1992: DEATH'S HEAD II debut in OVERKILL House Ad (Marvel UK)

From October 1992: A MARVEL UK promotion for the belated arrival of Death's Head II in OVERKILL... backed-up by a great set of exclusive UKverse trading cards (see here for the cards).

The add, somewhat lazily, just recycles the cover for issue 12 with some additional copy appended to the lower-third.  Probably not the marketing department's finest hour...

1992; OVERKILL ISSUE 3 Letters Page (Marvel UK)

From 1992: The first OVERKILL letters page (remember those?) from the third issue (cover-dated 22 May). 

1992: WARHEADS Issue 1 (Marvel UK)

From 1992: WARHEADS issue 1, the official start of the MARVEL UKverse!

This copy is still bagged and sealed with the original "Genesis Seal", a brief scheme by the British Bullpen to cross-promote the new fortnightly OVERKILL, an anthology of the original "Genesis Five" books (WARHEADS, MOTORMOUTH, HELL'S ANGEL, THE KNIGHTS OF PENDRAGON and DIGITEK).

What the sticky plug neglects to mention is that, in terms of strips, Overkill readers were under served: The US editions contained twice as many strip pages that each story received in Overkill.  But... were the Overkill versions (heavily) edited... or were the US versions padded?

Warheads were a team of dimension-jumping mercenary scavengers employed by Mys-Tech (the hitherto unknown movers and shakers of this part of Marvel Earth) to jump between worlds and dimensions to grab new technology for the benefit of their employers.  A really nice idea oft-undermined by their continuing encounters with existing sales-boasting Marvel characters.  

Nick Vince was the writer, Gary Erskine supplied the stunning art and John Freeman was editor.  

The book eventually ran for fourteen regular issues and a two-part limited series.  Plans for more were terminated (without mercy) in the Genesis Massacre. 

1993: OVERKILL House Ad (Marvel UK)

From November 1993: Another House Ad for MARVEL UK's OVERKILL... boasting a very different line-up than the one it launched with the previous year (only WARHEADS were holdouts from the original 'Overkill Five' strips).

It switched from fortnightly to monthly just after this ad appeared... a peripheral victim of the GENESIS IMPLOSION which cut a large chunk out of the US line... but didn't reverse (or even stabilize) plummeting sales across the board. 

1993: ON SALE THIS MONTH: OVERKILL Issue 20 (Marvel UK)

On sale this week in 1993: OVERKILL issue 20, from MARVEL UK, with (slightly surreal) cover by Steve Sampson.  

Following the successes of the previous year, early 1993 was a boom time for the British Bullpen with the "Genesis Explosion" in full swing.  OVERKILL started-out as a UK vehicle for the US-format 'Genesis' strips (albeit heavily edited) but, by the turn of the year, the amount of material heading across the Atlantic from Arundel House couldn't possibly be crammed into one comic.  

Overkill's line-up had already been shuffled with DIGITEK fading in and out of the running order (to accommodate delays in the fully-painted art) and KNIGHTS OF PENDRAGON dropped in favor of (inevitably) DEATH'S HEAD II.  

 The heavy editing of the strips also ended, subtly shifting Overkill from a fantasy adventure anthology (chasing the 2000AD crowd) closer to a traditional Marvel superhero book (albeit still with the unique British sensibilities which made the Genesis line so interesting).

1992: STAN LEE PLUGS MARVEL UK in BULLPEN BULLETINS (Marvel Comics)

From late 1992: Stan "The Man" Lee turns his monthly plug machine to selling the wares of MARVEL UK across the US Marvel line.  

Marvel's output was growing so fast (and, some may argue, indiscriminately) during this period that securing such a lengthy bit of hard sell in BULLPEN BULLETINS must have been quite an achievement.  However, it's unlikely that Stan, firmly ensconced on the West Coast trying to convince someone (anyone!) to produce movies and TV shows based on the Marvel pantheon, ever actually read any of the British books.  

There a few titles there that must have been changed before the books went ahead: Team Helix (possibly published as Genetix), Death Rattle and Gene Machine.  Night Raven (or Nightraven according to Stan) presumably refers to the second edition of the House of Cards graphic novel (which I've covered in previous posts). 

1993: KNIGHTS OF PENDRAGON House Ad (Marvel UK)

From January 1993: A MARVEL UK House Ad for the retooled KNIGHTS OF PENDRAGON (already ready retooled once for their 'Genesis 92' launch... and rebooted again within the year) ongoing book.

You can imagine the edict that led to this Alan Davis makeover: "Sales are bad... we need to make this look more like a superhero book!".  But I don't think this is anyone's finest hour.

The reboot had come, two months earlier, with the sixth issue.  This ad reuses the cover art from the eighth issue.  The title eventually clocked-up fifteen issues (three issues less than the 1990-91 run) before succumbing to the house clearing of the Genesis Implosion of late 1993. 

The Knights were one of the initial "Overkill Five" strips designed for publication on both sides of the Atlantic.  However, they were soon dropped from the UK fortnightly and only continued to appear in the US edition. 

1993: MYS-TECH WARS House Ad (Marvel UK)

From 1993: Fight! Fight! Fight!  MYS-TECH WARS was an ambitious multi-book MARVEL UK crossover (then, as now, all the rage) that, in addition to the core four-issue limited series, also crossed over into a number of other UKverse books.  

I always got the impression, possibly entirely misplaced, that the British Bullpen had high hopes that they could bring some of the American books into the fold and make this a truly transatlantic event... but couldn't persuade the US editorial team to play along.  

The Genesis books that were official part of the arc were:

MOTORMOUTH AND KILLPOWER Issue 9 (the "it starts here" prelude)

DARK ANGEL Issues 10 and 11

WARHEADS Issue 11

KNIGHTS OF PENDRAGON Issue 12

DEATH'S HEAD II Issue 5

The black and white art in this House Ad was part of the massive, and most impressive, gatefold by Bryan Hitch.  

The series wasn't reprinted in OVERKILL, although it was considered for THE EXPLOITS OF SPIDER-MAN.  I can't recall whether the crossovers ever appeared either. 

1992: WARHEADS Issue 1 (Marvel UK)

From April 1992: an unread copy of WARHEADS, the first of the original "Overkill Five" books from MARVEL UK to ship.  

Another three (the revived KNIGHTS OF PENDRAGON, MOTORMOUTH and HELL'S ANGEL) appeared over subsequent weeks and the fifth, DIGITEK, launched in the States later in the year but also formed part of OVERKILL's launch line-up (starting with the second issue). 

This copy, which I snapped-up in a 50p box earlier this year, is still in the original comic bag that all the early GENESIS '92 titles were distributed in here in the UK.  The sticker (the "Genesis Seal") holding the bag shut is, as you'll see, a plug for the British fortnightly.  It neglects to mention that the strips appearing in the British edition were heavily edited (with about half the story pages removed and the remainder reworked so that they still made sense) so fans were actually better off, storywise, sticking with the US editions.

This weird compromise, which also saw imported copies held at warehouses until Overkill had shipped, was because the British Bullpen were concerned that easily available US copies would undermine the appeal of the UK edition.  The policy was abandoned once Overkill became a straight reprint (or dual-commissioning) title and the Genesis line expanded so fast that it was impossible to accommodate all the strips in the fortnightly (and even less so when the quantity of strips were cut and the frequency reduced to fortnightly).

Of all the first wave of Genesis titles, I was initially most won over by this one.  The idea (mercenaries dispatched by Mys-Tech to scavenge alien tech on other worlds) was a cracker (and, I suspect, inspired by the Colonial Marines) and Gary Erskine's art was very impressive.  I did, however, find it odd that, with all of time and space available to them, they kept running into the obligatory sales-boosting existing Marvel characters. 

1992: HELL'S ANGEL becomes DARK ANGEL (Marvel UK)

Here's what happens when your legal guys are asleep at the wheel... the hasty reboot of MARVEL UK's HELL'S ANGEL as the little less trademark lawsuit-baiting DARK ANGEL after only six months on sale.  Not a great way to build a loyal audience in a febrile market.  

Apparently, Marvel had to make a $35,000 donation to the charity Ronald McDonald House as recompense for troubling the biker collective.  Harley Davidson obviously didn't read a lot of British comics at the time.

It's telling that Marvel weren't even able to insert a "Hell's Angel becomes Dark Angel" type cover splash to ease the transition on this issue.  

I also vaguely recall that a small indie also had prior claim to the second title... but I can't find anything to that effect online.  

Under the two titles, the book ran for a total of sixteen issues which makes it one of the longest survivors of the Genesis books.  The strip, complete with name-change, was also reprinted in OVERKILL for the home market. 

1993: MARVEL UK's MOTORMOUTH AND KILLPOWER in THE INCREDIBLE HULK (Marvel)

 

Well £+<$ me!  These two issues of THE INCREDIBLE HULK (408 and 409, August and September 1993 respectively) are little landmarks in the history of MARVEL UK and - more specifically - the Genesis Project.

The constant guest appearances and cameos by bankable US characters in the UK books (deemed vital for giving them some traction and credibility in the febrile US market during the early 1990s boom times) became something of a running joke (and, potentially, a great source for a Drinking Game... should you be so inclined).  But, conspicuously, the British characters had a much lower profile in the US books.  

Despite (or, perhaps, because of) omnipotence in the UKverse, DEATH'S HEAD II couldn't even crack the New York Bullpen.  

The one exception to this one-way flow of talent was MOTORMOUTH and KILLPOWER's two-part sojourn into the pages of the Hulk.  In truth, 408 only amounts to a cameo (see above) but the following issue has them front-and-centre with even MM/KP's logo as part of the cover design.  

The legendary Peter David scripted both installments (which brought the Green Goliath to London... for a punch-up), joined by Marvel UK stalwart (and MM artist) Gary Frank.  

They were never reprinted in the UK.  

Ironically, these issues appeared around the time that the Annex of Ideas shuttered Harley's own book after a twelve issue run, depriving them of the cross-promotional opportunity.  Ms. Davis did form part of the DARK GUARD line-up (the UKverse answer to The Avengers/ JLA... except without the longevity, sales figures and movie franchise) but that proved a short-lived venture (four issues) before it fell victim of the Genesis Implosion.

Plans for two MOTORMOUTH mini-series floundered (fatally) in the Genesis Massacre. 

This lack of success Stateside (at least until this year's REVOLUTIONARY WAR) ironically makes the original DEATH'S HEAD (the character Paul Neary loathed so much) as the most successful British character when it comes to infiltrating the mainstream MARVELverse. 

1993: BLACK AXE House Ad (Marvel UK)

Another MARVEL UK "Genesis era" House Ad from 1993: this time plugging the virtues of the fifth issue of BLACK AXE.

You can almost picture the thought process that led to Black Panther turning-up as the shipped-in US guest star.

1993: OVERKILL MONTHLY House Ad (Marvel UK)

This MARVEL UK House Ad, which appeared in December 1993, touted the relaunched OVERKILL which boasted an increased page count (and cover price) but also a reduced schedule (from fortnightly to monthly).  

The shift was part of the GENESIS IMPLOSION which saw sweeping retrenchments (read: cancellations) across the US-focued line as the British Bullpen tried to cope with orders suddenly falling-off the cliff.  Overkill, presumably, wasn't subject to the same woes (it was, after all, primarily intended for UK newsagents) but the schedule change suggested that it too was suffering from flaccid sales.  

The Implosion swiftly turned into a MASSACRE when Marvel, without warning, deemed the entire UK imprint (even the annoyingly ubiquitous DEATH'S HEAD II) surplus to requirements and closed the lot.  Overkill, flush with a backlog of strips, soldiered on into the New Year but it really felt like it was on borrowed time...

1993: BLACK AXE LAUNCH AD (Marvel UK)

 

This is the in-house Launch Ad for the ongoing MARVEL UK series BLACK AXE from early 1993.

The 'Genesis Project' UKverse title eventually clocked-up a seven month run before succumbing to the first wave of cutbacks: the 'Genesis Implosion'.

The axe (hohum) fell so swiftly that MARVEL AGE MAGAZINE continued to list two more issues as coming attractions and, presumably, some work had already been completed on one or both.  

The appearance by DEATH'S HEAD II in the first issue was presumably intended to give the new launch some extra sales lift and standout in a competitive market... but M-UK seriously overexposed the character (and his various wannabe spin-offs) and his star power waned fast. 

The BLACK AXE strip also appeared in OVERKILL in the UK. 

1992: MOTORMOUTH from THE EXPLOITS OF SPIDER-MAN Issue 1 (Marvel UK)

£@<$ me!  It's a one-page background piece on MARVEL UK's MOTORMOUTH from the first issue (cover-dated 21 October 1992) of THE EXPLOITS OF SPIDER-MAN.

Ms. Davis' early adventures had already appeared in the pages of OVERKILL earlier in the year, albeit in an edited form to minimise the copious guest appearances by established US characters (deemed essential for getting traction in the fiercely competitive US market, but also at odds with Overkill's initial brief to target Tharg's readership).  This second outing presented the early strips just as they had appeared in the US edition.

This was the only time, except for the OVERKILL EASTER SPECIAL the following year, that Genesis strips appeared outside Overkill on this side of the Atlantic.  

1992: MELTDOWN PREVIEWS GENESIS 92 (Marvel UK)

This is a two-page preview of the initial wave of GENESIS 92 books, published in the sixth and final issue of MARVEL UK's MELTDOWN, cover-dated February 1992.

1992: MARVEL UK NEWS (Comic World)

Here's a MARVEL UK GENESIS 92 news piece from the 8th issue of COMIC WORLD magazine, cover-dated 8 October 1992.

1993: BATTLETIDE HOUSE AD (Marvel UK)

This is a MARVEL UK House Ad, from the US format Genesis 92 line (published in comics cover-dated February 1993) plugging the first BATTLETIDE limited series.

Abnett and Lanning's four-parter borrowed from SECRET WARS (aliens kidnap assorted heroes and villains and pitch them into combat for their viewing pleasure) and mixed in some wrestling (the characters are paired-off into various tag teams) for an undemanding romp enlivened by Geoff Senior's art.

The whole thing was reprinted in the one-and-only spin-off from OVERKILL: the 1993 Easter Special.  To date, it remains the only English language compilation of G92 era material.

1993: FRONTIER COMICS HOUSE AD (Marvel UK)

Here's a MARVEL UK House Ad, from their US books (cover-dated September 1993), plugging the first (and, as it turned out, only) wave of books from their FRONTIER COMICS imprint.

The core GENESIS 92 sub-universe had been born of a creative rift within Marvel UK.  Many of the creators, no doubt with one eye on the big bucks being splashed around by US publishers, saw M-UK as an opportunity to create Marvel's version of DC's booming VERTIGO imprint: edgy, (sometimes) less commercial books which really (hopefully!) pushed the boundaries of the medium.

Paul Neary, newly ensconced as the British Boss and seeped in the traditions of mainstream superhero fare (as well as accountable to the New York HQ and their demand for more and more product, and profits, during the industry boom years) favoured more commercial fare.

Even the earliest issues of OVERKILL reflected that conflict: the US standalone books were packed full of appearances by US characters (a policy piloted, with great success, in the original DEATH'S HEAD II limited series) in an attempt to get some attention and traction in the ferociously competitive US market.  The British "reprints", chasing the 2000AD audience (and initially billed as science fiction comic), chopped out (by deleting pages in a weird and cumbersome dual running arrangement) the bulk of the appearances by US characters.

With sales at their peak, and the GENESIS EXPLOSION in full bloom, M-UK did have a belated crack at the Vertigo vibe with the FRONTIER range.

Not creator owned, more risky (there's tit in BLOODSEED) and with one foot (loosely) in the Marvel Universe, Frontier produced some of the best creative work from the entire GENESIS era.

All of the books were initially announced as four-issue limited series although BLOODSEED was subsequently halved to a two-issue run with the promise of the final two issues, bunched as a second series, in 1994.  That never happened.

The problem with the FRONTIER line is that all the books were fundamentally less commercial than the mainstream G92 books.  That still made them viable when business was booming but a disaster once sales dropped off a cliff... which they did, just as the line hit the shelves.

As retailers and readers trimmed their sails (or, simply, bowed out) in the face of a glut of product, Frontier was particularly vulnerable.  Marvel UK found their books, floating at the fringes of the Marvel Universe, the first to get the chop as retailers slashed their orders.  Frontier, an imprint of an imprint, was even more vulnerable.

Marvel UK announced the entire line would shutter once the first wave of books had wrapped (kudos for allowing all of them to run their course) and plans for a quarterly companion, FRONTIER COMICS UNLIMITED (borrowing the brand, and format, from the similar US books), were curtailed to a one-shot, FRONTIER COMICS SPECIAL, using the inventory material (new outings for all the first-wave strips along with several new shorts which were, presumably, considered possibilities for future solo-dom) created for the first issue.

The cuts marked the beginning of the GENESIS IMPLOSION, a wave of cancellations and delays (which, as events turned out, amounted to cancellations) which were intended to trim M-UK back to a core offering but, by early 1994, closed the whole thing down.

The Frontier books are regular 50p box fodder and well worth grabbing if you can find them.  They represent some great hidden gems, from creators about to hit the big time, and are (without doubt) Marvel UK's best kept secrets.

MARVEL UK HANDBOOK: BATTLETIDE

THE ROAD TO THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR:
THE MARVEL UK HANDBOOK

The four-part BATTLETIDE limited series reads like one of those ideas that popped into Paul Neary's head late on a Friday afternoon and arrived on his desk as a (allegedly) fully formed concept at 9am the following Monday.

It was a cack-handed combination of Shooter's SECRET WARS and - off all things - WWF (1992 remember) wrestling.  The basic plot revolved around aliens kidnapping various bankable Marvel characters (Hell's Angel, Psylocke, Wolverine, Sabretooth, Kill Power and - inevitably - Death's Head II) and pairing them off in tag teams to fight various non-discript aliens.  The titular "tide", since you asked, was a cloud of cosmic evil (not dissimilar to Galactus in RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER) drafted in when the plot began to splutter.

The script was by the ubiquitous Dan Abnett with art by Geoff Senior, who makes the best of a bad situation.

Sales were stellar at the height of the boom and a second, slightly superior, four-parter followed during the 1993 GENESIS EXPLOSION and a third instalment was on the cards when the IMPLOSION snuffed out the lot.

Marvel combined the entire four-parter into one staple-straining UK edition as the (one-and-only) OVERKILL EASTER SPECIAL.  The first part of the sequel appeared in the final issue of OVERKILL (indicating that the cancellation order arrived rather late) leaving would-be readers to seek out the original US format back issues if they wondered what happened next.