Amazing Fantasy (vol. 2) #17
Unnatural Selection Part Two
Needing to learn more about itself, Death’s Head 3.0 has escaped an AIM facility only to discover an army of AIM soldiers trying to prevent its escape.[1] Despite the fact that they are meeting him with lethal force, some drive within Death’s Head prevents it from taking a human life. It fights its way through the troops using a massive cannon it commendeered and is using as a gun. Eventually, the Death’s Head unit manages to get control of a flying craft and escapes the facility.
Meanwhile, Raymond Hidalgo — a cyberneticist that was hired to examine AIM’s work as part of a peace accord between the terrorist organization and the United Nations — has returned to his hotel room and is reporting back to Agent Braccia of GEIST. He tells her how he was successfully able to pull the files on the new Death’s Head unit. He tells her that the Death’s Head unit was aquired by AIM during an apparent alien invasion.[2] AIM attempted to reprogram the machine but they were usuccessful. He finds it strange that he was able to find this information before he was able to employ the viral interrogator that Agent Braccia gave him earlier, suggesting that he was made to find this file on purpose. They wonder why Varina Goddard allowed Raymond to access the information. Unfortunately, Agent Braccia has not been able to track the Death’s Head unit since it escaped their facility in a Hela-90 stealh incerceptor. When Hidalgo asks what their next move is, she tells him to go back to AIM as the viral interrogator have unlocked all of AIM’s dirty secrets, allowing them to figure out what their endgame is. When he returns to AIM, Varina Goddard is in a uncharactistic good mood. When he asks about the Death’s Head unit, she points out that it is the most sophisticated cybernetic entity he has ever seen and figures he’s curious to learn its secrets. Raymond is unable to denty this and Goddard suggests that if he is a good boy he will share her secrets with him.
At that same moment, Agent Braccia is at Fosse Plaza in Geneva trying to warn her superiors about the potential threat from the Death’s Head unit. However, with an important political convention five days away, he refuses to devote the resources unless Braccia can prove a link between Varina Goddard and the Death’s Head unit. While back at the AIM Euro-Hub, officials try to find out what happened when the Death’s Head unit came to life, but nobody has any clear answers. Concurrently, Varina Goddard appears to sleep but, in reality, she is manipulating events from behind the scenes, confident that when people find out about her involvement it will be too late. She is certain that in a few days her Death’s Head unit will assassinate the UN delegation, securing her position as Scientist Supreme of AIM and restore the organization to its former glory. Suddenly, she becomes aware of Raymond Hidalgo gaining access to files he should not have been able to find and decides he must be dealt with.
Meanwhile, the Death’s Head unit has arrived in the West African Republic of Kuanga, it has bene following a preprogramed destination even though the voice that it is beginning to think as it’s own has been resisting it. However, when he arrives outside a massive prison facility the voice decides to stop fighting these directives as it suddenly sees some kind of noble end to the misison after all. Even though the mission perameters calls for stealth, the Death’s Head unit decides that is not its style and openly attacks the facility. The situation is picked up by GEIST spy satellites and Agent Braccia is informed of the current developments. Learning that this prison is where the Kuanga government puts its undesirables, she asks for names of the prisoners and find anyone who may have a connection with Varina Goddard. Their databases make a single hit, a woman named Meredith Driscoll a former colleague of Goddard who was imprisoned becuse of her human experiments angered the local dictator. This is good news for Agent Braccia, as this was the connection between Goddard and Death’s Head that she was looking for. Also watching the footage are the heads of AIM who still can’t fathom what the Death’s Head unit is doing. From her own vantage point, Varina Goddard is amused that nobody will be able to figure out what’s going on until it is too late.
By this point, the Death’s Head unit has fought its way into the cellblock of the prison. It thinks that one of the prisoners need it and that in saving then it can find salvation for itself. However, instead of freeing Madeline Driscoll, Death’s Head frees Curtis Henri, who opposed the opporessive regime of Kuanga. However, as it is trying to get Henri to safety, Curtis is fatally shot by the guards. Just as Goddard planned, this senseless death angers Death’s Head enough to start killing the guards.
Recurring Characters
Death’s Head 3.0, Raymond Hidalgo, AIM (Varina Goddard, Jarndyce, Avi Flint, Meredith Driscoll), GEIST (Agent Braccia)
Continuity Notes
It should be pointed out that this story takes place in a possible future of the Earth-616 universe. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2, this is designated as Reality-6216.
Presuming that the past of Earth-6216 mirrors that modern age of Earth-616, this Death’s Head unit was one of the Death’s Head guard from the planet Sakaar seen during the Planet Hulk story arc (Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #92-105) It was likely captured following the events of World War Hulk #1-5.
Self-Made Monster
Climbing onto an dock Morbius once more thinks about the experiment that turned him into a living vampire and blames nobody but himself. Although he was trying to cure himself of an seemingly incurable disease, he instead cursed himself of an endless life of bloodlust.As he reels on the dock in agony, he thinks back to the when he was working on a cure for his blood diseases. He remembers how his partner Emil Nikos insists that he was working himself to death. However, Moribus thought the opposite, that doing nothing was bringing him closer to death when he could be finding a cure. When his girlfriend Martine Bancroft entered the lab, Morbius then asked Emil not to mention how serious his illness is around her. It was his love for Martine that he was continuing to fight for a cure. After confirming he would meet her for dinner in a few hours, Michael then decided to conduct an experiment that would hopefully cure him. Instead, it transformed him into a living vampire. Even though he was cursed, his sudden urge to drink Emil’s blood, Morbius realized that he turned himself into a monster and fled into the night before he could commit stop himself he feasted upon Emil.[1] Getting to his feet, Morbius thinks about how he was hunted for years, and that now he is once again hunted.[2]
As a boat approaches the shore, Morbius tires to go to cover. This time his pursuers are real vampires, who hate Morbius for what he represents, a mockary of what they really are. A trio of vampires, their leader John Falsworth aka Baron Blood, climb out of the boat leading a fourth figure wearing a cloak by a rope tied around his neck. Spotting Morbius, the three vampires figure that Morbius has decided to stop fighting and to fight. Morbius gives the vampires one chance to leave him alone, but when they don’t he demands to know what they want. They explain that they have come to eliminate to taint he has made on the vampire bloodline. Unmasking the hooded individual, they reveal that they had brought Emil Nikos back to life to be their instrument of revenge. The vampire then leave Emil to deal with Morbius.
Emil then warns Michael that he will be back one day, telling Morbius that he created monsters other than himself and one day he will pay for his sins. Soon, Emil joins the other vampires on the boat and leaves. Watching them go, Morbius thinks how he was spent his time wallowing in self-pity that he has never thought about those who have been victims of his tormented existence. He now wonders if shows of mercy have sealed his death.and muses how quickly life changes and waits for the inevitable battle.[3]
Recurring Characters
Morbius, Baron Blood, Emil Nikos
Continuity Notes
This recounting of events is recounting the origin of Morbius from Amazing Spider-Man #101. Morbius notes that these events happened “years ago” According to the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 this flashback happened roughly 9 years prior to this story.
The memories on display here are a number of vague references to various battle Morbius has had in the past. Some clear instances are:
One where Morbius is fighting Spider-Man with the Lizard, that happened in Amazing Spider-Man #102.
Another instance depicts Morbius fighting the Werewolf by Night in Giant-Size Werewolf by Night #4.
The memory of Morbius fighting with the Human Torch is from Marvel Team-Up #3.
Although Emil Nikos vows to return and avenge his death, as I write this (July 2020) that story has yet to be told.
