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A Historical Overview of the Galaxy PDF Print E-mail

In the late 21st century, after several Third World powers engaged in a limited nuclear exchange, multi-national corporations took over the division and parceling out of Earth’s resources. Within a short time, corporations and conglomerates had no choice but to move out into space.


Nippon International constructed a permanent mining outpost on Luna and the terraforming of Mars began by Creations Unlimited. Hiflite Industries developed the first Bussard Ramjet space vessel that could achieve a maximum velocity of one percent of light speed.


When Nippon International discovered a number of asteroids rich in rare ores and minerals, hostilities broke out between it and several other corporations in a dispute over ownership of a mountain-sized asteroid.
The hostilities were quelled by the formation of the Sol 9 Commonwealth, an international governing body which called for the peaceful and cooperative exploration of the Solar System.


A fusion-reaction drive was made safe and feasible by Hiflite Industries and space vessels were able to travel at five percent of light speed. The exploration and exploitation of the furthermost planets in the Solar System accelerated. When more hostilities broke out among competing corporations, the Commonwealth established the Star Rangers Corps. By the end of the 22nd century, three corporations dominated almost all trade in the Solar System: Nippon, now calling itself Nippon Interstellar, Tactron and Utopia Import.

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An Interview With Mark Ellis PDF Print E-mail
What is your background as a creator and a writer?

I’ve pretty much made my living at both for the last 20-plus years…I’ve written everything from feature articles for magazines, to copy-writing, to journalism, to novels. I’ve been a full-time novelist for the last twelve-plus years. As for comics scripting and creating, I was the most active from the late 1980s through the mid-90s. I wrote for several different publishers, most of them independents.

What are some of the titles you have worked on?

I’m probably best known for scripting what’s considered the most faithful comics version of Doc Savage, The Monarch of Armageddon mini-series, working with artist Darryl Banks. Other titles include The Wild, Wild West mini-series that was very well received, again with Darryl …Nosferatu: Plague of Darkness…H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu, Ninja Elite, Warriors, Star Rangers… The Justice Machine…I’ve probably forgotten a few credentials.

How did you come to create Death Hawk?

Pretty simply. In 1987 I was scripting a comic series called Star Rangers, published by Adventure Publications. I worked with Jim Mooney and we envisioned the series as “Lonesome Dove in Space.”

However, the actual page count of the Star Rangers stories didn’t fill out all of the issue, so I was asked to come up with a back-up feature...basically dealing with an outlaw as the main character, which I thought would be an interesting counterpoint to the main feature about futuristic law officers. So I hammered out a six page story, “Five Footsteps to Hell.”

 As a recall, the editor wanted Death Hawk to be an assassin type, but that kind of character never set well with me…even though the story showed him acting as a hired killer, he didn’t actually assassinate his target.

In the next story, “What Rough Beasts”, Death Hawk exacts revenge on a man who betrayed him and his group, but again—he doesn’t actually kill anyone, he just sets up the situation so poetic justice can take place. I came up with the concept that Death Hawk was a “Salvage Expert”, sort of like a futuristic Travis McGee. That covered a whole gamut of enterprises, from the legal to the illegal.

How did Adam Hughes come to be involved as the artist?

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