MARVEL UK HANDBOOK: DIGITEK

THE ROAD TO THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR:
THE MARVEL UK HANDBOOK

This is another one of the preview piece editorial features that ran in the back of the four-part DEATH'S HEAD II mini (aka The Wild Hunt) to drum up interest for the about-to-launch Marvel UK Genesis 92 sub-universe.

DIGITEK (The "Ultimate Computer Warrior" although he looks like AUTOMAN in a samurai suit) was, thanks to the painted artwork by Dermot Power, the classiest of the first wave of "Overkill" books, although the extra attention lavished on the contents created some deadline problems and the four-parter eventually shipped several months later (the cover dates span December 1992 to March '93) than the other launch books.

It did feature as part of the launch team for OVERKILL, which meant Brits saw the earliest instalments months before the states... although it did have to take periodic breaks to allow the creators to catch up.

The scripts, by John Tomlinson and Andy Lanning, were cutting edge techno-fare in the early nineties but DT's reliance on Fax machines and pagers now looks painfully quaint.  Which is a shame as, re-reading the books today, there is a lot of good stuff to be found therein.

This series - like most of the other M-UK books - can (with a little perseverance) be found in the 50p bargain boxes.  They're well worth a look.