Astonishing Tales #27
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAstonishing Tales #27 is the third chapter in the original Deathlok the Demolisher serial, and it delivers two of the run's most emotionally consequential moments: the first appearances of Janice Manning and her young son Richard — Luther Manning's wife and child, who recoil in horror from the cyborg creature he has become — deepening the central tragedy of a soldier robbed of his humanity. The issue also resolves the mystery of Deathlok's 'third voice,' the manic internal personality that had haunted his narration since the debut, revealing it as one of Ryker's implanted bugs rather than a fragment of Manning's own psyche, a storytelling pivot that sharpened the series' exploration of technological violation of identity. Taken together, these developments made #27 the emotional core of the Bronze Age Deathlok saga, a rare superhero comic of the era that treated its protagonist's loss of family and self as genuine tragedy rather than genre backdrop. The character's influence on cybernetic hero archetypes extended beyond Marvel — artist George Pérez later credited Deathlok's half-masked face as a direct visual inspiration for his creation of DC's Cyborg.
In "Dead Reckoning!", Deathlok faces off against War-Wolf in a brutal clash where loyalty wars with doubt—believing the man he fights still holds the soul of his fallen comrade, Mike Travers. Written by Rich Buckler and Doug Moench, with Buckler also handling the art and inks, this 1974 Marvel tale explores the cost of identity and loss, as Deathlok confronts both his enemy and the painful truth of his own existence. The cover by Rich Buckler captures the tension of the moment, a 25-cent look at a cyborg’s haunted journey.
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Rich Buckler originally conceived the character — calling the prototype 'Deadlock' — around 1971, spending roughly three years developing the concept before pitching it to Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas. Development stalled briefly while Marvel pursued the comic-book adaptation rights to the television series The Six Million Dollar Man; when Charlton Comics secured those rights instead, Buckler deliberately inverted the heroic cyborg template, making his creation a grotesque figure at war with his own technology rather than at ease with it. He brought in Doug Moench to collaborate on plotting and scripting, and Moench suggested the final name 'Deathlok the Demolisher.' By issue #27, the creative rhythm was Buckler and Moench co-plotting with Buckler handling the full script, Pablo Marcos on inks, George Roussos on colors, and Roy Thomas editing — the same tight team that had been in place since #26.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: December 1974; on-sale September 1974; published by Marvel Comics as part of the bi-monthly Astonishing Tales series (volume 1, 1970–1976).
- Story title: 'Dead Reckoning!' — written (concept, plot, script) by Rich Buckler with plot collaboration by Doug Moench; pencils by Rich Buckler; inks by Pablo Marcos; colors by George Roussos; edited by Roy Thomas.
- First appearance of Janice Manning (Luther Manning's wife) and Richard Manning (their young son), characters who recur throughout the Deathlok mythos and whose rejection of the cyborg delivers the run's most emotionally devastating scene.
- Reveals that Deathlok's 'third personality' — the violent, barely coherent internal voice distinguishable in the narration captions — was not a psychological fragment but an implant placed by Major Simon Ryker, resolved when Deathlok discovers and neutralizes it after the battle at the Statue of Liberty.
- Villain War-Wolf is defeated; the issue confirms he was not Mike Travers (as Ryker falsely claimed) — Travers is still alive and held captive by Ryker, a deception that drives the issue's central moral conflict: Deathlok's reluctance to destroy what he believes is a friend trapped in a cyborg body.
- Contains Marvel Value Stamp #22 (Series A) featuring Man-Thing, printed on the letters page; the letters column notes an overwhelmingly positive reader response to the new Deathlok feature.
- The indicia title changed with this issue to 'Astonishing Tales & Deathlok,' reflecting editorial confidence in the feature's growing readership.
- The story of this issue has been collected in Marvel Masterworks: Deathlok Vol. 1 (November 2009), Deathlok the Demolisher: The Complete Collection (Marvel, 2014), Deathlok the Demolisher: Origins (Panini UK, 2014), and several international editions including Biblioteca Marvel: Deathlok (Planeta DeAgostini, 2003).
Cast · 14 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Comic Reader #110 (1974), Mundo de Aventuras #153 (1976), Frankenstein #10 (1978), Star Wars Weekly #93 (1979), Star Wars Weekly #94 (1979), Star Wars Weekly #95 (1979), Heróis da TV #69 (1985), Biblioteca Marvel: Deathlok #[nn] (2003), Marvel Masterworks: Deathlok #1 (2009), Deathlok the Demolisher: Origins #[nn] (2014), Deathlok the Demolisher: The Complete Collection #[nn] (2014), A Coleção Oficial de Graphic Novels Marvel: Clássicos #31 (2017), Marvel. Официальная коллекция комиксов #134 (2018)
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