Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Marvel Comics | Tagged: omnibus, Strikeforce Morituri

Now Marvel Comics Announces A Strikeforce: Morituri Omnibus

Now Marvel Comics Announces A Strikeforce: Morituri Omnibus by Peter B. Gillis, Brent Anderson, james Hudnall and Mark Bagley

Peter B. Gillis died on the 20th of June this year at the age of 71. A damn shame, made even more poignant, that Marvel Comics has now listed an Omnibus for his most famous of comic book works, Strikeforce: Morituri. Contains both the original 31-issue series from 1986 created with Brent Anderson, which they worked on for the first two years, taken over by James Hudnall and Mark Bagley, and the sequel mini-series Electric Undertow from 1989. Strikeforce: Morituri saw an alien invasion of Earth, countered by a programme that turned humans into superhumans, but would kill them in a year.

In 2003, The Sci-Fi Channel announced they were to make a TV series out of the comic. Then in June 2011, Waterman Entertainment optioned the series for a movie, with the initial plan being to start production in that December. Marvel Comics then registered a number of trademarks for Strikeforce Morituri a few days after the Waterman Entertainment announcement and continued to apply for further trademark applications. In January 2012, Marvel released Strikeforce: Morituri – We Who Are About To Die #1, reprinting issue 1 of Strikeforce: Morituri ahead of a new collection of the series, a rather unusual move,  done purely for trademark reasons.

Peter Gillis claimed that he never signed any contracts with Marvel for Strikeforce and that, therefore, he and Marvel were equal co-owners of the property, as artist Brent Anderson was a co-creator of the book and was under contract with Marvel at the time. Gillis had been trying to settle with Marvel over the issue since 2002. when the Sci-Fi Channel deal was announced. Peter Gillis sent Marvel a letter pointing out his legal status regarding the property. Marvel responded with a low offer, saying if he didn't sign it, then the project would never happen. Gillis claimed that documentation that Marvel provided showing they owned it, had been forged. The Waterman Entertainment deal with with Peter Gillis directly, but Marvel registered those trademarks and the deal did not go forward.

Nothing else was made public about dealings between Gillis and Marvel regarding Strikeforce: Mortituri. But now Marvel Comics will be publishing a new Omnibus of the entire run of Strikeforce: Morituri in May next year. As to the timing, that may be for others to speculate.

STRIKEFORCE: MORITURI OMNIBUS
Peter B. Gillis, Brent Anderson,
May 13, 2025, $125, 1080 pages
The epic sci-fi cult favorite sensation of the '80s is collected in a single hardcover! A savage alien race called the horde has invaded Earth, enslaving its people and plundering its resources. Scientists have devised a method of fighting back: the Morituri process, which grants enhanced abilities to a select few compatible humans — but the transformation is fatal within a year. Now, a handful of brave volunteers make up Strikeforce: Morituri — an elite, experimental and highly effective fighting force against the horde's depredations. But the heat of every battle, the celebration of every victory and every quiet moment alone is tainted by the inescapable knowledge that — win or lose — their fate is sealed! The war against the Horde will be filled with monstrous twists and turns — but when it's finally over, will mankind prove victorious? And where will that leave the surviving members of Strikeforce: Morituri? COLLECTING: Strikeforce: Morituri (1986) 1-31, Strikeforce: Morituri – Electric Undertow (1989) 1-5

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