Deathlok
Deathlok is the name of several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first Deathlok, Luther Manning, appeared in Astonishing Tales #25, created by Rich Buckler. At least five subsequent Marvel characters have used the "Deathlok" identity since then: Michael Collins, Jack Truman, Rebecca Ryker, Henry Hayes, and Jemma Simmons. A recurring theme among these characters is that a dead human has been reanimated with cybernetic technology. "Deathlok technology" has also been used thematically by Marvel writers in other stories.
The character has also appeared on television in animation and live action, with J. August Richards and Bill Paxton respectively portraying the original variations Mike Peterson and John Garrett in the television series ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.''
Creation
Originally conceived as the main character in a novel, Rich Buckler got the opportunity to use the character within the comics medium. Development was put on a hold when Marvel Comics was negotiating for the comic book adaptation rights for the television series The Six Million Dollar Man, until Charlton Comics claimed the rights. Buckler then purchased a copy of the television series' source material Cyborg by Martin Caidin. Buckler stated, "So what I did was rethink part of it, and make sure things were the opposite...so while the Six Million Dollar Man was a good looking guy, I took that all away from Deathlok. I made him a monster and instead of being friends with technology he was enemies with it and then it developed from there. And it actually got deeper as a concept."Buckler stated the character was an inversion of Captain America.
The original comic run makes numerous references to Mary Shelly's novel Frankenstein, a character whom Deathlok shares many parallels with.
Publication history
Although initially announced as the new lead feature for Marvel's Worlds Unknown comic, under the title "Cyborg", the first Deathlok series ran in Astonishing Tales #25–28, 30–36. This initial version of the character, Luther Manning, later guest-starred with Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up #46, and the story from the cancelled Astonishing Tales comics was finished in Marvel Spotlight #33. Deathlok subsequently appeared with the Thing in Marvel Two-in-One #27 and 54. The Luther Manning Deathlok then appeared in Captain America #286–288.A new Deathlok, Michael Collins, debuted in the miniseries Deathlok #1–4. This second Deathlok went on to a 34-issue series cover-dated July 1991 to April 1994, plus two summer Annuals in 1992 and 1993. The third Deathlok, S.H.I.E.L.D. espionage agent Jack Truman, debuted in an 11-issue miniseries. Deathlok has also appeared in four issues of the miniseries Beyond!, and Michael Collins, in human form and not as Deathlok, appeared in Fantastic Four #544–545. Multiple unnamed Deathlok units appear in Black Panther vol. 4 #1–6. Possessing no human sentience, they were automatons created from corpses of soldiers killed in Iraq.
A new Deathlok named Henry Hayes debuted during the "Original Sin" event from Nathan Edmondson and Mike Perkins. While the character was considered to be an adaptation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe portrayal of Deathlok, Mike Petersen, Edmondson stated that the coincidences were just "happy similarities" and that ultimately they tried to go for a total original concept. This Deathlok had his own ongoing series that began in October 2014.
A new Deathlok named Jemma Simmons, first appeared in S.H.I.E.L.D. vol. 3 #1 by Mark Waid and Carlos Pacheco, adapted from the MCU character of the same name, before becoming Deathlok in the sequel comic series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #8, turned into one by Hayes to save her life.
Fictional character biography
Luther Manning
Colonel Luther Manning is an American soldier from Detroit, Michigan, who, after being fatally injured, is reanimated as a cyborg by Simon Ryker in a post-apocalyptic future. He verbally communicates with his symbiotic computer, to which he refers as the abbreviated "'Puter". After escaping from Ryker's control, Manning battles the evil corporate and military regimes that have taken over the US, while simultaneously struggling to retain his humanity. He battles Simon Ryker and the first Warwolf, and he encounters his wife and son for the first time after becoming a cyborg.After being transported to the present day, Deathlok is controlled by Mentallo and the Fixer and is sent to assassinate the President, but is stopped by the Thing and Nick Fury. After his capture, he becomes catatonic and is taken to England for treatment. Roxxon creates a fully robotic clone of Deathlok, who is sent to sabotage Project Pegasus. The robot battles the Thing and Quasar before self-destructing.
The real Deathlok, now working for the Brand Corporation, battles Captain America and a time-traveling clone of himself. Some time later, the "mainstream timeline" Luther Manning begins dreaming that he is Deathlok.
Manning eventually returns to his own time and overthrows the megalomaniac who had taken over the country. Manning remains in his near-future alternate reality, searching for a purpose in life and unable to disconnect himself from the machine bonded to him.
Manning later returns to the present day, where he lives in solitude until he is apprehended by S.H.I.E.L.D. Manning is kidnapped by the supervillain Owl and put up for auction as a weapon. Before a sale can be completed, he is stolen by the Hood and sent on a kamikaze decoy run.
During the "One World Under Doom" storyline, Deathlok was abducted from his reality by Doctor Doom and imprisoned in an underground facility in Latveria to serve as part of Doom's think tank. Deathlok, Thunderbolt Ross, Simon Ryker, and Machine Man escape the facility and travel to the border of Latveria, only to be arrested for treason.
John Kelly
Kelly first appeared as Deathlok in Marvel Comics Presents #62. This version of Deathlok was originally controlled by Kelly until its systems determined that Kelly's brain function was detrimental to its completion of the "First Run" program. The Deathlok unit then completed its mission. Kelly's brain was removed from the cyborg and disposed of. One of Simon Ryker's assistants took the brain presumably for use in the SIEGE unit. This version was made for the United States Army by the CIA's Deathlok-program co-head/Simon's brother Harlan Ryker after studying Luther Manning's cyborg body. The Kelly Deathlok later became known as Siege.Michael Collins
Professor Michael Collins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a pacifist working for the Roxxon cybernetics corporation Cybertek. Upon discovery of the Deathlok program, he is shot with a sedative by Harlan Ryker and his brain is transplanted into the body of the John Kelly Deathlok cyborg. The machine is used against rebels fighting against Roxxon's influence in the fictional South American country of Estrella. Collins regains his consciousness during this mission and stops himself from killing a small child.Although his brain was intended to serve only as a medium for the robot's programming, Collins is able to assert his will over it, installing a "no-killing parameter" into its programming. The computer is fully willing to listen to Collins, though he must take care to present his orders in a way that helps fulfill the mission and keep people from dying. Collins learns that his human body was still alive, and encounters Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.
During the events of the miniseries Beyond!, the cosmic being the Stranger transported Collins to an alien planet, where he was forced to live for years until being rescued with the aid of several other heroes. However, his rescue required the sacrifice of Greg Willis, the superhero known as Gravity. As an act of gratitude, Collins arranges Gravity's funeral.
Jack Truman/Larry Young
Jack Truman, also known as Agent 18, is an agent of the international espionage outfit S.H.I.E.L.D. who was transformed into a cyborg to battle the Red Skull. Through telepathic means, he swaps his consciousness with that of Larry Young, his rival and a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Young is considered as a "potential recruit" for the Initiative program.In the Vengeance mini-series, Truman is still trapped in Larry Young's body, while Young is unable to adapt to Truman's cyborg body. He is unable to function without appropriate maintenance, with his body seen rusting in a junk yard.