Demolished!

When you take into consideration the fact that the story of the character known as Deathlok--the cyborg assassin/military operative tracking his targets in a not-too-distant post-apocalyptic future--took place not in his own series, but as a mid-1970s feature in the Astonishing Tales title, you would have to consider him something of a success story at the time, having managed to establish a steady readership even on a bi-monthly publication schedule that would delay each story installment for an interminable sixty days. Reader loyalty appeared far from the mind of Editor Marv Wolfman, however, when the final Deathlok story hit the stands in 1976*, without warning or acknowledgment of its cessation--its cover giving every indication of continuation for the series.

*As it happened, the last issue also coincided with the end of the Astonishing Tales book itself.

Certainly not the first issue to end a publication run abruptly and leave a big question mark hanging over its place on the spinner rack as to the resolution of its current storyline. (Silver Surfer #18 being one such example that comes to mind.)

Yet Deathlok's sudden disappearance following his encounter with the mysterious individual called Godwulf would be followed up with several spotty appearances that would have him interacting with individuals and timelines which existed nearly a decade before his own dismal future--appearances taking place in three separate titles in a span of over six years, though given that length of time it perhaps comes as no surprise that there seemed to be no story plot in effect that would tie these instances together coherently. Still, thanks in part to the covers being produced for those appearances, it's to Deathlok's credit that his character was still capable of attracting reader interest.

In essence, each story would make use of Deathlok as both a deadly threat and a victim of the circumstances he'd found himself in, as seen through the eyes of the respective books' writers at the time: David Kraft, Marv Wolfman, Mark Gruenwald (with Ralph Macchio), and J.M. DeMatteis. It was DeMatteis who would finally break the cycle of Deathlok "guest-starring" in Marvel continuity and make an effort to resolve his situation in his own timeline--but stringing together his prior appearances in the past to get to that point would take some doing.



And since this journey revolves around the concept of time travel, it only makes sense to begin at the beginning--in this case, the year 1990, as Deathlok tracks the enigmatic, self-proclaimed saboteur known as Godwulf to an undisclosed location and is abruptly expelled into the timestream.

Though only a moment passes from when Deathlok vanishes, it takes the character nine months to reappear in a comics story--this one published in Marvel Spotlight, another title that's reached the end of its publication run, where Kraft introduces the character named Eric Simon Payne who believes Deathlok to be one of the demons he's committed to destroy. The date is April, 1977, our present.

Deathlok and Payne, the man known as Devil Slayer, would settle their differences by story's end, at which point Deathlok mysteriously vanishes once more--reappearing the following month in a Marvel Two-In-One story where Ben Grimm and Nick Fury have joined forces to track down the criminals Mentallo and the Fixer, who Fury has determined are after the Thing for reasons unknown. During their confrontation, however, the villains manage to mentally take control of Grimm and use him to access Dr. Doom's time machine stored in the Baxter Building; but by the time Fury manages to free Grimm's mind, Mentallo and the Fixer have retrieved from time the one they really wanted in the first place.

We really have Mentallo to blame for putting this scheme in motion, due to his being fortunate enough to learn of Deathlok after reading the thoughts of Spider-Man following the web-spinner's return from meeting Deathlok in 1990. As to what Mentallo and the Fixer want with Deathlok, we learn the answer soon after the Fixer takes control of the cyborg through use of a mind-controlling device.

Even given the Fixer's skill with being able to expertly operate Doom's time machine, writer Marv Wolfman has side-stepped a small detail that might otherwise have stopped the Fixer's plan in its tracks: the fact that when he was retrieved, Deathlok was not in his own time, but instead thirty days in the past in 1977, something neither the Fixer nor Mentallo could have known yet a discrepancy which only a minor adjustment in dialog could have likely dealt with.

As for what the Fixer and Mentallo are after in taking the time and trouble to conscript Deathlok into targeting President-elect Carter, we can assume it's either (a) Carter's assassination or (b) putting Carter under their control as easily as they've done with others in this operation. Smart money is on option (b), since an assassination nets them nothing (unless they're acting as mercenaries for someone else); but if mind control is indeed the goal, wouldn't you want to put the U.S. President under your control covertly, rather than firing a shot at him which will impact in full view of thousands of people in attendance (to say nothing of a television audience)?

For Deathlok, however, such concerns are trivial compared to his own situation, as Wolfman and artist Ron Wilson take the opportunity to bring those unfamiliar with Deathlok up to speed on the character.

As for this killing machine's mission, it surprisingly comes off without a hitch--thanks to Deathlok himself, who decides to expose himself in the hopes that someone takes action to stop him. Only it doesn't look like anyone informed Deathlok (or Wilson) that his plan is moot if he nails the shot first thing.

Amid the chaos and the Thing's battle with Deathlok, the rest of the FF tackle Mentallo and the Fixer, while Sue Richards sees to the fallen Carter. Eventually, the dust settles, and it's revealed that the FF called in the Impossible Man to take Carter's place (apparently the possibility of being killed sounded really fun to him? I can't begin to fathom Wolfman's thinking on this, though it helps to explain why the Secret Service didn't race to see to "the President's" safety); but as for Deathlok, his fate is uncertain, given the Fixer's refusal to cooperate.

Cut to over two years later, when Gruenwald and Macchio team up in MTIO to resolve Deathlok's status--and we finally see the results of the efforts of Prof. Kort, the specialist that Reed has called in to help revive the cyborg. Along with the Thing, Fury also makes a return appearance, if only to take custody once more of their "package." The only question is, with the Fixer's mind-controlling technology assumedly neutralized, why is Deathlok practically void of thought, content to be led off to S.H.I.E.L.D. without a word? Wouldn't he at the very least be demanding information from the men taking him into custody?

Unfortunately, whatever answers are needed at this point won't be forthcoming in the following issue, as it becomes apparent that Marvel has decided to wash its hands of Deathlok. To begin with, we discover how lousy SHIELD security must be, when Deathlok shows up to infiltrate the Project: Pegasus research facility and draws a bead on the Thing, who's temporarily joined the project's security detail and who can't seem to shake his association with this time-lost cyborg. Fortunately, the installation's security chief, Quasar, comes across the scene just in time.

With Deathlok at large within the facility, we receive our first exposure to what would become the crux of the plot that would eventually resolve the loose ends involving Deathlok which were left dangling three years ago to the month--the so-called Nth Command, at this point in time a front for an organization seeking a world monopoly on all energy research by eradicating any effective private or governmental competition. The Thing, along with his friend the Aquarian (née Wundarr), would go on to battle (who else?) the Nth Man (master of--what else?--the Nth power) in order to secure Project: Pegasus; but before that fight is engaged, the project still has Deathlok to worry about.

During Quasar's fight with Deathlok, it's become apparent that whoever stole the cyborg from SHIELD has eradicated every trace of Luther Manning's mind from the cyborg--which means of course that Deathlok is no longer capable of stopping himself from taking part in a killing spree. That being the case, Quasar and his team have no other option than to use any means at their disposal to stop him--and how this confrontation plays out for Deathlok more than likely takes by surprise those readers who might have preferred a less sudden, and a less... well, demolished, ending for the character.

There are any number of questions to be asked here involving Deathlok--but it would take over four more years for his story to be exhumed and resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

NEXT:

Super-soldier meets super-soldier!