Issue(s): Genetix #1, Genetix #2, Genetix #3, Genetix #4, Genetix #5, Genetix #6
Cover Date: Oct 93 - Mar 94
Title: "Deadly Harvest"
Credits:
Graham Marks & Andy Lanning - Writer
Phil Gascoine - Penciler
Robin Riggs - Inker
Bambos Georgiou - Editor

Review/plot:
Genetix is the Marvel UK book/team that i have the least interest in, and it's therefore somewhat surprising to me that they managed to have two series, including this 6 issue one (at a time when most books had 4) plus additional appearances in Killpower:The Early Years and Gene Dogs. Maybe it was the ability to capitalize the X on the covers, or maybe it was that Stinger managed to make Psylocke look like a conservative dresser, but someone at Marvel UK clearly thought they had potential.

I got my hopes up initially with this series when it seemed like they were fighting Dark Guard...

...but this turns out to just be a training sequence run by Dark Angel, who has borrowed Danger Room software from the X-Men.

After Dark Angel leaves, Genetix try to hack into Mys-Tech's computer system so they can learn more about their pasts. To access the mainframe, they have to go into the sewer and fight Sporr again.

They then have to fight their way through armored Mys-Tech guards, and then find a terminal that Vesper can enter. While she's in cyberspace fighting computer worms and downloading data, the others fight Mys-Tech psycho-warriors.

Vesper learns something about "Tektos", weird alien entities with human DNA mixed in.

She learns that Base, one of the Genetix team, has something to do with the Tektos. Then she's forced out of the system. As soon as she gets out, the Tektos show up and attack.

Shift teleports Genetix away. Vesper is able to confirm that Oonagh Mullarkey and Mys-Tech created the Tektos in an attempt to replicate the success they had with Genetix, except this time they did use alien DNA.

Meanwhile, Mullarkey sends the Tektos to STORM headquarters. Vesper is aware that this was Tektos' next mission, so Genetix go there too. STORM is where the Gene Dogs are based, so this leads to an inevitable Misunderstanding Fight.

It takes an entire issue, but Vesper eventually convinces Dr. Sam Merrick that the fight is a misunderstanding. The good news is that the fighting scared away the Tektos (who were supposed to steal new genetic samples). But when Genetix teleport away from the Gene Dogs, Mys-Tech is able to divert them back to their headquarters for another fight with Tektos, and this time Genetix is captured.

We learn that one of the Tektos, Tattoo, is Base's brother. Their father sold them to the Yakuza and they eventually wound up with Mys-Tech.

Vesper - who was briefly thought dead - manages to free the others, and then they manage to stop Mys-Tech's latest scheme of harvesting a bunch of kids for genetic material. Tattoo manages to get buried in an avalanche. The rest of the Tektos flee, and Shift says, "Think we've seen the last of Tektos".

This was generic and boring. I guess i'd be unfair if i said that it's too soon to introduce yet another set of randomly powered characters, but i guess Tektos could have served as regular bad guys if this book had continued (but then why say that we've seen the last of them?). The truth is i just don't care about any of these characters, and it's not even necessarily these characters' fault. Marvel UK has just deluged us with so many characters. And while some of the UK characters at least feel unique, GenetiX should be called GeneriX. A group of teen super-heroes with mysterious pasts, like "If you like X-Force, could maybe some of you please buy this book?".

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Takes place after the formation of Dark Guard. Oonagh Mullarkey seems to be wearing the same outfit that she switched to in the Plasmer series...

...so this seems to take place after that.

References:

"To check out how good a team" Dark Guard would really be, see Dark Guard #1.

• Genetix's origin was seen in Codename: Genetix #1-4.
  
• The Gene Dogs and Genetix fought previously in Gene Dogs #2.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A