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scans_dailyThe first appearances of Death's Head.
Not his origins, no, that will come later (and may get a little murky, yes), but the first time readers were introduced to the mechanoid bounty hunter with a superiority complex and a zeal for capitalism.
And he appears alongside another race of mechanoids with special abilities, right?
Scans from Transformers (UK) #113 - #120
Death's Head's original appearances come via the Transformers comic, that was licensed to Marvel at the time.
In the UK a lot of creators found their feet working on licensed titles for the Marvel's UK based offices, including Grant Morrison writing for ZOIDS and Bryan Hitch on Transformers. There was a bit more freedom over the toy-centric stories of the more tightly controlled US books and the UK Transformers title was a combination of reprints from the US and stories produced by Marvel UK to slot in between. UK writers (almost exclusively Simon Furman at this point) picked up a lot of characters who had been ignored by the US title and ran with then.
Furman has since explained that Death's Head was intended as a throwaway character for the Transformers comic, who would die at the end of the storyline. But when Geoff Senior showed him preliminary sketches, Furman liked the look he decided to keep him around.
Depending on what story you believe, a one page strip was created and quickly published to ensure the character remained copyrighted to Marvel rather than being absorbed into Hasbro's license for Transformers, but the timeline has always been… hazy, so best not to look too closely, yes?
Furman has said that these early appearances were a bare bones version of the character, missing a lot of the deadpan humour and personality that developed later, but Death's Head certainly made a memorable first impression and as a reader at the time (yes, I am OLD), I feel like I had the same reaction as Furman. Geoff Senior came up with a unique design that made me want him to stick around.
Anyway, on with the show…
The robot world of Elpasos, Earth date 2007.
A wretched hive of scum and villainy, to be sure.
Where a poster offering a bounty for that era's Decepticon leader Galvatron, dead or alive, attracts the attention of a certain business-minded individual.
Never call him a bounty hunter, right? He's better than that.
Luckily the bartender is there to provide exposition on events so far in the UK Transformers comic. Insert events of Transformers: The Movie here, with the addendum of the UK comic's own mini epic Target: 2006.
In which, Galvatron time leapt back to the year 1986, along with his lieutenants Cyclonus and Scourge. There, they made short work of that era's Autobots and Decepticons and put into place a plan to destroy their unwanted master, the planet eating dark god Unicron with a weapon that would be triggered on their return to their own era. Needless to say, the plan was eventually thwarted, but after his defeat in Transformers: The Movie, Galvatron once again leapt back in the timeline to hole out in the (then) present day.
None of which is known to the future timeline's Autobot leader. Rodiumus Prime, who just knows Galvatron vanished and with the Decepticons regrouping under Shockwave and the war starting again in earnest, he can't spare the troops for a search. So what does he do?
Death's Head proves he's no idiot and figures out that if anyone is likely to know where Galvatron has gotten to, it'll be his closest supporters, Cyclonus and Scourge. He pops along to Cybertron to ask a few pointed questions of them…
Having beaten the information from the pair, Death's Head knows where to head. Back into the past! Using the same equipment as Galvatron, which does have a slight quirk, which a certain fan favourite Autobot has seen before.
Alas poor Bumblebee. At least Death's Head knows how to make an impression. And break US canon, where Bumblebee got blown up by GI Joe. I feel like, as deaths go, this is an upgrade. And certainly a surprise for readers of the comic at the time.
But nevermind, a time travelling Wreck-Gar will have Bumblebee back on his feet in no time and with a new look and name, no less!
Speaking of time travelling, Death's Head may now be in the right era, but he has no idea where to find Galvatron. Time to ask the locals! Because apparently he's less worried about people knowing he's in the present day when they're Decepticons.
Nice to see Soundwave's mind reading ability actually referenced for once. Although Laserbeak has a bit of a bad day.
After that run in, Death's Head disappears for a bit, while a bunch of Autobots leap back from the future themselves, led by Rodimus Prime, who has realized he's made a bit of a booboo by putting a bounty on Galvatron and setting him loose in the timeline.
Then there's the present day era Ultra Magnus, who has slight issues with Galvatron, having been thoroughly bested by him during his previous visit.
After that Death's Head's main involvement is to pop up at awkward times to stop Galvatron killing anyone, unless it's at a time of his choosing, yes? You know, when there's money in it.
Whoops. Don't worry, Death's Head fights on, but his plan to collect the bounty is curtailed when Rodimus Prime forcibly returns all the time travellers back to 2007.*
Which doesn't go down at all well. Next target? The Autobot leader himself.
But that's back in the future. Which is now our past. Time travel is complicated, yo.
*Except Galvatron, cos, bugger.
Not his origins, no, that will come later (and may get a little murky, yes), but the first time readers were introduced to the mechanoid bounty hunter with a superiority complex and a zeal for capitalism.
And he appears alongside another race of mechanoids with special abilities, right?
Scans from Transformers (UK) #113 - #120
Death's Head's original appearances come via the Transformers comic, that was licensed to Marvel at the time.
In the UK a lot of creators found their feet working on licensed titles for the Marvel's UK based offices, including Grant Morrison writing for ZOIDS and Bryan Hitch on Transformers. There was a bit more freedom over the toy-centric stories of the more tightly controlled US books and the UK Transformers title was a combination of reprints from the US and stories produced by Marvel UK to slot in between. UK writers (almost exclusively Simon Furman at this point) picked up a lot of characters who had been ignored by the US title and ran with then.
Furman has since explained that Death's Head was intended as a throwaway character for the Transformers comic, who would die at the end of the storyline. But when Geoff Senior showed him preliminary sketches, Furman liked the look he decided to keep him around.
Depending on what story you believe, a one page strip was created and quickly published to ensure the character remained copyrighted to Marvel rather than being absorbed into Hasbro's license for Transformers, but the timeline has always been… hazy, so best not to look too closely, yes?
Furman has said that these early appearances were a bare bones version of the character, missing a lot of the deadpan humour and personality that developed later, but Death's Head certainly made a memorable first impression and as a reader at the time (yes, I am OLD), I feel like I had the same reaction as Furman. Geoff Senior came up with a unique design that made me want him to stick around.
Anyway, on with the show…
The robot world of Elpasos, Earth date 2007.
A wretched hive of scum and villainy, to be sure.
Where a poster offering a bounty for that era's Decepticon leader Galvatron, dead or alive, attracts the attention of a certain business-minded individual.
Never call him a bounty hunter, right? He's better than that.
Luckily the bartender is there to provide exposition on events so far in the UK Transformers comic. Insert events of Transformers: The Movie here, with the addendum of the UK comic's own mini epic Target: 2006.
In which, Galvatron time leapt back to the year 1986, along with his lieutenants Cyclonus and Scourge. There, they made short work of that era's Autobots and Decepticons and put into place a plan to destroy their unwanted master, the planet eating dark god Unicron with a weapon that would be triggered on their return to their own era. Needless to say, the plan was eventually thwarted, but after his defeat in Transformers: The Movie, Galvatron once again leapt back in the timeline to hole out in the (then) present day.
None of which is known to the future timeline's Autobot leader. Rodiumus Prime, who just knows Galvatron vanished and with the Decepticons regrouping under Shockwave and the war starting again in earnest, he can't spare the troops for a search. So what does he do?
Death's Head proves he's no idiot and figures out that if anyone is likely to know where Galvatron has gotten to, it'll be his closest supporters, Cyclonus and Scourge. He pops along to Cybertron to ask a few pointed questions of them…
Having beaten the information from the pair, Death's Head knows where to head. Back into the past! Using the same equipment as Galvatron, which does have a slight quirk, which a certain fan favourite Autobot has seen before.
Alas poor Bumblebee. At least Death's Head knows how to make an impression. And break US canon, where Bumblebee got blown up by GI Joe. I feel like, as deaths go, this is an upgrade. And certainly a surprise for readers of the comic at the time.
But nevermind, a time travelling Wreck-Gar will have Bumblebee back on his feet in no time and with a new look and name, no less!
Speaking of time travelling, Death's Head may now be in the right era, but he has no idea where to find Galvatron. Time to ask the locals! Because apparently he's less worried about people knowing he's in the present day when they're Decepticons.
Nice to see Soundwave's mind reading ability actually referenced for once. Although Laserbeak has a bit of a bad day.
After that run in, Death's Head disappears for a bit, while a bunch of Autobots leap back from the future themselves, led by Rodimus Prime, who has realized he's made a bit of a booboo by putting a bounty on Galvatron and setting him loose in the timeline.
Then there's the present day era Ultra Magnus, who has slight issues with Galvatron, having been thoroughly bested by him during his previous visit.
After that Death's Head's main involvement is to pop up at awkward times to stop Galvatron killing anyone, unless it's at a time of his choosing, yes? You know, when there's money in it.
Whoops. Don't worry, Death's Head fights on, but his plan to collect the bounty is curtailed when Rodimus Prime forcibly returns all the time travellers back to 2007.*
Which doesn't go down at all well. Next target? The Autobot leader himself.
But that's back in the future. Which is now our past. Time travel is complicated, yo.
*Except Galvatron, cos, bugger.
