Havoc 01

⭐ Issue Number 1 - Dated 13th July, 1991 ⭐
STARMEN  ●  HOT-HEADS  ●  ICE MAIDENS  ●  CYBORGS  ●  BARBARIANS

“Today’s test is a simple one. Twelve top mercenaries versus Deathlok. He will be carrying a gun that fires harmless paint pellets. To make things interesting, the mercenaries will be carrying real weapons."

☆ Deathlok: Test Run ☆

Script: McDuffie / Wright | Art: Guice / Wright

It begins with an origin story. The angry looking cover star Deathlok is referred to as the "ultimate war machine".

Like a walking corpse with metallic limbs, it's the brain of a respected Colonel housed inside a high-tech cyborg body.

Anyone who's ever read an action comic or watched a science fiction movie before will maybe have predicted by now that something happens to make the cyborg slave's programming go awry, leading to independent thought.

With just eight pages of story for the character in the first issue, we learn very little about the cybernetics program, its creators or controllers, and even less about the man whose brain sits inside the casing, Colonel John Kelly.

But it ends on a cliff-hanger, effectively setting a hook with the kind of bait that's served anthology comics well for years before Havoc came along, and still does today.

☆ The Star Slammers: Part One ☆

Script + Art: Walter Simonson

The Star Slammers have even less pages to make an impact. Rather than put his heroes up front, creator Walter Simonson uses his opening four pages to set tone and genre, which amounts to a dramatic war zone that awaits the titular Slammers' arrival. In English Literature classes they teach that characterisation is established not just by the actions of the protagonist(s), but by what others say and feel about them. The strip is the epitome of that approach.

It's also the only one in the launch lineup that didn't make any of the front covers, so I've given them a place on my banner above. It's not because I think they were the best of the bunch. It's merely in the interests of balance.

☆ Ghost Rider: Life's Blood: Part One ☆

Script: Mackie | Art: Saltares / Texeira / Wright

The first part of a relaunch for the Spirit of Vengeance with a new human face beneath the familiar flaming skull. It takes place on Hallowe'en eve, as a nervous Dan Ketch and his bolder sister Barb journey through a graveyard. They're not the only folks there that night, however; the Cypress Pool Jokers gang are waiting for potential victims.

Of the five strips included in Havoc, Ghost Rider initially feels like the one that's connected most to the wider Marvel universe. Without going into spoiler territory, there's mention of a big name villain who's a prominent threat to at least two of the publisher's more successful characters. There's no major supernatural happenings in the five-page story, but differences in the siblings are given a reasonable amount of attention, so it's a success of a different sort.

☆ Conan the Barbarian: The Frost Giant's Daughter: Part One ☆

Script: Roy Thomas | Art: Windsor-Smith

I should first admit that I'm a big fan of Conan, but there's no hint of bias attached when I state that I feel The Frost Giant's Daughter was the very best of Havoc's first issue strips. The artwork and storytelling were both of a high standard right from the opening splash page, which felt like it had a story all of its own to tell, to the closing reveal.

In-between is little more than a chase across a frozen tundra, but the text boxes and dialogue combined offer great insight into the mind of the barbarian and keeps the focus of his attentions a mystery for as long as needed.

The sword and sorcery fantasy setting is the odd man out, but the environment is beautifully realised and we're left in little doubt as to Conan's place and status within it - or at the very least his perception of such.

☆ RoboCop: Kombat Zone: Part One ☆

Script: McDuffie / Wright | Art: Guice / Wright

In 1991, when Havoc launched, there'd been two RoboCop movies released. with a third in pre-production. The onscreen Robo had a Judge Dredd influence, which is carried through to the Kombat Zone comic-book continuation. The entire concept would fit well in 2000 AD (and the hover bikes might not seem so out of place then, either).

Set still in Old Detroit, it has a surprisingly talkative RoboCop carrying out his directives, fighting crime, protecting the innocent and taking down criminals with his distinctive gun. But it's a pretty bland introduction, otherwise.

Issue One ends with some character profiles / backstory for its chosen strips, in the form of Wanted Posters and a pin-up of each. It wasn't until it was pointed out there that I realised each one of them is more antihero than hero - although it wasn't strictly possible to make that distinction with regards the Star Slammers strip. What was evident throughout is that Havoc was aimed at a slightly more mature audience than some of the other Marvel UK titles. A more mature audience requires storytelling to match. In that respect it was a decent non-spandex beginning.

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