Issue(s): Death's Head II #6, Death's Head II #7, Death's Head II #8, Death's Head II #9
Cover Date: May-Aug 93
Title: "Tuck's tale" / "Dark ages" / "Losers weep" / "Payback time"
Credits:
Dan Abnett - Writer
Simon Coleby / Anthony Williams / Bryan Hitch - Penciler
Andy Lanning / Sean Hardy & Co. / Simon Coleby - Inker
Tim Quinn - Assistant Editor
John Freeman - Editor

Review/plot:
Death's Head II returns to the world of Lionheart, in the year of 3442, to find Tuck, who was sent there by Phaedra after the ordeal of the Sapphire Lotus. It's said that Tuck is now physically stronger as a result of that ordeal. They have a little swords and sorcery adventure while in Lionheart (which combines elements of Robin Hood with Shakespeare, or Wavepyke as he's called) that i'm not going to cover since it's not really relevant to anything long term. But it's a fun adventure with all the usual things that Death's Head is fun for...

...plus Tuck riding a giant armored pteranodon.

The main takeaway is this: while fighting the main villain - a robot named Methinx who is posing as a wizard because robots are outlawed on Lionheart - Death's Head II avoids a prophecy saying that he'll come out of the fight dead by learning that he's already dead. He was created from a corpse by Evelyn Necker, a fact that he now remembers. He therefore decides to pursue Necker and learn who he used to be. The other takeaway is that Death's Head II loses his time belt during his adventure, so he gets the defeated Methinx to send him after Necker.

In earlier issues of this series, Evelyn Necker was on present day Earth monitoring the "mutant" named Kite that fought Death's Head II in #1. In this story, she approaches him and insists that he come with her.

That results in an explosion and it's unclear who survives. But we later see Necker and her robot putting the finishing touch on "Minion" for AIM.

I was a little confused by this and wondered if this was the 1993 version of Necker creating Minion for the first time, earlier than 2020. But it does seem to be the 2020 version of Necker, i guess having allied herself with the 1993 version of AIM and re-creating Death's Head II with the benefit of experience.

But before we get to that, we go to 2020, because Death's Head II decides to go after Necker at the moment where she's creating Death's Head II for the first time (and if it wasn't for the narration in the panel above indicating that it was 1993, i'd think it was just a prelude to this portion of the story). They attempt a raid on AIM's base. But they are interrupted by an attack by some mecha-centaurs.

These characters are a group called the Light Brigade, and they're charged with defending the time lines from time travel interference, which puts them at odds with Death's Head. A footnote says that we can see more of the Light Brigade in the upcoming Ten-Sec limited series, which never got published.

After some back and forth, Death's Head II has the leader of the Light Brigade, Bette Noir, at his mercy. But she begs him, if he has any humanity left, to let her live so that she can continue her mission. He agrees, and she convinces him that it would be better if he went to 1993 to find Necker there since it's apparently a less pivotal point in history (because he won't be interfering with his origin, not because 1993 was a crappy year in comics, although maybe that too). Since he still doesn't have his time belt, Bette Noir sends him and Tuck to 1993.

It's funny. There were like a million Marvel UK miniseries around this time, and they had to pick one that never got published to promote in this book. Those centaurs remind me of the Micronauts, though, so i kind of regret not seeing them again.

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: We last saw Death's Head II at the end of Mys-Tech Wars, being sent to Lionheart. Tuck had already been sent there prior to Mys-Tech Wars, in issue #4. So no Death's Head II appearances should take place between Mys-Tech Wars and here, especially any with Tuck (i.e. if absolutely necessary we could squeeze in a Death's Head II appearance, assuming that he got waylaid again on the way to Lionheart, but Tuck definitely can't appear else between here and issue #4.). I always allow time to pass between interdimensional teleportation, and in any event this arc starts with Death's Head II already on Lionheart, so time can have passed between Mys-Tech Wars and here. Due to Battletide #1-4 (the first one), this arc has to get pushed back in publication time significantly to account for Tuck's appearance (see that entry's Considerations for more).

There are two distinct stories covered in this entry. Issues #6-8 ("Borgs 'n the Hood!") take place on Lionheart. At the end of issue #8, Death's Head II and Tuck enter a portal to teleport/time travel to the year 2020 for the Light Brigade story. Issue #9 shows them coming out of the portal from Lionheart. So there could be space between issues #8-9, but they couldn't appear elsewhere in between, and i've therefore placed it all in one entry.

At the end of issue #9, they enter a portal to the year 1993 to begin the three part "Birth Rites" storyline. Issue #10 will begin with them having already been in 1993 for some time, raiding AIM bases trying to find info on Death's Head II's origins. Battletide II takes place during the gap between #9-10 (Death's Head II and Tuck are raiding AIM bases at the beginning of that story). And since Battletide (I) has to take place before II but after issue #9, that also goes between #91-0. There is also technically room for them to appear in other books between #9 and #10. However, they seem pretty intent on raiding AIM bases at the beginning of #10, so it doesn't make a lot of sense for them to be doing other things in other books (except the Battletides).

References:

• Tuck was sent to Lionheart by Phaedra after the events of Death's Head II #1-4.
  
• Lionheart is Tuck's homeworld, as seen in the original Death's Head II #1-4. A lot of issue #9 is a rehash of Death's Head II's origin from those issues as well, including an extended version of the fight with Death's Head (I). And that's also where Charnel comes from.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A