ROBOT WEEK Day 2 - I, ROBOT and I, THE ROBOT (and more)

I am

THE APOCOLYTE!

I am back again for DAY 2 of ROBOT WEEK!

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"Hey, you got Robot in my Comic Book!"

"Oh yeah? Well, you went and got Comic Book all over my Robot!"

TWO GREAT THINGS THAT GO GREAT TOGETHER!

That's right, 

ROBOTS

and 

COMIC BOOKS!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, one of the more popular and enduring ROBOT stories that 
emerged after the dawn of the robot age has been Earl and Otto (Eando) Binder's I, ROBOT, 
the saga of robot ADAM LINK.

AMAZING STORIES Jan. 1939

By the time "I, ROBOT" was published in 1939, Earl Binder had retired from writing and Otto continued to write utilizing the Eando pseudonym. All the Adam Link stories were in fact written by Otto Binder alone.

EC Comics brought the character to the comic book pages in the January-February 1955 issue of

WEIRD SCIENCE-FANTASY #27. Otto Binder was doing quite a bit of writing for EC around this time, and although he gets the writing credit for EC's "I, ROBOT" stories, it was in fact Al Feldstein who adapted the Adam Link robot stories for EC.

The artwork for all the Adam Link stories published by EC (they did three of them) was done by Joe Orlando. Orlando would continue drawing the character for WARREN's early CREEPY issues, where he drew eight Adam Link stories between 1965-67.

(To see another Joe Orlando ADAM LINK story, click here  to go to 

BLACK 'N' WHITE AND RED ALL OVER

and enjoy yet another version of "I, ROBOT!")

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Today's second presentation in our Robotic Double Feature comes from ATLAS / MARVEL Comics. 

From the final issue of MENACE (#11, 1954) comes a slightly sinister tale of mechanized mayhem.

With artwork by Marvel stalwart John Romita (Sr.), the uncredited author here transmogrifies 

Otto Binder's well-known title and turns it into 

"I, THE ROBOT"!

- Digitally Restored Comic Art -

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Have you ever wanted your own robot?

When I was much younger I thought it would be cool to have a robot like this one on LOST IN SPACE.

Well, apparently lots of other people had the same idea,

and now the dream can become a reality.

Yes, you too can own your very own personal B9 ROBOT, just like Will Robinson!

For a mere pittance of $25,000 (Earth money) this company (click for link) will build your very own 

LOST IN SPACE Robot. They have many satisfied customers.

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Thanks for dropping by!

Stop by again tomorrow when your friend 

THE APOCOLYTE 

will have more great stuff on Day 3 of

Don't forget!

Click on the picture to see another ADAM LINK Robot story!

ROBOT WEEK Day 1 - Wolverton's ROBOT WOMAN and more!

For almost as long as there have been comic books,

there have been ROBOTS appearing in their pages, teasing our imaginations.

Where did the first robots come from in popular culture?

By all  best research, L. Frank Baum's 1907 children's novel OZMA OF OZ featured the first appearance of a humanoid mechanical creature, TIK-TOK, utilizing internal clockwork movements that needed to be wound by another in order for him to keep functioning.

The actual word "Robot" first was used in a play written by Karel Capek in 1920, "R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)", which later came to New York (1922) and eventually was published in English in 1923. Capek actually credits his brother Josef with coining the term, derived from "robota", which in Czech means "drudgery", and in Slovak means "work".

Robots and other science fiction themes soon appeared throughout a variety of pulp magazines and novels throughout the late 20's and 30's. Brothers Earl and Otto (Eando) Binder published their tale of Adam Link, titled "I, ROBOT" in the January 1939 issue of AMAZING STORIES.

Isaac Asimov, who is responsible for creating the Three Laws of Robotics 
had a collection of short stories focusing on robots,
 also titled (against the author's wishes) I, ROBOT in 1950.

One of the first recurring robots stars of the comics was Hugh Hazard's Iron Man, later named BOZO the Robot, who was featured prominently in Quality 's SMASH Comics. First appearing in the premiere issue in August 1939, Bozo was essentially a walking tin can.

According to Grand Comics Database, BOZO creator George Brenner

 "probably created Bozo from the golden robot Elektro, 
which was made by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation 
and presented to the 1939 New York World's Fair. It was 7' tall
 and performed a variety of feats, but could not house a human being."

Westinghouse'  7-foot tall Robot ELEKTRO was capable of speech (via an internal 78 RPM phonograph)!

 So many robots have come and gone throughout the last 3/4 of a century.

I'm sure you have some favorites from your own memories.

Here are just a few samples of robots in media...

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Over the next seven days 

(or more - I've got waaaay too many stories to post for just one week)

I'll be showing you a variety of comic stories and art that all share one thing in common - 

First story for today comes from comics maestro Basil Wolverton.

Published originally in WEIRD MYSTERIES #2, 1952,

and lovingly digitally restored by yours truly for your enjoyment here,

ROBOT WOMAN!

- Digitally Restored Comic Art -

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Ah, Robot Women...just like real women.

...ya can't live with 'em, and...

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Next, we have the original appearance of the earlier mentioned

BOZO, the IRON MAN!

From SMASH Comics #1, 1939.

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Mmmmmm, yummy motor oil!

Yeah, Robots have changed a lot since this comics was published...

Comics have changed a lot since then, too!

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For a final encore today we have a selection of Wally Wood illustrations

done for Galaxy and other sci-fi magazines in the 50's.

Enjoy!

-click to enlarge-

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