Motormouth & Killpower (initially just Motormouth) is a Marvel Comics series, published as part of the Marvel UK brand in 1992-1993.
Harley Davis (AKA ‘Motormouth’) is a rebellious teenager who’s used as an unwitting test subject for a teleportation device obtained by the Mys-Tech corporation, the Big Bad of many other Marvel UK books.
Julius Mullarkey (AKA ‘Killpower’) is a warrior who’s been genetically engineered by Mys-Tech, and is eventually sent to retrieve Harley. However, he swiftly decides that he’d rather be her friend, and the two of them spend the rest of the series on the run from (or fighting back against) Mys-Tech.
The series was initially Edited for Syndication in the UK, where it was serialised in the anthology title Overkill. Early issues were structured in a way that allowed the guest stars to be completely edited out when they were reprinted, on the basis that UK readers would be less interested in costumed superheroes.
Julius was also one of the lead characters (alongside Death’s Head II) in the Battletide and Battletide II miniseries, and star of his own Killpower: The Early Years miniseries.
Both characters also appeared in the Mys-Tech Wars miniseries, and guest-starred in The Incredible Hulk during Peter David’s run on that title. They were also members of the Dark Guard team.
After Marvel UK ceased publishing, they reappeared as supporting cast in the final arc of Captain Britain and MI13, and when the Marvel UK books were celebrated by the Revolutionary War event, Harley and Julius were both main characters.
An Alternate Universe version of Harley was also introduced as one of the supporting characters for the 2022 Captain Carter series.
Tropes included in Motormouth & Killpower:
- Adventure Towns: Harley and Julius can teleport through time and space, so the series uses many different settings.
- An Alien Named "Bob": It’s not entirely clear whether the people of the planet Matricca Scorpio are truly an alien race, but corporate enforcer Hadrian is apparently named after the wall.
- Badass Bandolier: Julius. Sometimes shown with a bandolier of bullets across one shoulder and grenades across the other.
- Badass Normal: Harley, at least to start with.
- Big Bad: Mys-Tech in general, Tyburn in particular.
- Death Flight: Julius captures one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents he fights in the second issue and carries her into the sky as he flies off. Then he’s told that they don’t want a prisoner, so simply drops her.
- Deuteragonist: Killpower fills this role before he gets title billing.
- Face–Heel Turn: Julius, when he defects from Mys-Tech
- Fun with Acronyms: The teleportation device is MOPED.
- Make Me Wanna Shout: Thanks to her cybernetic enhancements, Harley can create deafening sounds and force blasts by screaming/shouting, similar to the X-Men's Banshee, and by humming at a low pitch can use ultrasound to see through solid objects.
- Non Conformist Dyed Hair: Harley has white hair has a dark blue stripe.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Julius. Because he’s still basically a kid, he’s been raised by some very unpleasant people and he thinks fighting and killing is fun. Harley is a good influence on him, though.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: One of Harley’s defining traits. Although it’s all edited out, of course.
- Still Believes in Santa: Killpower. Then again, he’s a lot younger than he looks.
- Superhero Packing Heat: Killpower definitely falls into this category. He’s superhumanly tough and strong, but most of the time he relies on a collection of very big guns.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: Cable, Fury, Badhand and the Punisher investigate Mys-Tech’s nefarious activities while Harley and Julius are caught up in a completely different plot, on a completely different planet.
- Wolverine Publicity: Less so than some other Marvel titles, but still features Cable, Wolverine and Nick Fury, among others.
- Your Head A-Splode: Happens to a few people Harley shouts at.
