DEATHLOK #2

Cover shows strong gloss and vivid color with sharp, unblunted corners and no visible spine stress lines or ticks. Edges appear clean with no chipping or creasing visible in this photo. The book is in a protective sleeve, and only the front cover was assessed; interior and back cover condition are unknown, so grade is capped conservatively.

Deathlok #2 continues the 1999 volume that installed S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Jack Truman as the sixth incarnation of Deathlok, a direction seeded in the Cable and X-Men crossover that immediately preceded the series. Joe Casey wrote the run and Leonardo Manco supplied pencils and inks, with Mariana Manco on color, Jon Babcock lettering, and a cover by Armando Durruthy with Atomic Paintbrush; Ruben Diaz and Bob Harras are credited as editors. The story leans on Marvel's espionage architecture rather than costumed superheroics, with Nick Fury central to the plot and Cable carrying over from the crossover, and Manco's dense, heavily rendered cyborg figure work is the volume's principal draw for readers who follow his career.

Market activity for this issue is thin and consists almost entirely of raw copies. The 1999 volume most often moves as a complete eleven-issue run rather than as singles, and single-issue demand is driven by set completion and by Manco and Casey collectors instead of by any first appearance; Truman's debut belongs to the earlier Cable issue, which absorbs the speculative interest. Certified copies barely register on the census, so the high bracket reflects the general behavior of scarce-in-slab late-1990s Marvel mid-list titles, where grading cost rather than collector competition sets the price, and where a single motivated registry or run builder can move the number in either direction.

Buyers for this book are run collectors assembling the Truman era, Leonardo Manco followers, and dealers filling Deathlok character boxes. Across grades the spread is compressed: 1999 direct-market production and low newsstand exposure mean high-grade raw copies are plentiful, so there is little premium between a mid-grade and a near-mint raw copy, and the only meaningful step up comes with certification. Any renewed screen attention to Deathlok would most likely benefit the 1970s and 1990-91 books first, leaving this volume as an inexpensive, easily sourced adjunct that rewards patience over speculation.