Tuesday, December 05, 2017

Is Frankenstein the doctor, or is the monster named Frankenstein too? Actually, he's named after the guy whose brain we used for this...


I guess that would make him "Abby Normal," then; but we've got a similar situation today with Dr. Necker and her monster--monsters. From 1993, Death³ #1, "Prometheus Unhinged" Written by Dan Abnett, pencils by Dell Barras.

Set in the far-off future of 2021, former A.I.M. scientist Dr. Necker (who, in typical comic fashion, is a stacked redhead that strongly resembles 90's Jean Grey) is preparing for her new job at the Omni Mega-Corporation, which honestly sounds more evil. Necker was on the outs with A.I.M, since he had spent six years working on Project: Minion--no, not those guys! The robot that would eventually become Death's Head II--and her branch of A.I.M. was largely destroyed by Charnel. Still, she gets a somewhat more welcome visitor here: the cyborg called Death Wreck, her prototype killer robot, who was somehow found its way back to her.

Back in the far-off future of 2018, Necker had cobbled together her starter 'bot out of copier parts and whatever else she had lying around, then uses the voice-controlled automaton to kidnap a hobo and harvest his brain to put in the robot. While successful, it wasn't exactly a quality brain, and may in fact be such a hardened alcoholic that it didn't quite grasp what had happened to it. Still, for Necker it's an opportunity to restart her Minion program, with the hope of building herself a better bodyguard. To test how time-travel may have damaged Death Wreck, she sends it on a three-minute random time jump...I'm not sure how that would help, exactly, except maybe by seeing what happens in a more controlled environment. Appearing in a crappy, Terminator-like future, Death Wreck is attacked by liquid metal-like robots. Returning to 2021 after the three minutes, DW had one of the robot's arms; and Necker is immediately taken with it. Smitten, almost.

Experimenting with the "sentient" metal she names Prometheum, in about a month Necker builds a new robot, Death Metal. Who promptly tells her to cram it, steals a time-jumper, and splits, accidentally taking Death Wreck with him! To another 2021--possibly not the same one Death Wreck visited--where Death Metal is found by post-apocalyptic scavengers...led by Doctor Octopus! Although Death's Head II appears on the shiny, embossed cover; he is yet to show up here. But it's tough sledding, since so far the most likable character is the alcoholic robot, and he's way less fun than Bender or Machine Man.

1 comment:

Mr. Morbid's House Of Fun said...

I feel like a name like Dr. Necker she should be a lot dirtier and perverted. Probably just me;)