Astonishing Tales #27 - Marvel Comics

ASTONISHING TALES No. 27, December 1974

Essentially comprising of a shootout-turned punch-up between Deathlok and the War-Wolf, Doug Moench’s plot for issue Twenty Seven of “Astonishing Tales” probably did have many of its readers grimly ‘hanging on to their medals’ for their lives. Sure, the eighteen-page narrative may well have proved a little repetitive for some bibliophiles due to Luther Manning repeatedly questioning whether he can actually kill his former military buddy. But Major Simon Ryker’s ill-advised admission that Mike Travers “died on the operating table” before the ferocious fight even began soon puts an end to the cyborg’s self-doubts.

In addition, the script does a good job of showing just how close the two men must have been before their moustache-sporting arch-nemesis created Project Alpha Mech, and even alludes to the Demolisher being friends with his comrade-in-arms’ father too. These flashbacks genuinely help imbue the central protagonist with plenty of palpable emotion, especially once he realises he has been played for a fool, and decides to end the heavily-fanged monstrosity before him, rather than allow it to tear his own mechanical workings to pieces; “You just told me the one thing that would make me wanna fight back!”

Unfortunately though, both the occasional bit of backstory and multiple speeches reverberating inside Deathlok’s head, does cause the storytelling to be a bit confusing and confoundingly chaotic from time to time. Indeed, Manning’s revelation that the “other voice in my head” has gone two-thirds of the way through the comic, most likely pleased a fair few bibliophiles too, as it instantly results in them being able to simply focus upon the highly entertaining banter between Luther and his computer, rather than being savagely swamped with numerous, heavily worded dialogue boxes filled full of flowery rhetoric.

Understandably with such an action-packed publication, much of this book’s success also relies upon the layouts of Rich Buckler and Pablo Maros’ inks. Together the creative pair do a first-rate job in making a physically, and psychologically drained Demolisher appear to be at death’s door by its end. In fact, the cyborg is prodigiously pencilled taking so much damage and mental abuse, that at one point his visibly shaking frame appears to be about to quite literally expire at the feet of his beloved (ex)wife Janice.

Art/Story: Rich Butler, Inks: Pablo Maros, and Co-plot: Doug Moench