If you missed the last one…
The 1960s saw more superheroes facing off against robots. The Horror comics still used them frequently since the Comics’ Code wouldn’t allow truly horrific images. Perhaps the most striking is the robot-oriented series such as Magnus, Robot-Fighter, an entire comic about a guy who fights all kinds of robots. In our Giant Robot section we featured Magnus versus giant mechanical men. This time he is taking out smaller human-sized tin robots. The combination of George Wilson cover and Russ Manning interiors is classic Silver Age stuff.
The other series that has a robot in it, but not all the time, is The Jetsons, based on the cartoon. Rosie the Robot is the family’s domestic. The robot as servant is an old trope but Rosie seems to find mileage there. It reminds me of David H. Keller’s “The Psychophonic Nurse” (Amazing Stories, November 1928) where the robot looks like an African-American woman. We have moved on in technology if not in attitude…
As before, many of the authors are not known. They are indicated where we can.
“I Was Face-to-Face With the Forbidden Robot!” (Tales to Astonish #11, September 1960) was written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber.
“Fear in the Night!” (Journey Into Mystery #65, February 1961)
“Beauty and the Robot” (Mystery in Space #66, March 1961) was written by Gardner F. Fox.
“Robot on a Rampage!” (Tales to Astonish #18, April 1961) was written by Stan Lee.
“Robot Worker” (Flash Gordon, April 1961) was written by Harry Harrison.
“Enter…the Robot!” (Tales of Suspense #18, June 1961)
“Open Wider, Please!” (Tales to Astonish #21, July 1961) was written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber.
“I Am Robot X” (Amazing Adventures #4, September 1961) was written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber.
“Less Than Human” (Tales to Astonish #23, September 1961) was written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber.
“The Inhuman!” (Strange Tales #90, November 1961) was written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber.
“John Doe” (Tales of Suspense #27, March 1962) was written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber.
“Robertson’s Robots!” (Adventures Into the Unknown #133, June-July 1962) was written by Richard Hughes.
“The Riddle of the Robot Justice League!” (Justice League of America #13, August 1962) was written by Gardner F. Fox.
“The Wizard of a Thousand Menaces!” (Detective Comics #306, August 1962) was written by Bill Finger.
“Aliens For Hire” (Tales of the Unexpected #73, October-November 1962) was written by Jack Miller.
“The Demon Sorcerer of Saturn!” (Tales of the Unexpected #73, October-November 1962) was written by Arnold Drake.
The Jetsons #1-36, January 1963-October 1970)
Magnus, Robot Fighter #1-46, February 1963-January 1977) was largely written and drawn by Russ Manning.
“Cure Our Robot Ruler — Or Die!” (My Greatest Adventure #77, March 1963)
Conclusion
I wanted to say a little bit about Harry Harrison and his writing “Flash Gordon” for Dan Barry. In 1958, Harry moved to Italy with his family to save money. For years, Harry had made his living drawing comics for companies like EC Comics. With the coming of the Comics’ Code, that company closed but Harry wanted to try making his living writing Science Fiction instead of drawing Horror comics.
In Harry Harrison! Harry Harrison! (2014) he wrote:
I wrote to Dan. I was still not entranced with comics and had absolutely no desire to stay in the comic business forever—but my family had to eat. I pointed out the fact that I was an ex-comic artist who had not only drawn the stuff but had written a mountain of scripts. I was also a selling SF author. And where else would he find this combination in Europe?
A selling SF author. The author of the stories that would become War With the Robots (1962). At the same time as Harry wrote Flash Gordon, he was also selling robot tales to Hans Steffan Santesson at Fantastic Universe. How many comic book writers can say that? (Well, Otto Binder, Manly Wade Wellman, Gardner F. Fox, Edmond Hamilton…)
Next time… the last of the Silver Age Robots!
