Warheads was a Marvel UK comic book series which ran for 14 issues in the early 1990s (January 1992–May 1993) and was followed by the two-issue mini-series Warheads: Black Dawn. The stories contained in the comic were also serialised in the UK comics anthology Overkill. The Warheads were mercenaries employed by the nefarious and Faustian Mys-Tech organisation to capture advanced technology or mystical artifacts from alien worlds, time periods, or other dimensions. The book had guest appearances, such as the X-Men, Silver Surfer, Mephisto, X-Force, and agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It features many backup 'flashback' stories. Publication history Paul Neary was instrumental in creating the whole Mys-Tech concept for Marvel UK, including the original Warheads outline. The characters in Warheads were first visualised by artist Gary Erskine with the first scripts for the strips provided by Nick Vince, followed by John Freeman and Craig Houston, who is now a computer game scriptwriter whose credits include Call of Duty 3. Unlike most of the other Marvel UK titles tied into the Mys-Tech concept, the Warheads were not enemies of Mys-Tech—instead, they were portrayed as expendable soldiers employed by a callous corporation. They did, eventually, turn against Mys-Tech, having had enough. Other Warheads artists included Simon Coleby, Dave Taylor, Stuart Jennett, and Charlie Adlard. Mark Harrison painted an unpublished spin-off, called Loose Cannons, available online, about the all-female Virago Troop (Holly, Elan, Nix (who is killed and replaced with the genetically enhanced Lamia, a creation of Dr. Oonagh Mullarkey), team psychic Syster Sphynx, and team leader Bodecia "Bo" Kildare) and provided Warheads several covers for Overkill. Fictional team biography The Warheads find themselves in a seemingly abandoned Australian town. Liger, the leader, realizes he is on the 'downside' of a time loop, where the team has not gone to other dimensions or other planets, but back in time on Earth. A subtle memory indicates three of his team must die and Liger realizes he must allow this to preserve the timeline. The town belongs to the X-Men and three of his team members do indeed die in battle with Wolverine. Liger's first step towards rebellion is taken when his bosses say the loss of three Warheads is worth the information they ultimately stole from the X-Men. The story then focuses on Leona McBride, a rookie brought in to replace one of the dead members slain by Wolverine. Her first mission involves exploring an