From 1991(ish),
M.A.C.H. 1 #8, written by Steve McManus, art by Ramon Sola.
This probably seemed a bit dated even in 1991, but it was (and is) of historical interest: British super-spy John Probe became the cyborg super-agent
M.A.C.H. 1, in the first issue of
2000 AD in 1977! Although he received his power from "compu-puncture" like electric acupuncture, he also had an internal computer he often argued with, ala Deathlok. Both can probably directly trace their lineage back to
the Six Million Dollar Man; although Probe's missions were allowed to stay more ethically murky than Steve Austin's, with usually a higher body count.
Case in point: this issue, Probe tries to defend the rampaging M.A.C.H. Zero, while his boss Sharpe wants Zero destroyed. After the usual fight, Probe manages to calm Zero down and get him into an ambulance for treatment...and Sharpe has the drivers bail out, then blows it up with a tank! Sharpe also leaves Probe a video message: he was going on vacation, and would be back after he calmed down. You never saw Oscar Goldman pull that crap. Probe has to be dragged out of a seedy bar next prog for his next assignment, and Sharpe reveals he couldn't just quit: without ongoing "compu-puncture" treatment, he would eventually weaken and die. Don't worry, Sharpe would eventually get his, but so would Probe: he would be killed off in
2000 AD #64. And M.A.C.H. Zero wasn't even done yet, he would get
another serial--and die at the end of that one, too! I feel like that was kind of a problem for lower or mid-tier characters in
2000 AD: the possibility you could follow a character every week for more than long enough to get attached to them, only for it to suddenly end with "and everyone died!" OK, granted,
Shako probably wasn't gonna end with the bear living peacefully on a farm, but still. It seems short-sighted, moreso than the usual "that's the next writer's problem!" Like if Marvel had killed off Shang-Chi or Moon Knight when their books were cancelled...actually, they killed Moon Knight pretty good in one of those, which probably puts him in the same boat as
Johnny Alpha: mistakes were made, which later writers would have to dig out of.
2 comments:
Solid point about publishers/editors getting itchy trigger fingers and killing off cancelled characters. That does or did tend to happen a lot amongst the big two, when their adventures weren’t being mercifully scripted in other titles.
Wonder what the chances are for a return of Mach 1 return?
Probe himself has had a few cameos in anniversary issues, but they rebooted the concept in 2008 as Greysuit. It didn't have too many stories and the ending kind of fizzled out, but it was enjoyable enough and the main character managed to avoid getting killed off after having his revenge.
I believe they were intentionally killing off some more major characters in that era to separate themselves from American comics, where almost everybody survives or manages to come back no matter what. It keeps readers on their toes, at least. Also, as an anthology, 2000 AD is going to have more recurring characters and stories anyway, so they can put a few to rest.
But yeah, that was the idea behind M.A.C.H. 1- the Six Million Dollar Man with extra violence and moral ambiguity.
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