Mark Hazzard: Merc

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Comics That Time Forgot--the last one!)

Mark Hazzard: Merc

No. 1-12, Annual # 1 (Marvel, 1986-1987)

Created By: Archie Goodwin

Scripts: Peter David (# 1-4); Doug Murray (# 5-12, Annual # 1)

Pencils: Gray Morrow (# 1, 2, 8, 10, 11); Alan Kupperberg (# 3, 4); Mark Beachum (# 5); Vince Giarrano (# 6, 12); Val Maverik (# 7); Vince Colletta (# 8); Andy Kubert (# 9); Vincent Waller (Annual # 1)

Inks: Gray Morrow (# 1, 2, 8); Jack Fury (# 3-5); “Manny Hands” (# 6); Val Maverik (# 7); Vince Colletta (# 8, 10, 11); Adam Kubert (# 9); Pat Redding (# 12); Fraja Bator (Annual # 1)Letters: Bill Oakley (# 1); Rick Parker (# 2-5); Albers (# 3); Jack Morelli (# 6); Andy Kubert (# 6, 9); Kurt Hathaway (# 7, 8, 10-12, Annual # 1)

Colors: Andy Yanchus (# 1, 3, 4); D. Martin (# 2); Adam G. Wellington (# 5); John Wellington (# 6-12, Annual # 1)

Editor: Jim Owsley (# 1-4); Blaustein & Redding (# 5); Larry Hama (# 6-12, Annual # 1)

After its first year in existence, half of Marvel’s New Universe line was cancelled. Perhaps most deserving among the early casualties was Mark Hazzard: Merc, a rather uninspired attempt to capitalise (one must assume) on the Punisher’s popularity.

The series’ namesake character is a former Vietnam-vet turned mercenary who provides for his family by taking the standard soldier-of-fortune type of jobs--everything from killing terrorists or helping start a revolution to acting as a politician’s bodyguard. Hazzard’s ex-wife and son appeared in the series with relative frequency, as did a bland collection of fellow mercenaries: a chopper pilot named Treetop, an explosives expert named Mal, and a martial arts expert named Priestess.

The first few issues (written by Peter David) are surprisingly good, as Hazzard tries to juggle family obligations with a professional life--indeed, David manages to give Hazzard something akin to a personality and a sense of humour, traits sorely lacking in later issues. When Doug Murray takes over with issue five, lacklustre plots and cardboard characters make the series far less exciting than a combat comic should be. As the credits demonstrate, there never was a set art team on the series, and the quality between issues varies widely. In a real way, it just doesn’t seem like anyone at Marvel cared about Mark Hazzard: Merc; there was never a letters page, a text page, pin-ups, or (as far as I know) ads for the comic in other New Universe titles.

Lacking the kitchy originality of Kickers, Inc., the quality scripts of D.P.-7, or the interesting protagonist of Nightmask, Mark Hazzard: Merc just doesn’t have much to offer. Indeed, the only interesting footnote about the series is that it is one of the very few I’ve ever seen kill off the title character before the final issue. In the annual (the best of the later issues), Hazzard’s friends and relatives reminisce about how they met Hazzard, as he lays dying from gunshot wounds in a hospital bed. For Mark Hazzard (and for the reader), death must have been a relief--even if his short-lived replacement wasn’t any better.