Death's Head! (also known as High Noon Tex) was one of the stories published in The Incomplete Death's Head representing a part of a database about the life of Death's Head created by Hob.
Summary[]
Tex wants to find Death's Head for murdering his brother, burning his farm, and killing his livestock. He finds him, but it turns out to be an explosive dummy which the real Death's Head shortly triggers.
Characters[]
Worldbuilding[]
- Tex wants revenge for his brother's murder by Death's Head.
Notes[]
- This one-page story is a reprint of a Marvel back-up comic 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, 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 1988, first printed in the back of 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 the vulture introduced in the Doctor Who Magazine comic 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 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 version is due to it being contained within the undeniably 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:
- the most obvious origin is Death's Head words, "High noon, Tex!", before blowing Tex up;
- an Oscar-winning 1952 film High Noon with Gary Cooper is a western, in line with Tex's attire;
- this movie's theme song, "The Ballad of High Noon" was sung by Tex Ritter and, incidentally, has a second title, based on the line "Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darlin’", which matches the title of another, later comic story featuring Death's Head.
- The character of Tex shares the name and accessories (hat and neckerchief) with the character from the classic Marvel Masked Raider series.
- Despite the imprecise credits in TIDH 1, this strip was drawn by Bryan Hitch.[1]
- The strip itself does not mention Scarvix or specify time or place of action.
Continuity[]
- Death's Head finds a record of this incident with Tex in Death's Head Interactive Archive. (COMIC: The Incomplete Death's Head)
- The incident takes place on the planet Scarvix. (COMIC: The Incomplete Death's Head) Death's Head's office on Scarvix is on the third floor of the Lang Building. (COMIC: Death's Head Revisited)
