Who the Hell is: BLACK AXE?

Yeah, I bet some of you were wondering if you'd ever see any more of these, weren't you?

And do you know the best part about asking 'Who the Hell is Black Axe?'
is? I can't actually tell you.

Confused? Let me explain.

Black Axe was created by Michael W Bennett and Edmund Perryman, for his own ongoing series, pencilled by Perryman and written by Simon Jowett. It came out in 1993, running for a grand total of 7 issues. He even had John Romita Jr do a few of his covers.


But I can't tell you who the hell Black Axe is with complete certainty, because when the whole series ended abruptly with #7 (As several of the Marvel UK ongoing books did, at that time) Black Axe's true origins and identity were yet to be revealed.

You see Black Axe was devised as (and remained as) an enigma. Known to the select few in the Marvel Universe AS Black Axe (Mys-Tech, The Hand, the creators of the Minion project), but in terms of who he actually was? That’s a bit more complicated. In the seven issues we had he was shown to have been an immortal being of unspecified race, who had been active in many time periods throughout history - From ancient Egypt to Feudal Japan, from the American Civil War to Britain in the thick of World War 2. An immortal being who has kept himself hidden by taking on a plethora of assumed identities and aliases across history - living them out for as long as is useful, before faking their death and moving on.

His last know alias was Robert Hyde - an identity he held during World War Two. But he apparently retired that alias in 1961 (The papers reporting how he had died in a local accident), leaving his entire estate in Loch Lanark, Scotland, to one Emily Hall - a young orphan girl whom ‘Hyde’ had rescued from London at the height of the blitz years. She maintained the property as per the instructions left in his will. His turning up alive (albeit beaten to within an inch of his life) on her doorstep, looking not a day older in 1993, came as bit of a surprise.


Although we can't be certain what exact race Black Axe belongs he does at least appear human, and to be of terrestrial origin. He is also shown to be a highly trained and effective assassin, possessed of some incredibly sharp reflexes, enhanced senses (Smell in particular), enhanced strength, stamina and durability. Part of this could simply be down to centuries of training, but as is shown in the very first issue he can take one hell of a lot of pounding without suffering terminal damage - due in part to his own fairly incredible durability and in part to the incredibly complex armour he wears.



Oh yeah, and he’s got a really Big Axe...

Although I'm guessing you probably noticed that.

Seriously, I mean LOOK at it! It's bigger than HE is!

This was the 90s, of course, and over-sized weaponry was the style of the day. Even Cable would have been proud of a weapon THAT over-sized…

The modified axe and armour are two examples of the spoils of Black Axe’s centuries on this planet. He has accrued wealth, and a shed load of tech, to assist him in his activities - which in his case is working as a merc for hire to a very select and privileged few. Its unknown as to whether he built the kit he wears or if he acquired it, but he certainly knows how to use and service it to it's best. And not only can that armour take a lot of damage, it's packed full of sensors and systems which help the guy to formulate battle-plans - predicting opponents moves and coming up with countermeasures. He's like a dark ages, but high-tech, version of Iron Man in there. ;)

That big, black, axe itself is also complete with gadgets. Although some of the,m rather defeat the point of it. For example, what is the point of giving the guy a huge hand weapon, and then allowing him to fire laser beams out of its hilt? That one still doesn't sit right with me...

Slightly more practical, though, is an in-built teleportation system. He can use it to travel instantly to other locations, even carrying a limited number of passengers with him. However using it over any large distance does drain the energy in the axe pretty quickly, and therefore only short distance jumps are really advisable.


I guess what some of you are asking though, is do I think that a character who has that much 1990s styling is still usable in modern comics. Well, I kinda do. Not because of his near indestructibility, mind you (I definitely think a few very creative chinks in his armour would be much needed to make him believable), but more so because he's still quite an open-ended character in terms of development. He has some interestingly established backstory - the concept of all these former aliases, and appearances in past history - but remains an enigma. We don't have his full origin, just glimpses of his former personas.


There's plenty of room for work here. A new writer could present us with more past personas, do a storyline tying past personas in with modern events, or even give us their own take on an origin story.

This guy's immortal, right? And aside from the tech he does have some very natural more than human powers. How did that come about? What other Marvel race might he belong to? I find myself wondering, as I look at the style in which Perryman pencils Black Axe's technology (such as Hephaestus Four -the life support system he has in the basement of the house in Loch Lanark) I definitely see some strong influences of Jack Kirby and John Romita Jnr at work, with all those straight lines, sharp angles and intentional details.


Couple that with a guy who even names his tech after a Greek God and i find myself wondering if he isn't in some way related to The Eternals? A black sheep of the family, perhaps? Or some long lost relation? That'd certainly be tallyable with the recent Neil Gaiman/John Romita Jnr reboot of the characters.

He certainly has the presence of a higher being about him, that's for sure. When Mephisto touches his mind in #3 he is unable to twist Black Axe to his will. He cast him aside, stating that

"No Lust. No ambition. Such a singularity in purpose is unique, but alas is of no use to me... My darlings, he is yours!"

It's also worth stating that after trying to cast him aside Black Axe fights back and engages the demon. Mephisto is unable to destroy him, and Black Axe actually manages to draw blood. Considering how powerful a deity Mephisto is the marvel Universe, that's no mean feat.

That singularity in purpose, that need to pursue the goal of being the perfect assassin and to celebrate it almost as if her were a representative OF it, is followed throughout his series. Death's Head tells of how in his own time period Black Axe has become almost a legend. Many historians can prove his presence across history, but while many have hunted for him none have been able to find him. He says that it is believe that he retired at some point (Presumably after he terminated his Robert Hyde persona) as there was nobody left to challenge him. Quite possibly. It was the 60s and the world had changed. People clamouring to celebrate peace and love. Even the superheroes of the day were not as powerful as he is shown to be here, and war was being waged in a much more technological and less confrontational manner.

Black Axe states that one of his great regrets in coming out of his retirement is that,

"After centuries of scheming, fighting and killing, I took on the challenge of peace... and failed".

Exploring what truly motivated him to come out of retirement, and who he truly is could make for a genuinely interesting story. His armour, and indeed his axe, are shown as varying greatly in size, shape and styling over the ages. Put down the eccentricity of the 90s as the reason for their quirky appearance in 1993 and there's plenty ways of reshaping him into a more post-2000-friendly shape, I'm sure.

I doubt you'd get that many people ready to pick up a new Black Axe ongoing series, sure, but he's not without potential on other books.

Well, I think so, anyway.

If I don't get the chance before folks, let me wish you all a very Merry Christmas. We have something planned for a Christmas Blog - but we're debating as to whether it's possible to get it ready in time to post up on Christmas day. If it is, then there will be a Twitter alert on the day.

As with all of these Who the Hell is...? articles please feel free to add your tuppence worth.

Speak soon

Mark
(Pre-Christmas Sword)

Who the hell is : Tangerine?

So... there's this new incarnation of Excalibur due out later this year, and as speculation has begun to grow over who might be on the new roster (Or, more often than not, who people WANT on the new roster ;-) ) one name has kept cropping up, on several of the larger messageboard communities online. And much to my rather pleased surprise it's not one of the bigger name founding Excalibur members (Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Lockheed and Rachel Summers are all pretty busy elsewhere, these days), nor is it one of those almost or part-time members like Psylocke (One guest membership), The Black Knight (Two guest tours, now), or Chamber (One guest spot, but the promise of a follow-up which never came), it's a far more obscure character from Excalibur's past (Or futures, depending on your viewpoint), one young British woman named Tangerine.

You'll be forgiven for asking just who the hell Tangerine actually is, because in all truth she has only appeared in Excalibur in a grand total of three issues, directly. Her powers were kind of cool, but we didn't even get to know her real name. And yet somehow this character, initially created by Alan Davis during his run as writer AND artist on Excalibur, has left an impression on a number of readers, wanting to see more of her.

The first reference to Tangerine actually comes in Excalibur (vol.1) #54, while Alistaire Stuart (Remember him? The young Scottish scientist guy - and probably the longest serving unofficial member of Excalibur ) and Kitty Pryde are working on Widget, when he suddenly screams out a warning.



It's not until #66, though - in the two-part story Days of Future Yet to Come - that we actually find out what all that was about. And that's something which I really loved about the original Excalibur. Seemingly unexplained moments, and events, would suddenly become so incredibly important to a story months, even years, down the line. Heck, Colin McKay disappeared into a dimensional portal in #2, and it was some 40 odd issues before he returned as Kylun. Of course, you do have to wonder how much of it was planned, and how much was written purely on the hoof. But either way you have to respect the way it all worked out. Absolute magic.

In #66 we see Rachel Summers (And she’s still powered up with The Phoenix at this point) take the entire of Excalibur into her future, where they visit the Britain of her time period. Just like her America this Britain is run by Sentinels, and the team have to throw down with Ahab, Rachel’s former master – from her days enslaved as a psychic-hound, hunting mutants. Only they are not alone. This issue is real coup for all Marvel UK fans, because in this future we see pretty much all the UK heroes of the imprint years in the same place at the same time - From Dark Angel, Motormouth & Killpower, to a number of Knights of Pendragon, Death’s Head and Union Jack. But amongst their number is one young woman we’ve never seen before.

Her name is Tangerine.


As you can see, that’s quite some crazy get-up – Giant ginger afro and flared apparel – but her actual powers are what are vastly more interesting. Tangerine is an empath, and what that effectively means is that rather than reading thoughts and minds in the way in which we usually see psychic-powered characters operating in Marvel books, Tangerine kind of picks up vibes from all life around her – accessing their emotions, dreams and memories. She was able to read Widget in this way, as at the time the Kate Pryde of Rachel’s time was broadcasting her personality into Widget, in a bid to contact Rachel.


As a result, Tangerine was also able to use this empathy as a kind of early warning system. Think about it, you spend your whole life constantly mentally connected to everything living thing around you. The second that something bad arrives within the vicinity of that area, some life form or other is going to know about it. And if they know, then you know, too. That’s pretty handy in a world where you're being hunted. However, it does also have its down side, too. You see Tangerine doesn’t just have access to the collected emotions of others around her - she has access to their memories too. In #67 all the heroes travel to The Hive, where the other heroes had been holding up. Only the sentinels had found them. Simply by being in the area Tangerine relived the moments of their death, literally, from memories present in the area.

Okay, I'm sure some of you are saying, 'Interesting power set. But how come so many people remember her from such a short appearance?'

Well, that's because that wasn't the last we'd see of Tangerine. It would be a good 27 issues later, but it would be none other than Warren Ellis to bring her back from limbo. For those of you who never read any of Ellis' run on Excalibur I would very much recommend that you did. Sadly, it never has been traded - which is a crime in itself - but what Ellis managed to do with the book, above all else, was undo a lot of the damage which Scott Lobdell had done to it. Namely by giving it a bit more of its cultural identity back, expanding its roster to be a bit more British and European, and by trying to make characters who Lobdell had generally mucked up a bit... work again.

A great example of that would be how he dealt with Brian Braddock (Captain Britain). With #67, the end of the story described above, Alan Davis parted company with Excalibur and Lobdell replaced him. In his very first issue in charge Lobdell claimed that Cap had been 'lost in the time-stream' as Rachel brought them back home, somewhere off-panel and in-between issues. Pretty shonky writing, I'm sure you'll agree. But nowhere near as bad as Brian returning several months later, calling himself 'Britannic,' with flaming energy eyes and only speaking in monosyllables... (Although that’s probably best as a subject for another blog….)

Ellis tried to repair that, by actually playing with the concept that after having seen every moment in human history, whilst trapped in the time-stream, a) Brian found fighting to be ultimately pointless, and began a short-lived but effective retirement, and b) Started experiencing a series of 'Future-echoes' showing him glimpses of what was to come.

The rather gothic-structured Excalibur #94, is probably the best example of this. The story Days of Future Tense is set in the Britain of 2013. With another nod to the classic X-Men storyline Days of Future PAST we are told that in this future the Sentinels did take over America. When the fighting began, the former X-Men among Excalibur went to help their comrades.

And they perished.

But it didn’t stop there. The Sentinels expanded their reach across the world. Very few Countries hold their own against the Sentinels. Britain is one of them. But they’ve only done so because of Black Air.

Yes, Black Air. As in the bad guys who were running British military intelligence in the latter part of Excalibur. Their keeping Britain safe has resulted in being given the power to turn Britain, effectively, into a totalitarian state. I guess when you've saved the Country from gigantic robots trying to invade, people are more likely to give you a bit more trust, eh?

Luckily, there’s still an Excalibur to fight against that. Only, no Excalibur that you might have thought about.

Of that Ellis's Excalibur only four members remain. Wolfsbane is still on board, and Captain Britain and Meggan are still there - but Cap's not in charge. Instead the X-Men are led by the now wheelchair bound Pete Wisdom and the former New Mutant Karma (Xi'an Coy Manh). Based out of the ruins of Braddock Manor, they are joined by its other former resident, Psylocke, and (You've guessed it) another version of Tangerine! ;-)


However, this version is notably different from the Davis character. Obviously, in styling. Gone is the Afro - in comes the long hair, the glasses are there, but they're not round anymore; all round this is black ops and black leather re-envisioning. But where as Davis' Tangerine seemed to very respectful of the use of her powers, Ellis' Tangerine is not. She wanders around the heads of her team-mates as she pleases - their thoughts, their memories... their dreams.

That panel in particular always raises a slightly twisted smile on my face. Remember that this is coming at the peak of the Psylocke/Angel romance in X-Men. We know what 'burning wings' really meant...

So yes, Ellis' Tangerine is a bit of a bitch. She is a talented Psi (she'd need to be to breach Betsy's own defences) but certainly not entirely at ease with her powers. Compared, in battle, to Psylocke in this issue she's certainly not on the same level. But then she does have a very different psi-power to Betsy. She does have Psi-blasts at her disposal - we saw her use them against Ahab in #66 - but it's not her primary skill. I feel that there is a lot of potential in the character, but of course the bizarre thing is that to date we've never seen a version of Tangerine in mainstream, present day, Marvel continuity. And I have to wonder why, because I personally think the character has a lot to offer.

In fact, right now, I think that she probably has more to offer than many. Why? Well, because both appearances of the character place her in what appears to be her 20s in the years 2015 and 2013, respectively. So that would make her a teenager in present continuity.

What is perhaps more interesting is, reading between the lines, that would also make her a teenage Mutant - and since a certain little story named House of M young teenage mutants are pretty few and far between. Especially in Britain - They're like gold dust! If a young Tangerine were to exist, still learning to come to terms with her powers, she could be the perfect kind of character to include on any new incarnation of the team. A character from classic Excalibur, but with the scope for a whole world of development.

And it's always handy to have a psychic on any team, right? But with Tangerine you get so much much more. I've always pictured that somewhere in Marvel's Britain she has to be out there - probably as a quite disturbed teenager (maybe even institutionalised) but possessed of this brilliant gift. She has the potential to be a mind-reader, a tracker and an alarm system all in one. Who else can offer that, eh?

Well, that's my tuppence worth, anyway. Make of it what you will.

Do you remember Tangerine? Do you think I right? Do you think I'm wrong? Do you think I'm just glad to have finally got this piece finished, after such a ridiculous number of delays? Do you think I'm going to disappear now, and read Clandestine #1?

Well, the latter I can confirm - I am going to go and do that, now. I'll feedback as soon as get a chance, as I'm going to be out seeing Coheed & Cambria in Birmingham tomorrow night, but it will come. I've been looking forward to this one, for a while.

As always, comments more than welcome.

Who the Hell is: MORTIGAN GOTH?

In comparison to my Who the hell is: DIGITEK piece (where I featured a character who while sound as a concept, I felt required a lot of work creatively in order to fit into modern comics) the character of Mortigan Goth is a very different story.



Back in the early 90s, shortly before the demise of Marvel UK, a new sub-imprint of the brand was introduces - Marvel Frontier Comics. Frontier comics differed in approach to the rest of the Marvel UK line in as much as, primarily, they did not deal with Superheroes per se, but with characters closer tied to the more fantasy related areas of Marvel Comics and the occult. In that respect it is perhaps possible to draw a parallel between these books and DC comics' Vertigo imprint - in a way which Marvel US's MAX line has never quite managed. Creatively, as Marvel UK came to a close, it seemed more likely that in all likelihood this was really the direction which the imprint would have continued in, had it continued itself. It was something very different, and infinitely held more possibilities than the standard hero comics could offer. The imprint launched in 1993, with four limited series, and later a one shot anthology book - Marvel Frontier Comics Special #1. Among the people involved with the line, were the likes of Simon Jowett, Charlie Adlard, Liam Sharp, David Hine and even D'Israeli. It really makes you wonder just what could have been.




Anyway, among those limited series was the book I'm choosing to focus on, here, Mortigan Goth: Immortalis, by Nick Vince and Mark Buckingham. Nick's name you might recognise from his work on Marvel UK's Warheads, and Buckingham from everything from Marvelman to Fables. Mortigan, on the other hand, you probably don't. Aside from this four issue mini, a prequel story in the Frontier Comics Special, and an entry in a recent Marvel Official Handbook, Mortigan has not appeared anywhere else.


And frankly, I have wonder how and why? Because, as I see it, here we have one completely rounded character, with ties to the mainstream Marvel Universe through Doctor Strange and to Marvel UK via the Falsworth family.

And, of course, because he's pretty bloody interesting. ;-)


Basically, at its simplest, Mortigan's story is one of a Faustian pact made with Mephisto.


(Note: While in the mainstream Marvel Universe Mephisto has, at best, been a bit of a pantomime villain, this was not the case across his many appearances in titles for Marvel UK. Here he very much appears as The Devil, with all the powers that provides. He's the kind of devil who plays sick little games with mankind, daily, and in a Clive Barker-esque way. Not so nice.)


Mortigan Goth's story begins in 1349 AD, in England, with the country firmly in the grip of the plague. Mortigan is returning to his hometown, after some years away, and is overwhelmed with despair at seeing thousands dying of plague as he makes is way home. Feeling sure that God has abandoned mankind, he finds himself pleading to the devil, to spare his life.


And curiously, the devil actually answers.


Mephisto is interested in Mortigan, because he sees in him a soul which is bright enough to inspire hope in others - and, well, that's the kind of thing that could really throw a spanner in the works for him right now. So, he proposes that he and Mortigan play chess together (Anybody else having a Bill & Ted flashback, right now?), gambling Mortigan's soul for the chance of immortality. Only, much to Mephisto's amazement and annoyance Goth actually wins. Immortality is his.

But naturally it doesn't end there.

When Mortigan returns home he finds his mother dying of plague, and that his sister has been hanged by the local priest, for having murdering her infant. An infant who, as it turns out, was fathered by the priest. It's all a little bit messed up...

But being the good son and brother he is, Mortgan goes to sort the priest out, only for Mephisto to stop him. Apparently he has other plans, for the priest. He has promised him Immortality, also, in exchange for the killing the unknowing townsfolk - all of whom have begun to worship Mephisto in hope that they too will be saved. To seal the deal, Mephiosto demands the priest slays the youngest infant of the town. But Mortigan steps in. He offers his soul in exchange for the child's. He's immortal now! What the hell does he have to fear? It's not going to kill him.


Bad move. Because Mephisto takes his soul, and leaves Mortigan to be stoned into unconsciousness by the now angry and despairing townsfolk. He awakes weeks later, in a plague pit, the whole town having died.


Mephisto then appears to him again, taunts him for his choice, and names him 'Immortalis'. Mortigan vows that he will spend his immortal life fighting the devil, at every turn. But Mephisto tells him that for every hurt he tries to do him, he will torture his soul at thousand times. Mephisto's curse is that Mortigan will be forced to watch mankind's suffering for the whole of history, knowing that he could help, but daring not to for what Mephisto will do if he tries.


And there's your pathos.


So, other than having a surname which is now more associated with overly emotional teenagers than the macabre, what do we know about Mr Goth which is of practical interest?


Well, Mortigan is immortal - although, while he cannot die he does feel pain, and can suffer injury. It just won't prove fatal.


He travels around the world, and has encountered a number of Marvel characters in his past. He has also gathered a rather impressive knowledge of the occult - partly in the hope that he could use these things against Mephisto, partly because... well, what else do you do to pass the time?


Throughout the four issue mini (Which I would also like to say is actually pretty well-written, and stands the test of time far better than many Marvel UK titles) the focus is mainly on a story in the present day (or at least present day for 1993), with most of the origins of the character shown in flashbacks. That central story surrounds rumours that Mortigan has been travelling the world, and killing off other immortal. Doctor Strange, who has known Mortigan for many years, travels to England to speak to him, at the one address where he is most likely to be found; Falsworth Manor - Home to one Jacqueline Falsworth, the woman who is better known as the British superhero Spitfire (who fought alongside Captain America and the Sub-mariner as part of the ww2 team The Invaders).




(As a note to fit this story into continuity, at this point Jacqueline has not yet had the second blood transfusion from the original Human Torch, which made her the sprightly young thing we've recently seen in New Invaders or Ed Brubaker's Captain America. She's a woman very much in her late 60s, at this point, and long since retired as a hero. Doctor Strange is also without many of his original powers at this point, having refused to serve the Vishanti in the War of the Seven Spheres storyline, in his own book. )



Only the problem, when you deal with the Falsworths, is that you inevitably end up dealing with the legacy of the other half of the Falsworth family. You know, the half that happen to be vampires...

And that forms the second story running through the series. Back in the 1940s Mortigan Goth became a close family friend of Falsworths. They even gave him his own wing of the house to stay in. They knew that he was immortal - that was never hidden - but it never really became a problem until the arrival at the house of one Katherine Ainsley-Jones, a distant cousin of the Falsworths, in 1940 - having been evacuated from her home in London.

(For our American readers this was because even several years before America joined the war Britain's cities were having the crap bombed out of them on a nightly basis, by German planes hoping to take out munitions factories. Children and teenagers were evacuated from cities, and arrangement was made to have them relocated with families out in the Country, away from possible harm. You probably know all this, but in case you don't, there it is - Historical Sword ;-) )

She fell hopelessly in love with floppy-fringed Mortigan, and he for her. But realising that he could not bear to watch he grow old while he never aged, he left one morning never saying a word.

Heartbroken, Katherine chose to pour her feelings out to her cousin John Falsworth (Jnr), who told her that he might be able to provide a solution. For those of you who do not already know the irony in this, John Falsworth was a vampire - he sided with Germany in both world wars, under the costumed identity Baron Blood.


I think you can probably guess what happened next... ;-)


So, when Mortigan eventually returned to the manor, the newly vampired Katherine threw herself at him, and knowing her now to be immortal as well he even entertained the idea that they could be together. Only he now found her lifeless body to be cold, clammy and... well, a bit dead, really. Angered that even now Mortigan would not be with her be with her, she tried to bite him herself , in the hope of making him a vampire too.


Mortigan awoke four days later, having recovered from the bite, to be told that drinking his blood seemed to have cured Katherine of her vampirism. Though, after being told by Mortigan that he did not love her, and fearing the cure might not be permanent, she left. Destination unknown.


Well, half a century later, guess who's come home - all vamped up, and looking for a cure again? ;-)



And yes, this is the 90s. All vampires look like this. I think it might be the law...


Mortigan, of course, refused to cure her again. It's a pretty torturous existence he's given her and it really is about time she was properly laid to rest. And so - with Mortigan no longer an option - Katherine tries to drink Jacqueline's blood. She, after all, was once cured of vampirism, herself, by a blood transfusion from the original Human Torch. Only drinking her blood makes Katherine burn. Literally. She is consumed by fire and incinerated. A shame, but like I say, this is not a happy superhero tale.


And as I also say, that's not the main story. Somebody has been bumping off immortals, and and as far as onlookers are concerned, whoever is doing it looks like Mortigan. Same hair colour, same build, same androgynous look. It's pretty damning. But as he explains to Stephen Strange (The Doctor, that is, not the bloke from the 80s) he was in San Francisco at the time of these killings - a whole different continent. There's no way it could be him.


Or could it?


You see, while Mortigan had been out walking the world for the past few hundred years, his soul had been trying to escape from hell. At first of course that bright shining soul, that ray of hope, fought nobly - and showed encouraging strength to battle its way out of hell's many circles. Only as the centuries went by it began to be corrupted, twisted, and damaged. It was now Mephisto's plaything.


And you know how vampires are not supposed to be have a reflection in the mirror - because, so the legend goes, they do not have a soul? Well, Mortigan's always been the same. Only now it seems that he does. His soul is being sent through mirrors to kill off immortals who Mephisto has decided to sever contracts with - in exchange for eventually being allowed to extract revenge upon Mortigan himself.



Mortigan encounters his twisted soul springing from a mirror. It tears out his left eye, but tells him that it won't kill him today. It's going to take its time, slowly taking a piece at a time - it wants him to suffer as long as it has had to. But oddly, Mortigan is happy about this. Having lived so long, even though it will be an unpleasant experience, he now knows that one day he will die. And that makes life both sweet and precious to him, once more.


So, that's Mortigan Goth, in a nutshell. It reads extremely well, and had Marvel UK not come to an end I honestly would have hoped that the character would have continued. This series certainly has the feel of a test for either an ongoing or a series of limited series, in the Hellboy model of storytelling. Obviously, in particular with Buckingham's artwork, it's easy to draw potential comparison with DC Vertigo's Hellblazer. He's certainly nowhere near the same character and certainly not so self-enclosed from Marvel continuity, as perhaps John Constantine is from the rest of DC's universe. But the character had potential. Even now, purely from this series, I would not find it out of place if Mortigan turned up at Doctor Stranges front door, in an issue of New Avengers. That's how well-formed a character he is. I just don't think, in 1993/94, Marvel were really ready to embrace anything which wasn't a highly pumped up superhero tale. These days, with Ghost Rider back as an ongoing and mini series for the likes of Blade and Hellstorm, written with a more serious tone in place, times have changed.


He's a character well-formed enough to be believable, but with enough open avenues for new work. I hope that some day we might see him again.

Who the hell is: DIGITEK?

A good question indeed. 

This was a question that a fair few people were asking last year, during Marvel Comics' Civil war storyline, courtesy of a section of panels in the series Civil War: Frontline.

But we'll get to that.

This is the first in a series of blogs in which I aim to introduce the uninitiated to the characters of Marvel UK, and try to explain how they could still be viable characters, suitable for revival or reinvention, in a modern book. Or, I'm sure in some cases, why that probably shouldn't ever happen...

So today, we start with one Jonathan Bryant - who went by the name of DIGITEK.


Now, despite the reprints in Marvel UK's anthology title, OVERKILL, making it perhaps seem longer, Digitek actually only ran to a four issue limited series, back in 1992. He was written by John Tomlinson and Andy Lanning, and the painted (That's right painted) artwork was supplied by Dermot Power.

Now while Tomlinson and Lanning are still out there, plying their trade as editor and writer respectively, Power is a name you may not have heard in a while. He had some successful stints producing work for Judge Dredd and Slaine for 2000 AD, but these days Power's chief gig appears to be in producing concept art for movies - such as V for Vendetta, Attack of the Clones and some of the Harry Potter movies.

I’ve touched on Marvel UK’s use of painted artwork briefly, before. Here in the UK it wasn’t uncommon to see painted artwork in magazines, or in the weekly pages of 2000AD. But outside of that the mainstream of US market comics was not really in place to reproduce this in the early 90s. Theirs was still very much a four colour world. Bold inks, and simple colours. Airbrushing was slowly starting to creep into the medium, but it was not widely used. The notion of reproducing fully-painted artwork on the general US market comics’ paper stock didn’t always yield great results, but the artwork itself was great. 

So what was the concept? Strap in. Some of this may sound a note convoluted. 

Digitek as a character spins out of the Marvel UK series Warheads. 

The Warheads were a combat and retrieval team, charged by their employers (The Mys-Tech Corporation - the age-old demon-serving business bad guys of Marvel UK) to travel across the Omniverse, retrieving valuable technology, artefacts and resources from other universes. 

One such resource retrieved was the substance known as Protosilicon. (With me so far?)

A Protosilicon Geoid (Still with me?) was taken to be analysed by a team of scientists led by one Jonathan Bryant. However, one of Bryant's underlings did the dirty on him, and sold out information on the substance to a rival company. A rival company who promptly sent in an armed retrieval team of their own to nab it. 

During the chaos that followed Bryant was killed, but only after having come into direct contact with the geoid itself, resulting in a bizarre transformation.

The net result is that Bryant's physical body is completely incinerated, but due to his contact with a) The Geoid and b) the array of computers monitoring it, parts of all three joined together to form a new gestalt life form. 

A primarily digital life form, with a physical presence. 

It held the personality and memories of Bryant, combined with a physical form which in some way resembled Bryant, but which was able to change its form and make itself easily transferable through all kinds of digital medium.

And this is where as a sci-fi concept, in many ways Digitek was kind of ahead of its time for 1992. For one this new digital form could be assembled and disassembled at will, allowing for such quirks as travelling down power and phone lines - packing up at one end, unpacking at the other. A neat little idea, years before The Matrix came along. It was only solid when it wanted to be, could reconstruct itself after being smashed to pieces, and (Because it was the 90s) could form up impossibly large guns out of next to nothing, at the drop of a hat.

Still, I think that most of those abilities are quite handy, and viable in a modern comic. We're talking about a being who can never truly be killed, who can communicate with pretty much any machine on the planet, and who can be pretty handy in a fight - should it ever come to that. 

One might consider though, that given that Digitek is composed mostly of data, he (if that’s truly the correct term here) could be susceptible to things which can corrupt or disrupt data. Viruses? Magnetism? Really slow broadband connections? The possibilities are endless, though I’m sure he probably has multiple backups on servers elsewhere. 

So what are the flaws? Where are the catches? 

Well, the aesthetic is a bit dated. Just look back at the cover to that first issue. See the weird looking electrical samurai guy? Yeah, that's Digitek's chosen form. Of all the things he could have looked like? That's what he chose. Needs a little reinvention, methinks. Might have looked cool in the 90s, but it all seems a little cliched today. I think there's definitely potential in the character to be used again. But maybe pick something a little less… that. 

Of course unlike many of Marvel UK’s other properties, Digitek can at least boast to have been in a published comic more recently. Sort of. 

This is where Marvel's 2006 Civil War event fits in. One of the back up stories in the series Civil War: Frontline detailed the scapegoating and incarceration of Speedball, the one surviving member of the New Warriors (Whose failure to stop a huge explosion outside a school started the whole event). Speedball, along with any other super-powered individuals who refused to register their identities and powers to the US government, found themselves incarcerated in a prison built in some obscure dimension which the Fantastic Four knew of. With very little chance of ever leaving.

In issue #6 of Civil War: Frontline, the following panels appeared:


To save your eyesight from trying to figure out the hand-written scrawl, the text says:

Panel 1: My buddy in the next cell was called Jonathan. Back in the real world, he used to be called Digitek. He told me that when he was a hero, he had the powers to re-form parts of his body into machinery, or weapons.

Panel 2: Yesterday, Jon formed an M-110 particle shotgun out of his right arm. Four guards tried to stop him as he yelled something about his wife. And then he blew his own head off.

 

This does, however, raise two questions. 1) Is he really dead, or was this an attempt to escape out via any electrical equipment that happened to be lying around, and 2) How exactly did he get there? 

Digitek, or at least Jonathan Bryant, was a UK citizen. Why would he have been affected by an American registration act? There's no logical reason why he would be expected to sign it. 

Hmmm.

Well, maybe that's a story for another day, and another writer to pick up on.

What are your thoughts or musings on Digitek? Do you remember him? I’d love to hear other opinions on this. Feel free to add a comment below.