Up to now, this book has involved Michael Collins trying to figure out where the bad tech people stashed his human body, but with this arc the book takes a sharp turn. So far, Collins, in his Deathlok body, has been surveilling his human family but keeping his distance. Last issue, Nick Fury started getting interested in Deathlok, and with this issue he goes to Collins’ family and tells them that Collins’ consciousness is still alive, trapped in a machine warrior body, and tells Deathlok that his wife is pregnant with his child.
So begins Deathlok’s role as a SHIELD super-agent.
And, like all SHIELD agents, Deathlok has to fight other SHIELD agents. Because there’s no organization with more internal corruption and strife than SHIELD.
The ins and outs of the SHIELD adventures really don’t matter, but they’re fun. Stil, the more interesting piece of this story is how he begins to re-engage with his family.
And, predictably, Deathlok’s family become pawns as villains figure out who Deathlok really is.
I like Deathlok as an agent—his roots are in soldiering, and soldiers need missions. And that’s really what’s happening in this story. A mission.
By the end of this story, Deathlok is back with his family (but they still don’t know who he really is), and he has health benefits from SHIELD. Seriously.
I love that.
Another development in these issues: Power Man’s old foe Moses Magnum, who had some kind of shockwave powers, is now a Deathlok.
