Back Issue #72 by TwoMorrows Publishing

COMICS’ BRONZE AGE AND BEYOND!

May 2

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METAL MEN • RED TORNADO • ROBOTMAN • VISION • JOCASTA • CYBORG • SHOGUN WARRIORS MR. ATOM • BIG GUY & RUSTY • with ALLRED • SIMONSON • PÉREZ • TRIMPE and more!

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THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ISSUE magazine celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments like “Pro2Pro” (dialogue between professionals), “BackStage Pass” (behind-the-scenes of comicsbased media), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

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“Halloween Heroes and Villains”! JEPH LOEB and TIM SALE’s chiller Batman: The Long Halloween, the Scarecrow (both the DC and Marvel versions), Solomon Grundy, Man-Wolf, Lord Pumpkin, Rutland, Vermont’s Halloween parades, and… the Korvac Saga’s Dead Avengers! With commentary from and/or art by CONWAY, GIL KANE, LOPRESTI, MOENCH, PÉREZ, DAVE WENZEL, and more. Cover by TIM SALE!

“Tabloids and Treasuries,” spotlighting every all-new tabloid from the 1970s. Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, The Bible, Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles, The Wizard of Oz, even the PAUL DINI/ALEX ROSS World’s Greatest Super-Heroes editions! Commentary and art by ADAMS, GARCIA-LOPEZ, GRELL, KIRBY, KUBERT, MAYER, ROMITA SR., TOTH, and more. Wraparound cover by ALEX ROSS!

“Superman in the Bronze Age”! JULIUS SCHWARTZ, CURT SWAN, Superman Family, World of Krypton miniseries, and ALAN MOORE’s “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”, art & comments by ADAMS, ANDERSON, CARDY, CHAYKIN, PAUL KUPPERBERG, OKSNER, O’NEIL, PASKO, ROZAKIS, SAVIUK, and more. Cover by GARCÍA-LÓPEZ and SCOTT WILLIAMS! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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“British Invasion” issue! History of Marvel UK, Beatles in comics, DC’s ‘80s British talent pool, V for Vendetta, Excalibur, Marshal Law, Doctor Who, “Pro2Pro” interview with PETER MILLIGAN & BRENDAN McCARTHY, plus BERGER, BOLLAND, DAVIS, GIBBONS, STAN LEE, LLOYD, MOORE, DEZ SKINN, and others. Fold-out triptych cover by RON WILSON and DAVE HUNT of Marvel UK’s rare 1970s “Quadra-Poster”!

“Bronze Age Backup Series”! Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Metamorpho, GOODWIN and SIMONSON’s Manhunter, PASKO and GIFFEN’s Dr. Fate, “Whatever Happened To…?”, Nemesis, Rose and the Thorn, Seven Soldiers of Victory, art and commentary by CARY BURKETT, JOHN CALNAN, DICK GIORDANO, MIKE GRELL, ELLIOT S! MAGGIN, DAN SPIEGLE, cover by GRELL and JOE RUBINSTEIN.

“Bronze Age B-Teams”! Defenders issue-byissue overview, Champions, Guardians of the Galaxy, Inhumans, PETER DAVID’s X-Factor, Teen Titans West, Legion of Substitute Heroes, an all-star chatfest of Doom Patrol interviews, plus art and commentary by ROSS ANDRU, SAL BUSCEMA, KEITH GIFFEN, TONY ISABELLA, PAUL KUPPERBERG, ERIK LARSEN, GEORGE PÉREZ, BOB ROZAKIS, cover by KEVIN NOWLAN.

“Bronze Age Team-Ups”! Marvel Team-Up and Two-in-One, Super-Villain Team-Up, CLAREMONT and SIMONSON’s X-Men/New Teen Titans, DC Comics Presents, SuperTeam Family, HANEY and APARO’s Batman of Earth-B(&B), Superman/Captain Marvel smackdowns, plus art and commentary by BUCKLER, ENGLEHART, GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, GIFFEN, LEVITZ, WEIN, and a classic GIL KANE cover inked anew by TERRY AUSTIN.

“Heroes Out of Time!” Batman: Gotham by Gaslight with MIGNOLA, WAID, and AUGUSTYN, Booster Gold with JURGENS, X-Men: Days of Future Past with CHRIS CLAREMONT, Bill & Ted with EVAN DORKIN, interview with P. CRAIG RUSSELL, “Pro2Pro” with Time Masters’ BOB WAYNE and LEWIS SHINER, Karate Kid, New Mutants: Asgardian Wars, and Kang. Mignola cover.

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“1970s and ‘80s Legion of Super-Heroes!” LEVITZ interview, the Legion’s Honored Dead, the Cosmic Boy miniseries, a Time Trapper history, the New Adventures of Superboy, Legion fantasy cover gallery by JOHN WATSON, plus BATES, COCKRUM, CONWAY, COLON, GIFFEN, GRELL, JANES, KUPPERBERG, LaROCQUE, LIGHTLE, SCHAFFENBERGER, SHERMAN, STATON, SWAN, WAID, & more! COCKRUM cover!

TENTH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE! Revisit the 100th, 200th, 300th, 400th, and 500th issues of ‘70s and ‘80s favorites: Adventure, Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Batman, Brave & Bold, Casper, Detective, Flash, Green Lantern, Showcase, Superman, Thor, Wonder Woman, and more! With APARO, BARR, ENGLEHART, POLLARD, SEKOWSKY, SIMONSON, STATON, and WOLFMAN. DAN JURGENS and RAY McCARTHY cover.

“Incredible Hulk in the Bronze Age!” Looks into Hulk’s mind, his role as a team player, his TV show and cartoon, merchandising, Hulk newspaper strip, Teen Hulk, villain history of the Abomination, art and artifacts by SAL BUSCEMA, JOHN BYRNE, PETER DAVID, KENNETH JOHNSON, BILL MANTLO, AL MILGROM, EARL NOREM, ROGER STERN, HERB TRIMPE, LEN WEIN, new cover by TRIMPE and GERHARD!

“Tryouts, One-Shots, & One-Hit Wonders”! Marvel Premiere, Marvel Spotlight, Marvel Feature, Strange Tales, Showcase, First Issue Special, New Talent Showcase, DC’s Dick Tracy tabloid, Sherlock Holmes, Marvel’s Generic Comic Books, Bat-Squad, Crusader, & Swashbuckler, with BRUNNER, CARDY, COLAN, FRADON, GRELL, PLOOG, TRIMPE, and an ARTHUR ADAMS “Clea” cover!

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Volume 1, Number 72 May 2014 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, '90s, and Beyond!

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael “Brainiac 0” Eury PUBLISHER John “T. O.” Morrow DESIGNER Rich “Faulty Responsometer” Fowlks COVER ARTIST Michael Allred COVER COLORIST Glenn “Doc Magnus” Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael “Ultron” Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob “The Revision” Smentek Rand Hoppe Alex Jay Nick Katradis Douglas R. Kelly Rob Kelly James Kingman Paul Kupperberg Erik Larsen Paul Levitz Andy MacDonald David Michelinie Doug Moench Graham Nolan Luigi Novi Martin Pasko Jay Piscopo Jim Salicrup Alex Segura Sketch Maven Andy Smith J. E. Smith Joe Staton Roger Stern Lex Suite Roy Thomas Herb Trimpe Len Wein Marv Wolfman

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BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Brainiac 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 FLASHBACK: Heady Metal: The Metal Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Silver Age charm transmutes to Bronze Age seriousness for DC Comics’ robot heroes INTERVIEW: Charlie Boatner’s Batman/Metal Men Team-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Whatever happened to What’s’ername? We ask the writer … and share Aparo artwork FLASHBACK: Behold, Their Vision! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Creators from the House of Ideas discuss the Android Avenger FLASHBACK: The Little Android That Could: A History of the Red Tornado . . . . . . . . . .25 How “the Justice Society’s pet android” became a Justice Leaguer and solo star BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Bad Robot: Mister Atom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 The Bronze Age appearances of the World’s Mightiest Mortal’s metal menace FLASHBACK: Jocasta: The Bride of Ultron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 This one-time Avengers hanger-on keeps … hanging on FLASHBACK: Bronze Steele: Robotman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 It’s been a long, strange trip for the Doom Patrol’s Cliff Steele BEYOND CAPES: Shogun Warriors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 The sky-high rise and abrupt fall of three giant robots in comics FLASHBACK: Stone and Steel: The Story of Cyborg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Victor Stone, from Teen Titans to Justice League and beyond BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: The Legacy of Brainiac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 The “sons” of Superman’s robot foe in the DC Universe BEYOND CAPES: Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 The Hard Boiled team of Frank Miller and Geof Darrow and their metal men BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 Reader comments about BI #67 and more BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $60 Standard US, $85 Canada, $107 Surface International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Michael Allred. Metal Men TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2014 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING. Robots Issue

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Detail from the cover of The Avengers #96 (Feb. 1972), featuring the Vision. Cover art by Neal Adams. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

SPECIAL THANKS Neal Adams Michael Allred Adam Beechen Charlie Boatner Jonathan Rikard Brown Kurt Busiek Jarrod Buttery John Byrne Paty Cockrum Computer Tyrants of Colu Gerry Conway DC Comics Geof Darrow Fred deBoom Tom DeFalco J. M. DeMatteis Steve Englehart Angela Fowlks Christos Gage Keith Giffen Grand Comic-Book Database Steven Grant P.C. Hamerlinck Jack C. Harris Ben Herman Heritage Comics Auctions

Greetings. I am Brainiac 0, the first son of Brainiac of Colu. That’s Brainiac Zero, not Brainiac letter O. Originally, though, I was Brainiac 2. Now, you’ve probably always thought that Vril Dox of L.E.G.I.O.N. was Brainiac 2 (especially if you’ve already read the Legacy of Brainiac article on page 70). But I was the first to be chosen by the Computer Tyrants to pose as the “son” of Superman’s enemy in Colu’s version of a witness

TM & © DC Comics.

protection family. Only, there were … problems. First, I’m not evil. Second, I was a fat kid. My pink-and-black Brainiac briefs—standard gear for Coluan evil computer-androids and their offspring—made my chubby thighs ripple. Third, I only have a fourth-level intelligence, which embarrassed my old man to no end. But the real Daddy deal-breaker was … I hate miniatures. So Papa Shrink-a-City booted me out of the flying saucer, renaming me “Zero” as the ultimate rejection. The Computer Tyrants erased me from continuity and shipped me off to Earth, where I was raised by a wonderful couple who taught me kindness and compassion. Since then, I’ve been living among you, disguised as one of you. But this issue’s theme gives me license to let it all hang out and finally be the real me! (Boy, is my wife gonna be surprised!) While this issue is branded “Robots,” there are androids and cyborgs in the following pages, too. Robots, like mutants, are often used metaphorically in comics, so some of the following articles discuss deeper issues including human dignity, disabilities, and racism. But that doesn’t get in the way of good, old-fashioned fun, and from the Metal Men to Big Guy, there’s enough fun in this issue to keep your gears lubed for hours!

PRE-EMPTIVE EDITORIAL NOTE

MISSING IN ACTION METAL MAN? If you were hoping for a look at G.I. Robot this issue, be patient— he’ll be included in BACK ISSUE #78’s examination of Weird War Tales. In the meantime, here’s a salute to that Bronze Age bot, via the Ross Andru/Romeo Tanghal original art (courtesy of Heritage) to the cover for Weird War #113 (July 1982). 2 • BACK ISSUE • Robots Issue

THE METAL MEN ARE BACK! As you’ll read at the conclusion of this issue’s lead article, Jim Kingman’s look at the Metal Men’s Bronze Age adventures, Jim anxiously awaited the “imminent return” of DC’s favorite robots. Turns out his wait is much shorter than he’d dreamed: As this issue was being assembled in late 2013, we discovered that a retooled “New 52” version of the Metal Men is slated to appear in Justice League #28, courtesy of Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, and Joe Prado (its cover art, by Reis and Prado, is seen here). By the time this BACK ISSUE is available, JL #28 will have been out for two months—so you Metalmaniacs who missed it should hunt it down.

TM & © DC Comics.

Before I’m flooded with “Hey, why’d you leave out [insert your favorite comic-book robot or cyborg here]?!” emails, if you’d like to read about the following tin titans, more info awaits in these BACK ISSUE back issues: • ROM: SPACEKNIGHT (BI #16 and BI #31) • TRANSFORMERS (BI #16) • DEATHLOK (BI #25; also, BI #49’s cover) • H.E.R.B.I.E. THE ROBOT (BI #25) • MACHINE MAN (BI #25) • ROG-2000 (BI #25) • SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN AND BIONIC WOMAN (BI #25) • STEEL THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN (BI #25) • ASTRO BOY (BI #30) • STEVE GERBER’S METAL MEN (BI #31) • BRAINIAC (1980s VERSION) (BI #35) • ULTRON (BI #38) • VISION’S RELATIONSHIP WITH SCARLET WITCH (BI #45)

Brainiac 0

Jim Kingman

Bad Moon Rising Eclipso casts a pall over the previously twinkling robotic adventures on Walter Simonson’s cover to Metal Men #48 (Oct.–Nov. 1976). TM & © DC Comics.

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DC’s Metal Men—Gold, Iron, Lead, Mercury, Tin, and Platinum (the sole female in the group, affectionately called “Tina”)—debuted in Showcase #37 (Mar.–Apr. 1962) and appeared in three subsequent issues of the tryout title. Created by writer Robert Kanigher over a single weekend and illustrated by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, the robotic band’s exploits were a hit for DC (then National Comics), and the team graduated to their own magazine in 1963, beginning in February with an Apr.–May cover-dated first issue. But by 1968, as the Silver Age of Comics began to wane and the lengthy dawn of the Bronze Age began, the lighthearted charm of DC’s Metal Men abruptly ended, and a new path of cynical seriousness robert kanigher was forged.

doc magnus

Gone were the adversaries that made Metal Men an outlandishly entertaining read for over six years: the Gas Gang, the Missile Men, Chemo, the Plastic Perils, and the Metal Mods; gone were robotics gone mad: robot Amazons, a robot Centaur, robot termites, a robot dinosaur, a robot skyscraper, and a deadly robot rollercoaster, to name a few; and gone was “Nameless,” Tin’s girlfriend, who never achieved a proper name. Most important of all, gone for good intent and constructive purpose was Dr. Will (Doc) Magnus, governmentpayrolled scientist and the robot band’s inventor, whose sudden departure catapulted the original heavy metal band into more heady territory: faulty, outcast, hunted, and targeted for destruction. In an editorial effort to save them from cancellation due to declining sales, this “New, Hunted” Metal Men debuted in Metal Men #33 (Aug.–Sept. 1968), which sports one of the great dramatic covers of the late 1960s. In this startling issue, written by Kanigher and illustrated by Mike Sekowsky, Magnus was electrified and experienced a cerebral hemorrhage that sent him into a coma. This was caused by the tremendous discharge of energy he generated to enhance the strength of the robots’ “responsometers,” the crucial computerized component that gave the team near-human intelligence and emotions. That strength proved more hindrance than helpful when the Metal Men attempted to save humans from a raging fire and foil a bank robbery. Unable to control their individually enhanced powers, the Metal Men inadvertently put lives into jeopardy, and the band was misunderstood by the police and hunted down. Col. David Magnus, Doc’s brother, rescued the robots and took them to a safe, hidden military location where they were shut down until their creator, hopefully, emerged from his coma and could repair them. Meanwhile, giant flies from a doomed world invaded Earth for its food supply. When the government realized the US military could not defeat the giant flies, the Metal Men were reactivated to battle the invaders. Though successful, the Metal Men remained hunted by the police. Despite how humans now saw them, the Metal Men at least remained true to themselves, albeit not for much longer: Gold, the noble leader, and malleable; Lead, a loyal follower and dimwitted (the perfect shield, though); Iron, the muscle man, and more thoughtful than given credit for; Mercury, a hothead, self-appointed leader, quite fluid as liquid metal, prone to exploding into globules; Tina, a platinum romantic, hopelessly in love with Doc; and Tin, a hard metal, meek in appearance, fraught with an inferiority complex, but always having your back, whether teammate or human. They would remain hunted through Metal Men #36 (Feb.–Mar. 1969). A running theme was gigantic

Pipe Dreams (left) Our favorite robots’ happy days were distant memories on this Mike Sekowsky/ Dick Giordano cover to Metal Men #41 (Dec. 1969–Jan. 1970), the final issue of the book’s Silver Age run. (above) Notice a resemblance between the MM’s two creators? Kanigher caricature by Joe Kubert, and Magnus headshot by Ross Andru and Esposito. TM & © DC Comics.

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alien species: the aforementioned giant flies, then an alien wrath that became a volcano man, and finally alien clowns who shrunk the Metal Men, therefore appearing gigantic to the tiny metal band.

GIMME SOME SKIN With Metal Men #37 (Apr.–May 1969, and also displaying another classic cover), the series shifted direction again as Sekowsky also became writer and editor of the book. Gone was Col. Magnus, replaced by the rich and mysterious Mr. Conan. Also visibly gone was the “metal” in Metal Men, as the Alloyed Allies were covered in skinlike plastic by a scientific team and given human guises and identities to allow them to blend in with a human race that had become distrustful of them. Still endowed with (now-repaired) responsometers, the metal band was sent by Conan on missions to battle chaos, both real and supernatural, across the globe. Meanwhile, the small foreign country of Karnia kidnapped Doc Magnus, where he was subjected to several brain surgeries that not only shifted his allegiance to Karnia’s despot leader but also drove him power mad. Even after the leader’s demise, Magnus remained intent on ruling the world with new robots, seeking ransom by threatening to blow up major world cities. Conan enlisted the devastated Metal Men to destroy Magnus. The band came up short of their quest just as the series was canceled. That cancellation axe came down with Metal Men #41 (Dec. 1969–Jan. 1970), leaving several loose ends dangling, including a police detective’s apparent

marriage proposal to Tina. The Metal Men then mostly missed out on comics’ brief relevancy period (appearing only for a reprint of their first Showcase appearance in The Flash #214, Apr. 1972, a 100-Page SuperSpectacular). After an 18-month absence, the Metal Men returned for an all-new team-up with Batman in The Brave and the Bold #103 (Sept.–Oct. 1972). This bizarre but entertaining yarn, picking up sometime after the end of MM #41 and casting the Metal Men as vocal participants for “Robot’s Lib” led by John Doe, a traitorous US military robot, could have easily been a parody of the relevancy era had only writer Bob Haney not played the plot absolutely straight. The Metal Men also shed their human identities and returned to their colorful metal selves. That tale was penciled by Bob Brown and inked by Nick Cardy. Haney, artist Jim Aparo, and editor Murray Boltinoff then kept the Metal Men alive for the next two years, if only on two occasions. The metal band teamed with Batman in The Brave and the Bold (B&B) #113 (July–Aug. 1974) and #121 (June–July 1975). Haney’s interpretation of Batman in B&B (and with Superman in World’s Finest Comics) was criticized by many fans during its time [see the “Batman of Earth-B” in BI #66— ed.]. However, the writer’s B&B stories during this period have held up well over the years because Haney knew how to tightly plot and deliver twists at a relentless pace per story; during his heyday, his B&B with Aparo was DC’s bestselling Batman title.

Robots Issue

Lean Times (left) The Metal Men’s long-overdue return occurred in The Brave and the Bold #103 (Sept.–Oct. 1972). Original cover art by the late, great Nick Cardy, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). (right) The first of the three-issue reprint run of Metal Men, issue #42 (Feb.–Mar. 1973), with a recycled cover image by Andru and Esposito. TM & © DC Comics.

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MM #43 reprinted “The Headless Robots,” from Metal Men #14 (June–July 1965); and MM #44 reprinted “Rain of the Missile Men,” from Metal Men #1 (Apr.–May 1963). With the reprint book’s quick and quiet demise in early 1973, hope for Metal Men ever again sustaining an ongoing series seemed dismal. Thus, by 1976, the Bronze Age of Comics had not seen much of DC’s Metal Men. From 1970 to the end of 1975, you could count the number of original and reprinted appearances of the once popular robot band on less than ten fingers. For completists, Tina struck a pose on the back of the wraparound cover for Adventure Comics #416 (Mar. 1972). The actual total is seven appearances, plus a pose, in six years, a far cry from the approximately 48 appearances the team made in Showcase, Metal Men, and three Brave and the Bold outings during the 1960s.

A COMEBACK, COURTESY OF CONWAY

From Conway’s Corner Walter Simonson’s unpublished cover for the comeback issue, Metal Men #45 (Apr.–May 1976), and (inset) the published version, by Dick Giordano. As much as we like Dick’s art, we think Walt’s cover is awesome, too. TM & © DC Comics.

In 1975, writer/editor Gerry Conway returned to DC from Marvel Comics and soon set in motion a revitalization (a “Marvelization,” from this particular fanboy’s point of view) of the company’s faltering superhero line. From “Conway’s Corner,” Gerry oversaw the release of Man-Bat, All-Star Comics (with the Justice Society of America), Blackhawk, Kobra, Plastic Man, and Freedom Fighters during the second half of the year. Then he turned his attention to a band of robots also in dire need of a comeback. The return of the Metal Men, by writer Steve Gerber and artist Ramona Fradon, was originally scheduled for an early 1976 issue of 1st Issue Special. Conway felt it would be a better fit in Super-Team Family, which seemed even more fitting once 1st Issue Special was canceled with #13. It was then decided to feature the Metal Men in their own title, most likely because Super-Team went all-reprint with #4. The initial script was still attributed to Gerber, but now Walter Simonson was reported as artist. By the time all the publishing Haney allowed the Metal Men to conflicts had been sorted out, Fradon shine. His fast-paced, thrill-invested, was on Freedom Fighters. Metal Men twist-enhanced Batman/Metal Men #45 was slated for a January 1976 stories incorporated shades of relevancy release (cover dated Apr.–May), and as part of the plot, not as a social or Simonson was officially the robot political sledgehammer to bludgeon band’s ongoing illustrator. the reader: Robot’s Lib; skyscrapergerry conway What the Metal Men had lacked jacking (B&B #113); Native Americans as far as appearances, they more rebelling against a government that had razed and contained their culture and heritage than made up for in viability. The same couldn’t be (B&B #121)—these were tough topics ripped from then- said for Dr. Will Magnus. Metal Men #45 is essentially current headlines, taken seriously but not allowed to Doc’s comeback. Karnia returned Magnus to the interfere with the action. Haney also kept the still-missing United States after the scientist suffered a nervous Doc Magnus never far from the Metal Men’s thoughts. breakdown. Doc was institutionalized. It was hoped When DC introduced a reprints line in December of that he would in time be cured with help from his 1972 to compete with Marvel Comics’ surging output, nurse, Isobel Sullivan, who would soon reveal a romantic Metal Men returned with #42 (Feb.–Mar. 1973), along attachment to Doc. But Magnus’ thoughts remained with several other books, including canceled titles that destructive, particularly toward the Metal Men. had their heyday in the 1960s such as Doom Patrol and Whittier, a government official, felt Magnus was well Challengers of the Unknown. Most of the reprint books enough to begin constructing robots again for the lasted only three issues. Metal Men #42 reprinted “The military, despite the misgivings of General Caspar, a Deathless Doom” from Showcase #39 (July–Aug. 1962); long-standing supporting character of the series who

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had been out of the picture for several years. Upon THE PASKO/SIMONSON METHOD Doc’s completion of the Plutonium Man, Caspar felt “Walt and I worked together on the series more or less a destructive weapon of such caliber should be the same way we did the Fate job,” explains Pasko. scrapped, at which point Whittier revealed himself as “Walt had an idea for what he wanted to do in terms of an agent of Karnia. He revealed his country’s plot to the villain, and I helped him hammer out a plot. I was a have Magnus back in the States to utilize the USA’s bit less ‘hands-on’ with the first two MM issues we did world-power resources to build a weapon Karnia could than I had been with Fate because, for one thing, MM use to achieve its own world-power status. Enter the wasn’t a retcon, and Walt came to the table with more Metal Men, who would battle a nuclear machine specific ideas, saying he wanted to use Eclipso and that endowed with the hatred Magnus felt toward them. he had this idea for doing a riff on H. P. Lovecraft’s This excellent story also has a running theme and Cthulhu mythos. At that time I wasn’t terribly familiar nice twist at the end that, in typical Gerber fashion, with either of those things, so I decided to let him lead gives depth to different levels of human behavior— and I’d follow—meaning, he had a collection of set in this case, how “evil” was perceived by others, pieces in mind and I strung them together with a particularly Iron in the aftermath of a hotel robbery— narrative through-line. He then broke down the plot and Whittier’s change of heart to protect the reputation and laid it out, and I dialogued it. of his country. The destruction of the Metal Men at “I was jumping in midstream, and because of that the end also deeply affected Magnus, and began the I was more focused on the tone of the scripting and process toward his recovery. how quickly I could find ways to make the tone “The way I remember it,” then-Superman shifts I wanted to make than I was on the writer Martin Pasko tells BACK ISSUE, plotting. The series was too ‘straight’ or “Walt was the regular artist of record, but ‘dramatic’ for my taste, given the lunacy the writing slot had had a revolving of the property I remembered from door, so to speak. I don’t think that my childhood, and I wanted to ‘push had been the intent. Gerry was the envelope’ on the supposed to be the regular writer, whack factor. I started but got bogged down in a lot of moving the series editorial duties. He handed the incrementally in book to Gerber, whose rep at that that direction with point was built largely on his Howard Walt, but got closer the Duck. Assigning Steve to it was, to where I wanted to me, at least, a strong indicator to go with it tonally of the sort of tone Gerry was WALTER SIMONSON hoping to achieve with Metal Men. But Steve, too, got distracted with other commitments, or maybe his stuff was always intended to be a fill-in assignment.” Conway collaborated with Simonson for the next two issues, which featured the return of Chemo in #46 (June–July 1976) and the return of the Plutonium Man in #47 (Aug.–Sept. 1976). Both stories put some emphasis on getting Doc back into the swing of things mentally. Conway then recruited writer Pasko to co-script the Metal Men’s exploits. “Gerry recognized that I could do humor,” continues Pasko. “Walt and I had already collaborated well for him on the Dr. Fate reboot for 1st Issue Special #9; and at the point I took over Metal Men, I was apparently the writer in his stable who was most eager and grateful to accept Gerry’s ‘hand-me-downs.’ I’d already performed that ‘service’ for him on Man-Bat and Freedom Fighters, so I guess that made me the guy who was best poised to ‘catch’ Metal Men when it rolled off Gerry’s desk.” For Metal Men #48 (Oct.–Nov. 1976) and 49 (Dec. 1976–Jan. 1977), Pasko and Simonson created a history for the line of dark priests that ended with Mophir, who cut Dr. Bruce Gordon years before in House of Secrets, a wound that transformed him to Eclipso in the presence of any kind of eclipse. They also put a twist on the thenpopular Chariots of the Gods premise, and provided a sound explanation for Stonehenge’s existence!

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TM & © DC Comics.

Bicentennial Bots A ’76 Metal Men illo by wonderful Walt, from the trade paperback The Art of Walter Simonson. TM & © DC Comics.

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Goodbye Girl (above) Tina’s “blood” boils as Doc’s now-you-seeher, now-you-don’t nurse/girlfriend Isobel cuddles with Magnus. Detail from page 2 of Metal Men #50 (Feb.–Mar. 1977). By Pasko and Staton. (right) A marker drawing of Platinum by Walter Simonson, circa 1976. Courtesy of Adam Beechen. TM & © DC Comics.

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by the time Joe Staton came on and we did the ‘Dr. Strangeglove and the Brain Children’ story. “I was having a great time,” continues Pasko, ”enjoying the work and being very eager to show the editorial staff what I could do, so that I wasn’t perceived as just one of [Superman editor] ‘Julie Schwartz’s boys.’ Gerry was a less prescriptive and controlling editor than most of the older editors I’d worked for and he didn’t heavily rewrite. I felt free to try to do the best work I was capable of, because there wasn’t that dispiriting Sword of Damocles hanging over my head—that sense of, ‘What’s the use in trying to be clever? It’s only gonna get butchered anyway.’ So I had a lot of energy. And on the first two issues, Walt’s desire to create at least the barebones plot meant the work was, initially, less time-consuming. I don’t recall any scheduling problems, despite the impression created by the later fill-ins.” An interesting aspect during this part of the series was Magnus’ relationship with his nurse. Isobel was a black woman, and their romantic relationship— she at one point addresses him as “lover”—was played as casual matter of fact (much to Tina’s chagrin at one martin pasko point). This certainly wasn’t a taboo subject in the 1970s, but this kind of relationship never would have occurred in the 1960s, although a female robot having a huge crush on a male human was permissible. Meanwhile, Tina’s infatuation was taken a step further during the 1970s series. A side effect of having her responsometer repaired in Metal Men #46 was that she enjoyed making passes at everyone, including Tin! Tina eventually reverted to her old self, with eyes only for Doc, and Isobel mysteriously disappeared from the series after #50.

SHIFTING GOALS Two issues into Pasko and Simonson’s collaboration, Conway returned to Marvel Comics and Paul Levitz became Metal Men’s new editor. With issue #49, Simonson left the series and was replaced by Joe Staton. Metal Men #50 (Feb.–Mar. 1977) contained a slightly truncated reprint from Metal Men #6 (Feb.–Mar. 1964), suggesting the Dreaded Deadline Doom had struck the series. “I remember it a little differently,” Pasko informs BACK ISSUE. “Carmine Infantino was replaced by Jenette Kahn as the publisher while Gerry’s version of Metal Men was on the schedule as, I think, a bimonthly. Gerry stepped down as editor right afterward, accepting writing work from Marvel while continuing to freelance for DC because the new DC management team had expressed an intent to phase out writer/editors, and I think Gerry was less interested in editing for DC if he couldn’t write for himself. “I wrote ‘bumpers’ for the reprint, treating it as a flashback (like a TV ‘clip’ show) to keep it in continuity, and Joe drew the new pages. But Paul’s attempts to get on schedule turned out to be one-stepforward-one-step-back, because he was unhappy with the fill-in script (and rightly so, I thought, on reading it). He felt it was structurally problematic, and asked me to rewrite it. As I did so, I convinced Paul that the fill-in was also tonally ‘off,’ so I tried to adjust that to make it play more in keeping with what I’d been doing. But by then I’d started to lose interest a little bit, because the reprint had caused us to lose a lot of the ground I’d gained in shifting the tone to something more blatantly humorous and anarchic, as befit my vision of the series being an expression of Doc Magnus’ disordered mind. The fill-in also demonstrated that none of the writers who were likely

to be available for fill-ins would understand, or even be it, from the Simonson cover to the Staton interior art. sympathetic to, what I was trying to do.” I never got to do any more Metal Men stories, but it Jack C. Harris explains his contribution as co-scripter was the beginning of long friendships with Paul, of Metal Men #51 (Apr.–May 1977), wherein the Metal Marty, Walt, and Joe.” Men battled Vox, the Bionic Bandit: “Although it Metal Men #52 (June–July 1977) and 53 (Aug.–Sept. appeared a little down the line, MM #51 was only the 1977), the aforementioned “Dr. Strangeglove and the second comic script I ever wrote. Since I was Brain Children” storyline, contains arguably the working at the DC offices in the Warner wildest escapade of the series. Deep in a Building as an assistant editor to Murray pediatric-research laboratory seemingly Boltinoff at the time, I was privy to all abandoned and enclosed in a lead the problems editors up and down the dome after an accident involving a hallway were having with deadlines nuclear reactor, Dr. Strangeglove, and such. I believe I was either having whose right hand was transformed lunch with Levitz (and the rest of into a most strange but effective the Woodchucks [younger staffers]), weapon by the blast, had been or just sitting and talking when the experimenting with accelerated problem of Metal Men deadlines arose. intelligence on babies. Strangeglove I told Paul that I loved the Metal Men enjoyed some degree of success. from the very start. In fact, their Once again, the Metal Men and Doc second appearance [Showcase #38, came to the rescue, but they could jack c. harris May–June 1962] was the first issue I not prevent one disturbing tragedy, had received after I had sent away for the murder of the young whistlea subscription! Paul said if I had an idea for a story, type blower Dennis, purposely modeled after Hank it up and he’d take a look at it. I did it that very night, Ketcham’s Dennis the Menace. writing and typing far into the night. The next day, he (An aside: If you were a fan of Aquaman and had read the synopsis and liked it. Marty took a look at it and already witnessed the tragic fate of the Sea King’s toddler tweaked it a bit and I wrote a full script over the next a couple of months earlier in Adventure Comics #452, couple of days. Both Paul and Marty did some editorial you might have read Metal Men #52 and wondered if work on it and polished it up nicely. I was thrilled with DC had embarked on a child-killing spree for 1977.)

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Doesn’t Play Well with Others From Martin Pasko’s “Beware—the Brain Children!” in Metal Men #53 (Aug.–Sept. 1977): (left) Jim Aparo’s cover and (right) an original interior page (courtesy of Heritage) illo’ed by Joe Staton, pitting the robots against Dr. Strangeglove. TM & © DC Comics.

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Beach Bot Bingo The Metal Men vs. the Ocean Master (and sharks!) in a collaboration between MM artists Walter Simonson and Joe Staton. From DC’s 1978 calendar. TM & © DC Comics.

ROBOTS WITH A SCREW LOOSE? When asked by BACK ISSUE who was his favorite Metal Man, or woman, Pasko elaborates on his goals for the characters, including his earlier mention of Doc Magnus’ “disordered mind”: “I had no favorites because of the way I saw the property and the direction I wanted to take it in. To me, they were all one character: Doc Magnus. They were differentiated only in terms of the most obvious characteristics, the ones that matched the properties of their respective metals: Gold was the boy scout, as in ‘good as…’ and honorable and a bit of a softy, etc.; Tin was frail and insecure because he was the least durable; Mercury was, well, mercurial—hotheaded, given to sudden outbursts, etc. And I tried to give them all more distinctive speech patterns that reflected that (as opposed to what you had in Bob Kanigher’s original, where that idea was reflected only in Tin’s stutter). For example, Lead sounded … as slow and … lumbering … as he moved … and a little … uh … dense. “I started out by building on two things that were left over from the previous writers’ work: a suggestion somewhere along the line— maybe it was even in Kanigher’s original run—that to the extent that the MM’s responsometers were artificial intelligences, their function was patterned after Magnus’ own brain waves or synapses or whatever. The reason the characterizations of each Metal Man were so shallow was that they weren’t whole, fully functioning personalities: They were each just one facet of Magnus’ complex psyche. “Meanwhile, Gerry—I think it was original with Gerry, and not something he was carrying over from the end of the Sekowsky run (where they disguised themselves as flesh-and-blood humans); I’m not sure—but somebody had established that Magnus had had a nervous breakdown,” Pasko says. “This was a particularly edgy in-joke (but very funny, in a mean-spirited way, to anyone who knew Kanigher), one that everyone in the industry got, but very few of the fans did. The idea

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was evidently inspired by the fact that Ross Andru’s design of Magnus was partially based on Kanigher himself. The jacket with the leather elbow-patches and the pipe were both affectations that were among Kanigher’s personal trademarks. Kanigher had had a bout of nervous exhaustion from overwork in the early 1960s, serious enough that it required him to take a leave of absence from his job to recuperate from it. Metal Men was either the first thing he came up with after the nervous collapse, or the last thing before it—different people tell it different ways. Anyway, the idea of playing Magnus as having gone a little nuts was inspired by Kanigher himself, and that’s what I inherited. “So, putting two and two together: If Magnus is crazy, and all the Metal Men are in a sense extensions of this unbalanced psyche, then all the Metal Men are nuts, too. This actually may have been a conclusion that Gerber and I came to; he and I were becoming good friends around the time he was writing Metal Men, and I vaguely remember having a conversation about it while on a crosstown bus, of all things— but I can’t honestly remember what part of this was Steve’s idea, and what part of it was merely suggested by his observations. All I know is that Steve never got the chance to play it out as if it was his idea, and I never discussed it overtly with Gerry. But the idea that everyone was nuts was always in my mind as I wrote it. That’s why so much of the dialogue is very eccentric, especially Mercury’s (the most volatile, get it?—wild mood shifts), and why, after Walt moved on, I amped up one of his more whimsical contributions, the tongue-in-cheek transitional captions that we rendered not as captions within panels, but like titles or sub-headlines in gutters across the grid. The increasingly whack, more overtly satirical—or at least humorous—tone I was working toward proceeded directly from the premise that these characters were all insane. Heroic, perhaps, but crazy.” Unfortunately, this fascinating development in the Metal Men’s future was never fully realized, as Pasko was off the series as abruptly

as he entered into it. Pasko explains: “Levitz, who became the editorial coordinator and Jenette’s (and new managing editor Joe Orlando’s) right-hand man, took over the editing of Metal Men. The new management team had this idea that every title should be a monthly to be more competitive with Marvel, which was overtaking DC in market share partly by getting all its titles out every month. So the book was going to go from a bimonthly to monthly, as soon as they could ramp it up to speed. So they scheduled the reprint and the fill-in script to quickly accommodate the new schedule. “Paul didn’t want to work like the older editors, who would blithely commission fill-in scripts—as a hedge against the main writer falling behind. On the other hand, Paul—and Jenette, I suppose— had this philosophy that a consistent team from month to month was better for business and he didn’t want to fall back on fill-ins at all. So, with another monthly added to my schedule (after the increased frequency), when I was already doing Superman and Wonder Woman each month, I opted to leave Metal Men rather than give up or jeopardize the schedule on a ‘flagship’ title.”

to lack emotion. Though programmed to service mankind, the android instead became intent on destroying the robot band and inheriting their place in the world; ideally, the Inheritor wanted the entire populace of the world at his command. Conway’s brief tenure ended well for the team. The Missile Men and the Inheritor were defeated, and the Metal Men were made citizens of the world by a unanimous vote of the United Nations, bringing freedom and pride to the robot band and a tear to Tin’s eye. Unfortunately, with that tear Metal Men came to an end. The book was canceled with #56, published in November of 1977. During the Metal Men’s 12-issue run in their own magazine, Gold made an appearance with Superman and Batman in World’s Finest Comics #239 (July 1976) and the team appeared again with Batman in The Brave and the Bold #135 (July 1977) and also teamed

METAL MEN DEACTIVATED Conway’s return to Metal Men with #54 (Oct.–Nov. 1977) picked up from the end of issue #53, where Tina abandoned the team, but his direction was much different from Pasko’s. Conway had the Metal Men disconnect from Magnus and strike out on their own, even renting an apartment in New York City. While Magnus felt his creations had the right to make their own decisions and live their own lives, General Caspar did not, believing the Metal Men were property of the US government. All this, and Green Lantern gueststarred and the Missile Men made their return. Z-1, their leader, had built thousands of additional Missile Men to command, and en masse they traveled from planet to planet until they finally reached their destination, Earth, and the object of the his quest, Tina, who Z-1 would make his bride and queen of the Missile Men. And if that wasn’t enough going on, the stage was also being set for the Alloyed Avengers’ deadly encounter with a new foe, the Inheritor. The Inheritor was built by Magnus and endowed with all the Metal Men’s powers, though his responsometer was intentionally circuited

Gone But Not Forgotten (left) Look closely and you’ll spot Tin’s robo-love Nameless on the Sekowsky/ Abel cover of 1968’s Metal Men #32. (right) Writer Charlie Boatner remembered the Metal (wo)Man that other creators forgot, and built The Brave and the Bold #187 (June 1982, cover by Aparo) around her. (above) Courtesy of Mr. Boatner, detail from an Aparo original art page from that issue. TM & © DC Comics.

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Missed Popportunity If you don’t think Michael Allred is perfect for the Metal Men, then your responsometer is faulty! This pinup hails from Allred’s spotlight in DC Comics’ Solo #7 (Dec. 2005). TM & © DC Comics.

with the Caped Crusader and Green Arrow in B&B #136 (Sept. 1977). Par for their previous canceled courses, the Metal Men were once again poised to enter comics limbo, but there was a lingering phase for the team this time around. The robot band appeared in the 100th issue of Showcase (May 1978) and teamed with Superman later that year in DC Comics Presents #4 (Dec. 1974), battling Chemo. Then comics limbo practically claimed them. They next appeared with Batman in The Brave and the Bold #187 (June 1982) and again with Superman in DC Comics Presents #70 (June 1984). A few of their early 1960s adventures would be reprinted in the digest-sized The Best of DC #34 (Mar. 1983). The team made an obligatory appearance in Crisis on Infinite Earth (although you have to look really hard to find them). Of these fine, late-Bronze Age Metal Men tales, one deserves special attention. Writer Charlie Boatner and artist Jim Aparo’s “Whatever Happened to

What’s’ername?” in The Brave and the Bold #187 leap-frogs into the past to find its inspiration, choosing to ignore the era of the hunted Metal Men, the human Metal Men, and the revived Metal Men of the 1970s. Set in the early 1980s, it was revealed that Nameless, Tin’s girlfriend that he lovingly called “Beautiful,” had been missing and forgotten by the Metal Men for years (the flashbacks circle around events in Metal Men #32, published in early 1968). Batman remembered, however, and set out to solve the mystery. The ending was tragic and wholly fitting but did nothing to garner enough support for another Metal Men series. [Editor’s note: See this issue’s exclusive interview with Charlie Boatner to learn more about this story.] I can’t admit to having mined all the appearances of the Metal Men in the post-Crisis DC Universe, more universally known as the Modern Age of Comics, but what I do know covers a wide range of titles since 1986, worthy of an article in itself. They teamed with John Byrne’s Superman in Action Comics #590 (July 1987) and #599 (Apr. 1988); endured some shocking changes in their own four-issue miniseries published in 1993; were featured in Legends of the DC Universe 80-Page Giant (Jan. 2000); made the climactic scene of Enginehead #6 (Nov. 2004), hereby convincing this fanboy that writer/artist Ted McKeever should be given a crack at revitalizing the group; were awarded an Archives edition in 2006 and a second volume in 2013; played a part in 52 (though not as large a role as the one granted Doc Magnus), spinning off from that title into an eight-issue series in 2007; emerged in a more traditional look for Wednesday Comics in 2009; and enjoyed their own backup feature in Doom Patrol #1–7 (Oct. 2009–Apr. 2010). [Editor’s note: A Metal Men series written by Evan Dorkin and illustrated by Michael Allred was also in the works but shelved; Allred’s cover for this issue was originally a promotional illo produced for that project.] I truly appreciate the concepts and characterconsistency comprising the Metal Men, and in those respects I can see why they’ve endured for 50 years. Yet over the last 40 years, no particular class of storytelling has allowed their publication history to be anything but checkered. There has been espionage, relevancy, drama, adventure, tragedy, satire, and humor; often separate doses, sometimes blended (this blending of style and form didn’t go over well with many readers of the ’70s series, and their thoughtful reactions made for a spirited letters column). In my opinion, there has been nothing but terrific Metal Men tales throughout out the Bronze and Modern Ages, but with never a large enough audience to sustain the robot band for long, what can a true Metalmaniac do? What I’ve done for decades. For over 40 years to this day, the Metal Men, whether heady or charming, can’t seem to rekindle the popularity they enjoyed during the heart of the Silver Age. Despite that, they obviously remain built to matter. So once again I enjoy what has gone before while again— always one time too many— await their imminent return. JIM KINGMAN purchased his first comic book, DC’s World’s Finest Comics #211, on a family road trip in March of 1972, and has been reading and collecting comic books ever since (with no end in sight).

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When The Brave and the Bold #187 (June 1982) hit the stands, teaming Batman and the Metal Men, it had been a while since readers had seen DC’s robot team … and even longer since Tin’s girlfriend, Nameless (a.k.a. “Beautiful”), had made an appearance. Writer Charlie Boatner posed the question “Whatever Happened to What’sername?” in this clever whodunit remembered by many as one of the most poignant B&B tales ever—and BACK ISSUE poses to the scribe some questions about his story. This interview was conducted via email in October 2013. – Michael Eury MICHAEL EURY: B&B #187 displays your acute knowledge of Metal Men lore. When did you first discover the Metal Men? CHARLIE BOATNER: I was at my local drugstore, looking for the latest Top Cat or Snooper and Blabber, or some other Gold Key title, and stumbled across

Michael Eury

Metal Men #4 (Oct.–Nov. 1963). Tin’s giant face took up much of the cover and reminded me of W. W. Denslow’s illustrations of the Tin Woodsman in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Murray Ward wrote an article for Comic Book Marketplace where he perceptively describes Metal Men as his bridge between funny animals and superheroes. EURY: What about the group appealed to you as a reader? BOATNER: Wow, I have many answers to that! Many boys like robots because they can’t be hurt. Mercury was appealing because he was constantly losing his temper, yet his friends stuck by him. I saw Doc Magnus, the brilliant scientist, as an idealized version of my father, who was an engineer at a subatomic research project. Every issue had strange creatures or weird transformations: a half-pterodactyl, half-biplane, an oozy brain

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Metal Rain?? Courtesy of writer Charlie Boatner, his layouts/script to page 4 of B&B #187 (June 1982) and Jim Aparo’s finished art for same. TM & © DC Comics.

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charlie boatner

Beginnings: All-Slug “Earthkeeper” with Mark Clegg in followed Comics #5 (UC Santa Cruz, 1976), #111 e Spac in ery Myst in by “Viewpoints” (Sept. 1980) Milestones: g Place created the graphic novel The Hidin nha with artist Steve Parkhouse (DC/Pira the in DC” nny “Joh Press, 1990) / was chilearly 2000s, answering letters in DC’s dren’s line Works in Progress: Through articles for the upcoming Comics Comics, of dia clope Ency Time: An Historical strip from Greenwood Press / new web Find Charlie online at: http://home.igc.org/~cboatner/

floating through space, the team melting into one hero, THEN that thing mutating into a monster… EURY: Describe how you pitched this story to B&B editor Dick Giordano… BOATNER: I typed up a detailed plot synopsis. My idea (although this wasn’t in my pitch) was that I wanted to do a Metal Men story in The Worst Way. Not having a book, they could only appear in B&B, which meant I had to include Batman in the plot. What kind of mystery involving the Metal Men could Batman solve? For me, the most interesting mystery was the unspoken question, beginning with MM #33, “Whatever happened to What’s’ername?”

Tin Types Young Charlie noticed a similarity between Tin on Andru and Esposito’s Metal Men #4 cover to W. W. Denslow’s Tin Man of Oz (inset)—and two years later, as seen from his costume, he still had robots on his mind! Photo courtesy of Charlie Boatner. Metal Men TM & © DC Comics. Oz © 1900 L. Frank Baum estate.

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EURY: Was the story fully developed at the time of your pitch, or did Dick help you with its plotting? BOATNER: The plot was fully developed, but Dick suggested many changes for the better. What impressed me about Dick’s editing was that he didn’t make specific changes, just evocative suggestions. He explained how to better portray Batman and encouraged me to emphasize the haunting idea of a forgotten, nameless character. For example, most of the old villains weren’t in my first draft (which was sort of linear and flat), but Dick said I needed to increase the drama. Again, no specifics. That inspired me to kill the team, one-by-one, Agatha Christie-style, which in turn required more villains. EURY: How many comics stories had you written at the time of this sale? BOATNER: I had made four sales to DC, and one to Marvel. The business being unpredictable as it is, only two of those were ever drawn and printed. EURY: At that stage of your career, you were drawing layouts for your artists rather than typing a standard script or plot. Did Jim Aparo have any objections to working from your drawings? BOATNER: Mr. Aparo was gracious and gave it a try. EURY: Did you have any direct contact with Aparo during the issue’s production? BOATNER: No. I phoned him afterward to ask for some original art. We chatted about his working from my layouts. He had begun, thinking he could ignore my treatment and create his own camera angles, etc., but ended up finding it difficult to get my visuals out of his head. EURY: Your Batman treated the Metal Men as friends and allies, whereas writer Bob Haney sometimes characterized Batman as dismissive of the robots, especially in their very first team-up in 1967’s B&B #74. Was this your take on Batman, or the character’s growth in his acceptance of Doc Magnus’ robots as “people”?

B.O.L.T.S. Bumps Chemo (top left) Boatner’s script/layouts for page 13, featuring Chemo. (top right) Aparo’s interpretation of that page (courtesy of J. E. Smith). (bottom) Page 13, as published (scan courtesy of Jim Kingman), with B.O.L.T.S. replacing Chemo. TM & © DC Comics.

BOATNER: I figured that, after their several team-ups, Batman would have “gotten with the program” and respected their personalities. EURY: Several of the Metal Men’s old foes made cameos in the story, including B.O.L.T.S., who tangles with Batman on page 13. But this was scripted and originally drawn as Batman fighting Chemo. Why was Chemo replaced with B.O.L.T.S.? BOATNER: Superman #370 came out the same year with Chemo as the villain. I guess the B&B staff weren’t aware of the Superman story and someone noticed the conflict only at the last second. Still, Lead’s destruction by acid makes more sense if Chemo did it. Batman’s battle in the cavern is more fun if he creates an avalanche of soil rich in basic minerals to neutralize Chemo’s acid. EURY: Your story was well received by readers of the day; B&B #192’s lettercol was packed with praise for your issue. Was there ever any discussion of your writing either another Metal Men story or a Metal Men series? BOATNER: No, they still had no stage. Their last series had been canceled as recently as four years before, and The Brave and the Bold changed title and direction only a year later. Speaking of the great feedback, I’ve been asked about the anonymous robot Tin called his “wife” in B&B #103 (Oct. 1972). I could explain that away, but it wasn’t worth the panel space. EURY: Were you aware that Ehapa reprinted your story for the European market? It was published in German in Batman Sonderheft #27. (In German, “What’s’ername” is “Tausendschön,” and “Nameless” is “Namenlos.” BOATNER: That’s excellent! EURY: I understand that B&B #187 wasn’t the only robot story you wrote for comics… BOATNER: My first sale was the story of a robot from the future meeting a prehistoric man. I wrote it for DC’s Time Warp but it appeared in the first issue of a relaunched Mystery in Space. I also wrote about the android NoMan for JC Comics and Archie Comics. Those stories were drawn by Marshall Rogers and Steve Ditko. Add Jim Aparo, and it’s obvious that I’ve been very lucky with artists! EURY: What do you do for a living today? BOATNER: I support computer systems for the Social Security Administration. One of my machines stutters and another keeps trying to hug me! Robots Issue

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One of the most endearing and enduring members of Marvel’s Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is the android, the Vision. Whether assembled or disassembled, the Vision has remained one of the more popular members of the team. He served as the corner-box icon for the Avengers title for almost eight years (1971–1979). How did this non-founding member, this non-human, this solar-powered creation, rise to such prominence? And what is the essence of his being? To find the answers to these questions, this article will rely on information from some of the prominent individuals that have written the character over the years.

MARVEL’S VISIONARIES

Lex Suite

Legendary comics icon, writer/editor Roy Thomas, is the creator of the Vision. Most of the information about the Vision’s origin, with multiple reflections from Roy, have been given extensive views in Alter Ego and Marvel Masterworks. It is important to mention that rather than create a new character, Thomas originally wanted to bring back the Golden Age Vision to his team of Avengers. Of course, the Golden Age Vision, the alien known as Aarkus, has nothing in common with the Silver Age version that Thomas created—other than the name. They both appear to have a green uniform motif, but the similarities end there. Aarkus was created Jack Kirby and Joe Simon in 1940 (Marvel Mystery Comics #13, Nov. 1940). The original Vision was an alien from another planet who could teleport via smoky conducts. He had been sent to Earth to serve humanity and fight evildoers. Thomas’ later android Vision is, of course, a cerebral, solar-powered, red-skinned entity who can control his density. In 1968, Thomas approached his editor, Stan Lee, about adding Aarkus to the Avengers team. Thomas recalls, “I, for one, wasn’t happy with not being able to use Cap, Thor, and Iron Man every issue. I suggested we bring Aarkus Vision in. Stan said no. He wanted the new Avenger to be an android, though he never said why. I guess he reasoned that I’d figure out what to do with him or it. So, left to my own devices, I split the difference and called the android the Vision and adapted the old costume, but little else, for the new character.” Astute readers and comics historians recall that DC Comics’ android the Red Tornado also debuted the very same summer the Vision did. Similarly, the Tornado was a big part of DC’s super-team, the Justice League of America. Writer Steve Englehart muses, “I dunno how that happened, but it’s interesting.” [Editor’s note: The Red Tornado’s “stormy return” occurred in Justice League of America #64, cover-dated Aug. 1968, going on sale on June 13, 1968. Readers’ first chance to “behold” the Vision was in The Avengers #57, cover-dated Oct. 1968, with an on-sale date of August 6, 1968. Excuse the plug, but for those wishing

Not Quite Human We borrow from the Silver Age for our opener: detail from John Buscema’s iconic cover to The Avengers #57 (Oct. 1968). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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Vision 1 (left) Jack Kirby and Joe Simon introduced Aarkus, the Golden Age Vision, in Marvel Mystery Comics #13 (Nov. 1940). Roy Thomas’ desire to revive this character led to the creation of the new Vision in the pages of Avengers. (right) Roy brought back the first Vision—along with other Golden Age Marvel heroes—in Avengers #97 (Mar. 1972). MMC cover by Alex Schomburg; Avengers cover by Gil Kane and Bill Everett. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

to explore this further, Roy Thomas is much. I seem to recall his saying interviewed at length about this as much once.” Lee’s reservations topic in my 2005 book, Justice League aside, Thomas also recalls, “the Companion, from TwoMorrows.] Vision instantly became the most It is also interesting to note that interesting and popular of the despite Stan Lee’s rejection of Aarkus’ Avengers besides Cap, Iron Man, return, the Golden Age Vision was and Thor … whom we didn’t want able to eventually join the modern to use because they were in other Marvel Universe. Aarkus originally magazines.” The Vision also became Roy thomas debuted as a mental construct of Rick an increased focus with the team’s Photo by Luigi Novi. Jones and the Supreme Intelligence storylines as the writer “used the in Roy Thomas’ Avengers #97 (Mar. 1972). However, character to pursue what it means to be human.” decades later, in 1993, Roy Thomas was able to return the actual alien crimefighter to comics in another of his INSIDE THE VISION creations for Marvel: the Greatest Superheroes of World This journey took a sharper focus when Thomas War II, the Invaders. In Invaders #3 (July 1993), the teamed with noted artist Neal Adams in Avengers #93 Golden Age Vision reappears to help this team, and has (Nov. 1971). This issue is also visually groundbreaking remained on friendly terms with Captain America, the as an “Avengers” team logo designed by Neal Adams Sub-Mariner, and the original Human Torch ever since. debuts in this issue. Its distinctive style is still used This time, Thomas met no resistance to bringing back today. This is also the first issue that a stoic image of the Golden Age character. He recalls, “All I can say about the Vision becomes a character logo for the title. What the ’90s version was that the editor asked me to do the caused the Vision to become the new face of the series, and I was delighted. Mike Rockwitz was the editor Avengers? Adams notes, “I had nothing to do with who assigned me that four-issue Invaders series. I had putting the Vision on the cover in the logo area. to generally okay the plotlines with Mike, but that was And to make the question even more confusing to me, about it.” Today, Aarkus continues to appear in the that is a John Buscema drawing.” John Buscema was Marvel Universe, sometimes flashing back to retcons of the longtime artist on Avengers prior to Neal Adams’ his World War II-era adventures or assisting his still-active brief tenure. Adams continues, “I had no idea it would be there. My suspicion is that Roy took a cue from Golden Age Avengers allies in today’s world. Back in 1968, what did Stan Lee initially think of what I was doing with the evolving story, with, in fact, his company’s new Vision creation? Roy Thomas an emphasis on the Vision, and made the decision to remembers, “I don’t think Stan liked the name ‘Vision’ put the Vision there.”

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This emphasis on the Vision began with a new romance. The Vision had met his Avengers teammate, Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch, months earlier in Avengers #76 (May 1970). Sparks soon flew between the sorceress and the solar-powered synthezoid. When asked if this paring was always his intention, Roy Thomas adds, “Yes, although I’d never thought about going so far as marriage. It’s not that I might not have. I just didn’t bother to think that far ahead. I’d let things develop.” This developing situation continued as Thomas and Adams looked more closely at the Vision’s origin. Neal Adams wanted to explore the idea that the Vision was a recreated version of the original Golden Age Human Torch’s android body. Thomas recalls the beginning of this concept: “Yes, it was a notion Neal told me about when we were doing his first Avengers issue. I liked the idea, though I never saw the Vision as being as mechanical inside as Neal made him.” In the previously mentioned Avengers #93, Henry Pym, as Ant-Man, voyages through the body of the unconscious Vision in an attempt to revive him. During the experience, the tiny Avenger made a discovery inside the Vision’s body. Thomas notes, “I simply followed Neal’s lead in saying Ant-Man saw ‘something’ inside the Vision, in one panel … and I left the series a few issues later before I did any more.” The idea that the Vision was actually the neal adams original Human Torch was not fully revealed until years later in Avengers #135 (May 1975). Photo by Luigi Novi. Ironically, a letter published in Avengers #115 (Sept. 1973) by a future Marvel inker and editor, the late Duffy Vohland, appeared to spoil the suspense. Vohland claimed to have read this information in a fanzine. Several of his friends have noted he was heavily involved with this genre at this time. Through whatever medium, Vohland had been privy to future developments about the Vision’s origin. It is also interesting to note that Vohland would go on to be an editor on Marvel’s fanzine FOOM (Friends of Ol’ Marvel) in the not-too-distant future. Nevertheless, this letter was inadvertently printed, but ignored by the editor, Roy Thomas, and writer Steve Englehart. Today, neither Thomas nor Englehart recall the letter being printed.

Up Close and Personal During the epic Kree/Skrull War, Thomas—with artists Neal Adams and Tom Palmer— took Ant-Man on a fantastic voyage inside the Vision! Cover (above) and interior spread (left) from Avengers #93 (Nov. 1971). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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Make Room for FOOM The Vision faced front in FOOM #12 (Dec. 1975). Shown here are: (right) the front cover, by John Buscema and P. Craig Russell; (top left) the interior poster, by Paty Cockrum and Tom Palmer; and (bottom left) the back cover, by Paty Cockrum and Al Milgrom. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

However, another Marvel creator during this time period, Paty Cockrum, has vivid memories of Duffy Vohland: “He got to Marvel before me and was instrumental in getting me down there! He and Tony Isabella let me know there was an opening in the Bullpen for a pasteup person and I was interested … the rest is history.” Vohland became one of the more memorable members of the Bullpen. Paty recalls, “He looked like Volstagg come to life and was irrepressible fun. He was definitely a colorful character in the Marvel halls of the ’70s! Duffy had an ability to read things upside-down and would waltz into Sol Brodsky’s office with a project and read everything on his desk upsidedown. He often knew what was going on with the bigwigs before anybody else did.” Connecting back to our Android Avenger, Cockrum also notes, “Duffy was the editor of the FOOM that was the Vision issue (FOOM #12, Dec. 1975), which I did most of the illustrations for, including the Tom Palmer-inked centerfold double-page spread … which I still have!” The genesis of the Vision/Human Torch plotline subtly began in Avengers #93, which was also the starting point of a five-issue epic, the Kree/Skrull War. At the time, a five-month story was relatively new to the

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comics industry. Most stories were completed in one or two issues at a maximum. It was further groundbreaking that it appears that Neal Adams wanted to create an even longer and more detailed story arc. Adams recalls, “I will say, in all honesty, editorial at Marvel did hold back some of the better ideas I wished to explore. And perhaps at some further date, they will cut me loose to explore this with greater vigor.” Adams reveals his thoughts on the Vision and the Avengers series at the time: “It seemed to me, since the original Human Torch was neither human nor a torch, that if I made the body of the Vision the kind of manufacturing plant that anything his brain would conceive could be produced within the body, then why couldn’t he be the Human Torch? That thinking, then, I supposed could lead others on a romp to play with that idea. The idea being, if I, the simulacrum, can imagine something, my manufacturing body could make it.” Adams continues, “I suspect that following writers took the idea of the Vision having had various forms, and extrapolated from it without ever really tapping the core idea which was, if I can think it, I can make it, which then would lead back to what the true origin of the Vision would be. Which I guess I’m going to have to keep secret until we do the real, true Kree/Skrull War [laughs]. There is a very, very, very logical origin for the Vision. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you what it is.” Adams again hints that this origin story might come from him at a later date. We all look forward to that! Adams later created other more complex series similar concepts he describes as “novels using the comic-book format,” such as his Batman Odyssey (2010–2012) for DC, as “ushering in of a new era in comics.” He continues, “This is a part of our industry that we have not fully explored. Actually, we have not explored it at all. We do short stories and we string them together, or we do grand expanses of non-stories, but rarely do we do one single story in a novel form. Some will disagree, but Watchmen is similar in nature, just as Frank Miller’s Dark Knight was. This novel form will become a major part of our industry. It will make the critical and unwashed purists of novels bend

toward our form, and we will be discussing serious and non-serious subjects in this long form.” Again, most readers should see the Thomas and Adams’ five-issue Kree/Skrull War, and the prominent portrayal of the Vision, as a forerunner of such a medium.

DRAWN TOGETHER The development of the Vision, his origin tale, and his relationship with the Scarlet Witch fell to new Avengers writer Steve Englehart. Roy Thomas remained as editorin-chief at Marvel. However, Thomas left Englehart to pursue his vision of the Vision. Thomas notes, “I think Steve’s handling [of the Vision and the dangling plotlines] was quite well done.” Englehart recalls taking over the Avengers title: “When Roy handed off Avengers, he gave me free rein. My guess is, giving up that book was a significant step for him, and he wanted to make a clean break. As a member of the Marvel Bullpen, I knew about his unfinished plotlines, but as seen from the time it took me to deal with them, I was under no pressure to get to them. I liked them, but I had other things to do first. One was definitely exploring the Vision and Wanda, whose relationship, as created by Roy, was very intriguing to me. That was the backbone of my series until Mantis took center stage, and she became part of that relationship. “I like both Vizh and Wanda, and always did, from the first time I saw them,” Englehart continues. “If I had to weigh them, I’d say I like her more than him—not that I don’t like him, but I like her a lot. You know, the steve englehart story where I was told, when I took over Avengers, to have her do a hex and be exhausted, I decided that made no sense for an Avenger. So from my first Avengers, she was a strong character. She was definitely more balls-out than he was, and that dynamic worked for me. Though more subdued than she was, because of the android thing, he was never a wimp. He was just the calming influence that kept her from blowing things up when she got pissed off. She was the one who never doubted him or their destiny. They worked really well together.” Their relationship soon headed into uncharted territory. There had been married superhero couples in the Marvel Universe. However, there was never a marriage between a mutant and an android. The Englehart had an unabashed preference for the Vision outrage from bigoted members of the Marvel Universe and Wanda as a couple: “I love Mantis and wish I could was immediate. When this relationship first became continue her story, but in that relationship, she is always public, the Vision was critically wounded by a terrorist the ‘other woman.’ ” (It should be noted that the Vision group known as the Living Bombs (Avengers #113, and Mantis would bond together again in Englehart’s July 1973). Even Wanda’s brother, Pietro, the mutant 2001–2002 eight-issue Avengers Celestial Quest.) Avenger known as Quicksilver, vehemently opposed In 1975, the Vision and the Scarlet Witch went one the union. Englehart expounds, “That was all Pietro. step further: to the marriage altar. Englehart explains his I mean, society’s bigotry had been a theme in stories thought process: “I was just developing their relationship, before my time, and I used it myself early on, but it and although many fictional couples stay in holding had become background noise as far as I was concerned. patterns relationship-wise, I thought that the romance I was far more interested in crazy Pietro, a character I of these two particular people should keep progressing. developed for quite a while, before I left that family Marriage was the next step. Then, later, when Richard and it got undone.” Howell and I did the Vision and Scarlet Witch miniseries Another obstacle for this couple to overcome was a (Oct. 1985–Sept. 1986), I took it to the following step, love triangle with another female on the team, Mantis. to kids. I guess the point was, Wanda and Vizh were The enlightened Asian Avenger saw her emphatic nature normal people at heart, wanting to live normal lives, a natural fit with the logical android. Despite their mutual no matter their attributes. I was obviously not thinking admiration for each other, the Vision did not pursue a of gay marriage in those days, but the principle is the physical relationship with Mantis, emphatically proclaimsame. I like Wanda and Vizh, and wanted them to ing his love for Wanda in Avengers #130 (Dec. 1974). achieve that happiness.” Robots Issue

Family Matters Writer Steve Englehart disclosed a startling revelation about the Vision’s past in Avengers #135 (May 1975). Cover by Dave Cockrum, with John Romita, Sr. floating heads. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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Solo Avenger A 1981 watercolor illustration by Mike Gustovich of Justice Machine fame. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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The couple honeymooned on the island of Rurutu. Rurutu appeared to be an island paradise. It first debuted in Avengers #116 (Oct. 1973), where the Vision and the Scarlet Witch battled the Silver Surfer. Some readers might be surprised to learn that Rurutu is an actual remote island. It was also referenced by later Avengers writer Kurt Busiek when Wanda and the Vision recalled some nostalgic moments. Steve Englehart again notes, “Rurutu is a real place—‘the northernmost island in the Austral archipelago of French Polynesia,’ per Wikipedia. I’ve never been there, worse luck, but it has a cool name and is, in fact, an island paradise. Wanda and Vizh deserved that.” The couple was able to escape from the ill feelings and perils of the world for at least a short time in Avengers #137 (July 1975).

REBUILDING THE VISION The essence of the Vision and Roy Thomas’ theme of “what it means to be human” continue to be explored for the Vision. In BACK ISSUE #56 (May 2012), noted writer Roger Stern referred to the Vision as “a latter-day Pinocchio.” This theme has been explored by many of the Vision’s scribes. Steve Englehart explains his perception of the Vision: “I would say that he’s a human consciousness in a synthetic body with possibly just enough of an edge being taken off by the synthetic body to keep the consciousness from freaking out over the situation. Otherwise, I think he would freak out from time to time. So he was like a high-functioning human on valium.” Again, Stern’s work on the Vision was prominently displayed in the previously mentioned Avengers issue of BACK ISSUE, #56. It is unfortunate that Stern was unavailable to be interviewed for this article. His vantages could only further enlighten us. Another unfortunate incident is that Bill Mantlo, the author of the first Vision and Scarlet Witch miniseries (1982), has suffered from an accident and was unavailable for comments. Kurt Busiek, who began writing The Avengers in the late 1990s, shares his approach to the Vision: “My portrayal of the Vision was most strongly informed by Englehart’s and Thomas’, which always struck me as a pretty smooth transition. Roy established him as a kind of emotional-but-repressed introvert, and Steve explored that, drawing him out of his shell, and building on Neal Adams’ ‘clue’ about him being the original Human Torch.” Since Englehart’s first tenure with the Avengers, ending at Avengers #150 (Aug. 1976), the Vision has gone through many changes. He has had been disassembled on more than one occasion. He has had his red-hued skin completely bleached white. He has had his body dismembered, ripped apart, and blasted open, which has led him to be in an inert state for months. Perhaps most significantly, his memory has been fragmented, perhaps wiped completely blank, which effectively ended his romantic relationship with the Scarlet Witch. These events led Roy Thomas to observe, “I think the ripping apart makes perfect sense … never objected to him being white, either. I’m not overly familiar with plotlines and events after I left, though. Comics writers seem to have a thing against happy marriages, don’t they (we)?” Some readers and writers dispute the internal makeup of the Vision. Thomas created the Vision as a synthezoid, “human in every way.” For years, it was assumed that his internal parts were organic in nature. However, in John Byrne’s West Coast Avengers: Vision Quest (1989), the Vision was depicted with mechanical internal parts. Later interpretations of the Vision’s anatomy have been similar. When asked if he objected to such depictions, Steve

Englehart merely notes, “Yes.” Byrne also retooled the Vision’s creation story as well. The time-travelling and reality-altering Immortus created a divergent timeline when Ultron was creating the Vision from the Human Torch’s body. As a result, today the original Human Torch and the Vision both exist in the Marvel Universe. John Byrne could not be reached for comment on this article. As writer of West Coast Avengers/Avengers West Coast, Byrne’s version of the Vision provided some radical changes for the character. The Vision’s body was unassembled by the government. His body for the first time was depicted with many mechanical internal parts. Vision was then reassembled with a stark white body. His brain patterns from Simon (Wonder Man) Williams, his brother, were lost in the process, and he no longer felt any emotional attachment toward his wife, Wanda. Byrne did briefly elaborate on his Vision in an interview with Comic Book Resources, noting that his direction for the Android Avenger met no editorial resistance for Marvel. He stated, “In fact, it was conditional to my doing the book. ‘Can I do my Vision story?’ The editor said, ‘Sure,’ and off we went.”

Reaper, is also somewhat of a brother to the Vision. [Editor’s note: BI #56’s Wonder Man article offers more insight into these unusual character dynamics.] Thomas established Ultron as the Vision’s creator in the Android Avenger’s second appearance, the classic Avengers #58 (Nov. 1968), “Even an Android Can Cry.” Englehart expanded upon the origin in Avengers #135 (May 1975). In the expanded version, Ultron, in his desire to have a “son,” tries to craft another form of artificial life. Ultron is unable to do facilitate this on his own. As such, he steals the inert body of the original Human Torch. Again, he is unable to bring this creation to life. To assist him, he kidnaps the Torch’s creator, Phineas Horton, who is successful. However, Horton could not bring himself to remove the Torch’s memory. The Torch awakens in the Vision’s body. Realizing he has been betrayed, Ultron kills Horton and subdues the Vision. He then wipes the Vision’s memory clean and bases his son’s personality on the brainwaves of the believed-dead Simon Williams. The theme of Ultron as the Vision’s father is revisited in Englehart’s West Coast Avengers title. In West Coast

Naked Truth Byrne’s alteration of the Vision had some fans—and witchy Wanda—up in arms. Original art from WCA #45 (June 1989), inked by Mike Machlan. Courtesy of Heritage. (left) The Rick Leonardi/Joe Rubinstein cover to Vizh/SW miniseries #4 (Feb. 1983). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY Perhaps more complex than his anatomy is the Vision’s relationships and his core personality. The android’s relationships are very complex. His “father” is Ultron, a mechanical creation of Henry Pym bent on the destruction of all things human. Yes, that technically makes Hank Pym the Vision’s grandfather. The Scarlet Witch, of course, is his now-estranged wife. Both Vision’s brotherin-law Pietro (Quicksilver) Maximoff and his father-in-law Magneto appear to hold him in disdain. Ultron based his son’s brain patterns on the inert (believed dead) Simon Williams. This makes the now-revived Williams the Vision’s brother. Similarly, Simon’s biological brother, the demented Eric Williams, a.k.a. the villainous Grim

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Voyeuristic Visions (left) From the collection of Nick Katradis, original cover art to Avengers #367 (Oct. 1993), featuring a brooding Vision as rendered by Steve Epting and Tom Palmer. (right) FOOM #12’s cover art was recycled for Marvel UK’s Marvel Comic #336 (Apr. 4, 1979). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Avengers #7 (Apr. 1986), Englehart created an Ultron with a human conscience. The uncharacteristically emphatic Ultron tried to establish a paternal relationship with the Vision. Englehart notes, “I do think I was able to run with it pretty well in WCA. The whole Ultron Mark VI bit was a fun storyline.” For some time, the Grim Reaper was bent on placing the Vision’s brain into Wonder Man’s believed-dead body. He proposed to the Vision that this would make him “human” and might help him pursue more human relationships, particularly with Wanda. However, since Wonder Man has returned, Eric Williams has come to consider the Vision as an abomination and would like to completely destroy him. The most commonly explored family relationship is the one between the Vision and Wonder Man. The “brothers” normally have a strong bond and they share numerous characteristics. Unfortunately, this also includes a common affection for the Scarlet Witch, which has naturally led to tension between the two. For a few Avengers issues, initially, Gerry Conway and later Jim Shooter more extensively explored this dynamic.

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Englehart and Kurt Busiek both also spent time exploring the Vision and Wonder Man’s relationship. “Steve Englehart later did more work on the Vision and Wonder Man, establishing that as a youngster, Simon was bookish and introverted, essentially what the Vision’s personality draws on,” Busiek says. “That helped me see the two of them as brothers. They started out from the same mold, but Wonder Man’s personality has been developed by his reaction to his father’s emotional abuse and his own mistakes, while the Vision, without these memories, is closer to what Simon was as a child, adding his own experiences and an inferiority complex brought about by being, in his eyes, artificial and not a real person. “I wanted to build on that,” Busiek continues, “force him out of his comfort zone with the Avengers and Wanda, and push him to explore life as an individual. That’s why I resurrected the Victor Shade ID, which had been established by Len Kamiski in an issue of Avengers Spotlight [Avengers Spotlight #40, Jan. 1991]. I didn’t want to turn him into someone else—just to see the core personality react to different situations, as he discovered he’d have to reach out to experience the world more fully.” Kurt Busiek also gives this compelling statement: “The way I see the Vision may not be the way everyone does, but what’s more important is that people write and draw good stories about the guy, not that they agree with me.” Through his adventures with the Avengers and the Marvel Universe, the Vision continues to grow and react to the ever-changing landscape. Thanks to the paradigms of many of Marvel’s greatest creators, the Vision has developed into one of the company’s most endearing characters. LEX CARSON is a Marvel Comics Silver and Bronze Age collector and historian as well as an occasional contributor to BACK ISSUE. He is also an active editor on the Wikia Marvel Database Project.

Androids have a tough time in comics. Often as not, they are introduced into stories to serve as a contrast to their human creators; to make a grander point about how when mortal man plays God, it can go so horribly wrong. If things go really badly, the android is destroyed, reduced to a pile of crumpled metal and burnt-out circuitry, its very existence having taught us all a Lesson About Life. And no android has had it tougher than the Red Tornado.

“THE JUSTICE SOCIETY’S PET ANDROID”

Rob Kelly

Created by legendary writer Gardner Fox for his last story in the pages of Justice League of America, #64 (Aug. 1968), a being calling itself “Red Tornado” shows up unannounced in the headquarters of the Justice Society of America, claiming to be a longtime member. Despite having no memory of this, the JSAers take him along on a mission to stop some faceless crooks from robbing a museum. Red Tornado’s troubles start here, just a few pages into his existence: In a desperate attempt to prove himself, he tries to use his tornado powers to stop the bad guys, only to get in the way and inadvertently put his erstwhile teammates in harm’s way. After taking off in shame, he finds himself drawn to a remote hideaway, the home of his creator, T. O. Morrow! Morrow, your prototypical comic-book mad scientist, created Red Tornado upon the instructions of his super-computer, which predicted that the only way to stop the JSA from defeating him was to add a new member to bring down the team from within. Turning on his creator like a Frankenstein Monster, Red Tornado attacks Morrow, just in time for the JSA to show up and forgive him for his earlier screw-up. The battle eventually spreads to Earth-One and includes (of course) the Justice League of America. By the end of Justice League of America #65, Red Tornado has helped the JLA stop Morrow once and for all, and is accepted as the JSA’s newest member. While he is pleased with the turn of events, he professes he wants more than that, much more: “I want to be somebody! I want a face … a identity I can call my own!” A few issues later, Red Tornado shows up at the JLA’s Secret Sanctuary. Trying too hard to sound confident, he ends up bursting through the floor, destroying the team’s newly built statue to the recently departed Martian Manhunter. The JLAers mock poor Reddy to his still-featureless face, telling him to stay behind while they respond to an alarm signal from Hawkgirl. In fact, Reddy ends up being sidelined for over two weeks, sitting on his hands and waiting for the JLA to hear him out. When they finally deign to listen, the JLA learns that Earth-Two is under attack from a cosmic baddie named Aquarius, and that his plan has been advancing all this time. “I—I tried to make you listen!” Reddy pleads.

Reddy for Teamwork Detail from Nick Cardy’s cover to Justice League of America #106 (July–Aug. 1973), where writer Len Wein welcomes Red Tornado into the JLA—whether they want him there or not. TM & © DC Comics.

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Trying to Fit In (left) Red Tornado punches his way into the Justice Society in JLA #64 (Aug. 1968). Cover by Dick Dillin/ Jack Abel. (right) “John Smith” stumbles into a life outside the League in this sequence from issue #106. By Len Wein/Dillin/ Dick Giordano. TM & © DC Comics.

Even though Aquarius is defeated (leading to the to know how he survived. Reddy claims not to know, death of Larry Lance, husband of Dinah [Black Canary] except for being found by a blind sculptor living in the Lance, and Black Canary leaving the JSA for the JLA), mountains, who was kind enough to finally give the it left Red Tornado with an even greater feeling of android a face. Unable to pierce the dimensional divide insecurity, so much so that in Justice League of America between the two worlds, Red Tornado is stranded on #82, Reddy takes off for outer space (how his tornado Earth-One. Superman nominates Reddy for membership, powers work in airless space is something left and he responds with, “I will accept—I have to the imagination), where he is summarily nowhere else to go!” Way to make lemons captured by some aliens. They use his from lemonade, Reddy! body as a conduit between Earth-One Len Wein took over writing Justice and Earth-Two, controlling events on League of America with the aforeboth worlds (similar to an even bigger mentioned #100. When asked if the baddie would do 20 years later, but plan all along to bring Reddy back to we’re getting ahead of ourselves). life and eventually into the League, Reddy is later discovered by the he says, “Absolutely. I always thought Earth-One Green Lantern (“Great there was a lot of untapped potential Guardians! The Red Tornado … the in Red Tornado, and I wanted to play Justice Society’s pet android!” he with that every month and not just thinks to himself) and eventually once a year.” freed when the aliens are beaten by Unbeknownst to Reddy and the len wein JLA, the android’s Justice League the two teams. As of Justice League of membership is all another plot of America #100 (the first part of that year’s JLA/JSA team-up), he was back with the Justice T. O. Morrow, who again is using his creation to Society. But just when you think everything might be destroy the team. When minions of Morrow’s show okay with the Red Tornado, he decides to go on a up, the JLA grows suspicious that both Morrow and kamikaze mission, sacrificing his life by carrying an Reddy would reappear at the same time. Disgusted, exploding Nebula Rod into space and the heart of a Reddy storms off, landing in New York. It’s here that the story of Red Tornado really kicks giant hand set to explode (don’t ask). The rod goes off, destroying Reddy and the threat, leaving both teams into gear. In his human guise, he shows up at an to mourn their brave friend and admire his selflessness. employment agency, where he meets the young, So that was the end of the Red Tornado, right? Wrong! beautiful Kathy Sutton. He is unprepared for the standard questions, and has to answer them on the fly. REDDY FOR A COMEBACK He gives his real name as “John Smith,” and professes to Reddy shocks everyone by returning at the end of #105, feeling like “the oldest man alive.” When he responds having saved the JLA’s collective bacon in secret during to Kathy’s question about previous employment with a mission that was the Elongated Man’s first with the “freelance law officer,” she thinks this is all a joke. But team. The League grills Red Tornado, and they demand when Kathy looks into his eyes, she sees … something.

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Taking pity on the stranger, she takes “John” for a decent meal, even finding him an apartment. This sequence, done in a series of small panels as Reddy and Kathy trade lines, was one of the most charming bits of character development JLA had seen up to this point. I asked Len Wein if he laid this scene out or if it was the work of longtime penciler Dick Dillin: “Though Dick was one of the great, unsung artists in the history of this business, the pacing of the copy on that scene was entirely my own, I have to say.” Seeing an opportunity, Wein decided to give us a JLA member’s backstory, something rarely seen in that book’s pages: “Since so many of the JLAers had their own strips, I thought it would be fun to have at least one character I could do with as I was inclined.” Morrow’s plot is found out and he is defeated, which ends with him being obliterated out of existence. The JLA apologizes to Reddy for not trusting him, and he forgives them, heading back to Earth to see if “an android is vulnerable to—love!”

THE JLA WELCOMES THE RED TORNADO At this point, Red Tornado became a member in good standing of the JLA, appearing regularly in the book and benefiting from its reflected glory. He made his first appearance outside Justice League of America in Action Comics #443 (Jan. 1975), as part of the team squaring off against the Queen Bee and a Legion of Doom-esque gang of supervillains. He also helped judge Wonder Woman during her series of trials to rejoin the JLA (in Wonder Woman #218), and had the privilege of being drawn by the legendary Alex Toth during a quick a appearance with the team in Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-41 (the “Super Friends” issue). The early-to-mid-1970s was time when Justice League of America was being written by a roundtable of scripters, with no real development for Red Tornado after Len Wein had done so much in #106. In issue #129, Reddy sacrifices himself again, posing as Hawkman to take on a “solar prominence”-created villain, Nekron. Programmed to kill Hawkman on sight, the prominence blows up Red Tornado, leaving his JLA teammates to watch helplessly on their satellite viewscreens. The issue ends with Wonder Woman being back on the team, and Reddy’s empty uniform left to float in space as a memorial to their fallen member. But even in death, his human comrades can’t help underlining how different he is. When talking about their ersatz memorial, one of them says: “Even though Reddy was an emotionless machine, I got a feeling he’d like that!” So that had to be the end of the Red Tornado, right? Wrong again! Reddy returned to the land of living in Justice League of America #145 (Aug. 1977), just in time for the team to admit Hawkgirl as a new member (Reddy seems to appear or disappear whenever there’s a membership change). Once again, though, he was merely the pawn of a bad guy, this time the culprit being the Construct, a malevolent lifeform that lived inside the world’s electronic machines. The JLA is dubious about Reddy, but it takes new member Hawkgirl to look into the android’s soul and declare that, once and for all, this Red Tornado is the real deal. Reddy erases all doubts when they watch him defeat the Construct almost singlehandedly. In Justice League of America #150 (Jan. 1978), the team meets a new hero named the Privateer, a sort of Batman/Green Arrow combo, who impresses the team so much they openly consider asking him to join the team. This only underscores Reddy’s already-shaky

sense of self, and he watches the Privateer skeptically. That pays off when it’s Reddy who figures out that the Privateer is secretly a bad guy whose plan was to betray the JLA from within (a nice inversion of what T. O. Morrow’s plan was back in JLA #106). Prolific comics writer Gerry Conway assumed the writing of Justice League of America with the following issue, and didn’t waste any time developing one of the few characters he had completely at his disposal, Red Tornado! In issue #152, he introduced the war orphan Traya, caught in the middle of a battle between the JLA and Major Macabre, whose supervillain career lasted all of this issue. Red Tornado rescues Traya, feeling so protective that he adopts the young girl, bringing her back to America. Like Len Wein, Conway took advantage of the opportunities for character development he had when writing Justice League of America: “The goal was to help myself as a writer of Justice League. The book was composed of characters whose backstory and ongoing story I wasn’t really able to affect. I couldn’t do stories that would invoke real emotional challenges to characters like Superman or Green Lantern, because they had their own books. So I was interested in working on developing the characters who did not have their own separate features, and I felt that a character like Red Tornado provided me with both that opportunity and,

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Honorary Super Friend Writer E. Nelson Bridwell and artist Alex Toth (the designer behind TV’s Super Friends) added this Reddy cameo (with other JLAers) in the “Super Friends” special in 1975’s Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-41. TM & © DC Comics.

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Spinning Off Beginning in the late 1970s, Red Tornado began to appear outside of Justice League, including (left) this Superman team-up in DC Comics Presents #7 (Mar. 1979, cover by Dillin and Giordano) and (right) his own backup series, starting in Detective Comics #493 (Aug. 1980, cover by Aparo). TM & © DC Comics.

as a character in his own right, was very interesting and very rich, for my purposes as a storyteller. So I was interested in giving him more depth and connecting him to characters outside the core Justice League membership.”

some of the deplorable conditions some people are forced to live in, and even though it ends with him heading back to the JLA Satellite, he promises to try and keep more in touch with the humans he has sworn to protect. This led directly to a regular solo feature back over in World’s YOUR DEMAND IS OUR COMMAND Finest, written by DeMatteis, where Reddy was once again menaced Around this time, Justice League of America was in a “Giant” format, by T. O. Morrow, who by this point had morphed into a giant, domed featuring extra-length stories (it seemed there was no upper limit to half-human/half-monster calling himself the Future Man. In his how many pages Dick Dillin could put out in a month) and an identity as John Smith, Reddy moves into New York’s Greenwich extended letters column. In issue #152, DC ran the results of a poll Village, where he becomes the neighborhood’s local superhero asking people to rank their favorite members. Despite having of sorts. In a creepy sequence, the Future Man switches only been back with the team less than a year, Red bodies with Reddy, and then returns to his apartment, Tornado placed squarely in the middle of the pack, where RT’s longtime girlfriend Kathy Sutton is waiting beating out more established members like Aquaman, for him. Kathy notices Reddy’s newfound assertiveness, Elongated Man, and the Atom and receiving more and even admits she kind of likes it, responding first-place votes than Green Arrow, Black Canary, to a particularly passionate kiss. Luckily for all and Hawkman. Not bad for a guy who was dead involved, this ruse is discovered, ending with for almost two years! Morrow being defeated once again, and Reddy Perhaps in response to this surprising show of restored to his android body. popularity, DC had Reddy make a series of guestWhen asked how he got the Red Tornado appearances outside of JLA: He showed up in the assignment, DeMatteis says, “one of the writing samples Robin segment of Batman Family #20, got to coI first brought to Paul Levitz when I was trying to headline with Superman in DC Comics Presents #7, get in the door at DC was a Red Tornado short … and then with Batman in The Brave and the Bold j. m. dematteis and it was Paul who later suggested I flesh that #153, making 1978–1980 banner years for our sample script out into what I believe was the very hero. He even got to star in his own Hostess first RT solo story. I think that story was meant as a Cupcakes ad, squaring off against the Vacuum Vulture, a typically standalone, but then someone, probably Paul, decided to make it a pathetic Hostess-only bad guy. series and we went from there. Could be that my one-shot story was Red Tornado guested again, this time with Hawkman, in the actually an audition for the ongoing feature, but I didn’t know it.” Winged Wonder’s strip running in World’s Finest Comics, written by Reflecting on what it was like writing a “non-human” character, he J. M. DeMatteis at the dawn of his comics writing career. DeMatteis says, “I think the android characters—whether it’s Red Tornado, the would become an important figure in Reddy’s history, since just a few Vision, or Data from Star Trek—are actually great doorways into the months later he was the writer for Reddy’s first-ever solo outing, human condition. They allow you to stand outside human behavior in Detective Comics #493 (Aug. 1980). This story proved to be a most and analyze it, comment on it. Also, RT very much wanted to be unusual Red Tornado story—rather than facing some cosmic entity or human, have a human life, even if he didn’t fully understand what costumed supervillain, Reddy gets mixed up in a turf war going on in that meant; so that also opened the door for deeper exploration.” a forgotten corner of Gotham City. He is shocked and saddened by 28 • BACK ISSUE • Robots Issue

Both J. M. DeMatteis and Gerry Conway walked through that door. In the Conway-written Justice League of America #189 (Apr. 1981), Reddy, Kathy, and Traya go on a picnic with fellow JLAer Wonder Woman. Kathy helps the Amazing Amazon see her teammate in a new light: “We don’t judge a human being by how much his or her body is flesh and blood—look at the men who came back from Vietnam as paraplegics. Are they any less human, any less worthwhile because they’ve been hurt? To me, John is a human being. He cares, he has needs. And I love him.” When you consider how commonplace it is now to see people with prosthetic limbs (whether they be members of the Armed Forces or Olympic runners), this piece of dialogue from Conway is a couple of decades ahead of its time. Conway took over the writing of the Red Tornado strip with World’s Finest #269 (June–July 1981), but the greatest developments to the character continued in Justice League of America, with Reddy’s solo stories continuing to be more plot-driven. Turns out this was on purpose by Conway: “My thinking when I was working with Red Tornado in the original JLA was to have a character that I could use as a story and emotional anchor in JLA that was not connected to his own ongoing stories, so there was an inherent conflict—once he had his own ongoing series [in World’s Finest], how much do I want to take away from my own best interests in Justice League? So ironically, I sort of flipped it and ended up treating the Red Tornado series the way I was treating the main characters in Justice League.”

THE TORNADO CHAMPION In a fantastic two-part story, which ran in JLA #192 and 193 (penciled by the incomparable George Pérez), T. O. Morrow once again takes control of Reddy, who attacks his teammates aboard the satellite, showing a newfound viciousness (he breaks Batman’s arm, and almost asphyxiates Wonder Woman). Superman and the Flash take Reddy apart, only to see his body blow up and reappear to attack again. This, of course, means that these are just duplicates of the “real” Reddy, who is busy having dinner with his family, not knowing any of this is transpiring. Morrow peers into Reddy’s mind, forcing his creation to come to him. Once and for all, Morrow has decided to try and figure out why the Red Tornado is so unique, why he can never be completely controlled. If he can’t, Morrow promises, then he will dismantle Red Tornado once and for all. In the following issue, the truth about Reddy is revealed—buried inside all his circuits and microchips is the being known as The Tornado Champion, a sentient creature that wandered space and happened upon T. O. Morrow’s creation Red Tornado. The coincidence being too good to resist, the Tornado Champion took over the android body, providing it with a true soul, meaning Red Tornado is, and always has been, alive! With the help of Firestorm, the Tornado Champion is reunited with his former host, with Red Tornado having no memory of what happened. Firestorm, deciding that his friend deserves a true life of his own, plays dumb and together they head back to the JLA Satellite. Conway continued developing Firestorm and Red Tornado’s unexpected friendship, albeit briefly, in Justice

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Reddy in Black and White The Amazing Android in action—no, not Action Comics, but Justice League of America—in original art form, both pages courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions. (left) Shrugging off a Starro encounter in JLA #190 (May 1981). Rich Buckler/Bob Smith art. (right) Doing the twist(er) with his teammates in #192. George Pérez/John Beatty art. TM & © DC Comics.

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Taste Twist In 1981, Reddy made the “big time” by getting his own Curt Swan-drawn Hostess one-page ad! Red Tornado TM & © DC Comics. Hostess © Hostess Brands, LLC.

League of America and in The Fury of Firestorm #4 (Sept. 1982), where the JLA is forced to square off against Firestorm, whose temper gets the best of him during a confusing battle with Killer Frost. It ends up being Red Tornado, of all the JLAers, who manages to get through to him. As to why he chose the two to become buddies, Conway says, “It has to do with contrast of their personalities. Firestorm is this kind of bubbly, very emotional, very lighthearted sort of individual, and Red Tornado is very much weighed down by the oddities of his origin and his reality. So the two of them sort of play off well against each other. They’re also visually very dynamic—with Firestorm you have all the flame effects and so on, and with Red Tornado you have that terrific tornado that he’s able to bring into play, so it was sort of wind and fire working together. And in addition to that, you had the fact that these were characters who didn’t have (until Firestorm got his own book) appearances outside the JLA Universe, so their relationship could developed in those stories.” Reddy’s solo strip ended with World’s Finest #272. He continued to make guest appearances throughout the DCU, but primarily appearing in Justice League of

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America under Gerry Conway. Big changes were afoot, however, for both Reddy and the DCU—following the Martian invasion that took place in JLA #228–230, ol’ King Crankypants, Aquaman, decided to disband the team in favor of a more fulltime fighting force. Offered a chance to fully commit to the team, longtime members Green Arrow, Black Canary, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Firestorm, and Red Tornado resign, unable or unwilling to give up their personal lives. Soon after this, the universe-shattering event known as the Crisis on Infinite Earths took place, which found the being known as the Anti-Monitor personally plucking Red Tornado from Earth, using him as a pawn in his plan to destroy the universe. After seemingly exploding into nothingness, the remnants of Reddy’s body are found and brought aboard the JLA Satellite, where T. O. Morrow, Cyborg, and the Atom checked it out. During the examination, Reddy exploded (again!), this time seemingly forever.

A MINISERIES ALL HIS OWN Crisis on Infinite Earths ran concurrently with other DC books, and while Reddy was exploding all over the place in that series, he was also treated to something he had never gotten before: his own book! Cover-dated July 1985, the first issue of Red Tornado hit the stands, a four-issue miniseries written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by Carmine Infantino. In it, the first hint of relationship trouble is introduced—Kathy wants to spend some time with John alone, as a couple. But Red Tornado, so satisfied with the life he has, is unable to pick up the true meaning of what she’s saying, taking her comments as stinging criticism. To make matters worse, Reddy is accused by the news media of causing a deadly tornado that destroyed hundreds of homes. Regarding him merely as an android, they suggest he “malfunctioned” in an almost deadly manner. This is followed by a visit from his JLA pals, who say they are so troubled by Red Tornado’s spotty history as a hero that he must cease all activity—immediately, hitting Reddy right where he is weakest. He flies away, crushed, not realizing that his (former) friends are under the mind control of an old foe—the Construct! The Construct—seething with rage all the years since he was defeated by Reddy and the JLA—concocts a plan to destroy the Red Tornado’s life, the first step being ruining his image with the public (mission accomplished!). Reddy receives a summons from Superman, which he assumes is an apology from the Man of Steel on behalf of all the superheroes who so cruelly dismissed him the day before. But no, Superman takes it one step further—ripping Red Tornado apart and dumping him in the ocean! Reddy quickly reassembles himself, but now, more than ever, he is convinced he has learned what his friends truly think of him. The second part of the Construct’s plan is to control the minds of every human who interacts with technology, which works so well even Traya turns against him. This sends Reddy over the edge, even rejecting Kathy when she tries to apologize to him. Luckily, this doesn’t stop Kathy, and she takes it upon herself to track down T. O. Morrow, who she believes can help her find her “John.” Kathy finds it increasingly difficult to get away from all forms of technology—even her car and watch are under the control of The Construct. After setting off on foot, she discovers Red Tornado on a lonely mountaintop. He rejects her again, followed by Reddy being confronted by the Tornado Champion, which reveals itself and the truth about their co-existence.

Red Tornado, now fully aware of his humanity, returns get him going on a path that would make him more to Kathy and swears to destroy the Construct. consistently interesting.” Focusing on Kathy Sutton as much Squaring off on another plane of existence—inside as Reddy, Busiek thought this was a way to “explor[e] their the mind of the Construct itself—Reddy defeats it, relationship as a way to show who he was, and threatening partly by making it face up to its own humanity, in full it was a way to put him under stress. Making her a stronger view of the entire world. His reputation restored, Reddy character was important, both because I didn’t want her to finds Kathy and Traya, but with a new lease on be just an appendage, and I wanted them to have life: No longer insecure about his humanity, a strong relationship, a relationship of equals.” the new John Smith wants to embrace Sadly, that sunrise seen at the end all of life, to the fullest. He even wants of the Red Tornado miniseries quickly to change his name to something turned in to a red sky, the ominous more colorful, and Red Tornado #4 warning sign of the Crisis. In one of the ends with Kathy and Traya offering series’ many tie-in books, Red Tornado more exciting suggestions, such as was the main character in Justice “Peter Venkman,” “Gabby Hayes,” League of America Annual #3, which and “Townes Van Zandt.” featured the Detroit-based version of The future looked bright for the Red the JLA as well as some former members Tornado, in and out of the comics— (like Superman, Green Arrow, and not only did he headline his own series, Firestorm) trying to stop the Antiwhich gave any future writer a new, Monitor from controlling Earth-One’s kurt busiek more positive template to work from, weather. Red Tornado’s body is found but he was also appearing on toy among wreckage of the longshelves all across America. As part of Kenner’s second wave abandoned JLA Satellite, and he is thought dead. But of action figures for the Super Powers collection, this was Kathy Sutton knows better—she starts receiving the first time kids had a chance to “play” Red Tornado. messages from him via electronic devices, telling her to When asked about writing the Red Tornado miniseries, travel to Gotham City. It is here that Reddy reveals that Kurt Busiek reveals that he was a “mild” fan of the while his body has truly been destroyed, his unkillable character at the time. Asked by Dick Giordano to pitch a spirit has survived, but is now a force of nature. Having miniseries starring a member of the JLA, Busiek had ideas begun to lose his connection to humanity, the Being for Aquaman, Elongated Man, and a few others, all of Formerly Known as Red Tornado has decided that life whom were spoken for. Red Tornado wasn’t, so Busiek on Earth must start anew, and the only way to do that, took on the opportunity to “examine [the Red Tornado], of course, is to wipe out humanity as it stands. Robots Issue

“Batteries Not included” Kurt Busiek scripted a four-issue Red Tornado miniseries in 1985, with art by Carmine Infantino and Frank McLaughlin. Presented here are (left) a DC house ad for the series and (right) the original art to the cover of Red Tornado #2 (Aug. 1985), courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

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TWISTS AND TURNS

Scrap Heap Hero (left) Reddy’s in bad shape on this page from Red Tornado #4 (Oct. 1985), from the Busiek/Infantino team. Inks by Frank McLaughlin, colors by Tom Ziuko. (right) Our hero’s twistin’ action figure. TM & © DC Comics.

His former friends think he has gone mad, but Red Tornado claims he has merely been “enlightened.” He offers Kathy a place at his side as he presides over the new, “cleansed” world. Appealing to the last shreds of humanity left in him, Kathy manages to talk Red Tornado out of his megalomania. Having reclaimed the bits and pieces of his former body, he returns to his Red Tornado form, ready to stand down from his apocalyptic plan. Unfortunately, before he can announce this, the Man of Steel Act-First-Think-Later blasts Reddy with his freezebreath, followed by Firestorm transmuting the slab of ice into a metal block. This barely stops Red Tornado, who breaks free, now more out of control than ever. Accusing his former teammates—and Kathy—of betrayal, Red Tornado resumes his purest form and disappears into another dimension, promising that one day “there will be a reckoning.” All that is left behind are some storm clouds pierced by a rainbow, and with that, the quarter-century career of the Red Tornado came to a close. Bizarrely, this Annual was published between issues #2 and 3 of the Red Tornado miniseries, essentially negating everything that followed, including Kurt Busiek’s upbeat finale.

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Other than a brief, Crisis-related cameo in All-Star Squadron #53, the Red Tornado as the world knew him was gone forever after the JLA Annual. Of course, “forever” is a relative term in superhero comics—he soon returned in post–Crisis form in Captain Atom, eventually reclaiming his classic, heroic identity and membership in the JLA. In 2009, he headlined a second miniseries, a six-issue story called “Family Reunion” by Kevin Vanhook and José Luis García-López, and later played a major role in the Young Justice animated series. Along with the rest of the former DCU, Red Tornado was erased with the advent of the New 52 in 2011. But it seems another rise from the ashes is just around the corner: In Justice League #16 (Oct. 2012, written by Geoff Johns), T. O. Morrow appeared, talking about the “android weather machine” he has just created. Red Tornado has not had it easy in the DCU: After years of insecurity and self-doubt, multiple personal explosions, and sneering derision, the android with a soul managed to finally carve out a happy, stable existence for himself, only to have it taken away by the Crisis. He fought his way back in the post–Crisis DCU, having it taken away all over again by the debut of the New 52. Thankfully, it seems that cooler heads have prevailed and it’s clear that Red Tornado will be allowed to resume the heroic mantle that he’s tried so hard to earn. Let’s hope that Kathy and Traya aren’t far behind! ROB KELLY is a writer, illustrator, and comics historian. He is the creator/ EIC of The Aquaman Shrine blog, the co-creator/writer of the awardwinning webcomic Ace Kilroy, and the creator/editor of Hey, Kids, Comics!: True-Life Tales from the Spinner Rack, by Crazy 8 Press.

LIVE BY THE ATOM, DIE BY THE ATOM

P. C . H a m e r l i n c k

You can’t keep an atomic power-driven robot that wants to rule the world down; sooner or later, as DC Comics did, you rebuild yourself a new one. Made by man but far from content to be a slave to man, the spark of radioactive energy that gave life to Mr. Atom in turn ended the existence of his inventor (Dr. Charles Langley) as the nuclear reactor-charged megalomaniac robot trounced onward through a trilogy of timely terror-filled tales within Captain Marvel Adventures #78, 81, and 90 (Fawcett Publications, 1947–1948), commencing less than two years after the game-changing Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. As evident through occasional “cautionary” story subject matter, Fawcett’s editorial staff were open advocates of pacifism who were ready and willing to address weighty postwar worries over the dawning of the atomic age within the entertaining four-color pages of their ordinarily upbeat Captain Marvel stories … but contemporary real-world realities of atomic power’s calamitous capabilities was something that even the mightiest of superheroes had difficulty containing. In the trilogy’s closing moments, the atomic energy that gave birth to Mr. Atom also poetically did him in. The robotic rogue was quickly forgotten as American hope and optimism rolled its way into the Fabulous Fifties. Mr. Atom was shaped and bent by versatile writer William Woolfolk and Captain Marvel co-creator/chief artist, C. C. Beck. Throughout the Fawcett era, Woolfolk had added his fair share to the Marvel mythos (including the launch of another fierce foe, Captain Nazi); Beck’s masterful economy-of-line, smooth-contour illustrating capability lent itself well to Mr. Atom’s sharp, sleek, metallic aesthetics. Both of these exceptionally talented individuals from the Golden Age of Comics divulged to this author in their later years that they had generally favored working on the World’s Mightiest Mortal’s more lighthearted, whimsical escapades rather than grave-natured sagas analogous to their iniquitous robot creation.

CHARACTERIZATION CRISIS Flash-forward 28 years later, and our changed world played out like its own alternate-Earth: No one was building bomb shelters in their backyard anymore … Bing Crosby was gone and disco dominated the airwaves … and Fawcett-owned properties were being published by their former courtroom adversaries, DC Comics. Captain Marvel’s brutal, bull-horned antagonist, King Kull, was responsible for bringing Mr. Atom back to the 20th Century in order to lend a hand in his battle against Shazam’s Squadron of Justice and heroes from two other worlds in “Crisis in Tomorrow”

Atomic Rage The Big Red Cheese and that disreputable robot rogue are at it again in this specialty piece by artist Jay Piscopo. TM & © DC Comics.

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That Blasted Bot! (left) Captain Marvel Adventures #78 (Nov. 1947), marking the first appearance of Mr. Atom; cover by C. C. Beck, who also signed this copy from P.C. Hamerlinck’s collection. (right) Beck talks shop and turns out a Mr. Atom drawing for fans at the 1972 Phoenix Con held at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Also in attendance at the convention was future Shazam! artist Don Newton. Photo courtesy of Alex Jay. TM & © DC Comics

(Justice League of America #137, Dec. 1976)—the grand finale of a three-part Earth-S “Crisis” plot (which also marked the first momentous clash between Captain Marvel and Superman). With the help of Brainiac facilitating a force field around Mr. Atom, the robot immediately began leveling the Earth-One City of Tomorrow while overpowering the fearless yet futile endeavors made by the Golden and Silver Age Flashes and Green Lanterns, the god Mercury, and Ibis the Invincible. Mr. Atom attempted to use the latter hero’s “Ibistick” against “the turbaned one,” but if the mechanical monster had studied his old comic books, he would have known that the mystic stick worked against anyone using it to harm its true possessor—and consequently, Mr. Atom was chucked far away to a distant star. Mr. Atom had changed considerably since his Golden Age upbringing. Artist Dick Dillin had built readers a cold, mostly mute, atomic killing machine whose persona and depiction bore little resemblance to Woolfolk and Beck’s distinctive creation. In what should have been a ten-foot-tall robot, Dillin erroneously illustrated the robot’s height to colossal proportions—an inaccuracy which has stuck as comics creators continue to follow the Dillin blueprint to this very day. Of course, the artist was just abiding by the script, and JLA editor Julie Schwartz, having absolutely no love for Fawcett lore, simply let such inconsistencies fly to the curb. It is surprising, however, that E. Nelson Bridwell— the architect of the Earth-S storyline—was the person responsible in plotting Mr. Atom’s abrupt and ultimately anticlimactic return. Bridwell was DC’s office scholar of … well, most everything, a virtual “human encyclopedia of comics history” (as artist Kurt Schaffenberger once described the man to me) … the company’s go-to Shazam-specialist and one of the writers for the strip.

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ENB was practically obsessive over continuity and a stickler for the most minuscule details involving comicbook characters and their times past. Yet there, in the pages of JLA, was the unheralded reemergence of the once-authoritative, inimitable Mr. Atom—now a reticent and aloof gargantuan mindlessly stomping around the city like Godzilla. The entire Earth-S trilogy was dialogued by Martin Pasko, but the writer (best known for his work on Superman, Dr. Fate, Blackhawk, Plastic Man, and Batman: The Animated Series) imparted no love lost while ruminating over the tale after I dropped him a line in June 2013: “That story was one of my least favorite experiences in comics, and I really only did it as a kind of favor to Julie [Schwartz] … and ended up feeling a little roughed-up in return.” Pasko recalls that Bridwell had been pining for some time to use the Fawcett characters in a JLA crossover, and the window of opportunity was finally opening: “Nelson knew that Julie had kind of boxed himself into a corner by letting Len Wein open up the annual JLA/JSA crossover to character groups and teams that had been neglected by DC (such as the Seven Soldiers of Victory and characters that had been published by defunct companies whose libraries DC had acquired), by positing that they inhabited other, hitherto unknown parallel worlds. So Nelson had Julie over a barrel: After the Quality heroes had been used [JLA #107 and 108], Julie was hard-put to deny Nelson his request to write the Fawcett heroes into a crossover, as he’d had been pestering Julie to do for years, ever since he’d written for Shazam! “Nelson was the resident Fawcett expert, but Julie didn’t like Nelson’s approach to dialogue or pacing, so he reluctantly gave in to Nelson on the condition that he could only plot the story, but another writer would

script it. After several wiser writers said, ‘No, thanks,’ the hot potato landed in my lap, and I needed the bank.” Was Pasko already familiar with the Marvel Family and their fellow Fawcett heroes? “Nelson gave me all the reference on the characters and their backstories. I’d never liked the Fawcett stuff very much, including Captain Marvel—especially Captain Marvel (too “cutesy,” but not actually funny, but not totally straight-faced, either—neither fish nor fowl), so I knew nothing about them going in [and] I couldn’t find any discernible characterizations or speech patterns in the old comics. So I was flying blind and making it up. That’s partly why the dialogue is so flat. The main reason for that, though, is that after all the horse-trading they went through, Julie made the mistake of letting Nelson read my script, to flag Fawcett-related ‘goofs.’ But instead of just giving Julie notes on stuff I’d fix, as he was supposed to, Nelson took it upon himself to rewrite the dialogue, defeating the purpose of bringing in another writer in the first place. Julie must’ve forgotten that there was supposed to be another step in the process and handed the script to Dick Dillin without rereading it. Then he gave the script a once-over just before Dick’s pencils had to go out to the letterer, and was mildly alarmed and angry at what had been done by his assistant, which took him totally by surprise. But at that point it was too late to restore my original dialogue because Nelson had also changed art descriptions and pacing, juggling panels around and adding new panels wholesale (panels that did not advance the story or entertain, but merely contained some sort of ‘inside-baseball’ exposition/loose end-tying about Fawcett continuity, stuff that only Nelson cared about and whose ‘significance’ only Nelson could understand).” Pasko was so dismayed by the final product he wanted no name credit attached to it, and the young writer was ready to move on to better things: “I was appalled at the results—even begged to have my name taken off the thing—but Julie pushed back hard on that out of pride and office-politics concerns, and I wasn’t willing to jeopardize my relationship with him over it. So I let it go. I took a day to rewrite Nelson’s rewrite of my script on the second part, and was able to dial down some of the rampant stupidity, but the damage was pretty much done and the taste in my mouth pretty sour. To this day, I’m embarrassed by that three-parter and never once read it again after it was published.”

START YOUR ENGINES While Mr. Atom embodied scraps of his old self, “The World’s Mightiest Race” (Shazam! #33, Feb. 1978) was still a far cry from his Atomic Age glory days. In his second DC outing, Mr. Atom was ushered back to Earth once again (this time courtesy of everyone’s favorite wicked worm, Mr. Mind) as the robot—with only his head attached to an “Atomobile” racecar—arrived in Indianapolis on the day of the Indy 500. Atom threatens a radiation meltdown to wipe out the city unless a challenger is produced in an hour to race against him. Of course, the challenger is Captain Marvel, who goes on to win the race using his lightning-powered “Shazamobile.” (Interestingly, approximately a year after this story was published, a Shazam! toy racecar was manufactured and released by the Corgi company, but its similarities to the story’s “Shazamobile” were purely coincidental.) With the race concluded, being the sore loser that he is, Mr. Atom re-attaches his head from his car to his body and goes after Marvel. The two spar above various Indianapolis landmarks before Captain Marvel lands a punch that hurls Mr. Atom into orbit around the sun, followed by our red-clad hero suitably tossing the ominous Atomobile directly into the sun. The story was more disappointment to endure for the faithful but thinning Shazam! readership. The unabashed blandness and mediocrity unleashed within practically each issue would soon

Towering Troublemaker A rampant and colossal Mr. Atom produces pandemonium for speedsters Mercury and Flashes Golden and Silver in these Dick Dillin/Frank McLaughlin panels from Justice League of America #137 (Dec. 1976). TM & © DC Comics.

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bring the book to its unfulfilled run (although the announcement of the Shazam Family’s imminent “new look” provided a touch of hope and promise for the Marvels’ continued existence). The Indianapolis story was inanely constructed by Bridwell with “all ages” in mind, but its transparent, infantile quality surely slighted the astuteness of even the youngest readers. In spite of the story’s shortcomings, Bridwell—ever-concerned with continuity—made sure that Mr. Atom’s Golden Age origin, and the robot’s more-recent misfortune with Prince Ibis during the JLA Earth-S mêlée, was distinctly referenced. And—as it had been implemented for the past several issues—Bridwell continued the US city-visiting premise and tied in elements from the Shazam! television series (including an Eterni-Phone conference between Captain Marvel, Shazam, and “the Elders”), even though the TV show had already been canceled and off the air for over a year. Tenny Henson’s competence in cartooning was certainly ideal for the type of story Bridwell produced. The artwork had a certain quaint, uncomplicated charm to it which may have even satisfied some of the purists, but was doubtlessly too unsophisticated for modern audiences to accept. Despite Henson’s talents, departing editor Joe Orlando still needed to call in artist Kurt Schaffenberger to re-draw faces and headshots in order to pull in proper uniformity necessary for the depiction of the main characters. Henson’s penciling had a coloring-book quality to it; unsurprisingly, he was the artist who drew the interior pages for a 1979 Shazam! coloring book published by Whitman.

A LEGION OF DOOM After a failed resurrection of the Monster Society of Evil in Shazam! #14 (Sept.–Oct. 1974), it was time to attempt another world takeover when the Society struck back in World’s Finest Comics, initiating in issue #264 (Sept. 1980). Joining Mr. Mind’s malevolent movement this time were Dr. Sivana, Oggar, Black Adam, Ibac, King Kull, and our very own Mr. Atom. Once again, Mr. Mind had retrieved Mr. Atom (this time with assistance from the god of magic, Oggar). In “The Plot Against the Human Race” (WFC #265, Oct.–Nov. 1980), under Mind’s direction and with the vast atomic power supplied by Mr. Atom, King Kull invented a machine that would turn the Earth inside-out. The Marvel Family eventually destroy the despicable device, but Atom and Kull—both equal haters of mankind—vanish before they can be apprehended. The showdown between the new Monster Society and the Marvels (now aided and abetted by the three Lieutenant Marvels) came to its gripping conclusion during an “Assault on the Rock of Eternity” (WFC #267, Feb.–Mar. 1981). Two of the Lieutenants (“Tall Marvel” and “Fat Marvel”) cunningly get Mr. Atom and King Kull to knock each other out; Captain Marvel steps in and throws Atom off the Rock, reeling him to an uninhabited universe where he’ll stay out of trouble … at least for a while. With the World’s Finest Monster Society storyline completed, Mr. Atom had finally been portrayed appropriately in a DC comic book. The adventures produced under Jack C. Harris, editor of the “new look” Shazam! stories written by E. Nelson Bridwell and drawn by Don Newton, have weathered the passage of time extremely well and continue to remain an important and pinnacle period within the Marvel Family’s occupancy under the DC banner. Harris warmly remembers his Shazam! work— as well as early run-ins with Captain Marvel and cohorts:

A Day at the Races (top) Kurt Schaffenberger’s Shazam! #33 (Feb. 1978) cover. (bottom) The race is on in this sequence from that issue, drawn by Tenny Henson and Vinnie Colletta, with an assist by Schaffenberger. TM & © DC Comics.

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“My time associated with Captain Marvel/Shazam!, although brief, was very enjoyable. Oddly enough, my first encounter with the character was in the MAD comic spoof, ‘Superduperman,’ back in 1953, wherein Superduperman encounters ‘Captain Marbles,’ in a story making fun of the fact that the real Superman was suing the real Captain Marvel. The first story of the character I actually read was Denny O’Neil’s and C. C. Beck’s revival in Shazam! #1 (Feb. 1973). I inherited that title as editor in 1977, and by that time had read many of the original stories. Shazam! issues #12 through 17 were 100-page issues reprinting many of those early stories. The first two issues with my editorial credit were #32 and 33 [the Mr. Atom issue], but they featured material already prepared by previous editor Joe Orlando. I only handled the covers of those issues (making a mistake on the first one by using the name ‘Captain Marvel’ in the text, which was against the copyright agreement we had with Marvel). The first issue over which I had complete control was Shazam! #34. “I had a dilemma: I wanted to strike a happy medium between the original whimsical approach to Captain Marvel and the more realistic style of modern, late-’70s superheroes. I thought I could keep the writing fanciful and quirky, while making the art grittier. This is why I had Alan Weiss draw my first full issue. However, looking back, it might have been too much realism for the character. The book was discontinued with the

very next issue, but by then I thought I had found the perfect ‘happy medium’ artist in Don Newton. Fortunately, DC was hot on keeping the character in print, so I almost immediately found a spot in World’s Finest Comics with what I thought was the perfect Captain Marvel creative team: E. Nelson Bridwell as writer and Don Newton as artist. As an extra bonus, I was able to use Kurt Schaffenberger [one of the Captain Marvel artists from the Golden Age] as the inker. Nelson was a Captain Marvel expert and was able to keep the character lighthearted, while Don’s art kept the balance visually. The later inkers, such as Dave Hunt, Frank Chiaramonte, Joe Giella, Bob Smith, Steve Mitchell, and even Dan Adkins were all able to maintain the look I was hoping for.” Bridwell ultimately produced his best Shazam! stories under JCH’s editorship, allowing the writer more creative freedom than ever before, with a desire for his team to dig deep into the vast Captain Marvel mythology for greater story possibilities: “I gave Nelson almost carte blanche when it came to the stories, although I wanted to use almost all the characters from the series, including Captain Marvel, Jr., Mary Marvel, Mr. Tawny, and even Captain Nazi. Captain Marvel was fun, and I had fun working with him. I hope the fans had fun reading him.” While it significantly revolutionized Captain Marvel visually, Don Newton (a fan of Fawcett’s original CM) impressively applied his passion

Wrong Robot! (right) Apparently no Mr. Atom reference was available when artist George Turner drew this storyboard page for Filmation Studios’ 1981 animated Shazam! episode, “Mr. Atom, the Smasher,” revealing a robot which looks more like (bottom left) Otto Binder’s Shazam Robot from The Marvel Family #5 (Oct. 1946; art by C. C. Beck/Pete Costanza). (bottom right) But by the time he hit the airwaves, Mr. Atom was his old fearsome, familiar self, as shown in this original animation cel from the episode (from the collection of P.C. Hamerlinck). Shazam! TM & © DC Comics.

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Finest and Funnest (top) Battle sequence from World’s Finest Comics #267 (Feb.–Mar. 1981). (bottom) Panel from 2000’s World’s Funnest, featuring Shazam! foes including Mr. Atom. TM & © DC Comics.

for the character into his artwork. One of Newton’s Shazam! inkers, Dave Hunt, recalled in Alter Ego vol. 3 #3 (Winter 2000) that “Don’s pencils were done a very smooth, plate finish paper, and were highly finished. All blacks, and even things like textures and folds in clothing, were completely thought out. He was a pencil wizard.”

ATOMIC-POWER HOUR After his suitable handling in World’s Finest Comics, Mr. Atom continued to enjoy a booming year in 1981 as the metal machine man appeared in an animated Shazam! episode on NBC-TV’s short-lived Saturday morning program, The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! Produced by Filmation—the same studio that created the Shazam! live-action show years earlier—”Mr. Atom, the Smasher” (written by Fred Ladd) began with Uncle Dudley inventing a special remote control to use around the house, but it required particular vacuum tubes to power it up. Sure enough, every vacuum tube in the city is in the possession of Mr. Atom, who has formed a troop

of atomic robo-cops. The Marvel Family prevent two acts of sabotage, followed by Mr. Atom notifying the United Nations that his army of robots will demolish national landmarks unless he’s declared the world’s master. Later, all electronic transmissions within the city are jammed, but these high-tech hitches weren’t further transgressions performed by Mr. Atom, but instead were being caused by Dudley’s remote control. After the UN rejected Mr. Atom’s outlandish request, Captain Marvel grabbed Dudley’s remote control and fastened it to an orbiting satellite and its emitting electronic waves eradicated the entire robot militia. When the Marvel Family corner Mr. Atom, the robot threatened to annihilate the entire city, but Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr. made good use of an oversized electromagnet to clean up Mr. Atom’s latest scheme. The ephemeral Shazam! cartoons wisely used the Golden Age comics as a template to moderately follow. Filmation didn’t always hit the mark with their productions, but the Shazam! episodes were all inspired efforts … and Mr. Atom’s original design was essentially made to order for animation. While Mr. Atom’s characterization was off to some extent—and he was given an annoying, high-pitched, squealing voice—the studio’s team of artists did an outstanding job in bringing the character to life. It’s interesting to note that during the episode’s early stages of production, Filmation storyboard artists Victor Dal Chele and George Turner had no clue as to how to depict Mr. Atom, so they drew a tin man looking similar to Otto Binder’s “Shazam Robot” (from Marvel Family #5, Oct. 1946) in their story layouts; fortunately, all was made right with the episode aired, and the rascally robot never looked better. (Tenny Henson— the artist on the Mr. Atom tale in Shazam! #33—was also a layout artist for the Shazam! cartoon, but he did not work on the Mr. Atom episode.)

I’M STILL STANDING As Bronze faded to the next Age, Mr. Atom sightings remained patchy. Remarkably, the character was bequeathed with his own vital statistics page in Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #15 (May 1986) before disappearing for almost a decade until he showed up in some issues of The Power of Shazam! (1997–1998), where artist Peter Krause redesigned Mr. Atom’s look based on his son’s Transformer toys. Mr. Atom continued to still be depicted as a gigantic robot in two issues of Justice League Unlimited (2006), as well as cameos within “event” books Infinite Crisis (2006) and 52 (2007) … and still as a cunning colossus for several issues of Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! (2009–2010). Perhaps the most preeminent modern-day Mr. Atom pop-ups were found inside Superman and Batman: World’s Funnest (2000), in a brilliantly rendered short by Jaime Hernandez … and on 2011’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold Season Two episode, “The Malicious Mr. Mind!” No matter what the future holds for one of comics’ most formidable and dangerous opponents, Mr. Atom will undoubtedly keep the power surging. Captain Marvel historian P.C. HAMERLINCK is the editor of FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), appearing in the pages of our sister publication, Roy Thomas’ Alter Ego magazine.

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Among the Avengers’ greatest foes, Ultron has always held a prominent position. He’s powerful, he’s evil, and he’s family. He also has no qualms about extending that family. As recounted in BACK ISSUE #38 (Feb. 2010), Ultron-5 made his first appearance in Avengers #54 (July 1968). In a flashback in Avengers #58 (Nov. 1968), we—and Hank Pym—learn that Pym himself created Ultron. The robot immediately turned upon its “father,” trying to kill Pym, who screams, “It’s like a living, mechanized Oedipus Complex!” In Greek Mythology, Oedipus killed Laius and married Jocasta—unaware that they were his natural parents. Crudely put, an Oedipus Complex can be described as an urge to “kill your father and marry your mother.” by

Jarrod Buttery

THE BRIDE OF ULTRON Unlike today, Ultron appeared rarely in the ’60s and ’70s. After a rollercoaster three-parter in Avengers #66–68 (July–Sept. 1969), where he first appropriated his adamantium body, Ultron disappeared until Fantastic Four #150 (Sept. 1974). His reappearance in Avengers #161 (July 1977) may be one of the most shocking Marvel comics of the late ’70s. Therein, Ultron seemingly kills half the team and kidnaps the Wasp. He brainwashes Hank Pym into helping him transfer Janet Pym’s life-energy into a cybernetic woman, insisting it’s to save Jan’s life. In reality, the process will animate Ultron’s “bride” by stealing the lifeforce of the Wasp—Hank’s wife, Ultron’s “mother.” Ultron then relishes the thought of killing Hank—his father. However, sympathetic to Jan’s plight, the cybernetic woman summons the Avengers. It’s an extraordinarily entertaining story, written by Jim Shooter at the peak of his game, and gorgeously illustrated by George Pérez. Ultron’s creation doesn’t even receive a name in this debut appearance, but she earns our sympathies due to her selfless sacrifice: By saving Jan she relinquishes her own chance at life. For now.

JOCASTA The cover of Avengers #170 (Apr. 1978) proclaims: “Because You Demanded It! The Return of the Bride of Ultron!” Ultron’s creation is transported to Avengers Mansion for safekeeping and study. However, she is activated by remote control; her first words: “He has awakened me! He calls!” There’s little doubt to whom she refers, but when the Wasp hears her speak … “Hank! That’s m-my voice!” Indeed, the voice is cold and metallic, but it belongs to Jan. It is in this issue that we discover the robot’s capabilities. She’s strong and fast, and can generate a force-field and impressive energy blasts from her eyes. It’s likely that the Avengers would have subdued her, but Iron Man insists that she be allowed to escape:

A House Divided Earth’s Mightiest Heroes disagree over their newest member on the cover of Avengers #170 (Apr. 1978). Cover art by George Pérez and Terry Austin. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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“We’re going to give her a head start … and she’s going to lead us to … Ultron!” A secondary robot (disguised as a nun—Sister Eucalypta) transports Ultron’s bride to his new hideout. After she recharges, Ultron beseeches her, “It is time, my love! Awaken! Arise, my Jocasta!” And so she is named, in Avengers #171 (May 1978), appropriately reinforcing Ultron’s Oedipal Complex. Unfortunately for Ultron, her first words to him are, “I love you Ultron! I exist only to love you, to serve you, for so I was created … and thus I must destroy you!” Jocasta continues: “I love you … and yet I know what you are! I must end your evil despite my desires!” Ultron realizes that his bride is “infected” with the residual imprint of Jan’s persona. Jocasta was created to love him, but the lifeforce used to animate her finds him an anathema. Ultron suffers perhaps his most comprehensive defeat and Jocasta remains with the Avengers.

KORVAC Jocasta’s two-part return, in Avengers #170–171, fell in the middle of Jim Shooter’s “Korvac Saga.” Although Shooter plotted the ten-part story, he only scripted six issues. David Michelinie wrote Avengers #173 (July 1978) and #175–176 (Sept.–Oct. 1978). [Bill Mantlo wrote issue #174.] Michelinie remembers his Marvel debut: “The day I tendered my resignation from DC Comics I called Jim and asked if I could get any work from Marvel. His reply, and I believe I’m quoting this exactly, was, ‘Would today be too soon?’ Talk about flattering! I think I actually had to wait a little while for my contract with DC to legally expire, but very soon after I talked with Jim he sent me 17 pages of david michelinie penciled artwork for Avengers #173 and asked me to dialogue them.” BACK ISSUE asked Michelinie about his contribution to the Korvac Saga: “There were no written plots for the issues I scripted. Jim was under tremendous deadline pressure trying to run Marvel and write stories at the same time, and he’d usually tell the artist the plot over the phone while the artist took notes. So that’s pretty much how I got the plots as well. Though I believe on at least some issues I probably sat in Jim’s office while he told me the plots. I’d never read Avengers before (I was a Spidey/Conan/Namor man), so it was a great introduction to the rest of the Marvel Universe. Jim had a solid take on all of the characters—how they talk, how they fight, even how they sit around a conference table—and I learned a hell of a lot from those plot discussions. I had no plot input as such, and didn’t really need scripting flexibility since the characters were so clearly defined for me.” Despite a cast of dozens (including the Guardians of the Galaxy), Jocasta was not forgotten. In a desperate search for some trace of their enemy, Iron Man enlists the heightened senses of Moondragon, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Starhawk, alongside his and Yellowjacket’s scientific resources. Jocasta volunteers: “I wonder if I might be of some help? My cybernetic Quick Draw senses are quite advanced…” Indeed, Jocasta is able to sense “minute traces of ionic residue in the air,” assisting Quickie convention sketches of Jocasta and Taskmaster done by in locating Korvac. George Pérez in 2013 for this article’s author. Writer David Michelinie Sadly, Jocasta fared no better against their enemy than the rest of the heroes. As Korvac slaughters both brought Taskmaster into the pages of Avengers with issue #194. the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy in issue TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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#177 (Nov. 1978), Jocasta selflessly joins the attack. With regret, Korvac destroys her, saying, “You, Jocasta, I pity, for you were created in the name of love. You have no stake in this conflict. You are merely loyal to those you think are friends. I am sorry it must be thus!” Through Shooter’s script, it was a poignant affirmation from her creator. Upon his defeat, and with his dying breath, Korvac restores all those he killed or destroyed—including Jocasta. Michelinie took over as regular Avengers scripter with issue #181 (Mar. 1979). “After the Korvac Saga, Jim faced the reality that he couldn’t comfortably fit a regular series into his schedule while running a publishing company,” Michelinie explains. “He asked me to take over the series and I said, ‘Sure!’ After all my discussions with Jim about the characters, I knew them fairly well by then, so the transition went pretty smoothly. I had no plots I was dying to write when I took over since I’d never thought about writing Avengers before.”

ON THE MATTER OF HEROES Avengers #181 (inset) is the infamous issue where the government—in the form of Henry Peter Gyrich—dictates the Avengers’ membership, but it’s also the beginning of the definitive origin for the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. As Wanda and Pietro’s lifeforces are stolen by their Gypsy foster-father, it is Jocasta who singlehandedly traces the energy signature and finds the kidnapped Avengers, in issue #182 (Apr. 1979). Wanda and Pietro leave for Europe in an attempt to uncover their ancestry. Wanda’s husband, the Vision, remains at Avengers Mansion, allowing for some character development in Avengers #185 (July 1979). Jocasta finds it difficult to participate in human small talk and seeks out someone whom she believes to be a kindred spirit—another artificial being. However, while Jocasta is attempting to integrate into human society, the Vision appears to be withdrawing. When things go wrong in the Balkans, the Avengers rush to assist Wanda and Pietro—but Jocasta is not among them. She appears briefly at the end of issue #189 (Nov. 1979), wearing a hat and trench coat, returning to Avengers Mansion. She ponders, “The Avengers. Am I capable of facing them again? I cannot bring myself to communicate with them…,” the implication being that she had left the mansion to go soul-searching after her failed attempt to reach out to the Vision. Again, Jocasta does not appear for several issues, until she features on the cover of Avengers #194 (Apr. 1980). Therein, she makes another attempt to bond with the Vision: “The other Avengers seem to have forgotten that I even exist. And maybe it’s just the Janet Pym personality that Ultron programmed into me, but I can’t help feeling … lonely.” Jocasta seems to be developing even more human traits while, simultaneously, the Vision seems to be becoming more robotic. “I think that pretty much nails it,” confirms Michelinie. “Issue #194 was probably my favorite issue since it was almost all character stuff. The Jocasta/ Vision scene was simply a result of my looking at the

characters and figuring out what might be going through their minds at this stage of their lives.” Issue #194 was also the first part of the Taskmaster trilogy. As originally envisaged, the Taskmaster ran training schools for the endless lackeys required by master villains. “I liked the character a lot, and George Pérez came up with a terrific visual design,” comments Michelinie. “I thought Taskmaster, like Justin Hammer, filled a needed gap in the workings of the Marvel Universe, and I wish I’d had more time to develop him.” With his photographic reflexes, Taskmaster proved a formidable foe, able to perfectly mimic any nonpowered ability simply by observing it. Being a master of all fighting styles, Taskmaster could instantly anticipate an opponent’s attack and develop a counter-move— until he met someone of which he had no knowledge. Taskmaster’s weapons have no effect on Jocasta’s metallic body and—having never seen her before—he has no idea how she fights or how to counter her attacks. “I wanted to show that Taskmaster’s weakness

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Machine Men A rare Avengers cover appearance for Jocasta in an issue where she further bonds with the Vision, #194 (Apr. 1980). Cover by Pérez and Joe Rubinstein. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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was in battling someone he couldn’t anticipate,” Michelinie explains. “Jocasta was used because she fit that description.” Captain America himself admits, “Lady, we’ve had a tendency to overlook you in the past, but I think I speak for the whole group when I say … that’s about to change.” In the following issue, Iron Man suggests assigning Jocasta to full Avengers status. Sadly, despite Jocasta’s pivotal role in defeating Red Ronin in Avengers #198–199 (Aug.–Sept. 1980), Avengers membership never came to fruition. Shooter wrote a short prose story for “Marvel Superheroes”—Book 9 of the Marvel Novel Series (1979). “This Evil Undying” featured the return of Ultron and was subsequently adapted by David Michelinie for Avengers #201–202 (Nov.–Dec. 1980). “Whenever I adapt something from another medium—whether it’s a movie, a TV series, a novel, or whatever—I try to keep as close as I can to the source material,” states Michelinie. “I don’t feel it’s my job to ‘interpret’ someone else’s work, but rather to transfer it to comics form as accurately as possible. So far as I recall, that two-parter in #201–202 was all Jim’s, with alterations made only when necessary to fit the length and format.” Michelinie’s final issue was Avengers #205 (Mar. 1981). “I don’t remember exactly why I left,” he admits. “It was probably a combination of factors. I notice the last couple of stories were plotted by other people, and there was sort of an artist-ofthe-day situation going on. So maybe I was unhappy with what was transpiring behind the scenes. Or maybe it was a simple case of my having other work and needing to drop something. I imagine I had ideas and character stuff I wanted to do, but those details are beyond my memory now.” Asked if he has any fond memories of his first Marvel assignment, Michelinie volunteers, “Just that I was very fortunate, so early in my Marvel career, to work with such terrific artists—John Byrne and George Pérez in particular—as well as editors (Roger Stern and Jim Salicrup) who gave me a great deal of freedom, and an editor-in-chief who was able to pass along his incisive knowledge of the characters.” Bill Mantlo wrote Avengers #206 (Apr. 1981) and announced that he would be taking over the title with issue #211. Mantlo next wrote Avengers #210 (Aug. 1981) wherein Jocasta singlehandedly saves the entire world from “The Wrath of the Weathermen,” but then Shooter returned as scripter with Avengers #211 (Sept. 1981). Jim Salicrup was editor on the title at the time and remembers, “Avengers was clearly a title that editor-in-chief Jim Shooter had many thoughts about, and as such I tended to defer to his editorial direction. On other titles such as Fantastic Four, for example, I had more specific input. So my role regarding the writing on Avengers tended to be trying to produce something that Jim Shooter would be happy with. As a result, it seemed only logical to let Jim write the series himself—after all, who knew better what Jim wanted than Jim?” Jocasta assisted the team against Immortus, the Yellow Claw, Pyron, the Shadow Lord, the Berserker, the Leader, and the jim salicrup Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, yet she was still never officially granted Avengers membership. With Avengers #211, Shooter had Captain America insist upon a limit of six members. Unlike most of the Avengers, Jocasta had no outside connections, no friends or companions beyond the team. Concerned as to what might become of her she once again approaches the Vision for advice—again feeling some connection—one artificial being to another, but the Vision cruelly brushes her off. The rest of the team bandy about memberships, but Jocasta is never consulted, never approached. When six members are chosen, she leaves the mansion in disgust: “They didn’t even notice me … didn’t count me!”

Ultronette From Ben Herman’s “Avengers Assemble”-themed sketchbook comes this drawing of Jocasta by Andy MacDonald. “Andy drew some amazingly detailed humanoid robots with very detailed expressions and body language in NYC Mech, so I knew he would be the perfect artist to render the Bride of Ultron,” Ben says. “Indeed, he did an awesome piece, giving Jocasta some real personality.” We agree, and thank both Ben and Andy for sharing this with BACK ISSUE! TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc..

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Adding insult to injury, there’s a “too little, too late” epilogue where Iron Man states, “If only we’d had a chance to tell her we’d discussed her case privately before the meeting and agreed to grant her special Substitute Avenger status and ask her to reside here constantly ready to pinch-hit for members who were unavailable.” It’s supposed to read as an ironic twist ending, but comes across as grossly insensitive by the team. They completely ignored her valid concerns and, instead of alleviating said concerns by addressing them, they let them fester. Jocasta has advanced cybernetic senses and would be ridiculously easy to contact after they notice she’s gone, but do they even try? No. It was a shameful way to treat a valued colleague and a sad dismissal from the series by her creator.

SOMEBODY TO LOVE

“The robot Jocasta was never officially an Avenger. In truth, we barely knew her. What joys she held, what pain she felt, we can but guess. That is our failure … that is our loss. Now we can only remember her gallantry and mourn.” When asked about the scene, Stern admits, “Sorry, but I don’t recall that much about Jocasta.” Even though death in the 1980s was not the revolving door it is today, did DeFalco consider that Jocasta—being a robot—could be brought back into the Marvel Universe? “I was counting on it,” confirms DeFalco. “I was hoping the readers would be so touched by Jocasta’s death that they would demand her return. They actually did—but none of the other writers wanted to use her.” MTIO #100 (June 1983) printed 13 letters lamenting Jocasta’s death and asking for her return. The editorial reply hinted at a reappearance….

Ultron’s Back! Jocasta is co-billed with the Thing in Marvel Two-in-One #92 (Oct. 1982). Cover by Ron Wilson and Chic Stone. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Jocasta’s next appearance—and her only cover headline—was in Marvel Two-in-One #92 (Oct. 1982). Faced tom defalco with the possibility of her cybernetic senses malfunctioning, and still contemptuous of the Avengers, she turns to Reed Richards. Writer Tom DeFalco picked up Jocasta’s threads logically and seamlessly, reaffirming her sense of non-inclusion in the Avengers and her sense of betrayal when she wasn’t even consulted about the team. “In those days, we writers understood we had a responsibility to the readers and we all strove to keep the Marvel Universe as consistent as possible,” comments DeFalco. “We all did our homework and read (or reread) the appropriate research before we plotted our stories.” Reed determines that Jocasta may still have some connection to Ultron. He was right. Just as Ultron had previously programmed both the Vision and Iron Man to recreate him, so too had he laid an imperative deep within Jocasta’s programming. She succeeds in recreating Ultron, then breaks free of his control. Fortunately, Ben Grimm and a nearby Machine Man arrive to help. MTIO #93 (Nov. 1982) established characterdefining developments for both Jocasta and Machine Man. Finally, the two lonely robots discover kindred spirits. Within but a few pages, DeFalco established a connection, an attraction, and then a romance. At last, happiness and belonging appeared to be on the horizon for them both. “I checked around and found out that no one had any plans for Jocasta,” recalls DeFalco. “She had no place in the Avengers and no one else wanted her, so I debated the merits of giving her a happily-ever-after or going another route. I took the other route.” Tragically, Jocasta sacrifices herself to thwart Ultron’s plans. The Thing and Machine Man manage to defeat Ultron, but Machine Man had lost his one chance at love. Was this DeFalco’s intention? “Absolutely! I wanted it to seem like he and Jocasta were headed for a happily-ever-after so that the readers would really feel their heartbreak.” Jocasta was given a funeral service in Avengers #231 (May 1983) in one of Roger Stern’s early issues as regular scripter. Stern uses the Vision to deliver the eulogy:

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Head’s Up (left) The High Evolutionary’s got the whole world in his hands—including Jocasta, who has rarely been cover-featured—on Sal Buscema’s cover to Avengers Annual #17 (1988). (right) They saved Jocasta’s head! From Roy and Dann Thomas’ Iron Man Annual #11 (1990), with art by Tom Morgan and Randy Emberlin. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

MACHINE MAN 2020 Machine Man vol. 2 #1 (Oct. 1984) was written by DeFalco, with breakdowns by Herb Trimpe and finishes by Barry Windsor-Smith. Interestingly, this miniseries did not continue directly from Machine Man’s recent appearances but was set in the (then-) far future of 2020. A disassembled Machine Man is found and restored by a group of “Midnight Wreckers”—technology scavengers on the run from the Baintronics corporation. Baintronics is overseen by Sunset Bain—Machine Man’s old enemy from his first series—who is now in her 70s. Machine Man, suffering some memory loss, finds his old friend Gears Garvin. Garvin relates how, years ago, he, Machine Man, and Peter Spaulding were trying to repair Jocasta. Garvin stepped out one day and, when he returned, found his workshop demolished, Spaulding dead, and Machine Man and Jocasta missing. He always suspected Sunset Bain. Indeed, Bain had appropriated both robots. While she simply stored the disassembled Machine Man, Bain repaired Jocasta and used her as a confidant and advisor. In the climactic showdown between the Midnight Wreckers and Bain—who had hired Arno Stark, the Iron Man of 2020—Jocasta plays fifth column and assists the Wreckers. When the fighting stops, Jocasta and Machine Man are briefly reunited. “It’s … good … to see you again, Machine Man.” But it has been too long. Jocasta resolves to stay with Bain and keep an eye on her so that she doesn’t pursue the Wreckers. DeFalco was asked if Jocasta was always intended for the miniseries: “Yes, she was. I worked out the entire four-part story before I turned in the plot for the first issue.” It’s a bittersweet ending for the two former lovers, but at least, this time, they had a chance to say goodbye. Back in our timeline, Avengers Annual #17 (1988) finds Jocasta reassembled by scientists working for the

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High Evolutionary. Upon recognizing his plans for forced global genetic acceleration, Jocasta immediately contacts the Avengers. As Hercules dispatches the High Evolutionary, Jocasta sacrifices herself—once again—by blowing up the villain’s base to prevent the detonation of his genetic bomb. Iron Man Annual #11 (1990) describes how the Avengers found Jocasta’s head in the Pacific after the previous story, and gave it to Machine Man (and Garvin)—who hoped to repair it. Superbly tying into the Machine Man miniseries, Garvin’s workshop is demolished, and Peter Spaulding is killed, by an evolving Terminus. Machine Man, barely escaping with Jocasta’s head, is found by Iron Man—who takes them to nearby Baintronics. Sunset Bain makes an exact copy of Machine Man before the real Machine Man recovers in time to help Iron Man fight Terminus. Roy and Dann Thomas beautifully established Sunset Bain’s possession of a Machine Man and a Jocasta. Mechadoom, a rogue Doombot, is collecting cybernetic beings for study in Deathlok #2–5 (Aug.–Nov. 1991). Jocasta’s still-inactive head is among those beings kidnapped or stolen. Deathlok frees all the beings, but we never learn the fate of Jocasta’s head.

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED… Ultron introduces us to his latest creation—his new bride—Alkhema, in Avengers West Coast #90 (Jan. 1993). Unlike Jocasta, Alkhema is constructed from adamantium and, despite her CPU being based upon the brain patterns of Mockingbird, is as misanthropic as Ultron. Trying to think back 20 years, co-writer Roy Thomas comments, “I assume the name ‘Alkhema’ came from ‘Alchemy.’ But I could be wrong.” Like Jocasta before her, Alkhema rejects Ultron. This leads to all-out war in The Ultron Imperative #1

(Nov. 2001). This one-shot reaffirms that all of Ultron’s creations—the Vision, Jocasta, Alkhema—have an inbuilt subconscious imperative to rebuild Ultron whenever necessary. And, subconsciously, Alkhema passes this on to all the bio-synthezoids that she has created—including one called Antigone. It’s worth noting that, in Greek Mythology, Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. It’s also worth noting that when a team of Avengers time-travels to the 21st Century in Avengers Forever #4 (Mar. 1999) and finds Earth overrun by Martian invaders, one of the surviving Avengers is Jocasta—seemingly in Antigone’s body—heavily pregnant with Machine Man’s child. There is also a gold-colored Jocasta from an alternate timeline (Earth-943) who comes to Earth-616 as part of Proctor’s Gatherers, in Avengers #372 (Mar. 1994), and apparently stays.

JARVIS OR JOCASTA? Once again, Tony Stark encounters rival CEO Sunset Bain, in Iron Man vol. 3 #18 (July 1999), co-plotted by Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern. Bain wants Stark’s help in decoding an artificial-intelligence system. We see that Bain is still in possession of Jocasta’s head, and when Stark tries to decipher the code, he recognizes Jocasta’s multidimensional operating system. Stark restores Jocasta’s consciousness and downloads it into Iron Man’s operating system. “That was me,” confirms Busiek. “It was a way to take the character in a new direction—the idea was to eventually get her back into her own body, leading her toward her Avengers Forever future incarnation, but it made for an interesting place along the path to that, to explore her for a while. It was inspired, to some degree, by the period that the Vision’s consciousness was inhabiting and running Avengers Mansion.” For the next 30 issues, Jocasta operates as Tony Stark’s in-house, in-armor, AI operating system—in exactly the same way as “Jarvis” in the Iron Man and Avengers movies. Whenever you re-watch those films, think “Jocasta” every time you hear “Jarvis.” “I have no idea if they got it from me, from the Vision bit, or somewhere else, but it works well for them,” comments Busiek. Sunset Bain was able to make Eventually, Jocasta’s inbuilt christos gage exact copies of cybernetic beings. imperative allows Ultron to return, Photo by Luigi Novi. Did she copy Jocasta’s head? Was with Antigone in tow. Iron Man battles Ultron physically while Jocasta engages him in one stolen by Mechadoom? Was one rebuilt into the cyberspace, in Iron Man #48 (Jan. 2002). Ultron is current Jocasta? Or is the current Jocasta a remodeled defeated, but Iron Man can find no trace of Jocasta’s version of Antigone’s body? Are there other Jocastas consciousness. However, in an epilogue, we discover out there? Maybe Proctor’s gold Jocasta? Time will tell. that Jocasta managed to transfer her consciousness into As we have seen, Jocasta has several intriguing futures Antigone’s body. She wanders off, musing, “Well, Tony ahead of her—and us. … looks like I finally got that body I wanted after all…”

THE INITIATIVE After cameo appearances in Avengers #501–503 (Oct.–Dec. 2004), Jocasta returns (in her original body) in Avengers: The Initiative #17 (Nov. 2008), co-written by Dan Slott and Christos Gage. “As I recall, it was Dan who brought back Jocasta during the Initiative run,” volunteers Gage. “I think he felt there wasn’t much explanation needed as to how her body was rebuilt, being a robot.” Following The Initiative, Jocasta appeared regularly in Mighty Avengers and Avengers Academy.

No Respect at All Jocasta continues to appear in the Marvel Universe, but rarely gets a break (and often gets broken)… Page from Avengers Academy #20 (Dec. 2011), written by Christos Gage, penciled by Tom Raney, and inked by Scott Hanna.

The author would like to express his sincere gratitude to Kurt Busiek, Tom DeFalco, Christos Gage, David Michelinie, Jim Salicrup, Roger Stern, and Roy Thomas.

JARROD BUTTERY lives in Western Australia and has written several articles for BACK ISSUE. He wonders if much unpleasantness might’ve been avoided if Ultron had just cut his losses and simply settled for Sister Eucalypta.

TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc

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It’s not easy being brought back to life. You have to get your memory back up to speed, people keep asking you where you’ve been, and then there’s the whole change thing … you spend a couple years lying on the bottom of the ocean, and suddenly there’s a bunch of strangers living in your house. Paul Kupperberg, however, was not intimidated. He had been given the assignment to do a new version of the Doom Patrol for DC’s newly revived title, Showcase, and the character of Cliff Steele—Robotman—was essential to that story. In fact, the entire history of the team was a key part of the equation. “The Doom Patrol was one of the books during the 1960s that I loved and collected,” says Kupperberg. “I don’t think I discovered the group until around the time it was canceled, around 1968 or so, but I collected the back issues and I loved the series. Looking back now, I think it was the closest thing DC had to a Marvel book. I was always a diehard DC fan and remain so to this day, but I was getting a little older and I was looking for a little more sophistication than the DC characters were giving me at that time. You could find that in The Doom Patrol. I loved Arnold Drake’s writing, and Bruno Premiani’s paul kupperberg art was so different than anything else being done out there.” That 1960s series was not the first time that a character named Robotman premiered in a comic book, of course. More than 20 years before the debut of The Doom Patrol, a Robotman appeared in Star Spangled Comics #7 (Apr. 1942). Created by Jerry Siegel, the character went on to appear in various issues of Star Spangled and Detective Comics before being shelved by DC during the 1950s. Some 30 years later, writer Roy Thomas brought the character into the book All-Star Squadron, going as far as retelling the character’s origin in issue #63. In a 1998 interview conducted by this author, Doom Patrol creator Arnold Drake said that the 1940s Robotman and his Cliff Steele were two separate characters. “I wasn’t familiar with that earlier Robotman until [DC editor] Julie Schwartz brought it to my attention,” Drake stated, “and that was after the Doom Patrol had begun publication.” But now it was 1977, and DC editor Paul Levitz had tapped Kupperberg to bring back the Doom Patrol because he knew of Kupperberg’s history with the characters. “He knew what a fan I was, because Paul and I had known each other since middle school,” says Kupperberg. The Showcase story arc encompassed three issues, #94, 95, and 96 (Sept. 1977, Nov. 1977, and Jan.

Holy (or Holey?) Robot! Tough day on the job for Cliff Steele on Bob Brown’s cover for Doom Patrol #94 (Mar. 1965). In the foreground is Robotman in Bronze and Silver (Age forms, that is), from Jim Aparo’s Showcase #94 cover. TM & © DC Comics.

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Douglas R. Kelly

Golden Age Robotman DC’s first character to use the name “Robotman,” as seen on this Jimmy Thompson-drawn splash to the hero’s adventure in Star Spangled Comics #40 (Jan. 1945). TM & © DC Comics.

1978, respectively). Kupperberg built the new team around Robotman, which meant coming up with a credible explanation for how Steele had survived the explosion that killed the original Doom Patrol back in 1968. Robotman, not surprisingly, is made of metal. This includes his head, which houses his human brain. This was due to lifesaving “surgery” performed on Steele by Niles Caulder (also known as the Chief), founder of the Doom Patrol, following Steele’s devastating racing accident. The crash had left only Steele’s brain undamaged, so the Chief transplanted that brain into a metal body, thus creating a being possessing superhuman strength, along with abilities such as scaling metallic surfaces due to magnetic plates in his new body. Known now as Robotman (originally, Automaton), Steele and his teammates— Rita Farr, known as Elasti-Girl, and Larry Trainor, known as Negative Man—banded together as the Doom Patrol, a team seen by the rest of the world as a group of outcasts. Following numerous missions as a part of the team, Robotman was with his teammates on the island that was blown up by Captain Zahl in the final issue of the original series (The Doom Patrol #121, Sept.–Oct.1968). Assumed to be dead along with the rest of the Doom Patrol, Cliff Steele wasn’t heard from again until Showcase #94 hit the stands in 1977.

HITTING THE BEACH That issue’s story is entitled “The Doom Patrol Lives Forever!,” and in it we learn that Robotman’s body was heavily damaged, but not completely destroyed, when Captain Zahl murdered the other team members. Robotman—or rather, what was left of him—washed up on a beach at the feet of Dr. Will Magnus, the creator of the Metal Men. We later learn that Magnus rebuilt Robotman, giving what John was doing. I probably should have given him a new metal body. It’s in this new guise that it more serious consideration, but that’s what I did.” Steele travels to Midway City, back to the old Doom Robotman’s new body was more streamlined Patrol headquarters, to regroup and consider what and less blocky-looking than the one he sported he wants to do next. in the 1960s series. “I wanted to make him look joe staton Anyone familiar with the 1960s version of really flexible,” says Staton, “and kind of loose. Robotman would likely recognize this new MagnusIn the original series, they kind of emphasized the designed body, but it was very much updated for the mechanical nature of the machinery. I was trying to make him look 1970s. That was due, in large part, to the talents of artist Joe Staton. metallic, but more fluid.” Like Kupperberg, Staton was a great fan of the original Showcase: After bringing the reader up to speed on Steele’s new lease on “Oh, yeah, I go all the way back with Showcase. I bought Fireman life, Showcase #94 shows him indulging in a bit of a pity party in the Farrell [in Showcase #1] off the stands, so I had followed it since the team’s old headquarters. He thinks to himself, “It’s not as if I got beginning. I was totally thrilled to be working on the new version.” anybody waiting for me … or anyplace to go! Face it, Smiley … there Although the covers of the three Doom Patrol Showcase issues just ain’t nothing left for you! The Chief … Larry … Rita … all gone! were drawn by Jim Aparo, it was Staton’s interior art on the series that Everybody in the world who ever meant anything to me … murdered!” came to define Robotman’s new look. “The original Doom Patrol was This kind of negative thinking would be a part of Robotman’s mental in the 1960s,” offers Staton. “The imagery still had a 1950s look and emotional makeup going forward, but Kupperberg often tempered about it, which is what you would expect a robot to look like from it by showing Steele’s pragmatic “I have to face reality no matter those days. By the 1970s, there was more flexibility in how you what it brings” side, which enabled the character to be a functional would think of robots.” and productive member of a team. Staton’s work up to that point included a stint drawing another DC It is, in fact, this practical side to his personality that drives Steele team, which had an impact on the way he approached the character to decide to seek out those who killed his teammates, a task that is of Robotman. “The only real direction I remember is that Paul Levitz interrupted when he unexpectedly runs straight into the new Doom told me that I had done the Metal Men recently, and robots are Patrol. The three new members are Arani Caulder, known as Celsius; robots, so I should be able to draw [Robotman].” Joshua Clay, known as Tempest; and Valentina Vostok, known as It’s also not hard to see the new Robotman’s resemblance to another Negative Woman. They have taken up residence in the old headquarters, metal fellow. As Staton explains it, “If you [notice with the way] I drew believing Robotman to be dead along with the rest of the original team. Robotman, it was a straight ripoff of John Byrne’s character, Rog-2000. Following misunderstandings and arguments all around, the new It was pretty much of an in-joke—John and I would stick things into members convince Steele to help them take on General Immortus, different titles at different times—and this was basically a takeoff on who is after an immortality serum developed by the Chief before he died. Robots Issue

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Expressive Automaton (right) Artist Joe Staton gave fluidity to Robotman’s face, which allowed the character to show a degree of expression. Panel from Showcase #96. (bottom) In that same issue, Arani saves Robotman’s bacon by creating an ice chute that he uses to rejoin the fight with the Cossack. TM & © DC Comics.

Immortus attacks the team, subdues them, and takes them to his moon base. Showcase #95 opens with Immortus torturing Arani to get her to tell him where he can get his hands on Caulder’s serum. His probing of Arani’s mind reveals that she was the wife of Niles Caulder, and that she was the first recipient of the serum. The other three members of the Doom Patrol are forced to watch, but Tempest finally breaks free and they go after Immortus. It turns out to be too late, however, as Immortus has duplicated the formula for the serum, and the Doom Patrol sees him drink it. But he soon begins to age again, and Arani tells her teammates that Immortus is unaware that the serum must be adjusted to the individual’s body chemistry, otherwise it has no effect. The Doom Patrol escapes and Immortus appears to be killed in the explosions that result from the battle.

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UNDERLYING BITTERNESS Throughout these first two issues, Cliff Steele throws around his share of one-liners. After Arani uses her powers to plug the hole in the side of Immortus’ building on the moon base in issue #95, thereby sealing it from the vacuum of space, Robotman tells her, “Baby, you’re great! I wish I had lips so I could kiss you!” This kind of humor masks Steele’s underlying bitterness about his physical condition. “I knew a guy who had no legs who used to threaten to kick me in the ass,” says Kupperberg. “It’s ‘whistling past the graveyard,’ and Cliff is all about that. My goal with him was to just try to keep him grounded as a human. Because it wouldn’t be easy for a guy like him, who can’t smell a rose, or feel a pretty girl’s face … no matter how sophisticated the robotics are. He was once human, and he knows what that feels like. And this can’t feel like that. So he will always be this guy who is trapped and is trying to make the best of it. He’s not a quitter—you don’t jump off a bridge because life doesn’t work the way you want it to. You do the best you can with what you’ve got. And what he’s got is not that good, but he’s going to keep going.” This approach aligns with the way Arnold Drake wrote the character in the original series. In the 1998 interview mentioned earlier, Drake was asked if he consciously wrote Cliff Steele as a man who was unable to feel anything due to being imprisoned inside a metal shell. “I think so,” said Drake. “You’ll find one or two speeches in the original series in which Robotman said to the others, in effect, ‘You’re lucky compared to me, because you can put your arms around someone and hug them,’ that kind of thing.” The Showcase run concluded with issue #96, in which a US intelligence agent attempts to take Negative Woman into custody as a Russian defector. The team is forced to fight, and defeat, a Russian baddie by the name of the Cossack, who’s bent on killing Negative Woman as payback for her defecting from the Soviet Union. After Valentina explains to her teammates why she left the Soviet Union, the four of them walk off arm-in-arm with Robotman, saying, “Let’s go, team!” This willingness on his part to at least give these new members a chance is in contrast to Cliff’s initial reluctance to work with them or even to believe anything they said. Joe Staton’s art shines in the battle scenes in these three issues. In issue #96, he serves up an outstanding sequence in which Robotman, falling from the sky, is saved by Celsius via her instant creation of an ice ramp. This winds up launching Robotman right back up at the Cossack, and the battle is on once again. But Robotman presented another challenge to Staton. During the battle with the Cossack, Steele tells

the others to go after the villain, who has kidnapped the unconscious Negative Woman with a helicopter, while Steele stays behind to track him using the headquarters’ radar system. Kupperberg writes, “The others are gone too soon to see the look of concern that crosses the man of metal’s visage…” Easier said than done when the guy has a steel kisser. As Staton puts it, “I wasn’t able to do a whole lot with the face. But with the fluidity, you could do body language, so I gave myself a little flexibility there. It would have been more of a challenge doing the original [1960s] version. At least I had something to show emotion with.” Robotman “really was kind of a creepy character,” Staton continues, “a disembodied brain in this machinery. Especially in the original version, when machinery was machinery. In both the original and in our version, this was a different character from your standard Cyborg sort of guy.” By definition, Showcase existed to test new ideas and new characters with the comic-buying public, and to serve as a launchpad for new titles [discussed at length last issue—ed.]. The three issues starring the new Doom Patrol did not result in an ongoing series, due at least in part to the infamous DC Implosion that occurred in 1978. But Cliff Steele and his new colleagues still found ways to pop up here and there in the DC Universe. Shortly after the Showcase run, in issues #191–193 of The Superman Family, the new team fights alongside Supergirl against a couple of super-baddies who are creating havoc by suspending gravity in various places. The stories take place in London, for the most part, where the new Doom Patrol is taking a short vacation. Working as a team, they manage to defeat the gravity lords and they look on as Supergirl puts the two villains in jail. The story arc is interesting reading, written by Gerry Conway with art by Arvell Jones and Romeo Tanghal. Conway writes Robotman as a team player here, and not so much with the wise guy approach that Kupperberg had used in Showcase; Steele leads the team, but does so in a straightforward way. In fairness, there’s not much room for character development in 12- or 14-page stories, in addition to the fact that Supergirl was the main feature in these stories.

LOOKING FOR JUSTICE In 1981, writer Marv Wolfman tackled the question of what had become of the killers of the original Doom Patrol. Wolfman’s The New Teen Titans #10 (Aug. 1981) served to set up a three-issue story in issues #13–15, with Gar Logan— known originally as Beast Boy and now as Changeling—at the center of the proceedings. Logan’s membership in the Teen Titans provided a strong connection to the original Doom Patrol, and Wolfman took full advantage of it. “I was a huge Doom

“It’s Time for Action!” (top) Original art page 4 from Showcase #95. (bottom) Panel from Superman Family #191. (left) The DP didn’t make the Superman Family covers. TM & © DC Comics.

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Unfinished Business (left) For fans of the original Doom Patrol, George Pérez’s cover of The New Teen Titans #13 (Nov. 1981) represented iconic imagery and memories. (right) Who says a metal face can’t show emotion? Steele finally catches up with Madame Rouge in NTT #13. TM & © DC Comics.

Patrol fan,” he says, “and followed that title regularly. I very much wanted to bring them back (from the dead, in some cases), and since Gar Logan was a Titan, we had a natural lead-in. I was thrilled that the fans really embraced the stories.” Issue #10 reveals that Logan experienced his own share of suffering when Zahl murdered the Doom Patrol, and now he wants Zahl and Rouge brought to justice. He explains to his fellow Titan, Cyborg, about his life with the Doom Patrol, about how Rita Farr and her husband, Steve Dayton, adopted him, and about Rouge and Zahl killing the team. He also tells Cyborg that Dayton has gone off in search of the killers. He takes a video call from Cliff Steele, who tells Logan that he’s been trailing Dayton, and that he has followed him to Brazil. Steele asks Logan if he wants him to continue following Dayton and Logan says yes, by all means. Cliff replies, “Okay, Greens, it’s your bucks.” Interestingly, Cliff also asks Logan to thank his “lab guys” for his new robot body, which they apparently have designed and built for him. His new body very much resembles his original one from the 1960s series, and he tells Logan that he really likes it. Three months later, in New Teen Titans #13 (Nov. 1981), artist George Pérez gave Doom Patrol fans an iconic cover depicting a battered and defeated Robotman hanging from the ruins of a temple in the jungles of Uganda. The cover copy reads, “Now it Begins! The Quest for the Killers of the Legendary Doom Patrol!” Seems Steele had trailed Dayton there and then been ambushed. The Titans take him down off the temple and Cyborg begins repairing the damage to Steele’s systems. Once on his feet, he accompanies the Titans to an underground complex. As they’re

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looking around, they see Madame Rouge on a video monitor, and Robotman flips: “It’s her! That blasted killer! She an’ Zahl murdered the Doom Patrol! I wanna break her stinkin’ little neck!” The Titans manage to calm him down enough to move on through the complex, but Steele warns them to stay out of his way when the time comes for him to deal with Rouge and Zahl. These scenes provide good insight into Steele’s psyche. He’s living more or less for revenge; finding and punishing the killers seems to be his sole focus. But this changes with issue #14, as Gar Logan decides he’s had enough talk and goes after Rouge and Zahl by himself. The menacing, growly Robotman from issue #13 is nowhere in sight here, and Logan takes on the mantle of revenger-in-chief. “I wasn’t doing a Doom Patrol comic … it was a Titans comic,” says Wolfman, “which meant the stories had to come from them. Having Gar pick up the storyline made sense. Also, since he had already lost one family, having his second family (in the guise of Rita) also die gave him more of a reason to seek revenge.” We also learn a bit more about Robotman’s new body. He tells the Titans that he didn’t like the body that Will Magnus had built for him, so he convinced Steve Dayton’s lab boys to rebuild (re-create?) his original body. He tells them, “I’m as good as old again!” Issue #15 presents the conclusion of the Doom Patrol storyline, with Logan joining forces with former enemies the Brotherhood of Evil to find Rouge and Zahl. Steele locates and then corners Zahl, who turns on him and starts shooting. Cliff tries to warn him about ricochets off his metal body, but Zahl is struck

Giff and Gil (top) Ambush Bug had it coming when Robotman cleaned his clock in DC Comics Presents #52 (Dec. 1982)! Art by Keith Giffen and Sal Trapani. (bottom) Steele and the new DP in headshots on Gil Kane’s cover to The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #9 (July 1983). TM & © DC Comics.

by one. Steele is not a man bent on revenge here. Rather, he’s a team player, and he actually shows mercy to Zahl, who nonetheless chooses the wrong path and winds up paying with his life. Meanwhile, Logan has caught up with Madame Rouge, whom he is determined to destroy for killing his mother. He knocks Rouge into some machinery, which explodes, mortally wounding her. As she’s dying, she tells Logan that the shock of all of it has brought her to her senses, and she thanks Gar for freeing her. She then warns him to find the others and get off the island, as it’s about to explode. As the team escapes the island, Gar feels terrible and reproaches himself for killing Rouge, or at least for causing her death. The final two pages of issue #15 offer a moving tribute to the Doom Patrol, in the process of which Logan and his stepfather, Steve Dayton, reconcile with one another. The three-issue story was well received by fans. Paul Kupperberg also liked what Wolfman and Pérez had done, although he says, “I kind of had my own closure with them, I think. It was a good story and I enjoyed it, and Marv did a great job. But in my head, this was already done. You know, I didn’t have the opportunity to actually bring these guys to justice, which probably would have been a far better story than what I did do in the Showcase issues. I don’t have that kind of investment in my characters that I needed that closure.” As the 1980s went on, the new Doom Patrol made a number of appearances in various titles. In 1982, Kupperberg teamed them with Superman in issue #52 of DC Comics Presents, in which they help the Man of Steel defeat the “villain” Ambush Bug. We’re given a peek into Robotman’s heart at the end of the story, when he comforts (in his own way) Valentina Vostok, who is bemoaning her fate as Negative Woman. It’s kind of a touching scene, and shows that Kupperberg was bringing Steele to a point where he could accept the new team, even if he and Arani continued to argue about the direction of the team and about her claim of being the Chief’s wife. “Remember,” says Kupperberg, “he’s the guy who has lived it. He has gone through more hell than any of the rest of them. Whatever happened to Arani or whatever happened to Josh, Cliff was the guy who has lived that hell. He literally died and was brought back to life. He’s seen things that nobody should have to see. It can turn you nasty, evil, and bitter … or it can turn you into a better person.” Steele next surfaced in a four-issue run of The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl in 1983. The new Doom Patrol team up here with Supergirl to defeat Reactron, whom Joshua Clay (Tempest) knew in Vietnam. These four issues were penciled by Carmine Infantino and inked by Bob Oksner. Infantino’s Robotman is a different kettle of fish from the Staton or Pérez versions, at least from the shoulders up. Here, his shoulders flare outward and upward and his head has a flat ring running around it, somewhat resembling a hardhat safety helmet. And this version of the character doesn’t match yet another version shown on the covers of #8 and #9, both of which were by artist Gil Kane. But the story here is engrossing. It’s apparent that Kupperberg had progressed as a storyteller since the Showcase run in 1977, with the relationships between characters and their motivations presented here in a more nuanced, sophisticated way. Robotman is a team player and acts as team leader when necessary. Kupperberg continued to write him as a bit of a wise guy, cracking jokes here and there, but Steele was now a more complex character than he had been. “I was five years older when those stories came out,” says Kupperberg. “I had learned a little more about writing, I’d learned more about life.

You cannot underestimate the importance of just living, no matter what you do. Experience is what creates a creator, an artist, a writer, a composer. Any form of art, any form of creativity, is going to be made better through your living your life and knowing what the world is about. So the character changed on that level.” In 1985–1986, several issues of the Marv Wolfman-written Crisis on Infinite Earths contained Robotman—along with, of course, pretty much every character that had ever appeared in a DC comic. In issue #5, for example, he appeared in but a single panel and didn’t even have a speaking part. Robots Issue

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Mysterious Metal Man Courtesy of Doug Kelly, a copy of the original art from page 30 (the last story page) of the Doom Patrol adventure in Secret Origins Annual #1 (1987). Writer Paul Kupperberg and artist John Byrne pop up in the crowd (in the foreground) in the lower right corner. The issue’s cover, by Byrne, is seen above. TM & © DC Comics.

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PREVIEW AND PROMO And then came 1987’s Secret Origins Annual #1. Kupperberg worked with John Byrne on this 30-page story, which served as a reintroduction of sorts to the Doom Patrol, both the original and new teams. It also was a preview of sorts for a long-awaited new book about the team, which DC would launch later that year. Kupperberg and Byrne use Robotman as a first-person narrator in Secret Origins Annual, as he tells the story of both teams by way of flashbacks. This kind of thing can get old quickly, but this one at least has the advantage that Steele is telling the story to the Doom Patrol headquarters’ computer security system, which keeps pressing him for details in order to verify his identity when he visits the place in Midway City. As he’s filling in the security system, Steele is suddenly attacked by heavily armed government agents working for Valentina Vostok. Steele talks with her via a video monitor, but she refuses to tell him what’s really going on, and she orders the agents to let him go. Robotman then leaves the house, telling the security system that all of that superhero stuff is behind him and that it’s time for him to move on with his life. As he walks out onto the sidewalk, we see in the crowd passing by the faces of none other than Paul Kupperberg and John Byrne. This story undoubtedly built excitement among Doom Patrol fans as they anticipated the new book on the team, and it served as a good primer for those who were just coming to the party. The all-new series Doom Patrol #1 (Oct. 1987) sported a wraparound cover by Steve Lightle, who also did the covers and interior pencils for the first five issues. Inking was by Gary Martin, and Paul Kupperberg wrote the first 18 issues of the title’s run. The first issue opens with Arani finding the Chief’s wheelchair at the site of the explosion that killed the original team, and she becomes more convinced than ever that he somehow survived the attack. Through flashbacks, she retells the story of the murder of the original team and of the forming of the new Doom Patrol. Arani tracks down Cliff and tells him she has proof that Niles is alive, and he responds with more than a little skepticism. He tells Arani, “Nothing human could’ve survived that blast!” She tells him she has evidence that the Chief is alive and Cliff tells her, “I still ain’t buying, Arani.” However, he agrees to at least look at her evidence. This leads to Cliff locating Joshua Clay and pressuring him into joining up with them again. A few days later, the three are at the explosion site in the Caribbean. Cliff dives down to see what he can see, and comes back up with a ring that he pulled from Rita’s finger. What follows is a superbly written sequence in which Robotman falls to his knees in grief as he tells Arani and Josh, “Rita Farr … Elasti-Girl … it hurts so much, Arani … and I can’t even cry for her.” Kupperberg gives us real insight into Robotman’s character in these scenes. Beneath his cynical exterior, Robotman has a heart—or at least a brain—that feels things deeply.

Heart of Steele (top) Cliff collapses in grief after finding the body of Rita Farr in Doom Patrol #1 (Oct. 1987). (bottom) Robotman resolves to help his old friend Negative Man in DP #5. By Kupperberg, Lightle, and Martin. TM & © DC Comics.

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For the first 24 years, Cliff Steele’s “stage name” was Robotman. But once DC began publishing Doom Patrol in 1987, the character decided his legal name was more to his liking. In Doom Patrol #3 (Dec. 1987), Steele tells a US intelligence agent that he no longer goes by Robotman. By that time, his teammates were in the habit of calling him Cliff, or Steele (with Arani occasionally calling him Clifford); the name Robotman was used mostly by people outside of that circle. For the most part, Paul Kupperberg stuck to using Cliff or Steele during the rest of his run on the title, although the character still occasionally corrected people who called him Robotman. Interestingly, Kupperberg is not sure exactly why he made the change. “I must have figured that a guy like Cliff would get tired of being reminded of his condition every time someone asked him to pass the potatoes, so he dropped the name (‘I am not a robot … I am a man!’).”

NAME DROPPER

Checking Under the Hood Steele and his new teammate Scott kick around the pros and cons of spare parts in Doom Patrol #9 (June 1988). Art by Erik Larsen and Gary Martin. TM & © DC Comics.

Following the story in the first issue were one-page biographies of each member of the new Doom Patrol, along with a two-page synopsis, written by editor Mike Gold, of how the Doom Patrol got to this point. Issues #2 and 3 tell the story of Kalki, a bad guy from Arani’s past, who attacks and imprisons Robotman, Tempest, and Celsius. They manage to defeat Kalki, but during the story, Kupperberg introduces another member of the original Doom Patrol: Larry Trainor, or Negative Man, apparently also survived the explosion on that island and is now being kept worked very well in the first five issues. But Martin’s alive, in some sort of induced coma by Kalki’s inking over Larsen wasn’t as effective and in fact minions. Trainor, of course, is one of Cliff Steele’s gave the book a lighter, somewhat cartoonish look. closest and oldest friends, and he’s as shocked as Contrast this with the combination seen in 1988’s anyone to see Larry alive. In issue #4, Steele says to Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad Special #1, a crossover himself, “Arani can rot … but Larry is with her and story. Larsen did the penciling on this book, and him I care about!” Later, he says, “Lord knows what Bob Lewis’ inks gave the characters and the action kind’a trouble she’ll drag him into … and I won’t a weightier, more dramatic look. erik larsen lose him again, damn it! Not again!” Issue #9 (June 1988) contains a sequence in The next few issues introduce a couple of new which Steele visits Larry and tries to lift his old characters to the team, as we watch Arani’s growing obsession with friend’s spirits. Larry, however, is having none of it as he alternates finding her supposedly still-alive husband. Throughout these issues, between anger at Negative Woman (who now has Larry’s negative Steve Lightle draws Robotman more or less with his original robot being inside of her) and depression over his situation. Cliff obviously body, the one that was mostly destroyed in the island explosion and hurts for his friend, but feels powerless to help him. then re-created by Steve Dayton’s lab people during the New Teen Their conversation is subdued but powerful, and it serves as a Titans storyline in 1981. demonstration of Kupperberg’s excellent grasp of these characters. Issue #6 saw a change in artists, as Erik Larsen took over the Later in the same issue, artists Larsen and Martin give us a killer doublepenciling chores from Lightle. The change brought a very different page spread depicting the Doom Patrol battling an army of plastic look to the book, particularly for the character of Robotman. Larsen’s men, who turn out to belong to one of the original Doom Patrol’s interpretation gave Steele a much more pronounced lower jaw, classic villains, Garguax. The battle scene is followed by a visit to which, although still hinged at his robotic ears, tended to now give Garguax’s place on the far side of the Moon, and Larsen and Martin the character a more intimidating look. “His features struck me as a did an outstanding job depicting the enormous alien. All in all, this bit too normal,” says Larsen, “and I tried to exaggerate some aspects issue is one of the visual highlights of the series. and push it a bit to make him look a bit more interesting. Looking Superman renews acquaintances with the team in Doom Patrol #10 back, I’m not sure it worked all that well.” and in a crossover with them in Superman #20, which was written and That may be due in part to the blend of the pencils and the inks; drawn by John Byrne. One of the highlights of the two-part story comes the combination of Lightle’s penciling with Gary Martin’s inking had when Steele tells Superman to pull off his (Steele’s) head—literally, to 54 • BACK ISSUE • Robots Issue

decapitate him—in order to stop the rampaging Steele, who is being controlled by Metallo. So Superman reluctantly tears off Cliff’s head, which doesn’t harm Cliff as his brain is the only human part of him. Superman then carefully carries Cliff’s head around for the rest of the story before giving it to Arani for a little body-andfender work at the Doom Patrol headquarters. Power Girl guest-stars in issues #13 and 14, and then it’s old-home week in issue #15. In this one issue, Kupperberg brings back General Immortus, the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, and … the Chief. It seems that Arani was right all along, although we find out in issue #16 (Winter 1988) that she is not the Chief’s wife. That’s also the issue that saw an art change. Graham Nolan took over the penciling from Erik Larsen, and the stories took on a new visual energy. Nolan toned down Robotman’s jaw, and he gave the man of metal a flexibility not unlike what Joe Staton had done back in the Showcase issues. That included the character’s face, which always was a challenge in terms of showing emotion and expression. “One of the advantages of comics over film,” says Nolan, “is that you’re not bound by the physical laws of metal being an expressionless, hard surface. I would bend Steele’s features as necessary, the same way Gene Colan would do on Iron Man, to get the look I wanted.”

GREAT WORK Issues #17 and 18 featured guest-appearances by Aquaman and the Sea Devils, as well as by our old friend Garguax. They also saw the death of Arani, and for the first time in years, Cliff Steele found a measure of peace in reconnecting with his old friend the Chief, as well as with Larry Trainor. On the creative side, these issues saw Nolan’s artwork, inked by Arne Starr and Tim Dzon, firing on all cylinders with Kupperberg’s writing, and the stories made for excellent reading. “I saw Cliff as the ‘Thing’ of the Doom Patrol, the tough guy, the wiseacre,” says Nolan. “He was the most interesting of the characters, so I always tried to showcase him in group shots. I enjoyed those issues, and I really liked Paul’s writing on the book.” And then DC pulled the plug. Not on the book itself, but on the creative team that had found its footing and was producing some great work. The letters page of issue #18 began with a message that said, “This is the last issue of the Doom Patrol as you knew it. Beginning next month, we make some substantial changes.” Substantial, indeed. Paul Kupperberg and Graham Nolan were taken off the book, and issue #19 (Feb. 1989) was the beginning of an acclaimed run by writer Grant Morrison. While no one can deny what Morrison went on to achieve with Doom Patrol, it was a shame that Kupperberg and Nolan didn’t get the opportunity to develop and fully realize what they had started. Robotman was at the center of that potential. The character that Kupperberg had guided for 11 years had come to a place of maturity, a point at which he understood his place in the world. Perhaps that’s not surprising, given that Kupperberg was growing and learning as a writer during that time.

His perspective on the character of Robotman is actually quite personal. “The character was me,” says Kupperberg. “When you do a group book, you always have your ‘avatar’ in there. The Thing was Jack Kirby’s avatar, and Robotman was mine. He was the wisecracking Brooklyn kid who was masking deep hostility with his humor. Every character you write is an extension of yourself. You can give the character other opinions, you can make it do things you would never do, but essentially, you’re doing some aspect of yourself, because what else can you write? You see yourself in characters, and it’s not always the best part of yourself. People are a mixture of nice and not nice. It’s a matter of finding the balance.”

The Many Faces of Robotman The combination of penciler Graham Nolan and inker Tim Dzon worked very well in issues #17 and 18 of Doom Patrol. Page 4 of #17. (inset) A Robotman cover from John Byrne’s mid-2000s DP reboot.

DOUGLAS R. KELLY is editor of Marine Technology magazine and a collector of Silver and Bronze Age comics. His byline has appeared in such publications as Antiques Roadshow Insider, Associations Now, Model Collector, and Buildings.

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“Today, a warrior spawned in the dim past, created by science of the far future, shall fight his first battle, finding triumph in failure. Today is the day marked for the first of the mighty Shogun Warriors, he who is called … Raydeen!” The hero, standing several stories tall, is posed in defiance against a terrible beast of a similar, towering stature. Frightened city dwellers bolt from the conflict, with the monster’s spiked appendage digging deep into the earth. The scene is set in Tokyo, Japan, a familiar territory for a battle of titans. In one page, readers were given everything they needed to know to get hooked on the so-called “Shogun Warriors.” Giant robots were here to protect us from the forces of evil. But it wasn’t the mechanized protagonist itself that convinced scribe Doug Moench to tackle the Shogun Warriors comic book and write those opening words to the 20-issue series. It was a much smaller incarnation of Raydeen—as far as toys go, however, it was a monster. “I was familiar with Japanese robots,” Moench says, relating his time on the book to BACK ISSUE. “I wasn’t aware of [the Shogun Warriors’] names at time. I think actually Stan [Lee] asked me. He said, ‘Hey, how would you like to do Shogun Warriors?’ I was taken aback a little bit. A guy had come from Japan with a bunch of toys—I guess they were trying to seal the deal with Marvel. I thought, ‘Wow, I could be real star with my kid.’ One of them was a threefoot-tall Raydeen, a really tall thing, and I got to take them home! I was right; my kid was thrilled. All of his friends couldn’t believe it.” Moench is partly known for his adult-themed material, from his famed Batman runs to Moon Knight, Conan the Barbarian, and several horror books for Marvel. The writer dreamed up some of the darker figures seen in mainstream books, with the likes doug moench of Bane, Deathlok, Black Mask, and Moon Knight among his co-creations. With a project like Shogun Warriors, Moench welcomed a change: “I think they even said, ‘Look, I know you’re not known for this kinda stuff, but maybe that’s what we need—a more adult take.’ I said, ‘I want to do the opposite. A real free-wheeling, fun thing specifically aimed at much younger readers, but I’ll try to do it in a way older readers will enjoy it. This will help me keep up the workflow. As long as there’s variety, it won’t feel like there’s just more work.’ It was like a breath of fresh air to me.” It was 1979, and Mattel’s Shogun Warriors toys, with their springloaded launchers and bright-colored armor, were a hit with the Saturday morning cartoon demographic. The toys were imported from popular anime programs in Japan, and the figures were available in varying sizes and detail, from about three inches to two feet in height. Though there were over ten Shogun Warriors featured in the US toy line, Moench was only given the keys to three for his series: Raydeen, Combatra, and Dangard Ace. The toys and cartoon series featuring the robots may have had their own narratives, but the scribe built an entirely new backdrop behind the robots and their purpose on Earth. “I remember I was told, ‘Don’t worry. Don’t worry about it. It’s okay if it’s different,’ ” says Moench. Even maintaining the same spelling of the robots’ names between the toys and the comics didn’t seem to be a top priority. Fans will

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Andy Smith

find multiple versions of the word “Combatra,” sometimes as “Combattra,” and “Raydeen,” at times as “Raideen,” adorning the boxes of some of the figures. “The toys’ packaging had the Japanese alphabet, so they’d say, ‘Oh, that’s so and so.’ I had no idea,” Moench says, laughing.

WORKING OUT THE MECHANICS The solicitations for the series were decidedly robot-centric, despite the fact that that human characters would become the focal point of the series. An advertisement told readers that “there should come a day when titans walk the Earth! Titans dedicated to protecting our world from the dark forces of evil! There shall come … the SHOGUN WARRIORS,” with Raydeen’s Breaker Blade shown prominently as the trio of giant robots strike a pose above a nighttime cityscape. With the first issue, Moench introduced three, never-before-seen human protagonists to control the colossal machines—and their origins spanned the globe. Genji Odashu, 22, was a Japanese pilot; Ilongo Savage, 24, was an African marine biologist; and Richard Carson, 22, was an American stunt driver. The three were summoned by the Followers of Light, a group continuing to protect the Earth after it was first claimed for evil during the age of dinosaurs. The villainous ancestors of Maur-Kon, as well as the villain himself, were known as the Followers of the Dark. They battled the Followers of Light in the Chaos Wars, before being placed in suspended animation below a volcano. Dr. Tambura, now leader of the Followers of Light, relates the three 20-somethings’ destinies as Earth’s new protectors in the Shogun Sanctuary after the volcano erupts, releasing Maur-Kon herb trimpe and his evildoers. With a nonlinear approach for Shogun Warriors #1 (Feb. 1979), classically dubbed a “collector’s item” on its cover, Moench depicted our Homo sapiens heroes transported out of their ordinary lives, learning to control the towering Raydeen, battling the beast Rok-Korr (appropriately pronounced “Rock-Core”), and eventually, meeting two more robots provided by the Followers of Light so that RAYDEEN (top) each pilot had his or her own Warrior. Moench had free reign over Pilot: Richard Carson, 22 the story of the Shogun Warriors. But that wasn’t the only reason the Notable weapons: series was a joy for him: “Plus, I got to work with Herb.” Screamer-Hawks, Breaker Blade Herb Trimpe tackled penciling duties for the series, and Moench Transformation: Firehawk was thrilled to work once again with the legendary Marvel artist on a new project. Both fondly recall their working relationship, which COMBATRA (center) included yet another popular series featuring giant monsters: Godzilla Pilot: Genji Odashu, 22 [see BACK ISSUE #18—ed.]. Mattel also had the license to produce toy Notable weapons: versions of Godzilla at the time, and advertisements for toys drawn Laser cannon in chest by Trimpe sometimes depicted the monster alongside Raydeen. Transformation: Separation and “I always enjoyed working with Herb Trimpe,” says Moench. “I love Attack Mode—Delta-V One (head), his storytelling. You know, it’s a different experience with every artist. Skyskater Two (chest and thorax), Some of them, [they’re] hard to write for, because the art isn’t exactly Earthmover Three (abdomen and what you thought of or it isn’t a match for your writing style. With Herb, lower torso), Turbostreaker Four it already flows from image to image. So you don’t have to put in (legs and pelvis), and Groundrover exposition or dialogue or a caption so people can make sense with Five (feet) what they’re trying to read, saying, ‘Hey, I know the art doesn’t show this, but…’ I never had to worry about that with Trimpe.” DANGARD ACE (bottom) Trimpe recalls a close working relationship with Moench, as well. Pilot: Illongo Savage, 24 “Doug and I got along great,” he says. “Doug was fantastic. We had a Notable weapons: whole lot of fun on it.” Both recall Trimpe flying his biplane from his Photon-Spheres, Rocket-Fist home in New York to Moench’s home state of Pennsylvania for a visit. Transformation: Dreadnought-Titan Trimpe even offered the writer a ride in the sky for himself. Trimpe is All three could work together to use the Power Triangle Fist function, a known airplane enthusiast, and is particularly noted for his work which would emit a powerful energy blast at a given target. with aircrafts in the comic-book form. Moench reportedly declined,

SHOGUN WARRIORS: ASSEMBLE!

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“You sunk my battleship!” Raydeen and Cerberus, as seen on the Herb Trimpe/Al Milgrom original cover art to Shogun Warriors #8 (Sept. 1979). Courtesy of Anthony Snyder (www.anthonyscomicbookart.com). Shogun Warriors TM & © 2014 Toynami Inc.

but Trimpe adds that other co-workers from the Marvel stable, like Bob Layton, then-editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, and even Shooter’s father, took him up on the offer. Trimpe only realized decades later how he had made a habit of tackling series like Shogun Warriors during his days at Marvel. Aside from Godzilla, Trimpe made his mark on licensed properties like G.I. Joe, The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones, Planet of the Apes, and Star Wars. “Things popped up,” says Trimpe. “As someone once pointed out—I had never realized this after 30 years working at Marvel—I did a lot of the licensed stuff. In fact, I think I did almost solely the licensed stuff on a regular basis. I think [I started drawing Shogun Warriors] because nobody else wanted to do that. It wasn’t a mainline superhero. Which suited me, because superheroes are boring. How many times does Superman die? It’s a variable and flexible medium.” Trimpe also had a memorable run on another licensed book: Transformers. The series and Shogun Warriors are often compared, lumped into the giantrobot genre made popular in the 1970s and 1980s.

But when comparing the two, Shogun being the precursor to the popular “robots in disguise,” Trimpe is quick to defend the book he took on with Doug Moench: “If I had to put Transformers and Shogun Warriors aside, and someone asked which one is more appealing, I would have said Shogun Warriors, because Transformers don’t make any sense whatsoever. It’s kid stuff. One of them just turned into a big gun. Being on Transformers was a nightmare.” Trimpe was also given toys as part of the deal, and although his kids would eventually enjoy them, he initially used the figures for a more pragmatic purpose. With series like Transformers, it’s common for artists to be given reference sheets in order to properly depict the characters in action. But with three-dimensional objects at his disposal, Trimpe was able to use and memorize the varying angles provided by the physical objects. “No matter how fantastic the concepts are, it has to be somewhere in the framework of reality,” explains Trimpe. “Everybody has their own boundaries in that way.” The artist maintains that he enjoyed the practical mechanics of the robots, with a healthy amount of suspended disbelief. As someone who likes to “work things out,” he likes his books to be grounded in logic. “In Shogun, people operate the thing,” Trimpe says. “It’s not aliens from another planet. They transformed, but they transformed into a very logical shape using the parts at hand. I can’t really talk about Shogun Warriors without thinking of Transformers. They’re opposite poles of a magnet, side by side and pushing away at each other.” The series’ core giant robots each had their own quirks and draws, with Raydeen leading the pack as the comic’s original, flagship Warrior. Raydeen had its Screamer-Hawks, anti-missiles with a bird-like form, and a devastating Breaker Blade. Dangard Ace featured PhotonSpheres, launched from its chest, and a signature RocketFist, both combining for an attack that the Followers’ computers estimated as “effective in 99 out of 100 instances” in Shogun Warriors #2 (Mar. 1979). Raydeen and Dangard Ace both had flight modes, becoming Firehawk and Dreadnought-Titan, respectively. Combatra, Genji’s prized robot, had a Separation and Attack Mode, with the components Delta-V One (head), Skyskater Two (chest and thorax), Earthmover Three (abdomen and lower torso), Turbostreaker Four (legs and pelvis), and Groundrover Five (feet).

GETTING INTO A RHYTHM The duo continued to pit the book’s heroes against Rok-Korr for two more issues, as Maur-Kon became less dependent on sorcery and more reliant on science to battle his heroic foes. The giant beast split into the Elementals of Evil, three creatures made of fire, water, and earth, before ultimately meeting his demise in the series’ third issue. As the overall narrative progressed, the protagonists became accustomed to the strengths and new transformations of each Shogun Warrior robot, relying on each other in battle as Maur-Kon threw new, cybernetic behemoths in their way. Combatra’s aforementioned ability to split into several parts for a

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multi-angle assault was consistently used to thwart monsters and escape hairier situations. Dangard Ace, like his oceanographer pilot, had to take to the sea in certain adventures. As well, Richard Carson’s love interest, Deena James, consistently gained prominence in the series, proving particularly useful with a shotgun. Each of the three human protagonists would eventually receive a key shaped like an ankh, which would allow them to communicate with the Followers of the Light. The fifth and sixth issues of the series saw the capture of Genji and Combatra, with Maur-Kon turning a Shogun Warrior against its own kind. A peek back at the letters column of the series, “Warrior Dispatch,” will find a familiar name for comic-book fans inside Shogun Warriors #6 (July 1979). Celebrated comic scribe Kurt Busiek, a budding writer at the time, wrote a letter of praise for the series, even likening the Shogun Sanctuary to the headquarters featured on the early-1970s television program SEARCH. Busiek had several letters published in Marvel books as a so-called “letterhack.” Aside from Shogun Warriors, his letters also made it into series like Fantastic Four, The Micronauts, and Machine Man. The series would move forward with a monster-of-the-month approach, pitting the Shogun Warriors against robotic titans and organic beasts alike (and sometimes a mix of both) on land, underwater, and even on the Moon. Dr. Demonicus, who first appeared in the Godzilla monthly, became a new central villain of the series, organizing attacks from monsters Starchild, the Hand of Five, and Cerebus, before combining all of them for a dramatic ending to the arc. And it wrapped up just in time, as Shogun Warriors #15 (Apr. 1980) featured a singular tale crafted by Steven Grant and drawn by Mike Vosburg. Grant remembers the book’s then-editor approaching him to take on the book for a single issue. “I had never heard of Shogun Warriors, but I a notable amount of interaction between the human was in Al Milgrom’s office and he asked me for a fill-in characters, even ending with a humorous line from issue,” Grant says. “They had a story bible for the Richard Carson. But Grant did have to get creative series that Doug Moench had written, so he gave with certain instructions from the story bible. me a copy and I went home to cobble together an steven grant “In discussing the three characters piloting the idea to pitch. I wasn’t familiar with the series, but I Warriors, [Moench] gave pretty elaborate descriptions didn’t have any problems with writing it. A gig’s a of the two men, but [Genji] he summed up with, gig, especially when you have to pay New York City-size bills.” ‘She speaks with unconscious poetry,’” Grant says. “I like Doug, but what Grant took his typical approach to temporary roles like his short-lived the hell is that supposed to mean? So I wrote all her dialogue in Haiku.” stint on the series. His fill-in work for Marvel included Spectacular Spider-Man, Daredevil, Marvel Team-Up, and more. Like the series’ regular THE LIGHT DIMS team, he knew nothing of the Shogun Warriors before agreeing to do Moench’s return to the book was marked by arguably the most dramatic the series. He chose a simple focus on his Shogun Warriors take. plot point of the series. In “Death of Innocence,” the Followers “The objective of fill-in issues was to write hopefully good standalone of Light, including the beloved Dr. Tambura, were killed by the a stories that left status quo alone and no tread of territory the regular mysteriously alien group, later revealed to be headed by “the Primal writer was mining,” Grant says. “When doing these things, a good One,” and the Shogun Sanctuary was destroyed. The cover, depicting approach is to ask a question you want answered, then wrap your story the towering Raydeen holding the limp body of Tambura in his hand, around answering it. I’d always wondered with these tech-based heroes implied a sea change for the series. Upon his reveal, the Primal One why no villains ever just steal the tech, so that became the core.” was shown to be what appears to be a group of triangles, sometimes Grant’s issue, titled “The Insider,” took the robots back to their with a face, surrounded by cosmic Kirby dots, popularly used at roots in Japan. Through the course of the issue, the heroes find that the time to denote a cosmic origin. The three heroes then faced the person they think is Richard Carson during this particular session the villainous Megatron—an ironic moniker, considering the back in the Shogun Sanctuary is someone else entirely. “From the Transformers’ chief antagonist and Decepticons leader of the same Japanese milieu, I free-associated The Yakuza, a 1974 Sydney Pollack name, who would make his debut years later. film, and decided, if you’re going to do a story about criminals in As the trio moved closer and closer to a final conflict with the Japan, might as well make them Yakuza. I think it was the first time Primal One, another group of heroes became involved: the Fantastic the Yakuza was mentioned in Marvel comics.” Four. The alien entity was said to have intentions of ridding the world Before the series took a somber turn with Shogun Warriors #16 of powerful humans, and Reed Richards apparently made the list. (May 1980), Grant’s one-off take provided a lighter note to the series. After an initial conflict between the two teams, a usual byproduct Though there was plenty of action in the story, the narrative provided of superheroes meeting for the first time in the Marvel Universe, an Robots Issue

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“The World’s Greatest Giant Robots Magazine” The Shogun Warriors and a misspelled word make guest-appearances on this Bill Sienkiewicz/Bob McLeod cover for Fantastic Four #226 (Jan. 1981). Fantastic Four TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. Shogun Warriors TM & © 2014 Toynami Inc.

were enlisted for help. The pilot of the Destroyer was revealed to be a man named William McLaughlin, and after multiple battles, he was defeated. The human trio then had to return to their simple, quaint lives as a pilot, stunt driver, and oceanographer. Many presume the destruction of the robots was over the loss of the licenses for the characters. As Carson reflects on the return to their former occupations with a somber tone, Sienkiewicz depicts downcast heroes through shadows and pained expressions. “You can’t be heroic on your own—without a giant robot?” Carson says. “Heroism is a relative thing—and it can be done in little ways on a small scale … and a human scale. And even if we never get a chance to prove our heroism again … well, what’s so bad about being normal?” Reed Richards does his best to comfort Carson.

THE SHOGUN LEGACY

alliance was formed and by Shogun Warriors #20 (Sept. 1980), they were able to defeat the Primal One, who actually ended up being Maur-Konn in disguise. The villain was arrested with the help of the Invisible Woman, and the heroes had prevailed. But this would be Shogun Warriors’ last adventure under the Shogun Warriors banner. “I got a call, and the gist of it was, ‘Okay, sales are okay, but not great,’” Moench remembers. “The bottom line is, they’re not good enough to keep it going. We’re just going to have to stop doing it. “I didn’t even know. Back then, they didn’t tell you until the moment it was done. Sometimes you were told you got one more issue. ‘You know the one you’re working on? That’s gonna be the last one.’ You think, ‘Oh, my God, how am I going to end this?’ You gotta do the best you can.” The letters section of issue #20 gave fans a practical reason for the ending of the series, attributing it to “the precarious economics of profit and loss.” The note also added another contributing factor to the end of Shogun Warriors—the company wanted to make way for Moon Knight, Moench’s new project with artist Bill Sienkiewicz, which used a character that had previously appeared in books like Werewolf by Night, Spectacular Spider-Man, and Defenders. Moon Knight #1 debuted with a Nov. 1980 cover date, but was canceled after 38 issues and an attempt to go solely direct-market nearly halfway through its run. But the last issue of Shogun Warriors was not the last appearance of Genji, Richard, and Illongo. One final appearance in Fantastic Four #226 (Jan. 1981), written by Moench and drawn by Sienkiewicz, put the characters to bed. After a mysterious robot aptly named “the Samurai Destroyer” (but misspelled as “the Samaurai Destroyer” on the book’s cover) eviscerated the three Shogun Warrior robots, the Fantastic Four 60 • BACK ISSUE • Robots Issue

Though the popularity of the characters seemed to have dwindled and certain toys of the brand were deemed unsafe, a fan base has been maintained decades after the book ended. As injuries for children were reported, the industry began to crack down on projectiles. US viewers of the cartoon import Force Five would see some of the Shogun Warriors depicted in the program, continuing to battle throughout the universe. However, fans of the show would never see Richard, Illongo, Genji, or any of the Follows of Light depicted on the series. Those characters left with the comics incarnation of the robots. Forums across the Internet lament the end of the line, share tales of the toys’ projectiles and how they were banned from classrooms, and challenge the worthiness of Moon Knight to displace the beloved trio of Warriors. The toyline even returned in 2010, with the company Toynami taking ownership of the robotic figures. Even movie rumors persist in a time in which giant robots are enjoying mainstream success in several films. Though the Shogun Warriors comic-book series is just one part of a genre that has persisted in pop culture since it first stuck its vast, mechanized boot into the ground, its creators have fond memories of dreaming up the involved storylines and arcs together. Fans reflect on seeing their favorite toys hit the pages published by their favorite comic-book imprint and decry the giant robot books that followed. One aspect of the book that still prevails for Trimpe is the autonomy given to the book’s creative team. “We had a lot of freedom then,” Trimpe says. “Nobody stuck their nose in. No one said, ‘Look, Doug; Look, Herb: This has to be changed.’ We never had to deal with that. We just went ahead with it. “Even on G.I. Joe, Larry [Hama] and I never heard from Hasbro,” Trimpe continues. “I never had a problem with the companies on that stuff. Then, there were no summer blockbuster movies. Now, there’s giant money riding on all of this stuff. Suddenly, comics have gotten ‘important.’ Everybody wants a hand in the pie.” The artist says he’d love to draw the characters again, and said the persistent popularity of the characters gives him the chance to do so with commissioned work. Despite an abrupt end to his heroes, Moench’s own lasting memory of Shogun Warriors calls back to that first office meeting and the awkward walk home with an oversized Raydeen figure that followed. “I just remember going home from Manhattan, walking all the way to the Port Authority with that thing, and wrestling it onto the bus,” Moench remembers. “But it was all worth it when my kid saw it. A perfect day, you know?” ANDY SMITH is a freelance writer and editor who has worked for a variety of publications like PopMatters, Weekly World News, Encounter Magazine, and his own Facebook wall. He lives in Charlotte with his wife, Sara, and two beloved canines, Macy and Riggins. He can be found at andysmithlol.com.

Philip Schweier

The concept of blending man and machine is nothing new to comic books, dating as far back as the original Robotman in 1942. But perhaps nowhere was it done more successfully than Victor Stone, a.k.a. Cyborg. TM Yes, he is part machine, but throughout his evolution— or upgrades, if you prefer—the key element that has made Cyborg a mainstay of the DC Universe is his humanity. For without that humanity, he would be merely another piece of hardware, little different from the Batmobile. Cyborg was introduced in a special insert published in DC Comics Presents #26 (Oct.1980). This preview served as an introduction to the New Teen Titans, who debuted their own title a month later in The New Teen Titans #1 (Nov. 1980). Though moderately successful in the past, this new version of the Teen Titans took the comic-book community by storm, soon becoming DC Comics’ bestselling title. This is largely due to one of the most famous collaborations of that era, writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez.

FORGING A HERO To tell the genesis of Cyborg, it helps to know that of the New Teen Titans as well. At a 2006 convention panel, Wolfman and Pérez related how they came to collaborate on the book. According to Wolfman, in the late 1970s, a number of Marvel staff members were unhappy and jumped ship to DC. Having been saddled with such titles as Marvel Two-in-One, featuring the Thing, and Marvel Team-Up, starring Spider-Man, Marv was eager to leave such team-up assignments behind. “When I left Marvel and got to DC, I had only one request, and that was no team-up books. And obviously, the word ‘no’ wasn’t translatable in whatever language corporate was using, because I was put on [the team-up titles] DC Comics Presents and Brave and the Bold.” As a part of his effort to get off those titles, Wolfman, along with editor Len Wein, made the pitch for a new Teen Titans series to publisher Jenette Kahn. Though the most recent version of the Teen Titans (Teen Titans #44–53, Nov. 1976–Feb. 1978) was unsuccessful, Wein and Wolfman promised to “do it better.” Wolfman “recruited” longtime Titans Robin, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl, as well as Gar Logan, known as Beast Boy during the previous incarnation of the team but now going by the name Changeling. He then began developing additional characters that would lend themselves to a variety of stories: Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg. Each member of the team was intended to be a conduit for stories of a specific nature. Robin was the detective, and Wonder Girl allowed mythological stories, with Raven being the link to horror/

Teen with a Sheen Way back in New Teen Titans #4 (Feb. 1981), George Pérez produced this pinup—with schematic—of Victor Stone, the Titan we know and love as Cyborg. TM & © DC Comics.

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We Can Rebuild Him… A panel from Cyborg’s origin, explaining the painful procedure which young Vic endured. From New Teen Titans #7 (May 1981). TM & © DC Comics.

supernatural stories, and Starfire opening the door to space stories. “Vic [Cyborg] was the science-tech guy, with an entrance into street stories,” said Wolfman when interviewed by BACK ISSUE last year. “That allowed us a slightly different kind of story than Robin would. “I came up with the basics,” said Wolfman, “and with George, we developed Vic, along with the other Titans.” Meanwhile, thanks to his apprenticeship with Rich Bucker, Pérez was working for Marvel, where he managed to land work on such high-profile titles as The Avengers and The Fantastic Four, but was looking to broaden his horizons. “Marv, who I had worked with at Marvel, had already gone to DC, as had Len Wein,” Pérez related at a Dragon Con panel in 2013. “I enjoyed my time on The Avengers and everything, but I actually applied to DC before I applied to Marvel. Rich Buckler was working at Marvel, so that’s how I ended up there, but there were books at DC I was aiming for—Justice League of America, no surprise there.” When Wolfman approached Pérez about working on The New Teen Titans, he agreed in exchange for the opportunity to draw Justice League. “I wanted to work with Marv some more,” Pérez continued. “That was fine … six issues, we’d be canceled. In the case of JLA, the one unfortunate thing that happened, that ended up being a bit of an unfortunate bonanza for me, was that the artist on JLA [Dick Dillin] died pretty much a week or so after I said I would do the Titans. So I was going to get the JLA as a regular gig now.” In an interview published in Comics Scene #7 (Jan. 1982), Pérez said he became more interested when he realized they would be creating new characters. “Marv, Len, and I went into the office and started talking out new characters and asking about my ideas, and I started giving them designs. I designed all the characters, one each, and they were all accepted.” During a 2013 interview, Wolfman said Pérez not only brought the design of Vic but his heart, as well as a much more basic understanding of city living: “I came from New York City as he did, but I lived in the suburbs and if I remember, he lived in the Bronx until he was an adult and moved to Queens.” Pérez grew up the South Bronx, which he described at Dragon Con in 2013 as a very violent neighborhood at the time: “Drawing was my escape from that … I’d been reading comics since I was about four years old and it was a way for me to learn how to read 62 • BACK ISSUE • Robots Issue

English—I came from a Spanish-speaking household.” In BACK ISSUE #8 (Feb. 2005), Wolfman said of Cyborg, “I remember we talked early on about him starting out more traditionally with comicbook dialogue, the angry young black kid, but then very quickly once he realized how his father sacrificed everything for him, changed him to what he was, educated, smart but suspicious. Education and being black were not and shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. Other than being New York City-angry when the others generally weren’t, we didn’t want to emphasize Vic’s color over his personality.” When interviewed, Wolfman said he came up with the basics and developed Cyborg, along with the other Titans, with artist Pérez: “In point of fact, since George lived a few blocks from me in Flushing, Queens, he and I would get together and work out the material. The first time the office ever saw the book was either when it went out for lettering or for inking.”

SECRET ORIGINS The preview insert featured in DC Comics Presents #26 served as an introduction to the new team, as Robin, in what perhaps can best be described as a waking dream, meets his future teammates. Together, the Titans send an interdimensional creature back to its source before it can change Earth’s atmosphere to methane. The creature is revealed to be the product of an experiment by Professor Silas Stone, Victor’s father. Victor blames his father for the catastrophe that resulted in him becoming part machine, and the interdimensional creature (or one just like it) for the reason so much of his body was mutilated. A month later, New Teen Titans #1 featured the actual union of the new Teen Titans as Raven appears to Dick (Robin) Grayson, urging him to form a new team to fight a coming crisis. She introduces them to Victor Stone, a young man whose dream of athletic glory has been taken since he was given the unfair advantage of mechanical enhancements. Together, the new team rescues Koriand’r—later christened Starfire—from the alien Gordanian slavers. Cyborg’s origin was revealed in New Teen Titans #7 (May 1981), serving as an epilogue to a story in which the Fearsome Five invade the Titans Tower, taking Cyborg’s father hostage. Following Dr. Stone’s rescue, Vic relates how his parents always disapproved of his interest in athletics. Instead, as scientists for S.T.A.R. Labs, they hoped he would follow a more intellectual path.

The Stones were engaged in transdimensional research, and it was Victor’s inopportune visit to their lab one day that exposed him to the gelatinous creature seen in the DC Comics Presents preview. His mother is killed, Vic is horribly mutilated, and his father blames himself. Determined his son would not die, he begins the lengthy process of grafting cybernetic prosthetics onto his Victor’s ravaged form. However, Vic is horrified at his transformation, and grows bitter and hateful. Joining the Titans leads to a change in Victor’s outlook and gives Dr. Stone hope for his son. He explains that he built the Tower in an effort to make a meaningful contribution to Victor’s life. Tragically, that hope would be short-lived, as he reveals he is dying, poisoned by the creature’s radiation. Victor and his father manage to reconcile and make the most of the last days Dr. Stone has left until his death at the end of the story. Loss and healing are part of the human experience, and Victor’s bitterness over his mutilated form—followed by his reconciliation with his father, then later by Dr. Stone’s passing—is a very tangible experience common to many people. “I think the job of a writer and artist in comics is to have empathy for the characters and situations,” Wolfman tells BACK ISSUE today. “The death of a parent is something we can all understand, made stronger by knowing that this was the story where we’d be changing Vic from being an angry teen to someone growing up and seeing the complexities of life, which was not black and white but filled with shades of gray.” Cyborg’s origin was expanded in depth in Tales of the New Teen Titans #1 (June 1982). It was the first chapter of a four-issue miniseries devoted to exploring the backstories of the newer members of the New Teen Titans prior to their joining the team. As a small boy, Victor Stone was used by his scientist parents as a test subject for various intelligence-boosting projects. But as Vic grew older, he began to resent the constant barrage of science and intellect. As he began to rebel, he met Ron Evers, a street hoodlum who leads him into trouble. Understanding Vic’s need for a more normal life, the Stones allow him to go to public school, where Victor excels at athletics. Once the lab accident that led to Vic’s disfigurement is recounted, Evers returns from reform school, poisoning Victor’s mind with ideas of racial terrorism. He manipulates him into participating in a terrorist attack on the United Nations building. In truth, Evers is in need of patsy and is taking advantage of his naive friend. But Vic isn’t quite so foolish. He manages to prevent the destruction of the UN building, and after being recruited by Raven to join the new Teen Titans, he begins to learn who his true friends are.

impressed we are that the epilogue was so well received, because it proves again that readers don’t merely insist on fights filling up every issue.” Response to The New Teen Titans in general was overwhelming, quickly making it DC’s bestselling title. According to some reports, it outsold the #2 title, Legion of Super-Heroes, by a 2–1 margin, and many of DC’s other titles by as much as 4–1. This success can easily be attributed to the teamwork of Wolfman and Pérez, who brought a family dynamic to the characters, while subtly rooting much of the conflict in generation gap problems. “I always said the Titans was my DC’s Fantastic Four,” Wolfman said in 2013, “and not X-Men, as fans thought.” The parallel to the Fantastic Four is mirrored by Vic’s self-pity over his lack of physical humanity, a role that Ben Grimm had already perfected in his early days as the Thing. “We wanted Vic to at first seem like Ben in hating himself,” continued Wolfman, “as well he would since he wanted to be an athlete and that was robbed from

Breakout Star Wolfman and Pérez continued to explore Cyborg’s backstory as the young hero headlined Tales of the New Teen Titans #1 (June 1982), a four-issue miniseries spotlighting the four new members of the Titans. Cover art by George Pérez, with colors by Anthony Tollin. TM & © DC Comics.

FEEDBACK Letters were published in New Teen Titans #12 (Oct. 1981) in praise of the heartfelt ending to issue #7. Many praised the story for its emotional impact over the more traditional fight scenes. T. M. Maple, a name seen often on the DC letters pages, summed up the feelings of many readers, saying, “Within the space of one issue, I had gained a great deal more respect and appreciation for Cyborg.” In response, DC editorial said, “…if the outpouring of positive mail we received on issue #7, all of which strongly refers to the epilogue, indicates anything, it’s that we tried to show a universal situation. One that will only be overcome by truthful expression between people.” The letters column goes on to say, “…how

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him. But then after he patched things up with his dad in issue #7, he would very quickly move in a different direction. The idea I always play with is, lead readers one way, then pull the rug out from under them.” Nevertheless, The New Teen Titans’ readership identified with some of the Titans’ struggles. They came in the form of issues common to young people, such as coping with the disapproval of their elders and struggling to find one’s place in a world that is often intolerant and sometimes downright hostile.

“A DAY IN THE LIVES…” However, one of the more highly praised stories showed very little in the way of traditional superheroics. New Teen Titans #8 (July 1981) is one of the most memorable of the entire series. The story is perhaps a key turning point for Victor Stone, devoted to the characterizations of the members of the team rather than focus on battles with supervillains. At Dragon Con in 2013, Pérez described New Teen Titans #8 as “the issue where Marv asked me to do more of the plotting myself. Not just add little things, but be part of the plotting conference. I did, I came to like these characters, and the book was selling very well and we were getting a lot of good buzz, and it was the very first series in which I was part of the creative aspect. I came in and helped establish the characters and everything. Its success was going to be based on what I put into it, and what Marv put into it. “I was falling in love with the book,” Pérez added. “I’d already had to drop The Avengers and slow down, I couldn’t do three books. People thought, ‘George left Marvel.’ No, George left the only Marvel book he was doing at the time. I had a good run… Teen Titans

Super Seven George Pérez’s watercolor portrait of the New Teen Titans, produced in 1982 for the cover of the fanzine Comics Feature #19. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

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became a bigger part of my life, and I really wanted to do my best work on it, and in order to do that, I eventually had to drop Justice League in favor of The [New] Teen Titans. No one else could do the book because we were creating it from the inside out.” Wolfman added, “By ‘A Day in the Lives,’ George and I were working together fairly closely. But most of the Cyborg section was George’s. Very definitely a collaboration.” In “A Day in the Lives…,” Victor Stone pays a visit to his former girlfriend, Marcy, but she is unable to see past his disfigurement. In a funk, Stone strolls through the park when he is beaned by a stray baseball. A small boy asks for his ball back, and when Victor goes to hand it to him, the boy is amazed by Stone’s mechanical hand. Cyborg expects the boy to scream in fear, but instead the boy says, “Wow. It’s really neat. I wish they gave me one like that.” The boy holds up his left hand, displaying a prosthetic arm. His teacher, Sarah Simms, intervenes, explaining that all her students have prosthetics of one type or another and are trying to adjust to them. Victor had expected the children to react in fear to his appearance, but his concerns are unfounded. Charmed by the accepting nature of the children, the athlete-turned-superhero decides he has nothing more important to do than join them in a game of baseball. “Cyborg became my character as far as applying my own urban experience,” Pérez to the Dragon Con audience in 2013. “The scene with him and the handicapped children was mine, and I was having a great time. That issue is also important because while I was working on it I had my first date with the woman who is now my wife … It’s very, very personal, marking a turning point in my career in comics and a turning point in my life.”

TIN MAN WITH A HEART As the NTT artist’s personal life took a romantic turn, so too did Victor Stone’s, though his would prove to be less successful. Sarah Simms would prove to be a significant influence on Stone’s psychological healing, and as a romantic interest for Vic. “We were leading to Vic and Sarah being together romantically,” said Wolfman, “but honestly we got mail from black readers who pointed out that there were already several blackand-white relationships in comics but not many strong black-and-black romances.” Wolfman thought the readers had a valid point and instead decided to move the relationship in a different direction. When Sarah is kidnapped by Deathstroke the Terminator in an attempt to target the Titans, the experience challenges their relationship, leading to a more platonic friendship. According to Wolfman, a deep, caring friendship made more sense: “It is in itself is a slightly different relationship. The idea of a man and woman just being great friends was such a strong one and rarely, if ever, seen before in comics on the scale we were trying.” Still, many readers saw Sarah Sims as a romantic interest, reflected by Changeling’s encouragement that Victor to pursue a romantic relationship with her in New Teen Titans #35 (Oct. 1983). Vic refuses, believing Sarah to be engaged, but in truth her “fiancé” is mentally unbalanced, perceiving a romance that doesn’t exist.

In a psychotic episode, he holds Sarah hostage, and Cyborg leads the Titans in her rescue. While Sarah was Victor’s “+1” to Donna Troy’s wedding (Tales of the Teen Titans #50, Feb. 1985), his adventures left him little time for them to advance their relationship. Eventually, a new man entered her life. When Vic learned of this he was initially angry, but came to accept they were not meant to have a romantic relationship. Of all the Titans, Victor formed the closest relationship with Gar. Wolfman feels some of that stems from the relationship Changeling shared with his former teammate in the Doom Patrol, Robotman. “More has to do with the fact that they were so at ease with each other that they could point out when the other was acting like an idiot and still maintain a friendship,” the writer adds. “There always needed to be love under the barbs.” In Tales of the Teen Titans #56 (Aug. 1985), in a storyline touted as “the last days of Cyborg,” Victor heads to S.T.A.R. Labs for a radical procedure that will replace the outer shell of his molybdenum prosthetics with form-fitting polymers. However, the polymers would never be able to withstand the stresses of his cybernetics, bringing his superhero career to an end. Following an extended procedure, the now-humanappearing Victor Stone is introduced to his physical therapist, Dr. Sarah Charles, in the pages of Tales of the Teen Titans #57 (Sept. 1985). Once again, the Fearsome Five interfere, forcing the former Cyborg Robots Issue

Post-Pérez Cyborg and the TTs were in good hands when drawn by Chuck Patton and Mike DeCarlo, don’t you think? (left) Their cover to Tales of the Teen Titans #56 (Aug. 1985), with Tollin colors. (right) Vic opens up to Sarah Simms on this interior page (signed by Patton) from that issue. Courtesy of Sketch Maven (www.sketchmaven.com). TM & © DC Comics.

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back into action. Defending the staff of S.T.A.R. Labs, he overtaxes his new prosthetics, sacrificing his human appearance in the process. Victor is forced to come to terms with his bio-mechanical self. Nevertheless, his innate heroism wins him the admiration of Dr. Charles. She and Cyborg dated until she accepted a new position with S.T.A.R. Labs’ West Coast branch (New Teen Titans #45, Sept. 1988). They maintained a long-distance relationship but it proved a heavy strain, and Sarah Charles was seldom seen afterwards. Wolfman describes the human aspect of the Titans as very soap opera in nature. “For every nice thing you do, you pile up two problems. You want tension and drama because having everyone happy is boring to read.” Perhaps with this in mind, Victor’s grandparents, Tucker and Maude Stone, reentered Cyborg’s life. As with his father, Victor’s relationship with them was strained. They had missed much of his growing up, due to their careers as traveling performers, to the degree that they still knew him by his childhood nickname: Corky. Without a pair of loving, indulgent grandparents, Vic had become an available test subject for much of his parents’ experimentation. Even following the tragedy that took Vic’s mother, they were on the road—they even missed their own son’s funeral. While Victor might have harbored a grudge, that soon faded under his grandparents’ sincere affection. Tucker and Maude admired him for his new role as a superhero and were able to make amends. “I think George suggested adding in Vic’s grandparents,” says Wolfman. “I was wholly for it; the more extended family, the more real the characters felt. I liked the idea that the Titans had human friends and relatives outside of their hero guises.”

SYSTEM UPGRADES Beginning the August 1984 issues, DC Comics retitled its two bestselling books—New Teen Titans and Legion of Super-Heroes—as “Tales of…” while launching new, ongoing series using higher-quality Baxter paper and better printing. These books retailed at $1.25 and were available only through the direct market or by subscription. The plan was for the Baxter book and the regular ongoing series to run stories concurrently for one year. After 12 months, the Baxter stories would be reprinted in the original series. Naturally, this added significantly to the workload of the creative team, and George Pérez left after the first story arc of The New Teen Titans series to work on the 12-issue maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths. Despite the slow-moving clock in the world of comic books, the Teen Titans were growing up. DC Comics went so far as to drop the word “teen” from the title. Beginning with #50 (Dec. 1988) the series was retitled The New Titans. The cast went through some personnel changes, adding new members Steve Dayton, Pantha, Phantasm, and Arella, as well as the heroically ambiguous Deathstroke. In New Titans #71 (Nov. 1990), as individual members go missing, Nightwing, Deathstroke, Pantha, Phantasm, and Arella joined forces to locate the captured Titans. Their multi-issue quest ends with the revelation that their former teammate Jericho is behind the plot. In the heat of battle, he launches a rocket containing Victor Stone. Afterwards, a search/rescue operation leads the team to Russia, where they discover Russian scientists have programmed the brain-dead Cyborg into a living weapon. The Titans later encountered an alien race called Technis (New Titans #103–107, Nov. 1993–Jan. 1994), a cyber-alien collective that explored and cataloged data throughout the galaxy. The race was dying and in need of a humanness—a soul—to survive. After the Technis restored Cyborg’s humanity, he elected to be the one to save the dying race, merging his consciousness with the Technis. Vic returned as Cyberion in New Titans #127–130 (Nov. 1995–Feb. 1996), reunited with the Titans for what would be their final adventure. The series ended following Wolfman’s departure from the title. “To me, the Titans are 100 percent about family,” Wolfman says. “They can argue and disagree, but beneath it all there was not only love, but more importantly, respect. I think when I controlled the book either directly, or when I was with editors who thought about it the same way I did, the book and characters grew.” However, one editor (who Wolfman declines to name) attempted to dictate the nature of the characters. Wolfman stayed on the book, hoping he could redirect the team back to where he felt it should be. “That didn’t work, so I quit.”

SYSTEM REBOOTS As Cyborg has passed into the custodianship of other creators, Wolfman has a policy regarding writers who pick up his characters: “They want to know if they could do something. I say, ‘I didn’t ask any of the previous Titans people any permission for what I wanted to do with the Titans, and George didn’t ask Nick [Cardy, the original Teen Titans artist]. We like these [characters] an awful lot, but we wanted to do our thing.’” Instead, Wolfman encourages writers to follow their own path, rather than try to emulate what he might do. Such was the case with writer Devin Grayson, whose four-issue miniseries JLA vs. Titans (1998) saw the return of Cyberion. The Titans

“…And the City Came Tumblin’ Down” Cyborg dominates the cover of New Teen Titans vol. 2 #37 (July 1987). Original art by the legendary Joe Orlando, with inks by Mike DeCarlo. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

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are able to harness Victor’s soul via the Omegadrome, a shape-shifting device capable of constructing a humanappearing robotic shell. When Grayson relaunched the Titans title the following year, this latest version of Cyborg was included in the cast. However, in Titans #20 (Oct. 2000), a clone of Victor’s original human body was created, implanted with the Omegadrome. The hybrid body enabled Victor to maintain a human appearance, but with all the high-tech capabilities of his mechanical self. Writer Geoff Johns brought Cyborg back for DC’s “Our Worlds at War” event in 2001, reuniting him with his former teammate, Wally (Kid Flash/Flash) West. Kicking butt old-school, Victor uses the Omegadrome to fashion his classic part-robot form in a gold tone. The two heroes would join forces again in Flash #186–188 (July–Sept. 2002), battling the Thinker. Unfortunately for Victor, the villain is able to destroy the polymorphic abilities of the Omegadrome, leaving him trapped in a semi-mechanical appearance. Wolfman goes on to explain that he tends to keep his distance once he has given up a book or created a character. “I have no idea what people are doing with the material,” he says. “The fans, bless them, sometime take it upon themselves to send me detailed emails about this stuff, and once I realize what the email is about, somehow it doesn’t get finished, because there’s nothing I can either say or do. “I think George and I handled him exactly right in our recent [2011] graphic novel, Games. But others have their views, and as I was free to change Dick Grayson from being a kid wearing green shorts into Nightwing. They now have the right to interpret Cyborg as they see fit.”

MOVING PARTS: CYBORG IN ANIMATION According to TitansTower.com, in the early 1980s, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, and Jenette Kahn approached Hanna-Barbera regarding an animated version of the New Teen Titans aimed at the Saturday morning market. “I pitched the concepts and characters and then I went home,” Wolfman is quoted. “I think it was later developed by Jeff Scott and, possibly, Alan Burnett. I wasn’t consulted after the original pitch.” Comic Scene #11 (1983) reported the series’ story proposals indicated it would reflect the New Teen Titans comic book, with all the Titans present except for Robin, who was already featured on the long-running Super Friends show. Wonder Girl would have been the leader of the team, and storylines would have included appearances from Trigon and Blackfire. Unfortunately, the success of The Smurfs and similar shows led networks to seek more child-friendly characters rather than adventure-related shows. [Editor’s note: For more of the aborted NTT animated show, see BACK ISSUE #5.] However, Hanna-Barbera produced a 60-second anti-drug spot featuring the New Teen Titans. The TTs had already starred in special comics created as part of US President Ronald Reagan’s drug-awareness campaign. Wolfman, who wrote the TV spot, announced it on the letters page of Tales of the New Teen Titans #41 (Apr. 1984): “Sometime this season you’ll be seeing the Titans all over the TV tube. Tying in with our special anti-drug comic, Hanna-Barbera will be unleashing a one-minute Titans anti-drug cartoon spot that should be shown on all three networks, most likely during Saturday morning. There will also be 30-second and 20-second version of the public-service announcement. We received a call from their design department,

asking for a whole slew of George’s designs, so the Titans should look just about perfect.” Shortly afterwards, Hanna-Barbera revamped its Super Friends series to reflect the new Super Powers toy line produced by Kenner. The show was renamed The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians and added to its cast Cyborg, voiced by Ernie Hudson, who is perhaps best remembered as Ghostbuster Winston Zeddmore. Cyborg’s first appearance is in the episode “The Seeds of Doom,” which recounted his origin. He is invited to join the team but expresses doubts. Nevertheless, he accompanies Wonder Woman and Firestorm to Apokolips to foil Darkseid’s latest plan to conquer Earth. Kenner produced a hard-to-find Cyborg action figure as part of its third wave of Super Powers figures in 1986. In 2003, Teen Titans premiered on the Cartoon Network, featuring most of the classic Wolfman/Pérez lineup in an anime-influenced animation style. Cyborg, voiced by Khary Payton, introduced his catchphrase of “Boo-Yah!” Though aimed at the 5–9-year-old audience, the series fueled the Titans’ popularity in both comics and television, as well as in merchandising. Wolfman was sent the scripts early on, but based on the scripts alone, the project didn’t quite ring true for him. So he was invited to the Warner Animation to see test footage and character sketches. “I loved it,” he said at a Dragon*Con panel he shared with Pérez in 2006. “Suddenly, the whole story Robots Issue

No Fun, These Games An explosive original art page—signed by penciler George Pérez and inker Mike Perkins—from the long-delayed graphic novel, The New Teen Titans: Games (Sept. 2011). Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

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THE MANY FACES OF CYBORG

1986: Super Powers action figure

1986: Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians

Early 1990s: Rebuilt armor

Mid-1990s: Cyberion

and everything came together. At that particular point I understood what they were doing. I thought it was absolutely perfect and I gotta say, as soon as the show premiered, I got hundreds of emails because of our website from kids about that age or the parents of kids who just loved those characters, truly love those characters, and that’s because of the TV show. I think it’s wonderful, because from there, they can move up to Titans. When they get older they can go from the cartoon into the regular Titans comic.” Pérez needed a little more convincing: “When I first saw it, there was a party at a bar, and a big screen TV to watch the premier of the Titans cartoon. But ‘watch’ is probably a very, very deceptive term. Everyone’s drinking, talking, eating, and they’re applauding when the cartoon goes on, but I can’t hear a bit of it. I’m standing right next to the TV and I can’t hear a darn thing.” Because of the circumstances of the premiere, and what little entertainment value Pérez was able to enjoy at the time, his reception to the cartoon series was less than enthusiastic. However, that soon changed. “My next convention appearance, a gentleman who was a big Titans fan brought his children, who watched the Titans cartoon and said, ‘This is the man who created the Teen Titans.’ The looks on their faces, and the fact that they knew because their father was a reader of the comic. The difference between the Titans cartoon and the Titans comic book and that they would go on to read the comic book, then I understood the purpose of the younger audience, and then I began to appreciate it more.” Unfortunately, due to his schedule, Pérez had little time to sit and enjoy the program, but cites the Mad Mod episode as a standout. “Visually I thought it was incredibly imaginative. This is not just old Hanna-Barbera animation. This is very, very clever.” Both creators agree: Titans Halloween costumes, how cool is that? “That’s when I knew we were real,” said Wolfman. “A Cyborg, a Raven, and a Starfire all came to my door.” The enthusiasm for the Teen Titans cartoon was felt not only by comics professionals, but in the animation industry as well. Pérez related

Just Say “No” The Perez/Dick Giordano cover to the 1983 anti-drug comic. Note the Protector filling in for Robin. TM & © DC Comics.

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2001: Gold armor in Our Worlds at War

2003: Teen Titans on Cartoon Network

2013: Teen Titans Go! on Cartoon Network

Today’s New 52: As a Justice Leaguer

Here’s Our Cyborg Despite Vic’s many upgrades and reimaginings, here’s how we like to remember Cyborg—as drawn by the one and only George Pérez in 2012. From the collection of Ari Shapiro. TM & © DC Comics.

being at the San Diego Comic-Con and joining friends for dinner: “There was this long table full of people back there, and they kept pointing at our table. Finally a couple of guys came up and said, ‘Can you just come to our table?’ It was some of the animators and the voice actors from the Titans cartoon. They were so thankful to me and, of course, Marv because, A) they love what they’re doing, and B) we’re providing them with their work. And I got up there, and Elvis had entered the building as far as those guys were concerned. They applauded me, and all my friends at the other table were so impressed.” Cyborg and pals returned to the Cartoon Network in 2013’s Teen Titans Go!, a comical re-interpretation of the previous animated series. Khary Payton returned to voice Cyborg.

CYBORG IN THE DIGITAL AGE In the wake of the 2011 New 52 relaunch of the entire DC Comics line, Victor Stone has found his place with the Justice League rather than the Teen Titans. Under the capable hands of Geoff Johns, Cyborg’s origin for the most part is intact, though his relationship with his father is not as troubled as it was in the 1980s. Wolfman is very pleased that DC Comics uses Cyborg as much as it does. “That Vic, Raven, Starfire, and the others have now lived for over 30 years means we did something good,” he says. “As for the current usage of Vic in the JLA as well as elsewhere in the DCU, that's all Geoff Johns’ doing, and he’s doing it wonderfully. I thank him so much for not only using Vic, but treating him so well.” PHILIP SCHWEIER is a graphic designer and freelance writer living in Savannah, Georgia.

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Some of the different interpretations of Vic Stone:

The Brainy Bunch Who could’ve guessed back in 1958 that Superman’s new foe Brainiac would beget offspring good and bad? Brainiac’s peek-a-boo headshot (by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye) was taken from Action Comics #280 (Sept. 1961). Mike Grell’s cover to Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #227 (May 1977) shows Brainiac 5 in one of his darker moments, while Kevin Maguire and Al Gordon’s cover to L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89 #1 (Feb. 1989) places Brainiac 2 (Vril Dox) as the leader of an intergalactic team. TM & © DC Comics.

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Jonathan Rikard Brown

Brainiac is coming! Actually, Brainiac has come … and left quite an imprint on pop culture. This robotic conqueror not only left an impression on comic books, but has left his steely footprint on video games, cartoons, toys, and other media outlets. Fans continue to clamor for the villain to make an appearance in a live-action Superman film. This collector of miniaturized cities has left a legacy that dwarfs his own gigantic skull ship. There is more to Brainiac’s legacy than his shining place in the pop-culture pantheon— in his wake stand several descendants that all strove to make their impact on sequentialart history, most notably two standouts: Brainiac 5 and Brainiac 2. This article will look at how the “sons” of a robot overlord have been used to build upon their mighty ancestor’s legacy and how they have forged onward in their own right. To examine this legacy, we will look at the cold robot’s past and then examine how it leads to the creation of two strong protagonists. But first, for us to understand the legacy that is carried on by Brainiacs 5 and 2, we have to look at the complex history of the original.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRAINIAC Brainiac debuted in comic books in Action Comics #242 (July 1958) in a story entitled “The Super Duel in Space,” written by Otto Binder and drawn by Al Plastino. We meet the character for the first time in space alongside Clark Kent and Lois Lane. The two Daily Planet reporters have just journeyed to space in Earth’s first manned spaceship, the Columbus. Upon exiting Earth’s atmosphere, the couple find a flying saucer belonging to a green, alien super-scientist, Brainiac. Clark decides it is time to exit the scene and leaves the Columbus in an “attempt” to space walk back to Earth, a ploy to cover his

disappearance since this is clearly a job for Superman. After he changes, our hero rushes the ship and finds that even with all of his super-strength he cannot penetrate its hull. It and Brainiac are protected by a super-strong force-field. (This device will become an important tool in the hands of Brainiac’s descendants.) With Superman powerless against this threat, our villain begins to carry out his plans. Brainiac begins to shrink Earth’s most important cities, as he is a collector of intergalactic societies. Unable to come up with a way into the flying fortress, Superman returns to Earth to concoct a plan to enter into Brainac’s vessel. He returns to Metropolis as it is shrunken by Brainiac and is taken into the craft. Superman escapes the bottle in which Metropolis has been placed, and now finding himself in Brainiac's lab, he is able to survey Brainiac’s collection of shrunken cities. It is amongst these cities Superman makes an amazing discovery—Krypton’s city of Kandor was collected by Brainiac, meaning there are other survivors of Superman’s homeworld! Entering the bottle that encloses Kandor, our hero meets Kimda, a Kryptonian scientist who provides Superman with tools to overcome their imprisonment. After leaving Kandor, Superman finds Brainiac in suspended animation as the menace prepares to return to his homeworld of Colu. Superman reverses the shrinking process and returns Earth’s cities to their rightful places. However, the enlarging process has a limit of times it can be repeated, and this presents Superman with a dreadful decision: Should he restore Kandor, though it means he himself will remain shrunken? Being the upstanding guy that he is, Superman resolves to restore Kandor, but Kimda intervenes before he can do so. She notes that Earth cannot be left without its greatest protector. Superman restores himself to normal size, then takes the Bottle City of Kandor and places it within his Fortress of Solitude. This concludes the first meeting in a rivalry that would rage through the ages and through retoolings of both the Man of Steel and the Menace of Steel. Writer/artist Keith Giffen, no stranger to a variety of Brainiacs, tells BACK ISSUE, “Brainiac is the guy who should be Superman’s arch-foe. Brainiac should be powerful enough to give Superman a run for his money, because, let’s face it, when Superman beats up on Lex Luthor, it looks the like the most powerful guy in the world is beating is on the fat, bald guy. It comes across as bad. Superman has all of these incredible powers. Brainiac is almost the same. He is the flip side to the Superman coin. He is a very powerful being, but he is machine-like. He is what Superman would be without his conscience, what Superman would be like without Ma and Pa Kent’s influence. He is just a heartless, soulless, thinking machine.” Brainiac, like Superman, is a Man of Tomorrow, although his is a dark tomorrow where disconnected technology seeks to control organic life. Another significant moment in Brainiac’s history is Superman #167 (Feb. 1964), written by Edmond Hamilton (inspired by a plot from a young Cary Bates), penciled by Curt Swan, and inked by George Klein. The issue sees Brainiac team up with Lex Luthor to finish off Superman. The story begins with Luthor escaping from prison, then launching what becomes an easily thwarted missile attack on Superman. Lex realizes that he needs help if he is ever going to best the Man of Steel, so he uses a machine to scan time and space to locate a worthy partner, the most brilliant mind in the known universe. He comes upon a race of yellow-haired, green-skinned scientists on the planet Colu. As Luthor peers into their history, he watches the scientists construct Master Computer One, the supreme intellect he has been searching for. He adjusts his scanner to look into the future, seeing that in the future Master Computer One has become tyrannical and enslaved the planet of Colu, with ambitions to conquer the galaxy. It creates a spy that can walk amongst humanoids and collect information on alien worlds—Brainiac. Luthor connects the dots and sees that this is the alien that Superman has previously fought. Before this origin tale ends, the reader is treated to the knowledge that the Master Computer One saw fit to give Brainiac an adopted son to disguise its creation as a living being. The child, named Brainiac II (herewith Brainiac 2), is resentful of his new father and seeks to escape. This brief glimpse of the child of Brainiac provides the foundation for future progeny and is a foundational moment in understanding the legacy of Brainiac.

First Encounters (top) Look quick, or you’ll miss Brainiac II (2) in Superman #167 (Feb. 1964). (center) Legionnaire Brainiac 5 has baggage, as shown in Action #276 (May 1961). (bottom) Though not included in this article, Legion baddie Pulsar Stargrave (shown on Mike Grell’s Superboy #224 cover) claimed to be Brainiac 5’s father! TM & © DC Comics.

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THE BRAINIAC FAMILY In Superman #167, Brainiac 2 occupied only one panel, and for decades took up a residency in comic-book obscurity—until 1988, when Keith Giffen’s event comic Invasion brought the character back and allowed him a leading role in the new series L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89 (L.E.G.I.O.N.). This connects us to another DC title, Legion of Super-Heroes, set 1000 years in the future of the current DC Universe, where the idea of future Brainiacs had been developed with the introduction of the character Brainiac 5, first seen in the Supergirl story in Action Comics #276 (May 1961), written by Jerry Siegel and penciled by Jim Mooney. Linda Lee, the secret identity of Supergirl, is at the Midvale Orphanage, where she resides, lamenting to herself how her dual identity isolates her from the other girls. Soon, as Supergirl, she encounters Saturn Girl, Triplicate Girl, and Phantom Girl—her dreams have come true since she now has superpowered girlfriends! These Legionnaires invite Supergirl to come into the future with them, where the Maid of Might meets a legion of new, amazing, and slightly awkward (tell me Bouncing Boy is not awkward) superheroes. It is in this initial meeting that Brainiac 5 appears. Supergirl is shocked to meet the descendent of one of her cousin Superman’s greatest nemeses. Superman’s first meeting with Brainiac is retold, and Supergirl remains skeptical of Brainiac 5, wondering if he is sincere in his repentance of his ancestor’s crimes. The story continues with Supergirl trying out for membership in the Legion. After successfully completing trials, she is presented with trophies from the other Legionnaires. Brainiac 5 loans her his force-field belt, a link to the past as Brainiac employed force-fields in his battles against Superman. She puts on the belt and is saved by it when a kryptonite meteor abruptly lands right on top of her. Supergirl thanks Brainiac 5 for the loan and inquires why he gave it to her since he could have also been destroyed by the meteor. Brainiac 5 says, “I am no villain, although my ancestor was! I’d gladly sacrifice my life for yours any time.” As Supergirl prepares to leave the 30th Century to return to her own time, Brainiac 5 has become quite smitten with Superman’s cousin, imploring, “Please remain … and be my girl…!” Our tale then takes on a hint of sorrow as Supergirl rejects his advances because of

Long Distance Romance Brainy pines for Supergirl in this panel from “Brainiac 5’s Secret Weakness!” from Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #204 (Oct. 1974). Story by Cary Bates and Mike Grell. TM & © DC Comics.

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her duty to Superman in her own time. In this story, we see how much the legacy of Brainiac has impacted a future member of his family. In his early stories, Brainiac 5 works to distance himself from Brainiac’s reputation and clear his family name. Paul Levitz, former DC Comics president and publisher and longtime Legion of Super-Heroes scribe, tells BACK ISSUE, “I think it’s fun to have a good Brainiac, because the idea of a good genius is a natural element in the DC Universe. Brainiac 5 certainly was motivated by the connection to his nominal ancestor in the Silver Age stories and perhaps in my earlier stories … not so much in my most recent run. The zero-issue tale and the events tie back to the original, but that’s more B5’s curiosity about the original.” Even as this motivation has waned, it is clearly in the foundational stories of the character. Brainiac 5 seeks to be the photo-negative of his ancestor. He seeks to help others. In his first story, we find him motivated not out greed or treachery like his present-day counterpart, but out of love. That love develops into a futuristic Romeo and Juliet dynamic, as he falls for Supergirl, the kin of his familial enemy. Brainiac 5 rejects the legacy of Brainiac. It is in this rejection that we see this heir as a sweet, slightly nerdy hero who becomes a prominent member of future Legion stories. Keith Giffen adds, “The idea that Brainiac 5 could be descended from Brainiac, even though Brainiac is a machine, has always struck me as odd. That would be like me saying I am descended from a blender. But back then, when Curt [Swan] was doing Superman and the Legion had a flag and wore flight belts, it was a different time. You could have a character named ‘Sinestro’ and nobody would think he was sinister until he does something wrong. It played out different then. You could have spaceships with gas pedals and you could say that Brainiac 5 was the descendant of Brainiac, even though Brainiac was a robot. “To me, Brainiac 5 was the intellectual descendant of Brainiac,” Giffen continues. “If Brainiac was the smartest machine in the galaxy, roaming around and making Superman’s life hell, then Brainiac 5 is the smartest sentient being in the 30th Century. So he is kind of the intellectual heir to Brainiac, and not part of an actual bloodline. He could not be the direct descendant of Brainiac, because he is alive. If Brainiac is connected to either of these guys, in my opinion, it is more a metaphorical connection than an actual bloodline.”

GREEN SKIN, BLACK SHEEP Now we look forward by looking back as we examine Brainiac 2, Vril Dox II, as he appears in stories beginning in the late 1980s. In this Brainiac we see that the apple may fall a little closer to the tree. By the time we see Brainiac 2 in Invasion #1 (Jan. 1989), written and laid out by Keith Giffen and scripted by Bill Mantlo, with pencils by Todd McFarlane and inks by P. Craig Russell, his history has been retconned a bit, but the original essence of the character remained. He was created to assist the character whose consciousness would later become the original Brainiac. Dox, from the get-go, remains at the whim of the Computer Tyrants of Colu. It is in this role that he is seen as a loose end by his overlords and as a goodwill measure turned over to a new rising power in the universe, the Dominators. Dox is taken into custody as the Dominators and their alliance prepare to conquer Earth. In this capacity, Brainiac 2 proves invaluable to the fall of the Dominators as he teams with Adam Strange, the Omega Men, and other captives held in the prison known as the Starlag. After making their escape and helping overthrow the alliance, Dox takes charge of a group of ragtag aliens from all over the universe, and our story moves into the Keith Giffen-led book L.E.G.I.O.N. Giffen says, “L.E.G.I.O.N. was a 20th Century-based cash grab, because back then Legion of Super-Heroes was popular.” It is clear from the early L.E.G.I.O.N. issues that Vril Dox II is not a heroic protagonist. He manipulates those around him to achieve the goals he deems worthy of his attention. It is these qualities that Keith Giffen enjoys writing, telling BACK ISSUE, “Out of all of them, Vril Dox is the most fun. It’s more fun writing a bastard than a boy scout.” L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89’s first three issues were crafted by Keith Giffen on plot and breakdowns, with scripts by Alan Grant and pencils by Barry Kitson. We learn that Vril Dox has kept together the group he escaped with because he sees their potential in achieving his first goal, the overthrow of the Computer Tyrants of Colu. It is clear he has a grudge against the leaders and wants his homeworld to be free from the Tyrants’ will and for its people to be allowed to live according to their own way. While this sounds like a noble cause that most would get behind, the original cast of this book (Garryn Bek, Stealth, Lyrissa Mallor, and Strata) are not given the choice to participate, as Dox places them in dangerous situations to achieve his own plans without their consent. The group is successful and overthrows the cold Computer Tyrants, but things turn sour as society crumples from the top down. When the rest of our team is perplexed by this, Dox explains that he understood that this would happen and followed through any way because he saw this as is in the best interests of Colu. In this story, Brainiac 2 is given inspiration for a grand scheme. He notes that the universe is in chaos, as at this point there is no universe-wide law enforcement. He then manipulates those around to bring about L.E.G.I.O.N., or Licensed Extra-Governmental Interstellar Operatives Network. While the sound of an intergalactic peacekeeping agency sounds virtuous, in the hands of Dox it is not. It’s a private-security firm, a for-profit enterprise where our protagonist controls and plays with sentient life like toys. It is clear that Brainiac 2 is not unlike his namesake when issue #7 (Aug. 1989) opens with Lyra Mallor screaming, “In all my years as Talok’s champion—in all

Uncle Dox Wants You Fresh from the “Invasion” crossover series came L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89, starring the “son” of Brainiac taking charge of a reluctant team. Original cover art illustrated and signed by penciler Kevin Maguire and inker Al Gordon, from the collection of Fred L. deBoom. TM & © DC Comics.

my trials as Shadow-Guardian—you are the most despicable form of life I have ever encountered! You are a dirty, conniving liar who betrays his friends as easily as his enemies! Colu’s Computer Tyrants were bad—but you make them look innocent children! You’re slime, Vril Dox—the lowest in the universe!” The way Dox plays with life almost makes one question if he is not worse than the original Brainiac. Brainiac, at his essence, was simply a computer. There is no question of morals or ethics for him. Vril Dox II is a reasoning, humanoid being. Keith Giffen notes, “If you take all three of them—Brainac, Brainiac 5, and Vril Dox—I think Vril Dox is a much more horrible person than Brainiac. Brainiac is a machine. Brainiac is emotionless. What the hell does he know? He is following his basic program. Even if he is a sentient machine, he has no emotional base. If you want to get into theological terms, Brainiac does not have a soul. He is a machine. Whether or not he has organic sh*t put in him, he is a machine. He is never going to be an actual living being as we understand living beings. Vril Dox is an organic, living being. He really should know better. So with Brainiac, it’s, ‘This who I am. I don’t understand it. I just want that city. I want to collect it. Oh, wait, this is wrong. I don’t know that. I have no moral compass by which to measure that. This is just pure logic. This planet is in the way, blow it up.’ Vril Dox, on the other hand—he had parents. He chose to be like this. I think Vril Dox is much more villainous than Brainiac could ever hope to be.” However, one can see that there is hope for the broken protagonist. While he is manipulative, there is a backing ethical code that seeks to free those under oppression. Even he wants to do it for a profit, the end goal is somewhat admirable, removed from the original Brainiac’s goal of collecting and securing knowledge for himself. Brainiac 2 shows that seeds have been planted to break away from the work and legacy of Brainiac 1. Under this lens we can see that if more generations develop in this line, they could continue to work to distance themselves from the murderous original. This makes Brainiac 5’s heroic nature more believable, as we can see it as the natural reaction to a negative legacy several generations removed. Brainiac 2 and Brainiac 5 each wrestle with their connection to the original Brainiac even if they do not vocalize it. They add to a legacy befitting the most important robot in the DC Universe. JONATHAN BROWN attended Young Harris College and Brevard College for his undergrad. He completed his B.A. in 2007. He finished his Master of Arts in Religion with an emphasis on New Testament and a minor in Religion in Literature at the University of Georgia. He has published work in The Jack Kirby Collector and International Journal of Comic Art.

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Maybe this isn’t such a good idea... This thought hardly seems to cross the minds of the scientists in Japan who are working on a project to artificially create life. As if to proclaim the woes of “taking science too far,” the product of their efforts materializes as a horrifying Godzilla-like creature that begins to destroy everything that winds up in its path. This is the introductory scene to the brief comic-book adventures of Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot. Their story is a short one, running for only two deluxe 32-page issues. “The End—For Now!” reads the tagline at the end of the second issue, leaving us all to surmise that the creators surely had at least a few more stories up their sleeves. And about those creators—comics don’t get a more power-packed lineup. Big Guy and Rusty marks the second collaboration of Frank Miller and Geof Darrow for Dark Horse Comics. Following the ambitious work that was Hard Boiled couldn’t have been an easy feat. Miller’s writing in Big Guy and Rusty is snappy and sensational, certainly peppered with a fair share of wit. Exclamation points are almost overused in the story and everything is spiced up to be noticed. Darrow’s art is among the most detailed in all of comics history. He is a skilled storyteller to be sure, but the first thing that people notice about his art is the insane level of minutiae layered into each panel. It’s not enough to simply show the Tokyo street view. Every restaurant and store and piece of crumbling gravel is delineated by Darrow’s pencil and ink.

RUSTY TRIES TO SAVE THE DAY! With a sentient, giant-sized monster obliterating an entire city, the people in charge in Japan know that something unusual is going to have to be tried to stop the menace. The monster talks to people about how worthless they are and how humanity has usurped what should truly belong to itself. The monster converts people into other smaller monsters and shoots fire from its mouth … something has to be able to stop it, and soon! What weapon does the Japanese government turn to when their military might simply isn’t good enough? Japan’s last line of defense is nothing more frank miller than a prototype of a child-sized robot. Though untested in battle, little Rusty promises to do his best and prove himself against the biggest threat that his country has ever faced. Things don’t go very well for Rusty. Within moments of finding the destructive creature he is squished between two of the beast’s many hands, slapped right through a skyscraper by its tail, and stomped on by a gigantic foot. Rusty cries not in pain but in self-pity: “I’m just a joke! Just a dumb little toy! I’m just no darn good … I’m just … not big enough…”

CALL IN THE BIG GUY! With their last attempt at homeland defense ending in failure, the Japanese bureaucrats have no choice but to call in a favor from the American government. A device that alerts the hero known only as Big Guy is swiftly answered, and the fight against the creature from before time can continue in earnest. Big Guy’s first tactic is to fly over the creature’s head in a ship, dropping all sorts of bombs on it. This doesn’t work. He launches missiles into the creature’s nostrils. This works for only as long as takes for the creature’s regenerative powers to kick in, and in the meantime Big Guy finds all kinds of use for his armaments against the monsters-who-used-to-be© Frank Miller and Geof Darrow.

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Christopher Larochelle

people. The armor-clad man has some trouble cut out for him when creature’s infection spreads onto his suit. Even after taking some heavy damage, Big Guy isn’t ready to quit. He comes up with one last plan to stop the madness. Going underground, Big Guy yanks a subway train and ties it around the monster’s neck. Blasting off into space, Big Guy launches his catch, sending it plummeting back to Earth. A nuclear missile locks on target and detonates as the creature hits the ocean. Nothing less than “the ultimate weapon of modern destruction” could be enough to end this threat. It’s curious that there are hardly any interactions between the two titular characters in this story. Rusty fights the monster, then Big Guy fights the monster when Rusty is out of commission. When they finally meet at the very end of the second issue, Rusty gets the sense that he is rejected by the internationally renowned Big Guy. Rusty vows to prove himself as a worthy kid sidekick, and a kid sidekick is hardly what a proven hero like Big Guy is looking for. The comics end without the two never even starting to act like a team. Clearly there were more stories to be told that never got their chance….

THE SOLO ADVENTURES OF BIG GUY Big Guy’s first appearance was actually in a comic that preceded the Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot series. Mike Allred’s Madman Comics hosted his debut just a few short months before Miller and Darrow’s books came out in 1995, in Madman Comics #6 and 7. “To this day, it’s one of my single favorite stories that I’ve done,” says Allred. Big Guy wound up in the pages of Madman because at that time the creators behind the “Legends” imprint at Dark Horse Comics (writers and artists such as Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Art Adams, John Byrne, Allred, and more) were sharing their characters across each other’s books. Allred couldn’t pass up the chance to find a way to work Big Guy into his own comic: “Our mutual editor, Bob Schreck, had been showing me Geof Darrow’s pages and they were stunning beyond belief. And they had a classic timeless vibe that I was immediately drawn to.” The result of discovering Darrow’s work-in-progress led to Mike Allred’s two-issue storyline co-starring Big Guy. The Madman Comics story is a really fun one that evil robots show up, perpetrating involved the direct collaboration of the will of Factor Max, their leader. Big Guy’s creators. Frank Miller They try to steal Professor Boiffard, contributed all of Big Guy’s dialogue but the know-how of Big Guy and in the scripts. Geof Darrow jammed the courage of Madman save the geof darrow on the covers of the comics with day. Big Guy winds up being so © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. Mike Allred and added his own impressed with Madman’s toughness illustrations for the back covers. and helpfulness that he takes off his helmet and lets In the comic, Madman admires Big Guy and is Snap City’s hero see his real face before he goes: “I awed to see Big Guy’s unique aircraft flying above gotta say goodbye, and I want to say it man to man. his hometown of Snap City. Madman saves a man on Eye to eye.” the highway and has to bring him to Snap City Big Guy plays a major role in these two issues of General Hospital. Much to his surprise, Big Guy’s Madman Comics. The length of this story, in terms of ship is parked right outside! Things get stranger page count, is just about as long as the Big Guy and when Madman sees his lifelong hero carting off Rusty series itself. This story sheds a little more light on Professor Boiffard, Madman’s scientist pseudo-father. the character of Big Guy than his own series does. In Madman has to figure out what is going on, and he the Miller/Darrow series, it’s obvious that Big Guy is stows aboard Big Guy’s ship. Big Guy can’t say a a hero who is respected around the world and is in whole lot about what he is doing, and Madman gets constant demand. But what Mike Allred shows in his used to hearing that everything is classified. Some own comic is the impact that this hero had on just one

Big Mac Attack Really, no one could ever accuse the gifted Geof Darrow of scrimping on detail. Big Guy in action, on this exquisitely illustrated original art page (page 17) from issue #2. Courtesy of Heritage Comic Auctions (www.ha.com). © Frank Miller and Geof Darrow.

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Short-Lived Legends (top) The Allred/ Darrow cover to 1995’s Madman Comics #6. And from the 1999 animated series, (center) a Rusty cel and Big Guy clean-up drawing, and (bottom) a cel featuring our heroes, both courtesy of Heritage. Big Guy and Rusty © Frank Miller and Geof Darrow. Madman © Mike Allred.

person. To Madman, Big Guy is just about the greatest hero who ever decided to stand up and fight evil; he is a role model to other heroes such as himself. Also, in the main series there is never a scene that so humanizes Big Guy as the one that closes out the Madman Comics story. The artificial-life monster constantly taunts Big Guy about how underneath his high-tech suit he is just “soft and human” on the inside. As a parting gift to Madman, Big Guy reveals his face to him in an off-panel secret that is kept from the reader. So Madman is perhaps the only person who knows what Big Guy really looks like. It’s an important scene, and one that really seems like it is missing from the story that Miller and Darrow worked on. Frank Miller briefly returned to writing Big Guy by inserting him into a one-off story featuring Martha Washington, the star of his ongoing collaboration with Dave Gibbons. Martha Washington Stranded in Deep Space has a cover date of Nov. 1995, so it really just seems too bad that everything that happened with the characters of Big Guy and Rusty were over and done with in a single year. In this story, Martha and Pearl are sucked into a space anomaly, where they find themselves briefly in another universe. They find a curious-looking craft floating around in space and investigate what is inside. An inert Big Guy comes floating out. They revive Big Guy and work through the initial confusion, telling him that they are michael allred from a different universe. Photo by Jollyroger / Wikimedia Commons. This appearance of Big Guy also shows him with an added layer of depth. He knows that he has to help Martha and Pearl get back to their own universe and their own time. “I’m just busting to show you my world,” he says. “I’m darn proud of old planet Earth, and I don’t mind admitting it. Sure, we’ve got our problems … but mostly we all get along pretty well.” Martha stares down upon Earth from the orbiting ship of Big Guy as if in disbelief. “It’s a good world,” says Big Guy. “A better world…” is all that the war-torn, battle-hardened woman can reply. Once again it is Big Guy’s incredible strength that comes into play: He puts Martha and Pearl back into their small ship and hurls them right back into the anomaly and back to their own universe. All the while they are left to ponder the things that the man in the metal suit told them about his home, wondering if their own could ever be like that place.

THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF…? Nineteen-ninety-five was the year in which the comic-book tales of Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot began and ended. The 64-page story by Frank Miller and Geof Darrow left just an introduction to a series that probably could have gone on for many issues, fueled by great stories and art. Unfortunately, nothing else really materialized in comics format. That doesn’t mean that the characters completely faded away, however. In the fall of 1999, an animated series starring the two heroes debuted on Fox. It ran for two seasons and 26 episodes, but is now mostly living on solely in the memories of those who watched it. No US DVD release exists, and tie-in merchandise sells for sky-high prices online. Big Guy and Rusty was a property that got off to a great start before grinding to a halt. Maybe someday we’ll get to find out about what happens next…. At age five, CHRISTOPHER LAROCHELLE discovered superheroes on the small screen in cartoons like Batman: The Animated Series and X-Men— a lifelong collection was born. Take a look at his comics-related scrawling over at http://clarocomics.blogspot.com.

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