Friday, November 20, 2009

Friday Night Fights--Ghost In The Machine Style!!

The 1990s wasn't just the time of Marvel's loudest, suckiest era...although it was that.

It was also the time of cyberpunk. And cyber wars. And Cybermen (oh, wait, that was 30 years earlier...as per usual, Doctor Who was ahead of its time, albeit in a creaky, low-budget way).

Thanks to William Gibson and Neuromancer, anything even vaguely sounding like it involved mind and machine had such a cachet of cultural coolness that of course the comic companies leapt at any chance to be on that bandwagon. That's why some of the major story arcs in the early 90s Deathlok run had titles like "Soul Of The Cyberfolk" and "Cyberwar" and "Cyberstrike."

So, when Deathlok #19 (1993) came along, it's no surprise that, along with an unnecessary chromium cover, we had a fight in...wait for it...cyberspace!!

When Michael Collins/Deathlok uses his "cybertek" to "jack into" the "mainframe" of the "cyborg supersoldier" Siege, he is confronted in "cyberspace" by the "artificial intelligence" program that is all that remains of John Kelly, the previous inhabitant of the Deathlok body.

But, despite all the "cyber" talk, this is still a comic book, so it's all just an excuse for a good old fight:


Damn, even in cyberspace, a face-kick is a face kick...

I fear Spacebooger is living in my computer, waiting to wallop me...

Deathlok #19 (1993) comes to us via Gregory Wright, Walter McDaniel and Kim DeMulder.


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