First Appearance: Speed#1 (IPC, 23rd February 1980)

Appearance checklist: Speed#1-31 (23rd February-25th October); Speed Summer Special 1980; Speed Annual 1980, 1981; Tiger (1st November 1980-30th March 1985), Tiger Holiday Special 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, Tiger Annual 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987; Eagle#159-284 (6th April 1985-29th August 1987), Eagle Holiday Special 1990, Eagle Annual 1988;
    continued under new title The Incredible Adventures of Blake Edmonds: A Death Wish Story in Eagle#285-305 (5th September 1987-23rd January 1988)

Reprinted anywhere?: Partial; one volume from Treasury of British Comics.

Starring: Blake Edmonds

Other cast: Suzi Walsh, Dracula

Notable Guest Star: Johnny Cougar, Sintek

Setting: Mostly U.K. based, but globetrotting around the world on occasion

Plot Summary: Once considered Britain's king of speed, motor racing champion Blake Edmonds' life changed irrevocably when a daring race attempt ended with a plane crash and a fire that left his formerly handsome features forever hideously scarred. Now hiding his face behind a mask, Edmonds became suicidal, but unwilling to actively kill himself he instead chose to take on the world's most dangerous speed-related stunts, so that he could die as he had lived.

History:

Comments: Created by Barry Tomlinson and Vanyo (Eduardo Vaņķ Ibarra).

   Beginning as a speed-related series (unsurprisingly, given its initial venue), Death Wish mutated over time into an adventure series, eventually wholeheartedly embracing supernatural tales as Edmonds became a ghost hunter.

   The Death Wish story in Tiger Holiday Special 1981 was both an illustrated text story and a crossover with another Tiger strip, Johnny Cougar; the story in Tiger Holiday Special 1982 was also an illustrated text tale, as was the one in the 1983 Special, which guest starred the cyborg Sintek. Despite its two year run in Eagle, Death Wish made few appearances in that title's specials and annuals; Death Wish's sole appearance in the Eagle Holiday Specials was yet another prose story rather than comic, and while it appeared in Eagle Annual 1988 its only presence in the 1989 Annual was a two page feature mentioning that some of Vanyo's art had been lost en route from Spain to England, forcing them to pinch hit with a different artist in the weekly, and comparing the two different artist's styles. However, long after the ongoing strip had ended, Death Wish returned for the final Eagle Annual (retitled as a Yearbook for this last outing), managing not one but two stories - sadly reflecting Eagle's waning fortunes in its final days however, both were reprints, from Tiger Annual 1983 and 1986 respectively.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Death Wish should not be confused with

First Posted: 30/05/2023
Last updated: 30/05/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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