If you missed the last one…
This post is brought to you by The Gear Crew by Jack Mackenzie. A ship is only as good as its gear crew. Franklin and Sri are the gears on the Alizarin Crimson, a ship with a few problems. When they arrive at a derelict in space, the mysteries begin to pile up. The answers will cross time and space, involve a giant insectoid race and may even get everybody killed. Jack Mackenzie delivers a space adventure like no one else!
1940 was the year after the World’s Fair, and it was comic books’ Year of the Robot. For Pulps, that was 1939, but a year later all the comics had robots! Especially those owned by Ned Pines, known as Better Publications or Nedor Publishing. Pines owned the Pulps Thrilling Wonder Stories, Captain Future and Startling Stories. So, of course, he had Thrilling Comics, Startling Comics as well as Exciting Comics. The magazines were full of robotic monsters and sidekicks, so the why not in their comics as well? 1940 had as many bots as all of 1936-1939.
One of Ned Pines’ editors was Mort Weisinger, who made sure robots filled his Pulps like this issue of Startling Stories, July 1939, which would have been on sale during the World’s Fair. Weisinger was young and ambitious and moved on from Pines’ bullpen to the offices of DC Comics shortly after. Mort would be straw boss on future Batman and Superman stories that featured plenty of robots. (The author of “Giants From Eternity” was Manly Wade Wellman who would write Captain Marvel Adventures for DC’s competitor, Fawcett Comics, as well as ghost on The Spirit in the newspapers. SF writers were very much part of the comics explosion of the 1940s.)
Superheroes are the most common heroes encountering robots in 1940, though sometimes the superheroes ARE robots. The popularity of Superman has spurred a new industry with more and more “studios” popping up to supply fresh adventures to fill pages. The space hero with the robot sidekick is just beginning to appear with Fiction House’s Planet Comics to accompany their Pulp, Planet Stories. Prize Comics has Futureman. These Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon imitators will grow in popularity later but in 1940, they are the exception.
As with most Golden Age comics, the authors of these comics are unknown. I have indicated them when possible.
“Mad Men Raze N. Y. City” (Speed Comics #4, January 1940) has Torrence the Government Man turn to Landor, Maker of Monsters for military aid. This proves to be a giant robot that can crush tanks. The robot goes on a rampage, attacking its creators. Torrence destroys it by having it collide with powerlines. Landor is not pleased.
“Sikandur the Robot Master” (War Comics #1, January 1940) has the Master of Robots send Robot X532-8B (which is controlled by remote control) to the USA to break into Fort Knox to steal gold. The robot is disguised as a man. The plan is thwarted by three pals who notice the amount of heat the robot produces.
“Electro” (Marvel Mystery Comics #4-19, February 1940-May 1941) was written and drawn by Steve Dahlman. Electro is the first hero robot since Bozo the Robot of last year. He appeared in sixteen episodes. In the beginning he has a single round eye but in later episodes this is replaced with an image of human head. Electro was created by Professor Philo Zog with the help of the US government. Electro goes up against rogue nations, drug dealers and finally Dragon-men from the planet Ligra. He goes to the Moon, fights evil magicians then Nazis in World War II. Electro’s name is an obvious homage to “Elecktro” from the 1939 World’s Fair.
“The Giant Robots of Kilgor” (Fantastic Comics #4, March 1940) was probably written by Wil Eisner. The story begins with Samson saving Professor Brun from a lab explosion. Meanwhile, evil scientist Kilgor is creating giant robots on an African island. Joining up with the Dictator, Rigo, Kilgor builds a factory and turns out hundreds of robots. Brun helps Samson defeat the army of steel giants with a demolecularizing ray.
“Marvex” (Daring Mystery Comics #3-5, April-June 1940) was meant to be another Electro but only got three episodes. In the first one, he looks very much like a metal man. In the second episode, he was redesigned to look less human, getting rid of his steel hair. Marvex is created in the fifth dimension, then comes to our Earth. At first, he takes on normal criminals but must face off with Dr. Narr, a scientist who wants to possess him. Marvex gets to punch out some inferior tin robots.
“The Beast Plague From Jupiter” (Exciting Comics #1, April 1940) stars Major Mars, inventor of the robot Grag. The plot is pretty standard stuff with an Emperor of a Jovian horde and a princess that needs rescuing. What makes this one interesting is that Captain Future, Pines’ Pulp hero, has a robot named Grag. Major Mars is an obvious Captain Future clone, but there isn’t any legal issue since Pines owned these comics too. (We will see this self-plagiarism again later.) This comic and the next were drawn by SF comics pioneer, Max Plaisted, who drew “Zarnak” for Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1936.
“The Robot Masters of Venus” (Exciting Comics #3, April 1940) has Ted and Jane off to Mercury to be attacked by slimy aliens then harassed by the locals. The duo are captives of the Mercurians when a robot problem intervenes. The duo ride inside a robot before escaping home in their rocket. This robot design is not the usual tin robot.
“The Origin of Captain Future” (Startling Comics #1, June 1940) features not Curt Newton but Dr. Andrew Bryant. He zaps himself accidentally and becomes a superhero. The robots aren’t really important in this first tale, showing up at the end when the bad guy sends them to kill the hero. The Captain Future in the Pulps is nothing like this Superman wanna-be. It seems odd to me that Pines would steal his own character name then make him completely different. This may have been so the comic writers-artists didn’t have to follow what Edmond Hamilton was doing at the magazine. (This is using name recognition to sell more comics.)
“Birth of a Robot” (Target Comics #5-6, June-July 1940) The White Streak was a human-looking robot who appeared in two adventures, both pretty standard hero tales against evil-doers. The White Streak is very strong and can shoot rays out of his eyes. He may have been meant as competition for Joe Simon’s The Silver Streak who appeared a few month earlier. The text feature that followed both adventures was written by Stockbridge Winslow.
“Three Companions” (Thrilling Comics #5, June 1940) was probably written by Richard Hughes. This comic features three friends, Lucky, Cal and Books, reminiscent of Jack, Doc and Reggie in the popular Radio show, I Love a Mystery that started in 1939. The trio and Caroline encounter a mad scientist, Doctor Zorn, who creates thousand pound tin robots. They defeat one of the robots by pushing it over a cliff.
“Inspector Dayton” (Jumbo Comics #17, July 1940) was written by Geothatcher (house name). Dayton and his fiancee, Winni, go to an exhibition that features a robot who can add and do other trivial things. (Electkro, of course, but no smoking.) When a bad guy sends the robot on a rampage, Bob takes it out with a fire ax. The robot appears later in a roadside ambush but doesn’t really matter for the rest of the story.
“The Robot Invasion From Argus” (Prize Comics #6, August 1940) has a spaceship full of gigantic robots land on Earth. The army tries to stop them but the bots have laser beams that shoot from their faces. Futureman swoops in Superman style and ends the invasion. The rest of the comic is about other stuff right out of Flash Gordon, a real mix.
“Robot Raiders of Mars” (Planet Comics #8, September 1940) was written by Beekman Terrill (house name). Captain Nelson Cole of the Solar Force is a regular character at Planet Comics. In this early adventure he dons the metal of a worn-out robot to use as a fighting suit. We don’t actually get to see actual robots in action but Cole looks like a tin robot. This will become a trope.
“The Robot Bandits of Metropolis” (Superman comic strip, November 3 to December 22, 1940) written by Jerome Siegel. One of the most famous Superman Sundays was this battle between Sup and the robber robots. This comic inspired the Max Flesicher cartoon, “The Mechancal Monsters” from 1941. Mandrake the Magician and Flash Gordon would feature robots in comics strips after this. Superman would fight many robots over the years.
“The Killer Robot” (Big Shot Comics #8, December 1940) was written by Gardner F. Fox. A mad scientist creates a robot that can shoot a deadly germ spray from its chest. He uses this machine to break into a bank and steal money. D. A. Tom Kerry outfoxes the villain by taking on the robot’s outer metal as a disguise. As the robot, he demands that the scientist give him his share. Once the baddy admits his crime, Kerry reveals himself. Fox would write several robot tales for DC’s Strange Adventures in the 1950s.
“Tommy Tinkle” (Hit Comics #6, December 1940) was written by Sandy Klauz (Arthur Beeman). This two-pager has a giant robot named Stoop-Pendous. The professor defeats the bad guys robot with a sexy counterpart. A funnier version of the killer giant robot.
Conclusion
I haven’t made any distinction here between giant robots and human-sized ones. The killer robots tend to be larger, while the funny ones smaller. “Tommy Tinkle” is the exception that proves the rule. Most of these 1940 specimens are man-shaped with the exception of Max Plaisted’s vacuum cleaner robot in “The Robot Masters of Venus”. If you look closely, you will see it looks like R2D2 with long arms and legs. The White Streak and the original Marvex are very human-looking, though Marvex got a do-over and became more of a traditional tin robot. Human-appearing robots will become a feature of the Superman comics (and I for one don’t really care for them. How many times can Clark Kent prove he isn’t Superman by having a robot double? I guess that’s a matter of opinion, of course. I’ll have mine twenty feet tall and stomping through the city streets, thanks.)
1941 is another busy year!
Discover these RAGE m a c h i n e SF books
Leave a Reply