{"id":2789,"date":"2021-01-05T09:24:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T17:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=2789"},"modified":"2024-01-10T09:27:01","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T17:27:01","slug":"maggies-world-087-a-robot-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/maggies-world-087-a-robot-century\/","title":{"rendered":"Maggie’s World 087: A Robot Century"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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MAGGIE’S WORLD BY MAGGIE THOMPSON<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maggie’s World 087: A Robot Century<\/h1>\n\n\n
Maggie Thompson<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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When the play R.U.R.<\/em> by Karl \u010capek had its premiere on January 25, 1921, Rossum\u2019s Universal Robots introduced the word \u201crobot\u201d to the world. \u010capek later credited his brother Josef with creation of the word: the Czech word \u201crobota\u201d meaning serfs\u2019 forced labor, was based on \u201crab,\u201d which meant \u201cslave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grew up familiar with robots. Mom (Betsy Curtis) wrote science fiction, and her fifth sale was \u201cA Peculiar People\u201d (F&SF<\/em> for August 1951). It was reprinted in The Best Science Fiction Stories <\/em>(1952), then in New Eves <\/em>(1994), Sci-Fi Womanthology <\/em>(2003), and (mistitled as \u201cThe Peculiar People\u201d) in Lost Stars <\/em>(2003). [The story\u2019s title referred to I Peter<\/em> 2:9: \u201cBut ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.\u201d]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I read and reread Ed Hamilton\u2019s \u201cCaptain Future\u201d tales in Startling Stories<\/em> (which started in January 1950). A bunch of guys had been involved in creating the mythos of the Captain Future <\/em>pulp magazine universe that started publication in 1940. Those participants were Mort Weisinger, Leo Margulies, and Edmond Hamilton (who wrote the stories). Captain Future\u2019s team included the robot Grag, the android Otho, and the brain-in-a-box Simon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s where I became acquainted with the differences between cyborgs, androids, and (yes) robots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Robots? Not so fast! These are cyborgs, not robots. They call the Doom Patrol member Robotman, but it turns out he\u2019s a cyborg (like his Golden Age predecessor).\u00a0My Greatest Adventure<\/em>\u00a0#84 [(December 1963) TM & \u00a9 DC] is by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani. The script for Charlton\u2019s\u00a0The Six Million Dollar Man<\/em>\u00a0#1 [(July 1976) \u00a9 2021 Universal Studios], based on\u00a0Cyborg<\/em>\u00a0by Martin Caidin, is by Joe Gill and Continuity Associates.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Definitions<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

As we celebrate a century of robots, we can consider comics based on the concept: A non-human intelligence of some sort being put to a variety of uses. Heck, around 700 B.C., Hesiod wrote about myths of automata created by Hephaestus: Those included Talos (powered by ichor) protecting Crete. Automata are \u201cself-acting,\u201d self-propelled computing devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.I.<\/strong>\u2014for \u201cartificial intelligence\u201d\u2014 is a term coined by John McCarthy in 1956. It\u2019s a general description for a variety of forms of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyborgs<\/strong> are \u201ccybernetic organisms\u201d containing both organic and mechanical parts. The term was coined by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline in 1960. It\u2019s the title of the Martin Caidin novel on which the TV show Six Million Dollar Man<\/em> was based. Basically, they are human beings with a variety of implants and\/or life supports. (Simon, for example, was a human brain in a life-support box.) But they\u2019re clearly not A.I. It\u2019s the body parts that are artificial, not the intelligence. Captain Future<\/em>\u2019s brain-in-a-box Simon was a human brain; even the comics characters called \u201cRobotman\u201d were more man than robot. In any case \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Androids<\/strong> are non-human, self-acting, organic but artificial creations (such as Otho).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robots <\/strong>are mechanical creations such as Grag: machines that can carry out self-directed complex actions automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, while each of the three is frequently depicted in humanoid form, some are not built to look like people. (Think of K.I.T.T. in the 1982 TV series Knight Rider<\/em>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Well, yes, Artificial Intelligence here. These are androids. The Human Torch was cover-featured on\u00a0Marvel Comics<\/em>\u00a0#1 (October 1939), and this blurry reprint of Carl Burgos\u2019 work is from the 1990 reprint [\u00a9 2021 Marvel]. And the Silver Age Red Tornado (unlike the Golden Age\u2019s Ma Hunkel) was eventually revealed to be an android.\u00a0Justice League of America<\/em>\u00a0#64 [(August 1968) TM & \u00a9 DC] is by Gardner Fox, Dick Dillin, and Sid Greene.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Pop Culture<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not counting magical A.I. characters whose creation comes from a variety of fantastic origins, but there were automata in pop culture even before R.U.R. <\/em>For example, in L. Frank Baum\u2019s first novel, The Surprising Adventures of the Magical Monarch of Mo and His People <\/em>(1896), he introduced The Cast-Iron Man. In Baum\u2019s third Oz novel, Ozma of Oz<\/em> (1907) Tik-Tok runs via clockwork that needs to be wound for thought, movement, and speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automata also appeared in early films. Ah, think of the tales, once robots entered popular entertainment! (Consider, for example, the classic image of the Metropolis<\/em> (1927) Machine-Person.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some robot tales preceded such later popularizations as Isaac Asimov\u2019s short stories (collected in I, Robot<\/em>). But it was Asimov who introduced Three Laws of Robotics in \u201cRunaround\u201d in Astounding Science Fiction<\/em> (March 1942), edited by John Campbell, with whom Asimov credited the idea:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Woo hoo! These are pre-century and Silver Age robots! L. Frank Baum introduced Tik-Tok to the Oz universe in\u00a0Ozma of Oz\u00a0<\/em>(1907), for which the robot was drawn by John R. Neill. Eric Shanower and Skottie Young interpreted it for a new audience in Marvel\u2019s\u00a0Ozma of Oz<\/em>. [#2 (February 2011) \u00a9 2021 Marvel] Yep! The Metal Men are robots, which Tina confirms.\u00a0Metal Men\u00a0<\/em>#3 [(August-September 1963) TM & \u00a9 DC] is by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru, and Mike Esposito<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
A List<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Who\u2019s who (and what\u2019s what) in A.I. comics? Let\u2019s see whether I can avoid messing up the lists (the way I forgot that Daredevil\u2019s mask wouldn\u2019t protect him and his friends in Maggie\u2019s World<\/em> #082). I should also note that, before final trimming, this Maggie\u2019s World<\/em> was a third longer than this. I\u2019ve left out many details, omitted too many characters to count, and simply provided preliminary lists in chronological order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyborgs<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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  • April 1942: Robotman in Star Spangled Comics<\/em> #7<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • March 1963: Iron Man in Tales of Suspense<\/em> #39<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • June 1963: Robotman in My Greatest Adventure<\/em> #80<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • March 1964: The Brain in The Doom Patrol<\/em> #86<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • January 1967: Tharok in Adventure Comics<\/em> #352<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • October 1980: Cyborg in DC Comics Presents<\/em> #26<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • September 1988: Tailgunner Jo in Tailgunner Jo<\/em> #1<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • May 1990: Cyborg Superman in Adventures of Superman<\/em> #466<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Androids<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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    • October 1939: Human Torch in Marvel Comics<\/em> #1<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • August 1968: Red Tornado in Justice League of America<\/em> #64<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      Robots<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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      • January 1939: Adam Link (in a short story eventually adapted for comic books in Weird Science-Fantasy<\/em> #27 (January-February 1955)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • March 1940: Flexo the Rubber Man in Mystic<\/em> Comics<\/em> #1<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • May 1954: M-11\/M11 in Menace<\/em> #11<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • September 1956: Gyro Gearloose\u2019s \u201cLittle Helper\u201d <\/strong>in Uncle Scrooge<\/em> #15<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • March-April 1962: Metal Men Gold, Iron, Lead, Mercury, Tin, and Platinum in Showcase<\/em> #37<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • July-August 1968: Ultron in The Avengers<\/em> #54-55<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • July 1977: Machine Man (also known as X-51 and Mister Machine) in 2001: A Space Odyssey<\/em> #8<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • December 1977: Red Ronin in Godzilla<\/em> #5<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • November 1997: Hourman III in JLA<\/em> #12<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • September 1998: Baymax in Sunfire & Big Hero Six<\/em> #1<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • 2000: Boilerplate in a Paul Guinan website<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • October 2007: Atomic Robo in Atomic Robo<\/em> #1<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        More Pop Culture<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

        And things can get complex. Hourman III is called an android but it\u2019s an intelligent machine colony\u2014so it\u2019s a robot. 1978\u2019s radio series Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide to the Galaxy<\/em> called Marvin a \u201cparanoid android,\u201d but the rest of the information identified him as a robot, and he and Eddie the Shipboard Computer were introduced to comics in DC\u2019s 1993 three-issue adaptation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        These days, there are just so many robotic crossovers among media, folks are used to cyborgs and A.I. characters. With the original Star Wars<\/em> film trilogy kicking off in 1977, the robots (not androids, just saying) were quickly featured in comic books. And so it went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Let\u2019s face it: The field is so vast that, after weeks of mulling the topic, it wasn\u2019t until it came time to wrap things up that such robot-focused entertainment as Magnus Robot Fighter<\/em> and Osamu Tezuka\u2019s Tetsuwan Atomu<\/em> even occurred to me. Which is to say, there\u2019s much more to say about robots. But danger, Will Robinson, danger! We\u2019re out of space, even as readers quickly come up with other characters that should have been mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        In the meantime, it\u2019s time for us all to pay tribute to Karl \u010capek for giving us the name. Maybe it\u2019s even time to hunt down a copy of the script for\u2014or a performance of\u2014R.U.R.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        Maggie\u2019s World by Maggie Thompson appears the first Tuesday of every month here on <\/em>Toucan!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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        Written by<\/p>\n\n\n

        Maggie Thompson<\/div>\n\n\n

        Published<\/p>\n\n\n