The popularity of Death’s Head might be a bit of a head-scratcher for comic book fans outside the UK, but he was a major player for British fans in Marvel UK‘s Transformers series and eventually landed his own (short-lived) ongoing series. The ‘Freelance Peacekeeping Agent’ (don’t call him a bounty hunter) could target pretty much anyone in any timeline, making him a versatile foe with an hazy history. And a timeline that isn’t all that straightforward.
Marvel UK ran an ad in 1988, a year after his initial appearances in Transformers, establishing him as part of the Marvel Universe and eventually pitted him against the Fantastic Four and Iron Man 2020. The influx of British creators to the offices of Marvel US over the years has led to many of them bringing this cult character back into the spotlight, even after his death in 1993. That’s the beauty of time-travel. Even death means we haven’t seen the last of him, yes?
A huge thank you to the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe, the Marvel Chronology Project and the Marvel Database for the assist!
Must Reads: Story arcs marked with a ✔ are must-read stories from this time period, along with any key related stories and often-forgotten tales that are worth a read.
Chronology: Every appearance of Death’s Head from this period is included in chronological order, laying out their timeline rather than just the order the issues were released.
Anthology Issues: When an issue contains multiple stories, the relevant story is denoted with square brackets. For example, [2/5] refers to the second story of the five stories in that issue, so you don’t need to read the other four.
US vs UK: All issues were originally printed by Marvel US unless otherwise stated.
Spoilers: The issue/story overviews may include spoilers, so be warned!
Did we miss something? Let us know!
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the core reading order without story descriptions, page-by-page breakdowns – just the stories:
- Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #167 [house ad]
- Marvel Heroes (2009, Marvel UK) #33
- ✔ Uncanny X-Men Special (2014) #1
- ✔ Iron Man Special (2014) #1
- Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk #1-4
- ✔ SWORD (2010) #1 [1/2]
✔ SWORD (2010) #2-5 - Guardians of the Galaxy: Dream On #1 [1/2]
- ✔ Avenging Spider-Man #17
- ✔ Iron Man (2013) #6-9, 13-14
- Nova (2017) #2-3
- ✔ Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #113 [1/2]
- ✔ Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #114 [1/2]
- ✔ Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #117 [1/2]
- ✔ Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #118 [1/2]
- ✔ Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #120 [1/2]
- ✔ Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #133 [1/2]
- ✔ Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #134 [1/2]
- ✔ Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #146 [1/2]
- ✔ Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #147 [1/2]
- ✔ Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #148 [1/2]
- ✔ Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #149 [1/2]
- ✔ Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #150 [1/2]
- ✔ Transformers (1984, Marvel UK) #151 [1/2]
- ✔ Doctor Who Magazine (1984, Marvel UK) #135
- ✔ Dragon’s Claws (1988, Marvel UK) #4-5
- ✔ Death’s Head (1988, Marvel UK) #1-7
- Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #76 [3/4]
- ✔ Death’s Head (1988, Marvel UK) #8-10
- ✔ Death’s Head: The Body in Question GN
- Life and Times of Death’s Head tpb (1990)
- Avenging Spider-Man #17
- ✔ Fantastic Four #338
- ✔ Sensational She-Hulk (1989) #24
- ✔ Revolutionary War: Death’s Head II #1
- ✔ Revolutionary War: Warheads #1
- ✔ Revolutionary War Omega #1
- Real Ghostbusters (1988, Marvel UK) #42
- ✔ Black Bolt (2017) #3
- Sleeze Brothers (1989, Marvel UK) #5
- ✔ Doctor Who Magazine (1984, Marvel UK) #173
- ✔ Incomplete Death’s Head (Marvel UK) #12
- ✔ Death’s Head (2019) #1-4
- Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comics #43 (digital)
- ✔ Death’s Head II (1992, Marvel UK) #1
- ✔ Death’s Head II (1993, Marvel UK) #9
- ✔ Death’s Head II #2-4 (1992)
- ✔ Incomplete Death’s Head (Marvel UK) #2-12
- ✔ Death’s Head Gold (Marvel UK) #1
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| Transformers #167 [House Ad] (Marvel UK, 1988) While stationed on Scarvix, a farmer (Tex) comes looking for revenge on Death’s Head after the “Freelance Peace-Keeping Agent” carries out a kill on his brother; Death’s Head blows up his own office to kill the farmer. | ||
| Marvel Heroes #33 (2011) On an early mission while still human-sized, as an agent of the invading D’bari, Death’s Head finds himself facing off against the Hulk of Earth-9411. | ||
| ✔ | Uncanny X-Men Special #1 (2014) Iron Man Special #1 (2014) Death’s Head is hired by Monark Starstalker to retrieve the pirate Summers and ends up capturing Cyclops (Scott Summers) of the X-Men. | NO END IN SIGHT |
| Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk #1-4 (2018) Death’s Head ends up siding with Darkhawk against the Fraternity of Raptors, despite being hired to apprehend him. 1st appearance: StarhawkRatha’kon, Miri Cruz (named) New identity: Talonar/Robbie Rider as Dark Starhawk | INFINITY WARS | |
| ✔ | SWORD (2010) #1 [1/2] (2010) SWORD (2010) #2-5 (2010) On Earth-616, Death’s Head – having grown in size – is hired to kill Abigail Brand‘s half-brother Lothithanriaxiaxus and steal a valuable item back for the alien inhabitants of Tinas IV; boarding the Peak – the space station used by the Sentient World Observation and Response Department (SWORD), Death’s Head ends up siding with Abigail Brand against the Drenx and the robotic Unit; Brand decides to keep Death’s Head on file to carry out future missions for SWORD. 1st appearance: Unit | |
| Guardians of the Galaxy: Dream On #1 [1/2] (2017) The Guardians of the Galaxy are captured by Deaths Head who’s attempting to claim the price on their heads; the Guardians find a way to outsmart him. | ||
| ✔ | Avenging Spider-Man #17 (2013) Death’s Head is hired by the Time Variance Authority (TVA) to stop the Future Foundation from building a device that is destined to tear a hole in the fabric of space-time; Death’s Head encounters Spider-Man (Otto Octavius); the TVA hire another Death’s Head from a later point in his timeline. |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| ✔ | Iron Man #6-8 (2013) The Voldi hire Death’s Head to kill Iron Man (Tony Stark) for murdering their god, the Phoenix Force; Stark is forced to face Death’s Head in an alien arena without his armour. 1st appearance: Recorder #451 | AvX: AVENGERS VS X-MEN MARVEL NOW! |
| ✔ | Iron Man #9, 13-14 (2013) After avoiding his demise at the hands of the Celestials, Death’s Head is hired by Recorder #451 to capture Tony Stark, while Stark hires Death’s Head to find Recorder #451; Death’s Head defers to the Recorder’s contract; Recorder #451 takes control of Death’s Head and uses him to attack Iron Man; Death’s Head seemingly falls to his death. | MARVEL NOW! |
| Nova #2-3 (2017) Death’s Head, Titus and an unnamed Chitauri are hired to retrieve Sam Alexander and Richard Rider’s Nova Corps helmet. | MARVEL NOW! | |
| ✔ | Transformers #113 [1/2] (1987, Marvel UK) Transformers #114 [1/2] (1987, Marvel UK) Transformers #117 [1/2] (1987, Marvel UK) Transformers #118 [1/2] (1987, Marvel UK) Transformers #120 [1/2] (1987, Marvel UK) Having somehow survived and jumped over to the future of Earth-120185, Death’s Head decides to pick up a bounty to capture or kill the mad Decepticon called Galvatron for Autobot leader Rodimus Prime; following Galvatron back in time to the present day, Death’s head destroys the Autobot Bumblebee; Wreck-Gar activates a device that returns Death’s Head to the future of Earth-120185. 1st appearance: Death’s Head New identity: Earth-120185’s Bumblebee as Goldbug | WANTED: GALVATRON, DEAD OR ALIVE |
| ✔ | Transformers #133 [1/2] (1987, Marvel UK) Transformers #134 [1/2] (1987, Marvel UK) The Decepticons hire Death’s Head to kill Rodimus Prime; he almost succeeds, but is shot in the back by the Scourge; Prime offers Death’s Head a bounty on Scourge and Cyclonus. | |
| ✔ | Transformers #146 [1/2] (1988, Marvel UK) Transformers #147 [1/2] (1988, Marvel UK) Transformers #148 [1/2] (1988, Marvel UK) Transformers #149 [1/2](1988, Marvel UK) Transformers #150 [1/2] (1988, Marvel UK) Transformers #151 [1/2] (1988, Marvel UK) Doctor Who Magazine #135 (1988, Marvel UK) Death’s Head helps the Autobots defeat the resurrected planet-devouring Unicron and escapes through a time portal to avoid being destroyed; hurtling through the timestream, Death’s Head collides with the Doctor‘s TARDIS; in order to save his own life, the Doctor shrinks Death’s Head to human size and sends him to a random destination in time. | THE LEGACY OF UNICRON |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| ✔ | Dragon’s Claws #4-5 (Marvel UK, 1988) Death’s Head #1-2 (Marvel UK, 1988-1989) Death’s Head materialises on Earth-5555 in the year 8162 and is immediately hired by Death Nell of the Evil Dead gang to kill the Jones Boys; Death’s Head is destroyed by the law-enforcing Dragon’s Claws; Death’s Head is rebuilt by Spratt of the Chain Gang; the Chain Gang employ Death’s Head to retrieve Dragon’s Claws member Scavenger who defected from the group years earlier, but ceases his efforts when he goes off the clock. 1st appearance: Spratt | HERE’S DEATH’S HEAD |
| ✔ | Death’s Head #3-5 (Marvel UK, 1989) Death’s Head sets up his own business in Los Angeles on Earth-5555, taking on Spratt as an assistant; Death’s Head is hired to find information on the criminal Ogrus; crime lord Dead Cert hires Death’s Head to kill the bioengineered killing machine Plague Dog, owned by Dead Cert’s rival the Undertaker; Thea hires Death’s Head to retrieve a shipment of bullion stolen by her ex-husband, Keepsake; Death’s Head keeps Keepsake’s pet vulture. 1st appearance: Big Shot, Death’s Head’s vulture | |
| Dragon’s Claws #6 [House Ad] (Marvel UK, 1989) Death’s Head and Spratt are hired to scare off a band of Munchkyns when they invade the home town of a group of bear people. | ||
| ✔ | Death’s Head #6 (Marvel UK, 1989) Death’s Head is hired to protect key witness Gowse who’s due to give evidence at a senate hearing; the mercenary group Sudden Impact attack Gowse’s safe house but are wiped out by Death’s Head; Death’s Head turns down Mayhem‘s offer to join what’s left of Sudden Impact. 1st appearance: Pyra (voice only) | |
| ✔ | Death’s Head #7 (Marvel UK, 1987) Death’s Head is unaware that two mercenaries are trying to kill him as he attempts to claim the bounty on the shapeshifter Photofit; Big Shot, misses his mark but makes his mission to kill Death’s Head personal. | |
| Marvel Comics Presents #76 [3/4] (1991) Deaths Head is hired to bring back the head of Thaddeus Soul. | ||
| ✔ | Death’s Head #8-10 (pp.1-20) (Marvel UK, 1989) Death’s Head is hired by Josiah W Dogbolter to chase down the Gallifreyan Doctor; Death’s Head is stranded in the present day on Earth-616 and assists the Fantastic Four against their own security system; Mister Fantastic accidentally sends Death’s Head to Earth-8410 in the year 2020; Death’s Head immediately sets himself up as a Freelance Peace-Keeping Agent and is manipulated into battling Iron Man (Arno Stark); Spratt meets a woman he believes to be Death’s Head’s former lover. |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| ✔ | Strip #13 [1/4] (1990) Strip #14 [1/3] (1990) Strip #15 [1/4] (1990) Spratt leads Pyra and Big Shot straight to Death’s Head 1st appearance: Pyra (full) Note: Also collected in Death’s Head: The Body in Question GN (pp.1-24) (1991) | |
| ✔ | Death’s Head #10 (pp.21-22) (1989) / Strip #16 [1/4] (1990) Spratt, Big Shot and Pyra arrive on Earth-8410. | |
| ✔ | Strip #16 [1/4] (1990) Strip #17 [1/4] (1990) Strip #18 [1/4] (1990) Strip #19 [1/4] (1990) Strip #20 [1/4] (1990) Death’s Head meets his ‘mother’ and learns a little about his origins when he clashes with his ‘father’, Lupex. Note: Also collected in Death’s Head: The Body in Question GN (pp.1-24) (1991) | |
| Life and Times of Death’s Head tpb (1990) Death’s Head looks back on his time jumping from Earth-5555 to Earth-8410. | ||
| Avenging Spider-Man #17 (2013) Death’s Head is hired by the Time Variance Authority (TVA) to stop the Future Foundation from building a device that is destined to tear a hole in the fabric of space-time, after hiring another version from him from earlier in his timeline. | ||
| ✔ | Fantastic Four #338 (1990) The TVA hire Death’s Head to investigate a Time Bubble on Earth-8810 caused by that universe’s Galactus; Deaths Head briefly clashes with the Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Thor of Earth-616 before being returned to his own time by a member of the Council of Kangs. 1st appearance: Galactus of Earth-8810 | INTO THE TIMESTREAM |
| ✔ | Sensational She-Hulk #24 (1991) Death’s Head quits the TVA, steals a time-cycle and returns to the year 2020 on Earth-8410; he takes a job retrieving a priceless vase from present day Earth-616 where he clashes with She-Hulk. | |
| ✔ | Revolutionary War: Death’s Head II #1 (2014) Revolutionary War: Warheads #1 (2014) Revolutionary War Omega #1 (2014) Tuck hires Death’s Head to save his future self, Death’s Head II, from Dr Evelyn Necker; Death’s Head and Death’s Head II take down their true foe together; Death’s Head returns to his own time. | REVOLUTIONARY WAR |
| Real Ghostbusters #42 (Marvel UK, 1989) Death’s Head cameo; while passing through their Earth, Death’s Head avoids interacting with the Ghostbusters, passing himself off as a movie monster (or it could actually be a movie monster costume!). |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| ✔ | Black Bolt #3 (2017) Death’s Head collects the bounty on Monsteroso and attempts to recapture Black Bolt of the Inhumans when he tries to escape a space prison. | |
| Sleeze Brothers #5 (1989) Death’s Head cameo; Death’s Head is seen waiting in line for the Amphibian Emporium on Earth-89547. | ||
| ✔ | Doctor Who Magazine #173 (1991) Death’s Head is among those attending Bonjaxx‘s birthday party on Maruthea; he’s among those trying to kill the two incarnations of the Doctor who also attend the party. | |
| ✔ | Incomplete Death’s Head #12 (1993) Death’s Head II (Minion) arrives on Maruthea and saves Death’s Head from Hob who seeks revenge on him over the death of Josiah W Dogbolter; Death’s Head clearly loses his memories of meeting his future self at some later date. | |
| ✔ | Death’s Head #1-4 (2019) Death’s Head discovers he has a ‘son’, teams up with Wiccan and Hulkling of the Young Avengers and partners up with Dr Evelyn Necker (of Earth-616) against Yondu (also of Earth-616) and the Fearmongers. 1st appearance: Vee/Death’s Head 5.0 | |
| Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comics #43 (2023) Star-Lord and Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) of Earth-616 and Death’s Head all pursue the ambiguous Prodigal box. 1st appearance: Prodigals | ||
| ✔ | Death’s Head II #1 (pp.1-18) (1992) Still based on Earth-8410, Death’s Head is hired to kill Wilson Tyler only to find him being assimilated and killed by the AIM cyborg Minion – a system the robot uses to learn new skills and become the ultimate AIM assassin. 1st appearance: Minion (cyborg), Dr Evelyn Necker | |
| ✔ | Death’s Head II #1 (pp.1-22) (1992) / Death’s Head II #9 (pp.9-22) (1993) Death’s Head tracks down Minion at AIM headquarters but is defeated and assimilated by him; the process has a detrimental effect on the Minion cyborg; the future version of the Minion cyborg (Death’s Head II) and Tuck arrive at the moment Minion kills the original Death’s Head while jumping through time and witnessing his own death/rebirth; they’re prevented from changing the past by the Light Brigade. | |
| ✔ | Death’s Head II #2-4 (1992) The Minion cyborg continues to glitch as it carries out its assimilations, failing when it faces Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four on Earth-616; Death’s Head’s persona comes to the fore, altering Minion’s programming and leading to him renaming himself Death’s Head; on Earth-8410, Spratt is murdered by Wolfgang von Strucker V who uses magic and Death’s Head’s broken body to transform himself into Charnel; Death’s Head II returns to the timeline – which has now diverged as Earth-9939 – to defeat Charnel. 1st appearance: Charnel, Major Oak, Tuck New identity: Minion as Death’s Head/Death’s Head II | |
| ✔ | Incomplete Death’s Head #2-12 (1993) Death’s Head II finds an interactive archive dedicated to the original Death’s Head and is sucked into cyberspace where a virtual body is created for the original Death’s Head’s consciousness; Death’s Head and Death’s Head II rediscover their past; Death’s Head shunts Death’s Head II’s consciousness back into his own body and sends him on the mission to save him on Maruthea. | |
| ✔ | Death’s Head Gold #1 (1994) Death’s Head’s persona briefly separates from Death’s Head II’s other assimilated instincts when the Minion body is seriously damaged and briefly recalls the moments leading up to his death; Death’s Head takes control of the Minion cyborg and drags it to a recharge unit and becomes reintegrated with his other instincts again. |
Death’s Head II’s chronology will be covered in an upcoming reading order:
- Death’s Head II, 1992-Present – The Minion Cyborg
Notable alternate universe versions of Death’s Head:
| Must Reads | Universe | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| ✔ | Earth-8454 | What If #54 (1993) Death’s Head survives his encounter with the Minion cyborg and returns with an amped up body to take the killing machine down. |
| Must Reads | Universe | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| ✔ | Earth-92131 | X-Men ’92 #6-9 (2016-2017) Death’s Head is hired to apprehend Lila Cheney but is opposed by Abigail Brand and the X-Men. |
| Reality Unassigned | Marvel Comics #1001 [19/30] (2019) Death’s Head falls into a trap set by the Phalanx who offer to pay him to destroy Machine Teen, but then attempt to assimilate him. |
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| Death’s Head: Freelance Peace-Keeping Agent | Death’s Head #1-7, 9-10 Death’s Head: The Body in Question Dragon’s Claws #5 Fantastic Four #338 Marvel Comics Presents #76 Marvel Heroes #33 Sensational She-Hulk #24 What If #54 |
| Life and Times of Death’s Head (Marvel UK) | Death’s Head #1, 3-7, 9-10 ‘High Noon Tex’ |
| Death’s Head vol.1 (Panini Comics) | Death’s Head #1-7 Doctor Who Magazine #135 Dragon’s Claws #5 |
| Death’s Head vol.2 (Panini Comics) | Death’s Head #8-10 Death’s Head: The Body in Question Doctor Who Magazine #173 Fantastic Four #338 Marvel Comics Presents #76 Sensational She-Hulk #24 What If #54 |
| SWORD: No Time To Breathe | SWORD #1-5 |
| Death’s Head: Clone Drive | Death’s Head (2019) #1-4 |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Iron Man 2020 | Death’s Head #10 |
| Uncanny X-Men/Iron Man/Nova: No End in Sight | Nova Special #1 Uncanny X-Men Special #1 |
| Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen: The Complete Collection | SWORD #1-5 |
| Superior Spider-Man Team-Up: Superiority Complex Superior Spider-Man Companion vol.1 | Avenging Spider-Man #17 |
| Iron Man vol.2: The Secret Origin of Tony Stark, Book One | Iron Man #6-9 |
| Iron Man vol.3: The Secret Origin of Tony Stark, Book Two | Iron Man #13-14 |
| Transformers: Fallen Angel (Titan) Transformers Classics UK vol.4 (IDW) | Transformers #113-114, 117-118, 120 |
| Transformers Classics UK vol.5 (IDW) Transformers: Legacy of Unicron (Titan) | Transformers #133-134, 146-151 |
| Fantastic Four Epic Collection vol.20: Into The Timestream Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson vol.1 | Fantastic Four #338 |
| Revolutionary War | Revolutionary War: Death’s Head II #1 Revolutionary War Omega #1 Revolutionary War: Warheads #1 |
| Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk | Collects Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk #1-4 |
| X-Men ’92 vol.2: Lila Palooza | X-Men ’92 #6 |
Reading Order ©OmniverseComicsGuide 2023
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