Death's Head! (comic story): Difference between revisions

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 == Notes ==
-* This one-page story is a reprint of a Marvel back-up comic ''[[w:c:marvel:High Noon Tex|High Noon Tex]]'', which was printed in the back of various publications. A commonly repeated fact is that this was the first appearance of Death's Head, and that this was created to secure the rights to the character before he appeared in ''The Transformers''. Hasbro owned ''The Transformers'', and thus any characters introduced in that comic first ''supposedly'' were legally owned by Hasbro and not Marvel. This is apparently incorrect, as Death's Head first appeared in ''The Transformers'' comic, ''[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Wanted:_Galvatron_%E2%80%94_Dead_or_Alive! Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!]'', which was released in May 1987. This back-up comic was printed a year later, starting on the [[21 May (releases)|21 May]] [[1988 (releases)|1988]], first printed in the back of [[w:c:marvel:Transformers (UK) Vol 1 167|Transformers (UK) issue 167]]. How the rights to the character remained at Marvel is thus unclear, but not unprecedented for the era. A similar relevant example is that [[Keepsake's vulture|the vulture]] introduced in the ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' comic ''[[Keepsake (comic story)|Keepsake]]'' has been featured in Death's Head comics past Marvel's use of the ''Doctor Who'' license, suggesting the copyright situation was more complex than some believe.
+* This one-page story is a reprint of a Marvel back-up comic ''[[w:c:marvel:Transformers (UK) Vol 1 167|High Noon Tex]]'', which was printed in the back of various publications. A commonly repeated fact is that this was the first appearance of Death's Head, and that this was created to secure the rights to the character before he appeared in ''The Transformers''. Hasbro owned ''The Transformers'', and thus any characters introduced in that comic first ''supposedly'' were legally owned by Hasbro and not Marvel. This is apparently incorrect, as Death's Head first appeared in ''The Transformers'' comic, ''[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Wanted:_Galvatron_%E2%80%94_Dead_or_Alive! Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!]'', which was released in May 1987. This back-up comic was printed a year later, starting on the [[21 May (releases)|21 May]] [[1988 (releases)|1988]], first printed in the back of [[w:c:marvel:Transformers (UK) Vol 1 167|Transformers (UK) issue 167]]. How the rights to the character remained at Marvel is thus unclear, but not unprecedented for the era. A similar relevant example is that [[Keepsake's vulture|the vulture]] introduced in the ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' comic ''[[Keepsake (comic story)|Keepsake]]'' has been featured in Death's Head comics past Marvel's use of the ''Doctor Who'' license, suggesting the copyright situation was more complex than some believe.
 * At any rate, this comic is featured on this wiki due to its inclusion in the [[TIDH 1|first issue]] of ''[[The Incomplete Death's Head]]'' comic series as the first story reprinted (clearly under the belief that it ''was'' his first comic). The original 1987 strip had no relation to [[Doctor Who Universe]] and, hence, is not considered a valid ''Doctor Who'' story. The validity of the the [[1993 (releases)|1993]] version is due to it being contained within the undeniably [[The Incomplete Death's Head (comic story)|DWU linking material]]. Accordingly, only this 1993 reprint can be referenced on in-universe pages. Other reprints, for instance, in the 2007 graphic novel ''Death's Head: Volume 1'', remain invalid alongside the original strip.
 * The only printed title present in the 1993 version is ''Death's Head!''. However, the common title ''High Noon Tex'' for the story evokes multiple connotations: