Joe Casey Comics: Deathlok #11

[The final post in my look at Joe Casey's Deathlok run. The series of posts examing books by Joe Casey will continue on the usual Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday schedule next week, most likely with Automatic Kafka unless (magically) his Incredible Hulk run arrives in the mail before then. I wouldn't hold my breath, so I suggest you get ready for an even weirder robot trip.]

First off, Newsarama has the entire Gødland #19 posted, so check it out and maybe think about buying the series. If anyone is interested, I have issues 1-12 that I'm willing to give away for free (having bought the hardcover edition collecting those issues). Just comment with your e-mail address and I'll get your details that way. First come, first serve.

Now, Deathlok #11, the first Joe Casey comic to get cancelled, I believe. (At least, it's the first one he launched that was cancelled. Get used to that happening.) However, despite its early conclusion, Casey wraps up the loose ends and finishes things off with an ending that, theoretically, could have happened whenever necessary.

The Clown aims to kill Martin Thraller aka the Ringmaster, who is on the verge of becoming president thanks to his hypnotic eyes. Truman is charged with taking Thraller now that Nick Fury remembers that Thraller is the Ringmaster and the man responsible for making him temporarily lose his memory. Except, Truman's brain isn't settling too well in the LOK prototype.

Things come to a head at the Utilitarian Party's convention where Thraller is primed to make his acceptence speech on national TV and secure the power he so covets. But, things are interrupted by the Clown and Truman who fight each other a bit. The Clown winds up getting a few shots off, injuring Thraller and allowing SHIELD to capture him, telling the world he died while he's in custody with Casey implying that they removed his eyes (although, the panel can also be read as them just blocking his eyes from being used--I prefer to think that Nick Fury made sure his magic eyes got removed because it fits into the tone of the series and character). Meanwhile, Truman lets the Clown go because, as he puts it, "I SUPPOSE IF I WASN'T WRESTLING WITH MY OWN BURNING SANITY, I'D JUST KILL OU FOR THE CLOSURE OF IT." The use of the word "closure" is key as it's both a psychological and fiction term, both meaning the same thing but in different ways. The series has been about psychology quite a bit, so killing the Clown would complete the mission for Truman and maintain the personality he's always had--but he doesn't, because he wants to grow beyond it (beyond the LOK prototype, which is the ultimate body for his profession). As well, Casey doesn't provide closure to the plot because killing the character would mean that he's off-limits from that point on and you don't give that sort of closure in commercial comics.

At the end of the issue, Truman finds Larry Young in a bar and uses his Tibetan mind trick to switch bodies, leaving Young in the LOK prototype and Truman to live a new life.

Leaving behind the LOK prototype is key, because, as I said, it represents the pinnacle of Truman's SHIELD career, in a way. With that body, he could be the best agent possible, lacking all of the usual human needs and weaknesses. However, when he gets the body, the loss of his humanity causes him to rethink his life and the sacrifices he's made for his career. The issue with his sister highlighted this particulary well where the connection there is gone, but also he only knows how to handle problems with violence. The series is not about the lose of his humanity, really, it's about how losing his human body makes him realise he gave up his humanity a long time ago and that that was a mistake.

Casey continues this theme in Automatic Kafka, where the protagonist is completely artificial and explores the boundaries of the soul, life and all that stuff. Plus, there are some more trips. Many more trips. That should begin on Tuesday. See you then.

Joe Casey Comics: Deathlok #10

[The penultimate post on the penultimate issue of Joe Casey's Deathlok run. Saturday will finish up this issue-by-issue look at the series, which means, on Tuesday, I'll begin looking at another Joe Casey run. It will either be Automatic Kafka or his Cable run (depending on whether or not I'm able to find the last five issues of said run while out buying comics tomorrow).]

Before I get into things, I hope everyone's been having a nice holiday season. I just want to point you in the direction of a review I wrote of Charlie Wilson's War over at Geoff Klock's blog. I don't know if you read Geoff's blog, but it's a really great read, updated every day and is one of my favourites.

Joining Casey on this issue are John Buscema and Tom Palmer, which would be nice if it were a one-off story, but this is part three of four, so it doesn't work too well. Particularly how Truman was in his full-out robot look at the end of issue nine and here he is looking mostly human again with the odd patch of fake skin missing. I'm not going to blame Buscema for this as who knows what info he was given. The art is decent and does the job, but it just doesn't fit. While Casey is playing with old Marvel toys, he's doing it in a very modern manner and having an older artist on board here messes with that a little.

One serious misfire artwise is the character of Dennis Dubois, a new campaign strategist on Martin Thraller's team. He is obviously meant to be a James Carville rip-off, which is fine, because is there anyone more entertaining in politics than James Carville? If you want to know how fantastic Carville is, watch Primary Colors where Billy Bob Thorton's character is based on Carville (although, as always, allow for some dramatic license). (Fuck it, just watch Primary Colors, because it's a damn fine movie. It's probably my favourite political flick and would be my favourite politics book were it not for Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72. I highly recommend picking up those three items as soon as you can, especially Thompson's book. I read it every four years during the US election season--which we're coming up to!--and it runs down the primaries better than anything I've ever seen. Go get it. Spend some of that Christmas cash/gift cards on it. You won't be sorry.) The only problem with this James Carville rip-off is that he's drawn fat, wearing red suspenders, a blue shirt that says "New Orleans" and is mostly bald except for the red tuft of hair sprouting from the middle of his head. He's a fucking cartoon character and I don't know if this is Buscema's fault or how Casey described him, but it's horrible (I'm thinking that it's Busceme because in issue 11, Dubois' appearance is altered to look more like Carville).

The plot of this issue progresses the story, but not by much. Nick Fury and Truman fight the Clown, who eventually gets away. Thraller is on the fast track to gaining the power he wants, which includes brainwashing a reporter who accuses him of tax evasion. In the end, the Clown sees Thraller on TV and heads off to kill him, while Fury remembers that it was Thraller who wiped his memory, leading up to next issue where all of the loose threads get tied up.

Now, despite the art that doesn't quite fit, I really like this issue because of all of the politics. Little bits of speeches and behind-the-scenes stuff, I eat this shit up. The introduction of Dubois where he gives a speech to the campaign staff about how Martin Thraller is what America needs and blah blah blah is great, because you can tell, somehow, that he doesn't believe a word. He's a political operative who probably is in step with the message Thraller puts forth, but is too cynical to actually buy into the rhetoric too deeply.

There's a scene where Thraller does phone interviews and discusses strategy with Dubois and another staffer and you realise that Thraller has no personality. He's relying on his powers so much that he hasn't taken the effort to actually create a full persona, but has instead thrown together random bits of what seems like a good politician. He's boring, which is perfect, because it will (hopefully) keep people off his back.

To carry on with this type of personality, we're given a scene from an event where he's speaking and the crowd is dead--until he uses his powers. That's when he abandons the selfless talk and shifts into supervillain mode, demanding they serve him, except in a way that wouldn't seem out of place were you to read a transcript later. Casey really walks a fine line here and it works.

Next issue wraps things up and we'll see what's coming up next week.

Joe Casey Comics: Deathlok #9

[Part nine of eleven in my look at Joe Casey's Deathlok run. There are eleven parts, because that's how many issues were published. Had more been published, there would be more posts on the subject, but since none were, we're stuck with eleven. New posts on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.]

The march towards the end continues. Truman has infiltrated Fury's criminal gang! Martin Thraller is on track to become president! The Clown kills people!

Yeah, not much else happens, actually. A lot of shooting and robot craziness... and that's about it.

The only really interesting stuff is Martin Thraller as he makes his opponent reveal all of his wrongdoings during a debate. Or when Princess Python extorts money out of him to keep his Ringmaster past a secret--and he doesn't care, because it's only money and he's going for much bigger things.

Casey has some fun with Nick Fury as a criminal and his old Howling Commandos language. Joe Casey is one of those writers that you can tell he's just having a lot of fun when he's writing. In the end, Nick Fury regains his memory just as the Clown arrives to kill him. "TO BE CONTINUED!"

Next issue is a fun one where John Buscema and Tom Palmer provide the art. Does it actually work for the issue? Tune in next time!

Joe Casey Comics: Deathlok #8

[Yet another post in my look at Joe Casey's Deathlok. New posts Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.]

The beginning of the end, folks. The word has come down and Deathlok is just not popular with people. I hate you people. You rarely buy the comics I love and then they get cancelled. What's up with that? Do we just differ on what a good comic is? It's kind of annoying, you know.

Anyway...

The issue begins with Jack Truman sitting in a bar (and, the song "The Bar is a Beautiful Place" by Ryan Adams just came on and it is so the beginning of this issue--if you know the song, you'll no doubt agree) and he's doing that old "I'm trying to be a new person now, so I'm going to do nothing at all because that's the same fucking thing" routine. Luckily, Dum Dum Dugan shows up to give him an assignment: find Nick Fury. Truman isn't enthused, but we all know he's going to do it, so let's keep moving.

Big reveal time: Martin Thraller, the man running for the Utilitarian Party's presidential nomination is really... Maynard Tiboldt aka the Ringmaster. He's using his power of hypnosis to make himself president and is a perfect example of Casey's style--he takes a pretty retarded character, applies a little logic and presto, we have a lame-o supervillain running for president. You can see the roots Agent Wax from Casey's Wildcats work. The scene here with Thraller and his secretary is pretty much replayed in the latter work. Casey recognises one fundamental truth about men: if they had the power to make women have sex with them, you bet your ass they would use it (oh, don't look so surprised).

Apparently, there's a new guy stirring things up in the criminal world and guess who that is. Sure, the cliffhanger at the end of the issue is that it's Fury, but who didn't see that coming? Truman infiltrates Fury's group, while the Clown has been hired to kill him. If you'll remember, the last time we saw Fury, Thraller had hypnotised him and this is where he ended up.

The issue of mental control plays heavily in these final issues. Now, the fact that Thraller is a politician says something about the way they play and pander to crowds, influence people and, ultimately, gain control. They manipulate people into believing in and following them--and shouldn't we pay more attention to that sort of thing? It's scary to see how much people identify with politicians; I've seen huge screaming matches over personal opinions of politicians--not politics, POLITICIANS. Casey uses Thraller to show just how messed up the system is as Thraller is supposed to represent this third party, which is supposed to be built on specific ideas not dealt with by the other two. Except he is really in it for the personal power and glory, which he himself gets, not his ideas. He hypnotises people into following him--he can say whatever he wants. It is the cult of personality in an area where it should be about ideas, opinions and what is best for the country. Casey loves to mix these fictional power bases (superpowers) with the real power bases (politics, corporations, the media) and use the former to comment on the latter.

Until next time.

Joe Casey Comics: Deathlok #7

[Part 7 of an 11-part look at Joe Casey's Deathlok. Posts every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.]

Last issue, Jack Truman quit SHIELD and now he's in LA to visit his sister. Eric Cante again provides the art and, for some reason, Truman's narration is in a different caption box than usual. It is only seen this issue and seem more technological. I don't know why the change for this issue.

This issue deals mostly with Jack's attempt to be human again, hampered by the fact that he doesn't have much fake skin left and his sister wants nothing to do with him. The reader is supposed to think that Jack's problem is that he's a man trapped in a robot, but that's not really it. His problem is that he doesn't know what he wants in life, because he's spent so much time and effort being a SHIELD agent that that's all he knows. He's not estranged from his sister because he's a robot now--he's estranged from her because he hasn't seen her in a decade. Casey just uses the LOK part of the character as a convenient excuse to explore this idea here.

Jack also confronts a guy named Puffy at a party--which he is at as a favour to his sister as her friend needed a date--who turns out to be a former member of the Serpent Society (same with the woman). Puffy and Jack immediately fight in the grand, destructive style they're both used to, not knowing how to deal with one another otherwise. The woman, on the other hand, has put her past behind her and is able to move on, providing an example for Jack (and Puffy).

The real question of the issue: how do you go back to being a normal human after a life of excitement and superheroics (and SHIELD agents are practically superheroes in the MU). Casey explores this idea more in Codeflesh and Wildcats.

In the end, Jack's sister wants nothing to do with him and he's off to try and find a life for himself. He doesn't--at least, not yet.

***

Alright, I wrote the above last Thursday or Friday. I was trying to get all of my posts for the next couple of weeks (or, at the very least, my Deathlok posts) done before coming back to London as I didn't want to bring all of these comics with me. But, this was the final post I wrote in Windsor, so we can all see what sort of work ethic I've got going for me. Just wanted to add a few things about this issue--and I know, most people would have just added them without saying something, but I like to distinguish between times I've worked on things like this.

I've been thinking about the men and women in this issue, and how the men fight, while the women... don't. Or, is it a divide between physical violence and emotional violence? Jack and his sister are violent with one another, but not in a physical way. Jack emotionally hurt his sister in the past and visiting her does so again by reminding her of the past pain. She responds by kicking him out and telling him that they're not family anymore. Whereas, Jack and Puffy just hit each other.

As well, there's a connection drawn between the two couples: Black Mamba and Puffy, and Jack and his sister. Both couples have shared pasts that they're trying to ignore and transcend, but only the first couple is doing so together, using one another for support. In fact, BM and Puffy are more of a family to one another than Jack and his sister are--is Casey commenting on the idea that biological family can mean less than created families? I know I feel closer to some friends than I do some members of my family--and I'm sure the same is true for most people, especially those in groups with lots of danger and violence like a supervillain group or a superhero team. This leads into Casey's hints at the dynamic of the $tranger$ in Automatic Kafka as one of a dysfunctional family (building on Morrison's Doom Patrol as therapy group).

On Thursday, we begin the final four issues and the last story of the series.

Joe Casey Comics: Deathlok #6

[And we pass the halfway mark in my look at Joe Casey's Deathlok run. Posts on the subject published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.]

Leonardo Manco has the issue off, so the art here is by Matt Smith and Richard Case. Their work is sort of a cross between Ed McGuinness and Eric Cante--and, like the Cante issue, works because of the self-contained nature of the issue. This issue isn't really self-contained as it furthers the overall story, but it tells its own story as Truman is put in charge of a unit of cyborg agents--or, freaks, as they call themselves.

We begin with Truman's attempts to seem human where he sprays on fake skin to cover his robot body, except it tends to flake off. But, because of this fake skin, his team doesn't know that he's a freak like them and, therefore, distrust and hate him. Especially Darwin, an agent who's lower body has been replaced, which, apparently, caused the break-up of his marriage.

The mission they're sent on is simple: go to some island, overthrow a dictator. The misson goes bad, people get killed and we learn that the dictator had been propped up by SHIELD until recently and it wasn't about taking out a horrible scumbag more than it was about revenge.

The plot is very typical and Casey seems to be using it as a means for Truman to confront others just like him. Darwin is an angry version of Truman, one pissed off at what has happened to him and ready to die. The other two seem better adjusted, more about just doing their jobs, because what else is there. In the end, Truman walks away from SHIELD, because fuck this shit. He also lets the dictator live.

At the end, the issue of Truman as SHIELD's property is raised, because his body IS SHIELD's property. It's their LOK prototype and his mind just happens to be inside it. At what point does it cease being LOK and begin being Truman?

I have no idea and I don't think anyone does.

Joe Casey Comics: Deathlok #5

[Continuing my issue-by-issue look at Joe Casey's Deathlok run. Posts in this series published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.]

And then things got a little trippy.

In this issue, Truman/LOK undergoes a procedure to rebuild his body with upgrades or whatever it is they do. Lots of splash pages and a flying elephant talking to Jack. Wait, what?

Yes, a flying elephant visits Jack during the procedure and there's a lot of discussion about his past and who he is and where he's going. Casey does stuff like this again and again. He did it in Mr. Majestic, Automatic Kafka, Gødland, The Intimates and Wildcats. He loves these little walks through his characters' consciousness.

The flying elephant does back to Truman's first appearance in the pages of Cable where the first thing he does is kill an elephant. The flying elephant here even has a bullet hole in his head. Casey goes back to the birth of Truman (in comic terms, at least) for his guide as this issue is about defining his character in preparation for his life as a robot agent of SHIELD. How will we truly understand his struggle with his humanity when he's trapped in a robot unless we understand his humanity?

I'm not sure we actually get a specific picture of who Jack Truman is. We get a sort of mental breakdown in his weird hallucinations and we get a literal history from Nick Fury, but nothing is spelled out--which is good, I guess. Maybe we just get a sense of him. A feeling. In our minds, we take these pieces and put them together to form an idea of Jack Truman.

Except he's a fictional character and he has no personality really. There is no Jack Truman and all of the weird trippy shit is meaningless because there is nothing profound here. No lessons learned, no enlightenment, no advancement. Just some weird hallucinations by a fictional character under the knife. Who cares. When Fury tells us Truman's history, he doesn't save the file, he deletes it because it doesn't matter. Truman is no longer that fictional character, he's the goddamn Deathlok now and not the Deathlok everyone knows, but one not even called Deathlok, because, let's be honest, it's a stupid name and no one in their right mind would call themself that. I mean, really.

There's also a bit where Nick Fury attends a party and is introduced to the Utilitarian Party's potential presidential nominee, Martin Thraller--a man Fury recognises, so Thraller uses his eyes to make Fury forget who he is (both of the men, actually). Setting up a future plot. Should I spoil who Martin Thraller really is? Nah.

Is there any real meaning in this issue? I don't know. Truman doesn't seem to think so. It's titled "Reconstructive Perjury," a play on "reconstructive surgery," which Truman undergoes (in a sense), but also a recognition that this comic is a book of lies. None of it is real and neither are the revelations.

Next issue: Truman leads a group of cyborgs to their deaths. But not really, because none of them are real, so don't worry.

Joe Casey Comics: Deathlok #4

[Posts in this series are put up Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.]

Eric Cante provides the art in this issue and it vastly different from Leonardo Manco. Manco has a very fluid, almost sketchy style--while Cante draws very rigid and jagged--Cante draws like math is what I've said before. And he does. Eric Cante draws like math.

The change in art works for this issue as our star, Jack Truman/"Deathlok" doesn't appear. No, this issue is devoted to Nick Fury deciding whether the LOK prototype should be repaired or Truman should be allowed to die while he still has some human dignity. It also gives us a good look at the Clown as he kills people, steals TVs and fights robot repo men.

Casey does some interesting things with the Clown. A girl he used to see, a stripper, was injured in Vegas during the LOK prototype's rampage in the previous three issues. Now, this would normally make us think that the Clown is being set up as the main antagonist for Truman with a personal grudge against him. As does the killing spree of robot repo men, showing that the Clown has the abilities to take on not just one robot but many. Casey knows what our expectations are and plays with them. Here, he plays into them, creating hope for the ultimate showdown between a demented clown, who represents pure emotion and humanity, and a roboto, who represents (theoretically) reason and technology. Except, the robot is also really human and the Clown actually has no fucking idea who he is.

Nick Fury decides to let the Extechop people do what they will with the LOK prototype and Truman. Which we knew would happen as this is issue four and the main character isn't going to be killed off here. Although, I wouldn't put it past Casey.

This issue also showcases a trend in Casey's work: the issue(s) where the main character doesn't appear. Casey likes to highlight supporting characters a lot, often arguing they're just as important as the primary, title character. He likes to remind us that the protagonist is actually part of a bigger world where people either don't know him/her or see him/her as a minor character in someone else's story. We get a day for Nick Fury where he has to decide the fate of an agent under his command--NOT the fate of the starring character in the Marvel comic book series Deathlok volume 3. The Clown doesn't even know Truman and has only a sideways connection to the LOK prototype.

Cante's art works here because we're looking at the same world and characters, but from a different perspective. Leonardo Manco draws a comic where Jack Truman is the star and, here, Jack Truman is something discussed directly and indirectly--he's an object, a means, a topic of discussion--he is not the star.

Or, it could just be that Manco couldn't do the issue because of time constraints. But I like my explanation more. Although, since Eric Cante draws like math, you would think HE would handle the issues with the lead robot character, no? Something to ponder.

Joe Casey Comics: Deathlok #3

[Continuing my issue-by-issue look at Joe Casey's Deathlok run. Posts are published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.]

The main theme of Casey's Deathlok is probably the conflict between mind and body. Jack Truman's body was destroyed and rebuilt as the LOK prototype, but his mind remains intact. He transfers his mind out and it ends up in Billy, a six-year-old boy. Now, he has to put his brain back in the rampaging LOK body. Except, when he tries, LOK attempts to kill him. The body acting without control by the mind defends itself from a possible slavery, while the mind tries to reunite with a body that is alien and not right.

Zero Company is an elite group of SHIELD agents that bring to mind the unique elements of Nick Fury's Howlin' Commandos, but without the heart or grit. They are easily defeated here.

Larry Young continues his descent as he returns to the fray and attacks Zero Company.

Truman ultimately puts his mind in the LOK prototype and Billy is left injured and comatose. The LOK prototype is locked up and we don't know what's going to be done with it.

We get two more pages on the Clown, now in LA, and an assassin.

This is the weakest of the issues so far, but wraps up the initial story. Leonardo Manco's art is at its worst in places where the action becomes difficult to understand. Narratively, Casey eliminates Young's voice, focusing on Truman, LOK and the Clown. With the fusion of Truman and LOK, only two narrative voices will remain, the dictionary definitions a thing of the past.

To be continued on Tuesday.

Joe Casey Comics: Deathlok #2

[The second post in an issue-by-issue look at Joe Casey's Deathlok series. New posts every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.]

Jack Truman, a SHIELD agent is trapped in the body of a six-year-old named Billy. His body was severely damaged in a fight with Cable and rebuilt as a robot, the LOK prototype, which is currently rampaging through Las Vegas. Apparently, he used a Tibetian mind trick to put his consciousness in the body of a low-level SHIELD worker (Billy's dad) and he figures it must have bounced out into Billy at some point. He needs to get to Vegas and get his body back before SHIELD blows it up.

So, we get scenes of a six-year-old taking out grown-up SHIELD personnel. Because Jack Truman is just that damned good. We also get more of the air cav version LOK with them being held back by Nick Fury because fuck them that's why.

The issue ends with Billy in an air cav vehicle, heading for Vegas--and a group called Zero Company showing up to take out the LOK unit. Zero Company is full of punkish, S&M types, so we know they're hardcore.

A few things of special note:

1. The one-page introduction of the Clown, a supporting character for the entire series. We just see him escape from prison ala Shawshank. Not much, but enough.

2. Larry Young buying "a little confidence," leaving his men to contend with the LOK prototype alone. Oh, and he expenses it as it's work-related. A scene worth remembering for the end of the series.

3. Near the end, after Jack/Billy steals a flying car, there's one page that just shows him at the controls, while the narration is "a digression" about Jack's dad and cars. A strange little moment that steps outside the rest of the issue, but still works. It ties into what Jack/Billy is doing, but also gives some background on Jack. Strangely typical for a Marvel comic, but done in such an obvious fashion, which is very much like Casey. He doesn't just like to play with conventions, he likes the reader to know he's doing it.

With the Clown, Casey has four narrators this issue, adding to Jack/Billy, the LOK defintions and Larry Young. It all works as the Clown and Young scenes are a single page each, while the LOK definitions double as narration and dialogue, in a way. While we know the robot isn't SAYING this stuff, it's the only communication we get from it.

The use of definitions is also a way in which Casey plays with conventions, using captions that directly comment on what's going on. In a way, each definition tells us what's going on in the same way that thought balloons used to--but in a more abstract manner. Where thought balloons tended to be very literal in the "I'm punching this asshole with all I've got" while we see the hero punching the asshole with all he's got, these definitions are more vague. The definition of "plummet" is given as the air cav unit LOK is in crashes to the ground and then "consequence" as it leaps from the vehicle exploding.

Another dense issue that Leonardo Manco pulls off. His art here is really quite spectacular at times. His only problem is Billy, but it's hard to draw little kids--it's more that you can't tell how old Billy is just by looking at him. Otherwise, he handles very full pages with seeming ease.

On Saturday, the conclusion to the opening story.

Joe Casey Comics: Deathlok #1

[This is the first in a series of posts examing Joe Casey's run on Deathlok issue-by-issue. New posts Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.]

Deathlok was launched along with Warlock (the X-related robot, not Adam Warlock) and X-51 (Machine Man) as part of the M-Tech line. Wait, you don't remember M-Tech? Where were you in 1999?

Okay, so the line was kind of meh and didn't last long. But, it featured Deathlok by Joe Casey and Leonardo Manco, a real mindfuck of a comic and precursor to stuff like Automatic Kafka--Ashley Wood was Casey's first choice for art, but Wood had a better offer drawing Spawn stuff. The series itself was a spin-off from Casey's Cable and Incredible Hulk runs (of which I've only read the former)--and of the weird X-Men crossover involving the Red Skull, SHIELD and robots or something, I dunno, who cares, shut up.

This Deathlok series is unique in that it uses the name "Deathlok," but has no ties to any other incarnations of the character. Hell, the name is barely used in the comic itself (if ever--the robot itself is referred to as the LOK unit or something similar). This seemed to annoy fans of Deathlok, but we don't care about them, do we.

The first issue (actually, the first arc) of this series is some of Casey's best work formally as he weaves various threads together using some interesting tricks. In a Wizard article back around this time, they were discussing the future of comics and who was the next *insert person*. They called Warren Ellis the next Alan Moore and... well, I can't remember anything else from it except that Joe Casey was called the next Kurt Busiek. At this time, he hadn't done much work except Cable, Hulk and Deathlok for Marvel. Wizard noted Casey's habit of taking old Marvel concepts and updating them for new stories, calling him a continuity buff much like Busiek. (At the time, it fit rather well, but I'd now call Casey the next Grant Morrison--if you're going to call him the next anyone that is--and, yeah, most of you think I'm crazy for saying that.)In these articles, though, the more established person commented on the up-and-comer (so, Moore told us why Ellis is great) and Busiek gushed over the first issue of Deathlok, calling it the most confident debut of a comic he'd read in a long time (or something like that). And he's absolutely right.

The issue deals with two stories and three narrative perspectives. In the first, SHIELD's air cavalry is tracking a rampaging robot in Las Vegas, narrated by the commanding officer of the air cav, Larry Young. However, a second narrative perspective (of sorts) is added when the robot shows up: definitions from the dictionary. In three panels, taking up two pages, we get the definitions of: presentiment, incongruous, disquietude, automaton, confront and panic. It stopped me in my tracks when I read this issue when it first came out, because it was so strange to see something like this done in a Marvel book. The definitions work to comment on what's taking place, but also suggest that this robot only relates to the world through such basic ideas.

In the second, we're dealing with some little kid who's experiencing headaches and weird memory flashbacks. Over the course of the issue, we discover that this kid has the mind of SHIELD Agent Jack Truman in his head--we last saw Truman in Cable where he was tasked with taking down Cable, but was horrifically injured. We don't know how he got to be in the body of a little kid, but we do know it's related to the mindless LOK robot rampaging through Vegas.

The issue itself is rather dense in that a lot of information is given. We have an entire feud of sorts between Young and Nick Fury over an event from the previously mentioned Cable story, various bits concering other air cav members, numerous scenes of Billy (the little kid) displaying elements of Truman (including one scene where he beats the shit out of a bunch of kids at recess), the fight between air cav and the LOK prototype, and some stuff with Fury alone. Not the typical way to start a series as we have no idea where it's going. The real main character of the book, Jack Truman doesn't show up until the last page where he completely takes over Billy's body--in a scene at school where Casey interupts Billy's narration with two definitions, a technique associated with the LOK robot.

Manco's art is a nice fit and you can see why Wood would have also worked nicely. Manco is a much clearer artist than Wood, but still maintains a dark, sketchy, not-quite-right style similar to Wood's. This is a book of unstability, physically and mentally, and the art reflects that. He also has no problem cramming a lot into each page without it seeming crowded or hard to make out.

In this issue, Casey sets up (almost) the entire series, especially the themes of mental instability, what it means to be human, conflicts with authority and issues of family.