Magnus, Robot Fighter

I was having coffee with a friend the other day and the conversation turned to AI, as it does often these days. My friend, Otto, suddenly said; “You know what we need? We need Magnus.”

“Magnus?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Otto insisted. “Remember Magnus, the Robot Fighter? That’s who we need.”

Indeed I did remember Magnus: Robot Fighter. It was a title published by Gold Key Comics. The scripts and the interior art were the product of Russ Manning. Manning was best known for his artwork on the Tarzan daily newspaper strip from 1967 to 1972. Before that he was the artist on Gold Key’s Tarzan title from 1965 to 1969.

But in1963 he created Magnus, Robot Fighter. He scripted and drew the first 21 issues, through 1968.

Magnus battles rogue robots in the year 4000, and he first appeared in Magnus Robot Fighter 4000 A.D. #1 in February 1963.

In the year 4000 AD humanity has become dependent on robots. H8, the Robot Police chief of the civic sector of North Am, a continent-spanning mega-city, is damaged in a radiation accident. It seeks to promote the human dependency on robots and gradually impose totalitarian rule in the area under its control.

I know, ridiculous, right? Who could ever imagine that some sort of artificial intelligence could pose an existential threat to humanity?

The strip takes place in North Am, a megalopolis that encompasses the entire North American continent. The city consists of several “levels.” The higher levels are populated by wealthier individuals, often regarded as “soft” and complacent. The lowest level, the Goph Level, is populated by a hardier and less educated class known as “gophs”.

Income inequity and a polarized society? Who’d a thunk it, huh?

Aside from North Am, Earth also features another continent-wide city in Europe and a city on the continent of Antarctica named Antarcto. The city consists of several transparent domes, inside each of which the climate is carefully controlled. Construction of these habitats was fiercely opposed, for fear of ecological damage to the fragile Antarctic system.

Well, aside from these cherrypicked examples of Manning’s prescience, Magnus, Robot Fighter is truly derived from the pulp era of science fiction. Manning was not coy about his influences, in fact he included Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics as a quote in the beginning of the first issue.

For the duration of the title’s original run, Magnus battled rogue robots, aliens, space pirates and other threats. He fell in love with Leeja Clane, the daughter of one of North Am’s senators. Leeja developed limited telepathic abilities after training by M’Ree and other humans who had acquired them as a result of their minds being linked together while imprisoned in suspended animation by H8.

To be honest, despite my admiration for Manning’s work on the inside of the title, my eye was usually drawn by the cover art that wrapped it. The covers were amazing pieces of pulp-inspired art by the great American illustrator George Wilson.

Wilson’s exciting covers, often based on Manning sketches, were what really sold the series for me, even though he only painted 12 of the series’ 21 covers.

Wilson’s main inspirations for his artwork were the classic episodes of Alex Raymond’s ‘Flash Gordon’ and the line work of illustrator Noel Sickles. He made illustrations for romance and wild west paperbacks, including book series like ‘The Hardy Boys’. He began his production as a cover painter for Dell Comics in 1955. His cover work turned up on titles like Tarzan, Turok as well as Doctor Solar, The Phantom, The Twilight Zone, and Gold Key’s Star Trek title

Most of the rest of the Magnus covers were painted by artist Vic Prezio,

Magnus, Robot Fighter was a popular title in the 1960s. As the ’70s approached, sales began to decline. The last issue was published in January 1977. However, Manning only completed 21 issues; the rest were reprints of previous issues or new stories by others.

In the early ’80s, a new Magnus backup series ran in the new Doctor Solar title in issues #29–31. This was supposed to lead to a new Magnus title, but Gold Key stopped publication soon afterwards. Supposedly, there was work completed for two new Magnus issues (what would have been Magnus #47, 48), but these have never been published.

That would have been the end for Magnus except that in 1991, Jim Shooter obtained rights to three Gold Key characters: Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom; Turok, Son of Stone; and Magnus, Robot Fighter. He intended to use those characters to launch his new comic book line, Valiant Comics. Several months later, the company launched Magnus, Robot Fighter.

The series began where the original one left off. The artists took great care to replicate the setting and trappings of the original stories. But as the new series progressed, it began to deviate from the original concept.

The rights to Magnus have bounced around in the last couple of years. In 1995, Voyager Communications was bought by Acclaim Entertainment. In 2002, the rights to Magnus, Robot Fighter reverted to Random House, which, at that point, acquired Western Publishing’s assets. It made a contract with Dark Horse Comics to reprint the original series.

In 2006, ibooks Inc published a graphic novel (of novelette length) reintroducing the characters, with new extraterrestrial robotic foes. It is not currently known whether they will continue with further issues, in light of their recent bankruptcy.

Maybe Otto is right. Maybe we do need Magnus today. Maybe with the rise of AI, the time is right for a reincarnation of the Magnus character. For me, however, the charm of the Gold Key run is what fires my imagination.

While the rest of the world is moving forward, perhaps its best that Magnus stays in its heyday of the late 1960’s.