Strikeforce: Morituri #13
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeIssue #13 serves as the capstone of the first year of Peter Gillis and Brent Anderson's run on this underappreciated Marvel science-fiction series, and it earns its double-sized format by doing something the series had been building toward all along: staging a generational collision between the first two cohorts of doomed heroes and the newly activated third generation of Morituri recruits. Within that single issue, Gillis delivers one of the series' most emotionally devastating moments — the death of Adept (Jelene Anderson), one of creator Peter Gillis's self-described favorite characters and one of Marvel's rare positive portrayals of a fundamentalist Christian protagonist — alongside the simultaneous first appearance and death of Wildcard, a gut-punch that crystallized the series' core thesis that no character, no matter how freshly introduced, was safe from the Morituri Effect. As the final issue collected in Marvel's 2012 trade paperback Volume 1, it also functions as the natural end-point of the foundational arc, making it the definitive entry point for readers encountering the series through collected editions.
In "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye...", the legacy of the Morituri takes a shocking turn as the Third Generation is revealed—introducing a new recruit who once played Vyking on the Morituri TV show. With Commander Nion gone, a new leader steps in, and the clash between the original Morituri and the new generation ignites a brutal conflict. Written by Peter B. Gillis and illustrated by Brent Anderson, with inks by Scott Williams, colors by Max Scheele, and letters by Phil Felix, the issue's cover by Brent Anderson captures the intensity of this pivotal moment.
In "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye...", the legacy of the Morituri continues as the Third Generation is introduced—among them, the actor who portrayed Vyking on the Morituri TV show, now thrust into the real-life role he once played. With Commander Nion gone and a new leader taking charge, the original and second-generation Morituri face off against their younger counterparts, while the cost of the Morituri Process claims two more lives in the tragic deaths of Wildcard and Adept.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Strikeforce: Morituri was conceived by writer Peter B. Gillis and penciller Brent Anderson and launched by Marvel in December 1986, edited by Carl Potts and set entirely within its own self-contained continuity on Earth-1287, wholly separate from the wider Marvel Universe. The series' premise — volunteers gain superhuman powers through the 'Morituri Process' but are guaranteed to die within a year — gave Gillis a structurally built-in engine for rotating characters and escalating tragedy, a format unusual enough in mainstream superhero publishing that it drew comparison to John Ostrander's contemporaneous Suicide Squad over at DC. Issue #13, released in August 1987 with a December cover date, was expanded to double-size to accommodate the simultaneous introduction of the entire third generation of Morituri and the landmark deaths of that same issue, with the full creative team of Gillis, Anderson, inker Scott Williams, colorist Christie Scheele, letterer Phil Felix, and editor Potts intact. A humorous meta-backup strip, 'How Peter & Brent Create (& Destroy) Strikeforce Morituri,' was included alongside an in-universe character handbook, making the issue a self-aware anniversary package as much as a story issue.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Written by Peter B. Gillis, pencilled by Brent Anderson, inked by Scott Williams, colored by Christie Scheele, lettered by Phil Felix, and edited by Carl Potts; cover date December 1987, on-sale August 25, 1987.
- First appearances of four third-generation Morituri: Brava (Domenica Contreras), Hardcase (Burke O'Halloran), Shear (Walther Feyzioglu), Silencer (Akiya Bandaranaike), and Wildcard (John Crenella).
- Death of Adept (Jelene Anderson) via the Morituri Effect — Peter Gillis has stated she was one of his favorite characters in the series and one of Marvel's first positively depicted fundamentalist Christian superheroes.
- Wildcard (John Crenella) debuts and dies in the same issue, killed by the Morituri Effect — his power was the ability to duplicate any nearby Morituri's abilities.
- First appearance of Commander Yuri Pogorelich, who replaces the recently deceased Commander Beth Luis Nion as the Strikeforce's military overseer.
- Includes a secondary backup strip, 'How Peter & Brent Create (& Destroy) Strikeforce Morituri,' a self-deprecating cartoon in which the creators humorously dramatize their own character-generation process, and 'The Official Strikeforce: Morituri Handbook,' a single-issue in-universe reference guide.
- Issue #13 is the final issue collected in Marvel's January 2012 trade paperback Volume 1 (ISBN listed in Grand Comics Database), making it the closing chapter of the series' most critically regarded story arc and the natural endpoint for new readers.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Strikeforce: Morituri #25 (1989), Strikeforce: Morituri #1 (2012), Strikeforce: Morituri - We Who Are About to Die #1 (2012), Strikeforce: Morituri Omnibus #[nn] (2025), X-Men [Χ-Μεν] #58
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