What's up, buttercup!? You lookin' for some weak-sauce character from issue whatever of "Whatever"!? Well, guess what!? Not today! Today we're having an extra large serving of hardcore metal! Today's Z-Lister puts the "bro" back in "brobot". Introducing the immaculate, interstellar death machine: Death's Head!
Death's Head was created by two dudes named Simon Furman and Geoff Senior for "Transformers UK #113" in 1987. Yeah that's right, he was a Transformers character. Kinda. See, Furman and Senior began designing the character as a one-and-done generic bounty hunter, but they workshopped the concept of Death's Head more and wanted to use the character beyond one appearance. The problem was that "Transformers UK" was published by Marvel Comics as part of their "Marvel UK" line which housed more British writers, artists and comic book stories. Furman and Senior knew keeping the character with Marvel would be ideal, but Marvel also had a deal with Hasbro Toys that would make any original character created in "Transformers UK" by Marvel under Hasbro's ownership. To avoid this Furman and Geoff first used the character in a one-page mini-story called "High Noon Tex" and put the story in various Marvel UK titles before featuring the character in "Transformers UK". By planting the character in a one-issue story the writers could use the character for "Transformers UK" AND keep it under Marvel's ownership. Smart dudes!
As for Death's Head's actual story he's a time-traveling robot bounty hunter who was hired by Rodimus Prime to kill Galvatron. Rodimus had changed his mind and stopped Death's Head, but soon found himself a target of Death's Head after The Decepticons hired him. Yet again the bounty was changed when Rodimus promised more money to Death's Head to go after the two Decepticons who just hired him.
The chase after those two Decepticons led Death's Head out of the Transformers Universe and into the time-stream where he battled-get this-Doctor Who! Yes, Death's Head tangled with the 7th Doctor and was shrunk to human-size by The Doctor's Tissue Compression Eliminator. The Doctor then sent Death's Head to the year 8162 where he met another Marvel UK team, Dragon's Claws. However Death's Head's battle with The Doctor didn't end there as he was later contracted to battle The Doctor again. This time around The Doctor sent Death's Head to The Marvel Universe.
After his encounter with The Fantastic Four and with the Iron Man of 2020, Death's Head had a personal crisis. He began to worry he enjoyed killing more than he enjoyed being paid for killing. He had also recalled lost memories that explained his past. Death's Head was created by an all-powerful being named Lupex to be a new body he could transfer his mind into. Lupex's assistant Pyra sabotaged the plan and gave Death's Head a cold, calculating, and business oriented mind. Death's Head killed Lupex and then swore he'd only kill for profit or survival. It also came to Death's Head's attention that the person who sent him from his original dimension to the Marvel Universe was The 7th Doctor Who in an attempt to mold Death's Head into a better "person". This meant he went from his home universe to The Marvel Universe to The Transformers Universe and then back to the Marvel Universe. Jeez.
Death's Head's further adventures included refusing to kill a robot on behalf of Iron Man and hunting down The Future Foundation only to be stopped by The Superior Spider-Man (Doc Ock). Because the character had been designed to never grow or change past his era Marvel had created several spin-off characters like Death's Head II, Death's Head III, Death Wreck and Death Metal. All of whom will end up here one day. But overall Death's Head is a cult classic character tied up in all kinds of franchises and ever loyal to his fans. He has never changed himself because he does not need changing. He has never been killed because he does the killing. Death's Head is a character who simultaneously fits in and stands out in any universe. Just like Angela and ROM The Spaceknight I really like legally-tangled characters like Death's Head and I hope to see this character used more. In Marvel, in the Transformers movies, or in Doctor Who. The fact that this character is connected to all three franchises is an achievement of it's own!
Thanks for reading!
Who would you like to see Death's Head go up against? Comment below!
Death's Head was created by two dudes named Simon Furman and Geoff Senior for "Transformers UK #113" in 1987. Yeah that's right, he was a Transformers character. Kinda. See, Furman and Senior began designing the character as a one-and-done generic bounty hunter, but they workshopped the concept of Death's Head more and wanted to use the character beyond one appearance. The problem was that "Transformers UK" was published by Marvel Comics as part of their "Marvel UK" line which housed more British writers, artists and comic book stories. Furman and Senior knew keeping the character with Marvel would be ideal, but Marvel also had a deal with Hasbro Toys that would make any original character created in "Transformers UK" by Marvel under Hasbro's ownership. To avoid this Furman and Geoff first used the character in a one-page mini-story called "High Noon Tex" and put the story in various Marvel UK titles before featuring the character in "Transformers UK". By planting the character in a one-issue story the writers could use the character for "Transformers UK" AND keep it under Marvel's ownership. Smart dudes!
As for Death's Head's actual story he's a time-traveling robot bounty hunter who was hired by Rodimus Prime to kill Galvatron. Rodimus had changed his mind and stopped Death's Head, but soon found himself a target of Death's Head after The Decepticons hired him. Yet again the bounty was changed when Rodimus promised more money to Death's Head to go after the two Decepticons who just hired him.
The chase after those two Decepticons led Death's Head out of the Transformers Universe and into the time-stream where he battled-get this-Doctor Who! Yes, Death's Head tangled with the 7th Doctor and was shrunk to human-size by The Doctor's Tissue Compression Eliminator. The Doctor then sent Death's Head to the year 8162 where he met another Marvel UK team, Dragon's Claws. However Death's Head's battle with The Doctor didn't end there as he was later contracted to battle The Doctor again. This time around The Doctor sent Death's Head to The Marvel Universe.
After his encounter with The Fantastic Four and with the Iron Man of 2020, Death's Head had a personal crisis. He began to worry he enjoyed killing more than he enjoyed being paid for killing. He had also recalled lost memories that explained his past. Death's Head was created by an all-powerful being named Lupex to be a new body he could transfer his mind into. Lupex's assistant Pyra sabotaged the plan and gave Death's Head a cold, calculating, and business oriented mind. Death's Head killed Lupex and then swore he'd only kill for profit or survival. It also came to Death's Head's attention that the person who sent him from his original dimension to the Marvel Universe was The 7th Doctor Who in an attempt to mold Death's Head into a better "person". This meant he went from his home universe to The Marvel Universe to The Transformers Universe and then back to the Marvel Universe. Jeez.
Death's Head's further adventures included refusing to kill a robot on behalf of Iron Man and hunting down The Future Foundation only to be stopped by The Superior Spider-Man (Doc Ock). Because the character had been designed to never grow or change past his era Marvel had created several spin-off characters like Death's Head II, Death's Head III, Death Wreck and Death Metal. All of whom will end up here one day. But overall Death's Head is a cult classic character tied up in all kinds of franchises and ever loyal to his fans. He has never changed himself because he does not need changing. He has never been killed because he does the killing. Death's Head is a character who simultaneously fits in and stands out in any universe. Just like Angela and ROM The Spaceknight I really like legally-tangled characters like Death's Head and I hope to see this character used more. In Marvel, in the Transformers movies, or in Doctor Who. The fact that this character is connected to all three franchises is an achievement of it's own!
Thanks for reading!
Who would you like to see Death's Head go up against? Comment below!
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