Reading Deaths Head

I remember a time when I was a kid, along with a mix of U.S Marvel and DC comics and whatever pocket money I had, I mostly bought UK reprints of Marvel titles, stuff like Spider-Man, Secret Wars Transformers and the long running Dr Who comic/magazine, you couldn’t beat the freebies that came with it.

I bought an issue of Marvel Heroes, an oversized comic mag which always has free gifts with posters and profiles of the characters, this gives the readers a heads up of who’s who and what’s what in the Marvel Universe. These type of mags aren’t available in the States it’s possibly because Marvel have their own children’s line In regards to the UK line, It’s published by Panini who have the licence for Marvel in Europe since Marvel’s UK arm collapsed.

Marvel UK used to do their material which ran alongside their reprinted US ones. The most popular being Captain Britain who had a successful run under writer Alan Moore, it paved the way for characters like Motormouth, Dragon’s Claws and cyborg Death’s Head. A lot of the artists who drew for Marvel UK have gone onto bigger things artists like Bryan Hitch, Liam Sharp, Gary Frank and Dave Gibbons amongst many others have all become top artists in the field today.

The stories written in Marvel Heroes are aimed at a younger audience and they often do standalone stories which aren’t in continuity to the U.S versions. Another reason I’m quite glad that they don’t do long drawn out storylines which just seem drag on and on. I’m a big Hulk fan, it’s got him in this issue. So I thought I’d check it out.

The short story marks the return of original version of the robot who been gone from UK strips for quite a long period from UK strips it’s been co written by the character’s creator, Simon Furman.

The first part of the tale is drawn by John Ross whose artwork is slightly reminiscent of John Romita Junior it’s only more refined and with more detail. It’s the second part which truly goes up a notch when Welsh artist and fellow Hulk fanatic Simon Williams takes over proceedings in the second part. Simon is probably Panini’s best kept secret Simon’s Hulk is truly ferocious. The colours by Jason Cardy and Kat Nicholson complement his pencils.

I got in touch with Simon and asked him about Death’s Head in particular.

What's the appeal of the character?

“I've been a fan of the character ever since he first appeared in Marvel UK's original TRANSFORMERS comic, way back in 1987. The first thing that hit me with the character was the brilliant artwork by artist Geoff Senior. And then, of course, there were those wonderful personality traits and ticks that writer Simon Furman provided him with, yes?

The BIG appeal for me though... is that Death's Head has literally transcended comic universes! How many characters can you name that started out in Transformers, then moved to the Marvel Universe via, of all characters Doctor Who!!! I can remember thinking how awesome that was back when reading those stories... that this character, who has gone one on one with Galvatron was now fighting the Fantastic Four!! And now Death's Head is fighting the Hulk.... a story I'd always wanted to read! I never dreamt I'd be the one drawing it though... It really is a dream come true.”

How did the revival for the character come about?

“Ever since I started working in comics professionally back in 2003, I've been petitioning for the return of the original Death's Head. Since then I've gotten to draw him a number of times... both in the Panini trades, and also in my SOULMAN INC Sketchbook, where I drew my original Hulk vs. Death's Head strip. The Marvel Heroes strip came about when editor Ed Hammond, himself a Death's Head fan, and writer Ferg Handley were looking for a suitable opponent for the Hulk to battle in the strip (the Hulk had to fight an appointed champion for the D'Bari race for the fate of the Earth). Ed decided on Death's Head... got in touch with me and the rest is history!”

Simon’s artwork goes back to the days of classic Marvel when artists like Sal Buscema and John Romita ruled the roost. His pencils are worthy of a bigger audience. The story and artwork are highly enjoyable. Even though it’s for kids, there’s a lot of fun involved for adults who remember the days when the Hulk just smashed anyone in sight and Banner used to fret about being ol’ green skin.