Deserve proper figures, yes?

I had to go to Wikipedia for a Marvel Universe checklist, since I stopped keeping up with the 3 3/4 inch figures in 2011 or so. (I think Hasbro changed the name of the line to Marvel Legends to line up the branding with the six inch figures, confusing the issue.) I prefer the larger scale, but the character selection has gone deeper with the smaller figures: you could get both of today's featured characters, they have not turned up as Legends yet. Which kills me...from 1993, the Incomplete Death's Head #11, reprinting Death's Head #10, "The Last Iron Contract!" Written by Simon Furman, art by Bryan Hitch.

We actually looked at the previous issue, good grief, eight years ago? I buy these every time I see them in the quarter bin, but they aren't as plentiful as some. (EDIT: Duhr, I bought at least two more issues of IDH while I was on vacation, and I know I have #12.) After a run-in with the Fantastic Four, Death's Head had been "dumped in 2020 by Reed Richards," and although he was from the year 8162 he found he didn't mind a bit: 2020 was not only more crime-ridden, meaning more work for him; but he had ditched his partner/comic relief Spratt. But 2020 means one thing to long-time Marvel fans: Arno Stark, the Iron Man of 2020! I thought he had first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #20 (a dark story from Priest) but no, he first appeared in the Machine Man limited. Everyone loves the cog-sawtooth shoulder and hip pad design, but he's not Tony's kid like you might have guessed. (Nor an illegitimate kid, also a more than valid guess.) Arno is a "first cousin once removed," which sounds like exactly the kind of relative that comes out of the woodwork when rich Uncle Pennybags bites it, which I think is pretty much how he got the armor.

Anyway, Arno is tricked into fighting DH by Chance, a member of the Dicemen, rich guys arranging super fights and betting on them. Chance breaks one of the Dicemen's rules by using the same contestant twice--they didn't want anything to be traced back to them--and once DH and Arno discover they were being watched, is killed by his butler, a secret Dicemen operative, to protect the group. Although his head is ripped off during the fight, Death's Head doesn't hold a grudge against Arno: they're both too mad about being manipulated. In fact, Death's Head even offers some helpful advice. Classy.

This reprint is set after Death's Head was absorbed into Death's Head II, and has a closing scene with the two conversing seemingly in the latter's head. (Written by Dan Abnett, pencils by Simon Coleby, inks by Niel Bushnell and Tim Perkins.) I'm not sure what is going on in the screens, but it looks like a party! Although that looks like Rocket Raccoon in the last panel, behind what appears to be Conan with a clown nose and party hat, I don't know if that's right--this would've been a few years before RR's revival, and he looks too big to be him. I do see the Jester and the Knave from the Crazy Gang, though!