how Deathlok got past the Comics Code Authority in the 70s, because he killed all kinds of people throughout his run. He wasn't a hero though he definitely fought against a greater evil. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that his stories were set in the far future - around 1990.
November 1, 2022
This whole book's star rating is basically because the Rich Buckler/Moench/Mantlo Astoning Tales run of Deathlok was outstanding in many ways.
The Captain America/Deathlok stories were a very nice tie-up of the story (by one of my favorites--J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck).
The only downside was the unexplained Marvel Two-in-One #54. Although they "explained" a portion of it in the CA comics, the Deathlok in #54 was all cyborg as far as the comic went, even his face was not that of Luther Manning and he had two computer eyes--I could take in that the Brand Corporation had something to do with that, but it doesn't quite fit the story that was so well planned from the start and connected.
The Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Fanfare secondary story, and other Marvel Two-in-One stories were side notes that just rang true, but unimportant in the long run--but still on the strength of the other stories -- It was worth the five-star rating.
The Captain America/Deathlok stories were a very nice tie-up of the story (by one of my favorites--J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck).
The only downside was the unexplained Marvel Two-in-One #54. Although they "explained" a portion of it in the CA comics, the Deathlok in #54 was all cyborg as far as the comic went, even his face was not that of Luther Manning and he had two computer eyes--I could take in that the Brand Corporation had something to do with that, but it doesn't quite fit the story that was so well planned from the start and connected.
The Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Fanfare secondary story, and other Marvel Two-in-One stories were side notes that just rang true, but unimportant in the long run--but still on the strength of the other stories -- It was worth the five-star rating.
February 8, 2017
Some really great ideas in this collection. You would think this character was a ripoff of Robocop, except Robocop came out 10 years after. I love the design of the character and I love 70's Marvel stuff, and those were my only reasons for picking this up. I read through about half of the book and my patience wore thin. The character is not likable or interesting; but on the plus side, some really crazy stuff happens that has no explanation. Hell, I'm all over the place just trying to write about it and that is pretty much what you can expect from this collection.
February 3, 2019
Here in Italy the last three comics of Astonishing Tales were not translated.
The Deathlok story shifted from AT 33 to the appearence of the Character as antagonist of The Thing and than Captain America.
Now, after 35 years, I finally can read integrally the Deathlok's history.
I Like it very much, as I liked it in my teens.
The many ideas and a good artwork make the reading extremely intriguing.
Deathlok was a serial, in 1976, extremely innovative for those years. Too much, actually. So much than only in recent years the concept and themes of Buckler are readapted to the public.
The Deathlok story shifted from AT 33 to the appearence of the Character as antagonist of The Thing and than Captain America.
Now, after 35 years, I finally can read integrally the Deathlok's history.
I Like it very much, as I liked it in my teens.
The many ideas and a good artwork make the reading extremely intriguing.
Deathlok was a serial, in 1976, extremely innovative for those years. Too much, actually. So much than only in recent years the concept and themes of Buckler are readapted to the public.
March 15, 2024
Deathlok has an amazing design, love the design and the idea behind him, but man, is this book a mess.
The world building makes very little sense, past the fact that Rich Buckler watched 'Escape from NY', almost no one in the cast has a personality and Deathlok really needs a sidekick, as on his own, he is just a bundle of anger and angst.
The later team up comics are better, especially the marvel two in one issues.
The Captain America story is a nice attempt to wrap up the saga.
Nice to finally be able to read the whole 'saga', but it's an uneven jumble with nice art.
The world building makes very little sense, past the fact that Rich Buckler watched 'Escape from NY', almost no one in the cast has a personality and Deathlok really needs a sidekick, as on his own, he is just a bundle of anger and angst.
The later team up comics are better, especially the marvel two in one issues.
The Captain America story is a nice attempt to wrap up the saga.
Nice to finally be able to read the whole 'saga', but it's an uneven jumble with nice art.
May 27, 2017
„Deathlok – The Demolisher“ ist für die, welche sich auch für weniger populäre Marvel-Figuren interessieren und kein Problem mit Comics, Geschichten und dem trashigen Science-Fiction-Flair der 70er haben, sicher einen Blick wert. Hier liegt sicher kein Meilenstein vor und insbesondere die zweite Hälfte schwächelt, trotzdem haben Buckler und Moench einige interessante Ideen umgesetzt, die man in vielen erfolgreichen Filmen, Büchern und Comics wiederfindet.
February 27, 2022
Quite the original idea, often copied.
Good color artwork and plenty of it. Some of the visuals can be disturbing. A dead soldiers body is being operated by an onboard computer, his memories are gradually coming back. He's a bit of a drama queen? Eventually deathlok is in Captain America, and he acts more heroic. Has a happy ending?
Good color artwork and plenty of it. Some of the visuals can be disturbing. A dead soldiers body is being operated by an onboard computer, his memories are gradually coming back. He's a bit of a drama queen? Eventually deathlok is in Captain America, and he acts more heroic. Has a happy ending?
February 8, 2024
If Luther Manning was such a brilliant military strategist, why’d he get blown up in the 1st place? As strategies go, I’d give this assignment to Private Clownbottom.
March 11, 2017
Classic adventure
These classic comics stand out as something a little different from other comics of the time. A mixed collection this offers snippets of other titles that build on the time travel mythology to good effect.
These classic comics stand out as something a little different from other comics of the time. A mixed collection this offers snippets of other titles that build on the time travel mythology to good effect.
September 13, 2016
Part of the last great surge of new creations from Marvel. It may seem that the initial 1960s burst of creativity ended with Daredevil in 1964, but that was largely due to the physical limitations on Marvel's line of titles due to distribution troubles. Around the mid-70s, with Marvel now able to expand their line, the company took on a ton of talent and started pushing out new ideas like crazy. The first generation of superhero-fans-as-creators had joined the company, and they wanted to create their own characters. In just a few short years, this burst would create the All-New X-Men (including Wolverine), Ghost Rider, Thanos, Nova, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Moon Knight, Howard the Duck, and, this, Deathlok, from journeyman Rich Buckler.
Buckler's plotting is desultory and haphazard. The real joy comes in watching Buckler's attempts at incorporating cinematic storytelling beyond the standard Kirby-influenced stuff he was producing at the same time in Fantastic Four. It's the sort of thing Steranko infused his work with (albeit much more skillfully). Buckler starts with a convoluted flashback structure that only serves to complicate without much payoff. Fortunately, it's dropped soon thereafter, but there's still a lot of running around after countless MacGuffins with characters double-crossing each other without much purpose. Buckler (with a handful of others chipping in) ably handles the panel-to-panel storytelling, but doesn't wow with his illustrative prowess outside of a few arresting splash panels. This was a time of huge growth for Marvel, but the growing pains show. A lot of this work was obviously done very quickly and without a lot of long-term planning. Characters are introduced and only named in later issues (in one case, after he dies altogether), as Deathlok is manipulated by one person after another. The bulk of the book is one extended storyline that concludes as Deathlok finally gets the better of his creator. Buckler then starts a new direction that is almost immediately curtailed by the cancellation of the title. Fortunately, Marvel includes the issues from the succeeding years that continued Deathlok's story, concluding with a Captain America three-parter by the much more skilled team of J. M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck that adeptly pulls together all of the stray threads left by earlier writers and brings Deathlok's violent, convoluted time-spanning saga to a satisfactory conclusion.
Despite the uneven nature of the book and its obviously imperfect origins, it's a distinctive and offbeat vision from an overlooked creator, and probably Buckler's lasting contribution to comics. As is the case with most these Marvel collections, the high cover price (combined with the idiosyncratic contents) means it's for the enthusiast only.
Buckler's plotting is desultory and haphazard. The real joy comes in watching Buckler's attempts at incorporating cinematic storytelling beyond the standard Kirby-influenced stuff he was producing at the same time in Fantastic Four. It's the sort of thing Steranko infused his work with (albeit much more skillfully). Buckler starts with a convoluted flashback structure that only serves to complicate without much payoff. Fortunately, it's dropped soon thereafter, but there's still a lot of running around after countless MacGuffins with characters double-crossing each other without much purpose. Buckler (with a handful of others chipping in) ably handles the panel-to-panel storytelling, but doesn't wow with his illustrative prowess outside of a few arresting splash panels. This was a time of huge growth for Marvel, but the growing pains show. A lot of this work was obviously done very quickly and without a lot of long-term planning. Characters are introduced and only named in later issues (in one case, after he dies altogether), as Deathlok is manipulated by one person after another. The bulk of the book is one extended storyline that concludes as Deathlok finally gets the better of his creator. Buckler then starts a new direction that is almost immediately curtailed by the cancellation of the title. Fortunately, Marvel includes the issues from the succeeding years that continued Deathlok's story, concluding with a Captain America three-parter by the much more skilled team of J. M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck that adeptly pulls together all of the stray threads left by earlier writers and brings Deathlok's violent, convoluted time-spanning saga to a satisfactory conclusion.
Despite the uneven nature of the book and its obviously imperfect origins, it's a distinctive and offbeat vision from an overlooked creator, and probably Buckler's lasting contribution to comics. As is the case with most these Marvel collections, the high cover price (combined with the idiosyncratic contents) means it's for the enthusiast only.
November 27, 2020
There were some good ideas in here and they seemed surprisingly ahead of their time but the story was very uneven and disjointed.
I liked it okay but don't feel like I'll ever need to read it again.
I liked it okay but don't feel like I'll ever need to read it again.
June 21, 2024
I enjoyed the character deathlok, but because of the seemingly never ending storylines dragging on and on It took me along time to read.
Deathlok has alot of potential. Maybe in future issues the storylines
will improve.
Deathlok has alot of potential. Maybe in future issues the storylines
will improve.
January 16, 2016
This is truly a work that's ahead of its time by a decade. Deathlok's original, unfettered series in Astonishing Tales was a highwater mark for Marvel in the seventies: It hit the ground running and there were so many thematic innovations. Cyberpunk, Robocop, The Matrix, and many other sci-fi franchises owe a debt to Deathlok, since a lot of the now-common place themes were done first in the stories reprinted in this volume. This is what Marvel should STILL be doing, instead of endless crossovers and events - creating and publishing good, solid stories.
Doug Moench manages to make what might be a convoluted tale interesting and understandable for the youngster I was when I read it for the first time. He also managed to make a reader feel for this death-dealing cyborg, which considering the body count of the series, was a near-miraculous feat itself. The artwork is pencilled by comic book legend Rich Buckler; if Jack Kirby was the King of Marvel Comics' Sixties, Rich Buckler was the Crown Prince of the Seventies. The only artist who comes close to being as omnipresent (and as good) as him was the Royal Regent in the form of John Buscema.
This is a book any comic book or science fiction fan should have in their library. There is a cheaper color trade paperback of the same work out now (Deathlok the Demolisher The Complete Collection) as well, but if you can get this one for a reasonable price (I spent perhaps $10 more for this one than the trade on Amazon's Marketplace), I think this is one to get, just for the durability.
Doug Moench manages to make what might be a convoluted tale interesting and understandable for the youngster I was when I read it for the first time. He also managed to make a reader feel for this death-dealing cyborg, which considering the body count of the series, was a near-miraculous feat itself. The artwork is pencilled by comic book legend Rich Buckler; if Jack Kirby was the King of Marvel Comics' Sixties, Rich Buckler was the Crown Prince of the Seventies. The only artist who comes close to being as omnipresent (and as good) as him was the Royal Regent in the form of John Buscema.
This is a book any comic book or science fiction fan should have in their library. There is a cheaper color trade paperback of the same work out now (Deathlok the Demolisher The Complete Collection) as well, but if you can get this one for a reasonable price (I spent perhaps $10 more for this one than the trade on Amazon's Marketplace), I think this is one to get, just for the durability.
July 30, 2019
The idea of Deathlok was certainly ahead of its time: An unwitting cyborg who argues with his internal computer and struggles to find his humanity and new place in the world. It's been done countless times since then, notably in the movie Robocop.
Once the main plot of Deathlok finding his maker, getting revenge and seeing about being returned to normal, Buckler seemed to struggle with figuring out just what to do with him. Continue with the spy/espionage stories? Is he a superhero? Is he a hero or villain? There just didn't seem to be much focus after a certain point. Towards the end of this volume, Deathlok reappears in Captain America's book, and Dematteis did his best to wrap up Deathlok's previous stories and refocus him for the next writer.
Deathlok is another example of the breadth of imagination taking place at Marvel during this time.
Once the main plot of Deathlok finding his maker, getting revenge and seeing about being returned to normal, Buckler seemed to struggle with figuring out just what to do with him. Continue with the spy/espionage stories? Is he a superhero? Is he a hero or villain? There just didn't seem to be much focus after a certain point. Towards the end of this volume, Deathlok reappears in Captain America's book, and Dematteis did his best to wrap up Deathlok's previous stories and refocus him for the next writer.
Deathlok is another example of the breadth of imagination taking place at Marvel during this time.
August 14, 2016
The first part of this book is the Deathlok stories from Astonishing Tales. I had never read those before. These second part of the book is the Deathlok guest appearances from various Marvel titles that wrapped up the story. The first part was OK but the second part was better. I especially liked the 3 issues of Captain America by J.M. Dematteis and Mike Zeck that end this book.
May 10, 2020
Can't lie, I love the old school Deathlok story. I came here when a reinvention of the character featured on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I was not expecting a John Carpenter post-apocalyptic future, but it's pretty good.
March 17, 2016
Fun, high concept Marvel Comics from the 70s. Only loses me when The Thing and the rest of the FF appear in the last few stories.
January 19, 2020
Well, at least there’s that issue of Marvel Two-In-One where The Fantastic Four save Jimmy Carter Superstar from an assassination attempt on his Inauguration Day.
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