The robots of Space Adventures appeared in three ages of comics. Charlton began the comic in July 1952 (to compete with DC’s Strange Adventures) with the final issue in March 1979. I have seen this series listed with five volumes but I simply went with Golden, Silver and Bronze Age. The publisher often reprinted older stories in all three ages.
The robots will run the gamut from metal monsters to android human replacements. (Call Rick Deckard!) There are several stories where the robots prove to be humans pretending to be robots. Many of the early stories were written by unknown authors. I have indicated the writer when known. Most were written by Joe Gill.
The early issues are available free at DCM.
Golden Age
“Revolt of the Robots” (Space Adventures #2, September 1952) has Maida and Jak on the planet Decima. The robots there attack them. After Jak takes care of the pesky machines, he discovers one of them is his assistant, Gant, dressed as a robot. Maida figures out what this is all about when she finds gold ore. The man disguised as a robot theme may have been lifted from Ray Cummings’ “The Robot God” in Weird Tales, July 1941.
“The Monsters of Kalypso” (Space Adventures #4, January 1953) is set in the Asteroid Belt, where the evil Mechans hold humans as slaves. Van saves everyone by creating water and short-circuiting the robots.
“All For Love” (Space Adventures #8, September 1953) was written by Carl Memling. Clio has never met an Earthman before. She has lived her whole life on the asteroid Vulca with Doctor Artuk. Eventually she murders the scientist so she can run away with Jason. Too bad she’s not human! Rod Serling did something similar on Night Gallery years later with “Class of ’99”.
“Back to Earth” (Space Adventures #10, Spring 1954) was written by Carl Memling. Humans revolt against their robot masters but end up just as ruthless as the machines. The best thing here is that Ditko cover.
“Heritage!” (Space Adventures #13, October-November, 1954) has a robot give a lecture on how the robots now claim the Earth. He meets the last human who finds out that the robots co-exist peacefully with the new ant civilization. Clifford D. Simak’s “The Trouble With Ants” (Fantastic Adventures, January 1951) that formed the ending to the novel City is the obvious inspiration here.
“Menace of the Midget Robots” (Space Adventures #19, December 1955) was written by Joe Gill. This is part of the Rex Clive and the Space Officers series. An evil traitor uses an army of small robots to control a fleet of ships.
Silver Age
“The Metallic Visitor” (Space Adventures #24, July 1958) was written by Joe Gill. A film about robots gets a visit by real robots!
“Visitor From the Void” (Space Adventures #28, April 1959) was written by Joe Gill. A robot from space comes to Earth, goes on a rampage then leaves after having eaten enough iron. In return, he rids the world of rust. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) seems like the likely inspiration.
“Flight 101 to Nowhere” (Space Adventures #37, December 1960) was written by Joe Gill. An Earth rocket is captured by a gigantic spaceship. The inhabitants appear to be giant robots. But they aren’t….
“The Android Maker” (Space Adventures #41, August 1961) was written by Joe Gill. A space flyer makes an android version of himself and names it Botor. After a savage space battle only one of them returns to earth. Can androids cry?
“The Crusader’s Sword” (Space Adventures #43, December 1961) was written by Joe Gill. Earthmen discover a set of twin planets, one inhabited by the descendants of Arthurian knights and the other by their robot slaves. The robots attack their masters with electric rays. The visitors help put down the revolt, costing them their spaceship.
“Man on the Moon” (Space Adventures #46, July 1962) has the first American to land on the Moon finding out the Soviets and their robot are also there. The Cold War finds its way into the comics. The open ending asks Whose ships are they?
“Man or Pseudo-Man?” (Space Adventures #47, September 1962) was written by Joe Gill. A robotics genius is sent to a penal colony for treason. There he creates a perfect robotic copy of himself. The robot is equally intelligent and evil. They fight. When he leaves, is it the man or robot that steps onto the ship?
“The Ambassador From Earth” (Space Adventures #48, November 1962) was written by Joe Gill. Earth sends a robotic ambassador to the far planets. Unfortunately the settlers have had a war with the Kashmi, a race of self-replicating robots. The ambassador also approaches the Kashmi, who destroy him. The people of Earth know who their enemies is and they attack.
Bronze Age
Technically these two stories appeared before the Bronze Age (if you consider it beginning with January 1970) but the series ran into the Bronze Age up to 1979.
“Specimen Earth” (Space Adventures #3, September 1968) was written by Denny O’Neil. Aliens come to Earth in the middle of a military conflict. The energy being takes a soldier as a specimen then regrets its when he kills the master then its robot slave.
“If You Love Me Beep Twice!” (Space Adventures #7, May 1969) was written by Joe Gill. A computer scientist is possessed by the robot machine he creates. Fortunately his girl knows better.
Conclusion
The writers at Charlton were obviously familiar with the Pulp stories of robots, directly or indirectly. The same themes appear in these comics that were in Weird Tales and Astounding decades earlier. Those same themes had appeared in books and plays before the Pulps, so we can’t really get too worked up about that. There are quite a few tales of people acting as robots, becoming robots, etc, which is more of a Philip K. Dick vibe. With a comic lasting for almost three decades, the writers tried many different ways to explore the nature of the mechanical man.
