Digitek (Jonathan Bryant) is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
appearing in
American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
s published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
. He first appeared in ''Digitek'' #1 (Dec.
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
), the first issue of a
limited series Limited series may refer to:
*Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series
*Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered
*Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...
published by
Marvel UK
Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US-produced stories for the British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dill ...
. The strip was also published in Marvel UK's weekly anthology title
''Overkill''. The character was created by writers
John Tomlinson &
Andy Lanning
Andy Lanning is an English comic book writer and inker, known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and for his collaboration with Dan Abnett.
Career
Lanning works primarily at Marvel Comics and DC Comics as an inker. He has also pencill ...
and artist
Dermot Power
Dermot Power, originally from County Waterford, Ireland, is a movie concept artist who started his career as a comic book artist working for British anthology comic '' 2000 AD''.
Biography
He got his break in comic books when he was commiss ...
.
Publication history
Digitek was initially published in two different formats - as a four issue limited series, using the standard Marvel Comics format, and as one of the strips in the UK anthology ''Overkill'' (published in a format similar to that of
''2000 AD''. The inside front covers of the limited series featured 'in-universe' text pieces (such as memos from the fictional Nakasoni Corporation) that established links between Digitek and the other Marvel UK titles (such as ''Warheads'' and ''Genetix'') - these documents were not reprinted in the ''Overkill'' anthology.
At the time, this was a standard publication method for Marvel UK, with the intention that ''Overkill'' would be better suited to the UK market, whereas the 'standard' Marvel format would be better suited to comic shops in other countries. As with most of the other Marvel UK titles, Digitek also attempted to attract existing Marvel Comics fans by including a prominent Marvel character in the initial storyline - the cyborg
Deathlok
Deathlok (also referred to as Deathlok the Demolisher) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Astonishing Tales'' #25 (Aug. 1974), created by Rich Buckler. At least three subs ...
.
After the initial limited series, Digitek made no further appearances in Marvel UK comics (and within a couple of years, the Marvel UK line of comics had ceased publication) - the character made no other actual appearances until 2009, though he was mentioned by
Robbie Baldwin
Robert "Robbie" Baldwin is a fictional character, fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Created by artist Steve Ditko and writer Tom DeFalco, the character first appearance, first appeared in ''The Am ...
during the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
event and in referred to by a character in ''
Captain Britain and MI13
''Captain Britain and MI13'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics and written by Paul Cornell, with art by Leonard Kirk. The series centers on the fictional British government agency MI: 13, which is dedicated to protecting ...
''. He also received an entry in the most recent Official Handbook of the
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...
.
The final issue of ''Captain Britain and MI13'' included a cameo appearance by Digitek, confirming that he is working as a reserve agent for MI:13.
Fictional character biography
The story of Digitek begins at the
Mys-Tech organization.
Kether Troop, a team of Mys-Tech mercenaries tasked with recovering alien technology from
alternate dimensions, manage to retrieve a product called Protosilicon from an unknown source and installs it on an item known as Jump 61. Technological analysis of the item followed, and Jonathan Byrant is assigned as its Project Leader. His supervisor, Mr. Grant, sabotages the project with a
computer virus
A computer virus is a type of computer program that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" with a compu ...
, but Jonathan somehow gains a vision of this. He rushes back to the facility. He arrives just as the building explodes, and is believed to have been killed. Unknown to all he survives and finds that the suit has bonded with him. Choosing to use his powers for good, Jonathan decides to call himself after the project: Digitek. His first opponents are the villains known as
Bacillicons, three mercenaries who had been similarly transformed, but are warped by the virus.
When Psi-Key is attacked by the virus, she broadcasts a worldwide distress signal, which locks onto the cyborg hero
Deathlok
Deathlok (also referred to as Deathlok the Demolisher) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Astonishing Tales'' #25 (Aug. 1974), created by Rich Buckler. At least three subs ...
. Deathlok is then transported to the UK. Together the two heroes defeat the Bacillicons, parting as friends.
Civil War and MI:13
Digitek is later mentioned as having joined the heroes opposing the Super Hero Registration Act during the
Superhuman Civil War. Apprehended by
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often deals ...
, Digitek seemingly commits suicide by transforming his arm into an M-110 particle shotgun and shooting himself. S.H.I.E.L.D. considers Digitek's suicide to be a possible hoax to allow the vigilante to escape from the Negative Zone Prison, as his CPU did not suffer terminal damage.
Digitek later appears, alive and unharmed, as one of British intelligence agency
MI:13's reserve agents, battling against an army of vampires on the Moon. The caption accompanying his reintroduction stated that he is "back from intelligence gathering in the USA".
[''Captain Britain and MI13'' #15 (Sept. 2009)]
Notes
References
Digitekat the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
*
*
at the
Big Comic Book DataBase
The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts.
The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featu ...
{{Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
1992 comics debuts
Characters created by Andy Lanning
Comics by Andy Lanning
Marvel Comics superheroes
Marvel UK characters
Marvel UK titles