DEATH'S HEAD #10


"The cast iron contract" - September 1989

Story: Simon Furman

Art: Bryan Hitch

Story:
This is New York, in the year 2020. The time-travelling futuristic bounty hunter Death's Head finds himself temporarily stranded in this era on his way back to the year 8162. He has been accepting jobs in the hope to soon have enough money to rebuild his spaceship. Little does he know that he has become the latest pawn in the twisted game of the man called Chance.


Chance is a member of a group of very rich men who have way too much free time on their hands. They enjoy hiring mercenaries and pitting them one against the other, betting on the outcome. In this particular game, Death's Head has been hired to assassinate foreign «terrorists»… men who are under the protection of one Arno Stark, the Iron Man of 2020!


What's cool:
Very cool comic with a fun story and a final twist that should catch you pretty much off-guard. The art is most excellent, Arno's armor has rarely looked THIS good! The battle between the armored mercenary and the robot bounty hunter is very cool, these guys bust each other up real good! At some stage, IM even rips the robot's head clean off! Sadly for him, it takes more than that to stop him! My only criticism would be that Arno seems slightly out of character here. He's not as ruthless and immoral as portrayed in other comics, he actually seems to care about the men he's protecting, even saying at some stage: «I won't let you butcher innocent people.» Apparently, the man isn't as shallow and rotten as I initially thought.


Quote:

Chance's manservant, Athey, introduces IM 2020 to his boss in these words: "The gentleman in the armor is none other than its chairman (of Stark Enterprises), Arno Stark. I understand he inherited the armor from his predecessor and… ah, updated it (…) I believe sir (accepting mercenary contracts) is how he gets his kicks."


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