The End of an Era: Marvel Heroes #33, Reviewed

As you may have seen in my previous post, Marvel Heroes #33, released by Panini, the UK licensee for Marvel Comics, has become a book of substantial importance beyond its meeting between the incredible Hulk and the original Death's Head, making his first U.K. appearance in over a decade and a half. Due to Disney's edict, it's also the last issue released by Panini to feature original content. That explains the dedication on the final story page ("Dedicated, with much respect and admiration, to all those who worked at Marvel U.K.") as it was clearly known around the Panini offices that it was, indeed, the end of the road. Alas, I've blogged enough about the actual end of Marvel U.K., so now it's time to review this last, bittersweet memory of an issue.

The powers-that-be went all-out with this issue, not only furnishing "The Brute and the Bounty Hunter," the main eight-page story by Simon Furman and Simon Williams, but also "The Hero Inside," a seven-page prologue by Ferg Handley and John Ross, and a spotlight feature on Death's Head for those who might not be familiar. The book is clearly intended for younger readers, but the Hulk/Death's Head stories can be enjoyed by fans of all ages and degrees due to some rather interesting uses of continuity.

Handley and Ross' story begins with Bruce Banner, on the run against those who would capture him, meeting with Betty in a public spot. However, not all is as it appears, and soon the Hulk is loose and fighting General Ross' Hulkbusters! The soldiers have an unexpected ace up their sleeve and the battle ends quickly. S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives with Ross, and they reveal to Banner that they need his--that is, the Hulk's--help to eliminate an alien threat that old-time Marvelites will find vaguely familiar. (To say nothing of the situation itself and its echoes of "Planet Hulk.") It's a decent setup story with the same art style as in the U.S.' Marvel Adventures line; in fact, John Ross' art reminds me to a degree of the work of Andy Kuhn, a Hulk fan of some renown and artist of Image Comics' Firebreather. Handley's script is capable, too, and gets all the characters in the right place for the main event.

And it's the main event by Furman and Williams that succeeds beyond all expectations. Transported to the Blue Area of the Moon to face the aliens' champion, the brutish Hulk must restrain his savagery if he is to defeat him. That champion is, of course, Death's Head, looking and sounding exactly as he did in his earliest adventures at Marvel U.K. (In fact, his costume is the one he wore circa Transformers, Doctor Who Weekly and Dragon's Claws, which should inform you where the aliens snatched him from the timestream!) You can tell this is Simon Williams' dream project, as his art captures the raw power of the Hulk and the snarky attitude of Death's Head during their battle. The outcome is different than expected, but no less satisfying. Furman's script depicts everyone as spot-on as they could be, and Jason Cardy and Kat Nicholson's lush color palettes complete the package.

This two-part tale is a fitting end to Marvel U.K., teaming one of the U.S.' best-known heroes with one of the best characters to ever come out of the U.K. To have the main event written by one of the company's foremost talents of yesteryear and drawn by a terrific artist who's also a big time fan--that's icing on the cake. Again, I sincerely hope that Marvel U.S. reprints this tale--both parts--as a tribute, for these stories in this issue mark the end of an era.

If you're in a position to buy this gem, by all means, do it. If you're not, write to Marvel and request this tale, especially in light of recent news.

Quick Verdict: Do I really need to say it? Buy It.

~G.

An Ode to Marvel UK (May It Rise Again Someday)

I'm not based in the United Kingdom, and yet, I can't help but feel sad over news that Bleeding Cool editor-in-chief Rich Johnson broke today about the "death" of Marvel UK. The longstanding imprint, created in 1972 to further the Marvel brand around the world, was home to a great many noteworthy characters over the nearly four decades since it was established, and served as a breeding ground for new talent that would often find its way to U.S. shores. Now, following Disney's purchase of Marvel Comics in 2009, the new parent company has elected to not renew their license which permits production of new content, instead preferring to continue farming out reprints of U.S. content in all U.K.-published magazines.

What started out as a home for reprints of Marvel's U.S. content soon became more in 1976 with the landmark decision to have U.S. creators Chris Claremont (then writing the revival of Uncanny X-Men with artist Dave Cockrum) and Herb Trimpe (fresh off a seven-year run on Incredible Hulk) create Captain Britain, thus providing the fledgling branch's first original content, but not nearly the last. Although initially a success with full-color, weekly stories, sales nonetheless flagged and the series combined with their weekly Spider-Man title in less than a year. Marvel UK also experimented with a Star Wars title that combined U.S. reprints with original content by British creators.

Eventually, Marvel publisher Stan Lee recruited Dez Skinn to assume control of the line in 1979, and that's when the line caught fire. Skinn organized a host of talent for the weekly Hulk Comic consisting of David Lloyd (later of V for Vendetta), Steve Dillon (later of Preacher), John Stokes, Paul Neary and John Bolton, among others. He resurrected Captain Britain to co-feature in a Black Knight strip in the book, and revamped other books too. His most significant contribution was the licensing of the popular "Doctor Who" character from the BBC for his own weekly magazine.

Skinn left the company in 1981, and other editors took control eventually, including Bernie Jaye, Richard Starkings, and Paul Neary. The company increasingly focused on monthly publications more than weekly ones. Jaye was editor when Alans Moore and Davis began their magical run together on Captain Britain on Mighty World of Marvel and later Daredevils--probably, upon reflection, the apex of creativity at Marvel UK. In the mid-1980s, Marvel also acquired the licenses for the hot "G.I. Joe" and then-new "Transformers" properties from Hasbro, and the U.K.'s weekly comics matched--even exceeded--the popularity of their U.S. variants, in part because the U.K. had to tell more new stories due to the titles' frequency. Talent involved in this wave of stories included writer Simon Furman and artists Dan Reed, Geoff Senior, and another gent you folks might've heard of: Bryan Hitch (now of The Ultimates and The Authority fame) among many others.

Sweeping changes occurred at Marvel UK during the 1990s, just as with other companies. Editor Richard Starkings advocated a switch to the same comic format shared by the U.S. Several new series launched, including Death's Head, based on the character created by Furman and Senior in Transformers. Talent during these years included Furman, Hitch, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Liam Sharp, Gary Frank, Gary Erskine, Simon Coleby and Charlie Adlard, all of whom have since had their share of successes in the U.S. in recent years. Unfortunately, too many books released in such a short time, combined with the larger comics market suffering much the same problem in the mid-1990s, doomed the company, who became relegated to publishing almost exclusively reprints.

In 1995, the European company Panini bought Marvel UK's assets and continued to publish both reprints and new stories under license. Most of their original stories were published in series like Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Rampage, and the recent Marvel Heroes. In an ironic twist, the thirty-third issue of Heroes was already due to be a minor milestone with the return of Death's Head in battle with the incredible Hulk by original creator Furman and artist Simon Williams. That issue would, I'm told, become the final issue to feature original content from Marvel UK. And now, Marvel UK ends the way it began, as an all-reprint line.

Thankfully, Marvel UK did go out with a bang and not a whimper, at least as far as their last original story goes. (You can read an interview with that strip's artist Simon Williams here and I'll be reviewing that final two-part story featuring the Hulk/Death's Head fight later in the week, right here.) That said, I'm extremely disappointed and disheartened that Disney felt compelled to effectively kill the company, although I certainly can see their (selfish) reasons.

According to another article by Johnston on the Bleeding Cool site released shortly after the Disney purchase of Marvel, there were many markets in Europe where Panini and Disney were in direct competition with their magazines. Consider, then, that Panini held a license deal with Marvel to publish their books, which thanks to Marvel's new owners, meant that Disney was now having a percentage of their own product published through their key competitor. I get the unnerving feeling that blocking Panini from producing new content under the Marvel umbrella is but the first part of a series of developments, two years in the making, designed to bring all of Marvel's worldwide intellectual property under Disney's sole umbrella. I'm confident that Disney will next fail to renew any existing license, preventing Panini from releasing any reprints, meaning their remaining series like Marvel Heroes and their stellar graphic novel production program will go away. And then, Disney will be free to produce and distribute Marvel properties without a middleman like Panini reducing their profits.

Will Disney, with the freedom to distribute Marvel's properties in the overseas market, have use for a stable of exclusively foreign talent like what Panini had in Marvel UK? Sadly, I don't think so. In recent years, thanks to the efforts of Senior Vice President of Creative & Creator Development C.B. Cebulski, Marvel has become an increasingly global presence in their search for talent, eliminating the need for a "farm team" such as Marvel UK has historically been. Yes, it'd be nice for Marvel to assess the talent they had in their U.K. branch before summarily dismissing them, because I believe a good few of them could continue to serve the company and become real breakout talents if given the opportunity in the U.S. market. But it appears Marvel is treating them less as part of the family and more Those Guys Over At Panini Who Do Knockoffs Of Our Fine U.S. Work. Which is a bloody shame, to borrow the Brits' expression.

You guys out there--and I know you are because you've read this blog, my Twitter page, and that iFanboy interview with Simon Williams--will likely never experience that Hulk/Death's Head story on these shores, and it's sad, because it's some excellent work by the talents involved. Marvel U.S. seems to look down their nose at the U.K. folks, neglecting the decades of history that have sprung from across the pond. Sure, they'll glorify Bryan Hitch and put him on a pedestal--nice new gig on Avengers #12.1, yeah?--but then they'll give precious little respect to the company and the country that brought him to the attention of fans in the U.S. They'll reprint one measly story about Captain Britain, as told for the first time in years by British creators, but they'll stick it in a book nobody cares about that has atrocious sales figures (such as they did with the above Marvel Milestones). Marvel's Senior V.P. of Publishing Tom Brevoort barely acknowledged a post on his Formspring page that referenced the Death's Head/Hulk story, which tells you the level of his interest.

It's sad but true, but if fans really want to see this project come out in the U.S., they've got to raise a stink unparalleled in the industry today, and I really don't think that's going to happen. I can't imagine people are going to get angry enough over the eradication of Marvel UK that they'll care about this one little project. But comic fans, I'm going to ask you to do something for me, and for the creators of Marvel UK, who deserve a better send-off than they're getting.

If you arrived at this story via a Twitter link, retweet it. If you saw it on my Facebook page, click "Like" or reply to it. Use the tools at the bottom of this post and spread the word--link to this story from whatever social media sites you can. Send e-mail or actual letters to Marvel to voice your opinions. Post on your blogs. Let your voices be heard. Don't let Marvel UK go gently into that good-night. Tell the world!

Let's get this story retold in Marvel U.S., but on a major stage--in an actual issue of The Incredible Hulk at best, or at least, in a Marvel Vault one-shot like they've been doing this year. Come on, my friends. Stir the pot and make sure the U.S. acknowledges the departure of a once-formidable brother in the comics medium.

~G.

Freelance Peacekeeping Agent, Yes? (A Death's Head Primer, Huh?)

Welcome back! It's been a few days, what with recording another episode of the Spectacular Spider-Cast for release (probably) next week, and work, and all those other things that keep me from blogging for you! I have had a recent uptick in traffic to this site as result of having my series of articles on John Byrne's Hulk linked to from the Byrne Robotics Message Board, so for those of you who saw something you like and have elected to stick around: welcome! As always, I do enjoy suggestions for future posts, so if you want to see me cover something at this blog, just contact me at the e-mail address on the right side of this page. Now then, where were we, huh? A little talk about a Freelance Peacekeeping Agent, yes? (I hear you out there! You think I don't hear your snarky little "It's about time, yes?" bit? For shame!)

If you've read some of my older blogs, you've seen me review some of the work of a terrific British artist who's worked on some of the Marvel UK line and made his presence known at many a Transformers convention overseas. His name's Simon Williams, and he recently drew a story scripted by Simon Furman, another Brit talent of some renown, featuring the incredible Hulk in mortal combat with a character that not every Marvel fan on this side of the Atlantic knows/remembers: Death's Head!

I had some familiarity with the character before hearing about his return in the pages of this month's Marvel Heroes #33, so I didn't go into the interview or the Soulman Inc. Sketchbook review totally cold. He guest-starred in an issue of Walt Simonson's Fantastic Four run that featured a cross-time jaunt, and he'd also appeared in Sensational She-Hulk when I was reading that book. There was a Marvel Comics Presents story I'm pretty sure I barely glanced at (preferring to read that "Weapon X" feature by a chap named Barry Windsor-Smith...heard of him, yes?) as well as an issue of What If...? that told of what might've happened had the character not been reborn as Death's Head II. And as for Death's Head II, I vividly recall grabbing up the first four issues of his second, regular series, as well as the first issue of the reprint series The Incomplete Death's Head, before going back to the back issue bins for the four-issue miniseries by Marvel's UK imprint that destroyed the first Death's Head and integrated him into the Minion cyborg. I never picked up the series after that, and don't even mention the other spin-offs like Die-Cut and Death³ (even if they were written by a then-unknown, pre-Annihilation Dan Abnett).

You may have picked up from the above that Death's Head, the original character, was imported to these shores from Marvel UK, and it's from the UK (and the Book Depository website) that I ordered the two volumes I'm reviewing this go-round, Death's Head Vols. 1 & 2 (Panini Publishing, £14.99 ea.). The two books, released in 2006 and 2007, cover almost the entire span of the character's career, from his introduction in the one-page story "High Noon, Tex!" by Furman and future superstar Bryan Hitch (now notable for The Ultimates); through guest appearances in Doctor Who Magazine and Dragon's Claws; ten issues of his own eponymous series and a graphic novel, The Body in Question; and finally several guest-appearances, many of which I mentioned as my earliest exposure to the character. The set, sadly unavailable in the United States (unless, of course, you order from overseas), is truly the best--nay, the only--complete resource for fans wishing to learn more about this most worthwhile character.

Death's Head resulted from Transformers writer/artist team Simon Furman and Geoff Senior's push to introduce more characters for their series. As result of Britain's weekly schedule as opposed to Marvel US's monthly one, Marvel's UK office had to generate many more stories than its American counterpart. Originally Death's Head, dreamt up as a bounty hunter charged with finding and eliminating the evil Transformer, Galvatron, was to have been a one-off character, but Senior's off-kilter design sparked something in Furman's imagination, and a cult legend was born! Not wanting the character to become absorbed by Hasbro, the owner of the other Transformers characters, Furman introduced the character before his first appearance in Transformers in the aforementioned one-page strip, "High Noon, Tex!" assuring that Marvel would keep the copyright.

The then-giant robot appeared in two major Transformers story arcs beginning in issue #113 and continuing intermittently through #151, both of which can be found in Titan Books' collections, Fallen Angel and Legacy of Unicron. I actually have yet to finish reading either volume, so I can't speak for the quality of the stories...however, knowing Furman and Senior's work elsewhere, it's certain to be excellent. In his next appearance in Doctor Who, the time-traveling Doctor tricked Death's Head, reducing him to human size so that he could interact with the rest of Marvel UK's properties, the first of which was the elite law-enforcement team Dragon's Claws, based in the year 8162 and also created by Furman and Senior. From there, Death's Head landed his own series, and the legend began in earnest.

The stories in Death's Head Vol. 1--collected in the US only partially in the trade paperback The Life and Times of Death's Head and in totality albeit with various unnecessary framing sequences in The Incomplete Death's Head--are a profoundly interesting showcase for the character, who never fails to get into lots of trouble. Chiefly by Furman and Hitch, the stories begin in 8162 in Britain and proceed forward, first to Los Angeles of the same time period, where Death's Head sets up something of an office, taking odd cases. Then thanks to another timely intervention by the Doctor in the first adventure in Death's Head Vol. 2, he's sent backward through time to the modern era (c. 1988) where he encounters the Fantastic Four and is then pingponged forward through time to meet Arno Stark, the Iron Man of 2020. After his series is over, he again travels through time to meet his maker, and then goes from time period to time period in various guest appearances.

To appreciate Death's Head, it certainly helps to have a warped sense of humor, as the character himself wallows in dark humor, from his observations to merely his normal speech patterns (ending nearly every sentence in "yes?" or "huh?"). He has a partner, Spratt, he doesn't want, and together (more or less), they find themselves involved in outrageous situation after outrageous situation, with disastrous/hilarious consequences. For example, in issue #4 Death's Head is hired to kill Plaguedog, a bio-engineered killer dog kept by mob boss Undertaker, by Undertaker's competitor Dead Cert. What he doesn't know as he infiltrates Undertaker's place is that Plaguedog has actually been sent to his new office, where Spratt has decided to take in the new surroundings. Hilarity ensues, and the adventure earns Death's Head a new enemy in Undertaker, who appears throughout some of the remaining issues.

The art in both volumes is by a who's who of British talent, from co-creator Geoff Senior, to Bryan Hitch, to Lee Sullivan, Liam Sharp, John Higgins, Art Wetherell and Mike Collins. Of them all, Senior and Hitch seem to have the firmest grasp on the character's mannerisms, but that's probably because they're the longest-tenured artists on the strip. Senior's art in The Body in Question, the Death's Head origin story, is near-revelatory, with terrific layouts and eye-popping colors. It's clearly the centerpiece of the second volume and perhaps of the entire series.

A graphic novel is only as good as its presentation, and Panini earns mixed marks here. While the books are sturdy and heavy--certainly sturdier than Marvel's US collections--the reproduction sometimes falters, and it's a problem I've had with their previous publications, as well. It's very apparent that with a handful of exceptions near the end of the second volume, virtually every issue has been scanned directly from hard copies of the actual published issues rather than reproduced from any original films (if, in fact, any films exist). Often one may see the ink reflection from a facing page, or some hint of the art from the other side of a page. It's distracting but not necessarily a deal-breaker. The reproduction still looks very good, with The Body in Question an obvious standout. Panini rounded out the package with a set of terrific, lengthy introductions by creator Simon Furman, and capped off both books with new artwork courtesy Geoff Senior, Lee Sullivan, Dave Roach, and Simon Williams (whose colorist Jason Cardy provides the best gag with Death's Head's gun, upon which is stamped an arrow pointing at the barrel with the words "Toward Enemy, Yes?").

I read both volumes of Death's Head over one weekend and I have to say, I understand the appeal and look forward to reading that Hulk/Death's Head story that was published in the UK last week. (Hint! Hint!) If you haven't read Death's Head's adventures before, well, I suppose the only question I have to ask if you've made it this far is, "What's stopping you, yes?"

~G.

Lest Ye Forget: MARVEL HEROES #33 is Now at UK Newsagents!

Written by original Death's Head creator Simon Furman and illustrated by Simon Williams, an all-new eight-page feature pitting Death's Head against the ever-incredible Hulk is now available in the UK! Pick up Marvel Heroes #33 from your local newsagent today!

If you're outside the UK, chances are you don't immediately have the opportunity to own this collector's item (or to even read the story, yes?). I can only say if you're a fan in the US and at all interested in seeing the feature reprinted here, your best option is to inundate Marvel Comics with letters (to Hulk Office, c/o Marvel Comics, 417 5th Ave., New York, NY 10016), e-mails (to mondomarvel@marvel.com), whatever you can to convince them to run the story on this side of the Atlantic! Tell your friends to do the same!

You wouldn't want to make these guys angry, yes?

~G.

iFanboy Strikes Again: Simon Williams on Hulk Vs. Death's Head!

This is the part where the guy down below says, "You aren't here for me, you're here for the moron with green skin, yes? The one that you hope will smash my arse into the middle of next week? Keep dreaming, yes? And make with the clicking where you'll see iFanboy's exclusive interview with the artist who brought me back to print, Simon Williams! Then, send an e-mail to Marvel in the US so you guys get to see me too, or...or something. Or I'll send the green guy after you for some Hulk Smashing or whatever he calls it, yes?"

P.S.: I'd do what he says! (Also, stay tuned for my eventual reviews of my newly-acquired graphic novel collections featuring the original Death's Head, as pictured above!)

~G.

At Last: The Monster & The Mercenary!

Compadres,

Have you ever seen story, or art, that needed attention? That's how I'm feeling right now. A while back I became aware of an artist's work--I first saw it, I think, in the Hero Initiative's Hulk 100 Project (available in softcover or hardcover from my local comic shop, Atomic Comics). This artist, whose name is hardly recognized in the U.S., has a crystal-clear appreciation for the work of early Hulk artists, particularly the great Sal Buscema, Ernie Chan, and other talents who had their heyday at Marvel during the 1970s. His name is Simon Williams (not to be confused with that other Simon Williams, Marvel Comics' Wonder Man) and to old-time Hulk fans like yours truly, his work is a revelation. He's also done some artwork on the DVD covers to all the Hulk's animated series in the United Kingdom--and done a bang-up job on each volume. I had to find more, and find it I did. Recently, I had the opportunity to read his sketchbook, Soulman Inc. Sketchbook: The Comic Artwork of Simon Williams.

In the tradition of those kooky 70s classics!

I know, I know: "Gary," you ask, "How do you read a sketchbook? Aren't you just supposed to look at the pretty pictures?" While that may be true with ordinary sketchbooks, this one has a special genesis. While taking a break from drawing comics, Simon would doodle from time to time, and as should be obvious, the Hulk is just about his favorite character. But he also holds the original bounty hun--er, "freelance peacekeeping agent" Death's Head in high esteem. So a series of sketches became a comic pitting the two characters against each other. It started over on Deviant Art, but soon mutated, until the finished product became available in this sketchbook, available at conventions the artist attended. I'm betting copies of it are long gone, but the story inside, well, it's a real treat.

Written and drawn by Williams, who freely acknowledges the work of many of the characters' greatest writers and artists, "The Monster and the Mercenary" is a 17-page smashfest. Its page count and overall tone echo the era in which the story is set, shortly following the death of the Hulk's beloved Princess Jarella (circa The Incredible Hulk #205). The tale is simple: still reeling from losing his love, the Hulk seeks solitude in the desert, but instead finds the first Death's Head, hired by persons unknown to off the Green Goliath. Along the way, Williams includes a some delightful cameos from other characters familiar to readers of both US and UK audiences, as well as nods to past and current continuity.

Why must Hulk always be alone?

What I found most thrilling about the story, aside from the artwork that is clearly the centerpiece, is the talent the artist has for finding the characters' unique voices. The savage Hulk of the 1970s and early 1980s has one of the most difficult "voices" of all of comics, with Death's Head not all that far behind. It's far too easy to treat the Hulk as a fool, a simpleton, and writers today have fallen into the sad habit of underestimating him (just like his foes). The Hulk in this story is savage, he's crafty, and in a word, he's incredible. Similarly, Death's Head has just the right tinges of humor in his dialogue that would make his creator, Simon Furman, proud. (Evidently, it did make him proud, because he provided the sketchbook's introduction.)

Overall, "The Monster and the Mercenary" is a great deal of fun, well deserving of a wider audience beyond the print run of the sketchbook. Fortunately, Williams' work on this sketchbook has led to a "real" battle between Death's Head and the Hulk in the March issue of the UK magazine Marvel Heroes. In fact, I've been able to interview Simon Williams about that particular 8-page adventure that's being printed in full color. If you're lucky, sometime soon after I post this little review, you'll be able to see that article as hosted by the good folks over at iFanboy.com!

Simon's an underrated talent deserving of wider recognition. You can see his Deviant Art gallery from the link up above, plus he's got a blog of his own here. If veteran inker Joe Rubinstein calls him one of the best Hulk artists he's ever had the pleasure of inking (and he's inked Sal Buscema, the Romitas, Herb Trimpe and Dale Keown!), then I think that really says something. Pay him a visit, ladies and gents!

That's gotta hurt, yes?

Oh, and by all means, spread the love everywhere you can online, and maybe the U.S. will see the new Death's Head/Hulk story. It could happen, yes?

~G.