Yes, it is a very big axe
Black Axe is a Marvel Comics series, published as part of the Marvel UK brand.
The protagonist is the immortal wielder of the titular axe, and often referred to by the same name. He’s about fifteen thousand years old, and he’s used a lot of different aliases in that time, but his ‘real’ name (if he has one) and full background are unrevealed.
For much of that time he’s been a mercenary, but in the 20th century he retired. And then Mys-Tech offered him one last job.
Tropes included in Black Axe:
- Bulungi: The fictional African nation of Mohannda, just north of Marvel’s better known fictional nation of Wakanda.
- Captain Ethnic: Afrikaa veers into this. Guest star Sunfire’s firmly in that territory too.
- Color Character: Black Axe
- Living Battery: Amentah’s gauntlets. The wearer initially gets super strength, and becomes larger and tougher. For a little while. And then the gauntlets use their wearer as fuel.
- Mercy Kill: Horem gets one after Amentah’s gauntlets drain his lifeforce. If not, it would have taken him days to die.
- My Grandson, Myself: One of the tactics he’s used over the years.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Horem, hired to loot Amentah’s tomb, promptly double-crosses his employer. Who had expected it and hired Black Axe to follow him.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: When Black Axe is leaving Japan after a clash with The Hand, some men claiming to be airport security ask him to step into a room before he boards his flight. At this point he’s not armed or armored. We don’t see what happens, but a panel or two later he steps out of the room, leaving the bodies of the Hand’s assassins on the floor.
- Retired Badass: His situation at the start of the series.
- Shout-Out: Black Axe mentions that the last time he dealt with Mys-Tech was regarding “some over-priced tea-chest” in the desert, back in 1936.
- The Bus Came Back:
- He’s not one of the protagonists of the Revolutionary War event, but he’s named and glimpsed in its flashback to the Battle of London Bridge, when Mys-Tech was finally defeated.
- He appears as one of several mercenaries in one arc of X-Men.
- The Older Immortal: He’s this to the ‘youngsters’ of Mys-Tech, who are a mere millennium old.
- War for Fun and Profit: Cardinal Technologies are selling weapons to both sides in Mohannda, and really don’t want to see a peace deal.
- Whole Episode Flashback: One issue is set in ancient Egypt, with Black Axe clashing with a tomb robber who’s found some unexpected technology.
- Your Head A-Splode: Amentah, advisor to the pharaohs, uses his power gauntlets to crush the heads of those who plotted against him. Slowly.
