TITLE: Battle Tide – Vol. 1, Issue 1
YEAR: December 1992
COMPANY: Marvel Comics UK
Story: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Art: Geoff Senior
Color: Louise Cassell
Letters: Steeden/Prentice
Editor: John Freeman
Editor-in-Chief: Paul Neary
When it was announced that “Battle Tide” was coming out, the first thing that came to my mind that this was Marvel Comics UK to have their own “Contest of Champions” type of crossover or storyline.
A way to feature their top characters Death’s Head II, Killpower, Dark Angel, Motormouth, Tuck while including popular X-Men characters at the time, Psylocke and Wolverine.
Needless to say, I was supportive of Marvel Comics UK and while I’ve read numerous titles, no character grabbed my attention than Death’s Head II.
Needless to say, a possible fight between Deaths Head II vs. Wolverine would be interesting, so I had to read this four-issue crossover.
The first issue features Death’s Head II offered a job, hunt down a person and he would be granted two wishes.
And sure enough, the person he is tasked to hunt down is Killpower, who happens to be vacationing with Motormouth. Meanwhile, as Psylocke and Wolverine are mountain climbing, they are abducted and transported to some unknown location. As with Dark Angel.
As Death’s Head II takes on Killpower, Tuck tries to take out Motormouth which leads to a brawl but then the four are abducted and transported.
Next thing you know, all heroes are held and abducted in an alien ship and it’s too be continued in issue #2.
For the most part, it’s easy to guess that this is an issue targeted towards action-driven fans. The story is OK, but if anything, the fight between Death’s Head II and the brawny Killpower (a genetically engineered super soldier who was aged to adulthood at an accelerated rate, but has a brain of a young child).
Overall, it’s a decent story and at $1.75, it wasn’t an expensive comic book at the time but it was an interesting move by Marvel Comics UK to incorporate its top characters, along with the two popular X-Men characters of the early ’90s.