Playing off the cult popularity of their solo character Death’s Head, as well as the ‘Comics Boom’ of the early ’90s, Marvel UK launched of their own set of ongoing titles aimed at the US comics market in 1992 with Death’s Head II. Again, the character proved to be something of a cult favourite, though the line of titles that followed didn’t quite catch on with readers in the same way.
While many hardcore Death’s Head fans were dismayed at the treatment of their favourite Freelance Peacekeeping Agent at the hands of AIM‘s Minion cyborg, there were plenty of new fans with no attachment to the original who lapped up his transformation into the new Death’s Head. Even though Marvel UK didn’t survive the inevitable bust that followed the boom, Death’s Head II still has a cult following and has even received his own Marvel Legends action figure in recent years. His creators – Dan Abnett & Liam Sharp – have also gone on to become major names in the comics book industry.
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 II 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!
Follow the timeline of Deaths Head II‘s predecessor with this reading order:
- Death’s Head, 1987-Present – Freelance Peace-Keeping Agent
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the core reading order without story descriptions, page-by-page breakdowns – just the stories:
- ✔ Death’s Head II (1992 mini-series, Marvel UK) #1-4
- Black Axe (Marvel UK) #1-3
- Warheads (Marvel UK) #5-7
- ✔ Death’s Head II 1992 (1992 ongoing, Marvel UK) #1-4
- ✔ Mys-Tech Wars (Marvel UK) #1-2
- ✔ Death’s Head II (Marvel UK) #5
- ✔ Mys-Tech Wars (Marvel UK) #3
- Warheads (Marvel UK) #11
- ✔ Mys-Tech Wars (Marvel UK) #4
- ✔ Death’s Head II (Marvel UK) #6-9
- ✔ Battletide (Marvel UK) #1-4
- ✔ Battletide II (Marvel UK) #1-4
- ✔ Death’s Head II (Marvel UK) #10-12
- Death’s Head II & the Origin of Die-Cut (Marvel UK) #1-2
- Shadow Riders (Marvel UK) #1
- Knights of Pendragon (1992, Marvel UK) #13-15
- ✔ Dark Angel (Marvel UK) #13-16
- Motormouth & Killpower (Marvel UK) #12 [1/2]
- ✔ Dark Guard (Marvel UK) #1-4
- Death3 (Marvel UK) #1-4
- Death Metal (Marvel UK) #1
- The Incomplete Death’s Head (Marvel UK) #1-12
- ✔ Death’s Head II (Marvel UK) #13
- ✔ Death’s Head II (Marvel UK) #14 [1/2]
- ✔ Death’s Head II (Marvel UK) #15
- Death-Wreck (Marvel UK) #1, 4
- ✔ Death’s Head II (Marvel UK) #16
- ✔ Death’s Head II (Marvel UK) #14 [2/2]
- ✔ Death’s Head Gold (Marvel UK) #1
- Avengers Forever #11-12
- X-Men: Magik (2001) #4
- Captain Britain and MI13 #15
- Avengers (2010) #2
- ✔ Revolutionary War: Alpha #1
- ✔ Revolutionary War: Death’s Head II #1
- ✔ Revolutionary War: Omega #1
- Marvel Comics Presents (2019) #6 [2/3]
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| ✔ | Death’s Head II #1-4 (Marvel UK, 1992) On Earth-8410, Dr Necker’s Minion cyborg travels to various eras to assimilate key targets, killing them and absorbing their skills; when it kills Death’s Head, the bounty hunter’s programming takes over the Minion cyborg and gives it a sense of will; this second Death’s Head (editorially referred to as Death’s Head II) gains a new sidekick called Tuck and helps the heroes of Earth-9939 defeat the monstrous Charnel and restore the timeline. 1st appearance: Death’s Head/Minion, Charnel/Baron Strucker V, Major Oak, Dr Evelyn Necker, Phaedra, Lionheart, Tuck, Earth-12892 | |
| Black Axe #1-3 (Marvel, 1993) The immortal mercenary Black Axe is hired to shut down a Hydra operation, bringing him into conflict with Death’s Head II. 1st appearance: Black Axe | ||
| Warheads #5-7 (Marvel, 1992) Death’s Head II is hired by one of the inhabitants of Septimus Primo III to kill Colonel Tigon Liger; Death’s Head and Tuck fight for their lives against an alien army; Death’s Head and Tuck steal the Warheads‘ prize from under them. 1st appearance: Che; New identity: Anthony Grant as Audit | ||
| ✔ | Death’s Head II #1-4 (Marvel, 1992-1993) Deaths Head and Tuck arrive on Earth-616 where they and the X-Men save Phaedra from Wraithchild. New identity: Kite | |
| ✔ | Mys-Tech Wars #1-2 (pp.1-20) (Marvel UK, 1993) Death’s Head II #5 (pp.1-19) (Marvel UK, 1993) Warheads #11 (pp.1-6) (Marvel UK, 1993) Mys-Tech Wars #2 (p.21) / Death’s Head II #5 (p.20) / Warheads #11 (p.7) (Marvel UK, 1993) Mys-Tech Wars #3 (pp.1-10) / Warheads #11 (pp.8-23) (Marvel UK, 1993) Mys-Tech Wars #3 (pp.11-20) (Marvel UK, 1993) Mys-Tech Wars #4 (Marvel UK, 1993) Nick Fury discovers Mys-Tech’s plan to control Earth by merging it with their Un-Earth; Death’s Head, the Warheads, Dark Angel, Motormouth, Killpower and the Knights of Pendragon join forces with the X-Men, Avengers, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Doctor Strange and more to put an end to their plan before reality is altered in Mys-Tech‘s favour. 1st appearance: Anti-Being, Earth-93031 | MYS-TECH WARS |
| ✔ | Death’s Head #6-9 (Marvel UK, 1994) Death’s Head returns to Lionheart to rescue Tuck from Major Oak; Death’s Head II recalls killing the original Death’s Head. | |
| ✔ | Battletide #1-4 (Marvel UK, 1992-1993) Some of the most vicious warriors in the universe are transported to the world known as Colosseum to do battle and raise the living essence of warfare, the Battletide, from the Dark Citadel; Death’s Head II and Killpower are among the candidates who discover Termagaira‘s true purpose for the Battletide; Dark Angel, Hercules, the Hulk, Psylocke, Sabretooth and Wolverine are among the combatants from Earth. 1st appearance: Battletide, Termagaira |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| ✔ | Battletide II #1-4 (Marvel UK, 1994) The Battletide returns after having gained conscious awareness; Death’s Head II and Killpower are recruited by the Temploids to oppose the Battletide which employs Termagaira and possesses the Hulk to fight back against them. | PUMPING IRON |
| ✔ | Death’s Head II #10-12 (Marvel UK, 1993) Kite is revealed to be a living fragment of Charnel who merges with his future counterpart and a Minion cyborg to become Charnel again; Death’s Head kills Charnel. | |
| Death’s Head II & the Origin of Die-Cut #1-2 (Marvel UK, 1993) The technophobic alien warrior Die-Cut clashes with the cyborg mercenary Death’s Head II, until the pair are left with no choice but to join forces against the evil artificial intelligence known as the Black Curator. 1st appearance: Die-Cut/Czorn Yson | PUMPING IRON | |
| Shadow Riders #1 (Marvel UK, 1993) Death’s Head II cameo; first appearance of the Shadow Riders; Death’s Head tries to kill Rick Jones, mistaking him for his target Mick Jones; the Hulk intercepts Deaths Head and saves Rick. | ||
| Knights of Pendragon #13-15 (Marvel UK, 1993) The Knights of Pendragon return to Avalon where they clash with Death’s Head II and Magpie before their final showdown with the Red Lord. | ||
| ✔ | Dark Angel #13-16 (1993) Dark Angel upgrades her armour; in the aftermath of the Mys-Tech War, Mys-Tech regain their youth, rename themselves the Techno-Wizards and summon the Anti-Being; Dark Angel banishes the Anti-Being to the dimensional void with help from Death’s Head and the Wyrd Sisters. New identity: Mys-Tech as the Techno-Wizards | |
| Motormouth & Killpower #12 [1/2] (Marvel UK, 1993) The Time Guardian observes Motormouth, Killpower and Death’s Head II while they battle AIM‘s Metamorph. | DARK GUARD |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| ✔ | Dark Guard #1-4 (Marvel UK, 1993-1994) The Time Guardian gathers Albion, Stacy Arnheim, Death’s Head, Dark Angel, Killpower, Tigon Liger, Motormouth and Ultra Marine to form the Dark Guard; the team are sent into space to stop a war between two alien factions. 1st appearance: Dark Guard, Ultra Marine | DARK GUARD |
| Death3 #1-4 (Marvel UK, 1993) Death Metal #1 (Marvel UK, 1994) Death’s Head II fights and eventually teams up with Dr Evelyn Necker’s Minion prototype Death-Wreck, as well as his successor, the new Minion cyborg Death Metal when Charnel rises from the dead again. 1st appearance: Death-Metal, Death-Wreck | DEATH3 | |
| Incomplete Death’s Head #1-12 (Marvel UK, 1993) Death’s Head II recalls the key memories of the original Death’s Head and, with help from the Galifreyan Timelord called the Doctor, realises he’s met Death’s Head before. | ||
| ✔ | Death’s Head II (Marvel UK) #13 (Marvel UK, 1993) Death’s Head II (Marvel UK) #14 [1/2] (Marvel UK, 1994) Death’s Head II (Marvel UK) #15 (Marvel UK, 1994) Death’s Head and Tuck battle the Alkemist and his cyborgs on Mars. | |
| Death-Wreck #1, 4 (Marvel UK, 1993) Death’s Head II cameo; Death-Wreck’s origin is revealed as he accidentally bounces through time, affecting the life of his successor, Death’s Head II. | DEATH3 | |
| ✔ | Death’s Head #16 (Marvel UK, 1994) Chronozone drags Death’s Head into the future where he finds his own remains. | |
| Death’s Head #14 [2/2] (Marvel UK, 1994) Death’s Head Gold #1 (Marvel UK, 1994) Death’s Head and Tuck face Major Oak’s Ludite ally, General Cicatric. Note: Death’s Head II #14 is a flip book with it’s own secondary cover titled ‘Death’s Head II Gold #0’. | THE NECRO-MACHIAD | |
| Avengers Forever #11-12 (1999) Death’s Head II cameo; Deaths Head is among the warriors pulled from various points in time to fight in the Destiny War between Immortus and Kang. |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| X-Men: Magik #4 (2001) Death’s Head II cameo. | CAST THE MAGIK | |
| Captain Britain and MI13 #15 (2009) Death’s Head II cameo; Death’s Head fights alongside the super-agents of MI13 against Dracula and his army of vampires. | VAMPIRE STATE | |
| Avengers #2 (2010) Death’s Head II cameo; Protector shows the Avengers a number of possible futures, including one with Death’s Head. | THE HEROIC AGE | |
| ✔ | Revolutionary War: Alpha #1 (2014) Revolutionary War: Death’s Head II #1 (2014) Revolutionary War: Omega #1 (2014) The UK heroes join forces again when the corrupted Killpower attempts to bring back Mys-Tech; 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 and Death’s Head II leave with Tuck when the war is over. | |
| Marvel Comics Presents #6 [2/3] (2019) Death’s Head II cameo; Death’s Head meets with Century, Deadpool and Nightwatch in the Two Live Brew coffee shop in Manhattan. |
Notable alternate universe versions of Death’s Head II:
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| Excalibur #67 (1993) Earth-811 – In the Days of Future Past era, Death’s Head II fights alongside the mutants against the Omega-Class Sentinels. | ||
| ✔ | What If #54 (1993) Earth-8454 – Death’s Head survives his encounter with the Minion cyborg and returns with an amped up body to take the killing machine down. | |
| Marvel Comics #1001 [19/30] (2019) Earth-29121 – The original Death’s Head kills an alternate universe variant of Death’s Head II. |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Knights of Pendragon Omnibus | Dark Guard #1-4 Mys-Tech Wars #1-4 |
| Death’s Head: Freelance Peace-Keeping Agent | What If #54 |
| Revolutionary War | Revolutionary War: Death’s Head II #1 Revolutionary War Omega #1 Revolutionary War: Warheads #1 |
Reading Order © 2023 Omniverse Comics Guide
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