Astonishing Tales #25 - Marvel Comics

ASTONISHING TALES No. 25, August 1974

For those members of the Merry Marvel Marching Society looking forward to Doug Moench’s “steel-smashing origin of the world’s most offbeat superhero”, Issue Twenty-Five of “Astonishing Tales” would arguably prove something of a seriously word-heavy comic to navigate through. Indeed, absolutely crammed full of text, dialogue and numerous inner eulogies as to the cyborg’s state-of-the-art technology, many of this publication’s fifteen pages must surely have required repeated readings before it became even remotely clear just what the American author was trying to say; “Fell the exquisite pleasure of our flex-steel fingers vice-squeezing a streaking spurt of ripping searing boring light.”

Happily however, beneath this litany of letters, stumping sentences and perplexing paragraphs is actually a first-class story which tells of a veteran soldier desperately attempting to break the control of a computer programmed to monitor his every movement, and eradicate the very emotions which made him who he was. Admittedly, Colonel Luther Manning was never a truly moral man, as can be seen by the delight he takes in stalking his first two targets for assassination. But the veteran's rather entertaining banter with the artificial intelligence sending him commands clearly shows that he won’t simply be a thoughtless tool – and in fact ultimately desires to be returned to a fully-functioning human body.

Furthermore, the Inkpot Award-winner provides this publication with an utterly enthralling mystery as to the true motivation of Deathlok the Demolisher’s benefactor - Simon Ryker. The notion that the man-turned-machine-turned-monster isn’t destined to be the saviour of America’s post-apocalyptic future as was first thought is soon made abundantly clear, once the cold-blooded killer savagely shoots “the two men who were out to stop Project Alpha-Mech.” Yet, just what nefarious, money-making ambitions the thickly-moustached villain does have in mind aren’t made particularly clear either.

Also well worthy of a mention is Rich Buckler, who conceived, plotted and drew this comic book. The artist does a first-rate job in pencilling as many interesting glimpses into the mechanical workings of Manning’s robotic body as he can, as well as illustrates the savage barbarity of the world in which he lives with some incredibly dynamic, action-packed set-pieces - such as the anti-hero’s aforementioned contract killings in a cannibal-infested subway.

Conceived, Plotted & Drawn by: Rich Butler, Scripted by: Doug Moench, and Colored by: G. Wein