Robo Machines (comic)
Encyclopedia
The Robo Machines was a comic serial which ran in Eagle
from 10 November 1984 to 27 July 1985. It was based on the Bandai
toyline of the same name
, the British version of Gobots
.
, distributed the action figures from the Robo Machine line, and with the Challenge of the Gobots
cartoon yet to arrive in the UK, they engaged Fleetway Publishing
to create a comic to help promote the line. Tom Tully
, an experienced writer whose work included Roy of the Rovers
and The Steel Claw, would script the series. The art was initially handled by Mario Capaldi, with Kim Raymond taking over midway through the first of the two arcs.
The comic was set in a different continuity to the Gobots cartoon, with the characters hailing from the planet Robotron, and some character names reflecting the European line (for example, the Renegade Twin Spin appeared as the Guardian Carry-All, and the Renegade Vamp was named Casmodon).
, where the organic inhabitants are very scientifically advanced people who through cybernetics
are now 99% machines themselves, and robots are used in every walk of life. There, a power-hungry scientist named Stron-Domez has modified two criminal Robo Machines, Cy-Kill
and Tank, so they can transform into vehicles. After an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the President of Robotron, Stron-Domez takes his creations to Earth
, which he had identified in being rich in minerals to build more transforming Robo Machines. The Robotron Security Forces dispatch Ex-El and a group of volunteers in pursuit aboard the Command Centre. Ex-El has studied Stron-Domez’ blueprints for Tank and Cy-Kill, and plans to modify his volunteers in the same fashion.
Meanwhile, Stron-Domez dispatches Cy-Kill, Tank and new creation Fitor
to the town of Cholkham in East Anglia
, England
, which they begin to destroy. The Security Forces, in the shape of Ex-El’s creations Leader-One
, Hans-Cuff and Dozer, arrive in time to drive them off, but the town has suffered many casualties, including the parents of a young boy named Charlie Brampton, who possesses ESP
. This skill makes him useful to the Security Forces, and the chance to end Stron-Domez’ threat gives Charlie a reason to help them.
After a botched contact with the British Army
, the Security Forces track Stron-Domez to an electronics factory in Birmingham
, where Stron-Domez has taken the workforce hostage, and forced them to build more Robo Machines for him. The Security Force robot Truck and Charlie are able to free the humans, and the Security Forces move in and rout Stron-Domez’ forces. Stron-Domez is able to escape on Cy-Kill when the police arrive on the scene, though all his other troops are captured and disabled by the Security Forces.
. This attracts the Security Forces, but Zod is able to attack the Command Centre, and force it into retreat. However, the Security Forces robot Carry-All accidentally tracks them to their junkyard base, only to be mortally wounded by Zod. At the junkyard, Zod and Cy-Kill have recruited a group of destitute humans to build them more Robo Machines – Zod’s planned Devil Invaders. Carry-All's signals attract the Security Forces with just one Devil Invader, Casmodon, built. The Security Forces leave one of their number, Scooter
, with Charlie onboard the Command Centre, but the human has a premonition of great danger, and persuades Scooter to follow them. The premonition is correct – the massive Casmodon is incredibly powerful, and in a pitched battle on the edge of London easily holds off the Security Forces attack, inflicting heavy losses on both them and the human population. Casmodon also captures Charlie, but while inside the Robo Machine he is able to destroy vital circuitry, temporarily disabling his captor. The Security Forces then retreat to the Command Centre, and withdraw to Robotron to regroup, taking Charlie with them. Cy-Kill swears to build an army and invade the planet himself.
Eagle (comic)
Eagle was a seminal British children's comic, first published from 1950 to 1969, and then in a relaunched format from 1982 to 1994. It was founded by Marcus Morris, an Anglican vicar from Lancashire. Morris edited a parish magazine called The Anvil, but felt that the church was not communicating...
from 10 November 1984 to 27 July 1985. It was based on the Bandai
Bandai
is a Japanese toy making and video game company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third-largest producer of toys . Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs...
toyline of the same name
Robo Machine
Robo Machine was a European transforming robot toyline released by Bandai from 1982 to 1988. The line was initially a European release of their Machine Robo line, before gradually becoming the counterpart to Tonka’s Gobots line...
, the British version of Gobots
Gobots
Gobots was a line of transforming robot toys produced by Tonka from 1983 to 1987, similar to Transformers. In 1991, the Gobots range was acquired from Tonka Inc. by Hasbro.-History:...
.
Background
In Europe, Bandai, rather than TonkaTonka
Tonka is an American toy company most known for its signature toy trucks and construction equipment.-History:On September 18, 1946 Mound Metalcraft was created in Mound, Minnesota with three men as partners, Lynn Everett Baker , Avery F. Crounse, and Alvin F. Tesch. The first products produced by...
, distributed the action figures from the Robo Machine line, and with the Challenge of the Gobots
Challenge of the GoBots
Challenge of the GoBots is an American animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera, based on the Gobots toy-line released from Tonka. Most of the toys were imported from the Japanese Machine Robo toy line. The show originally debuted in animated form as a five-part miniseries, which aired in...
cartoon yet to arrive in the UK, they engaged Fleetway Publishing
Fleetway
Fleetway, also known as Fleetway Publications and Fleetway Editions, was a UK publishing company which mainly produced comic magazines. For a time owned by IPC Media, they are now a division of Egmont Publishing....
to create a comic to help promote the line. Tom Tully
Tom Tully (comic writer)
Tom Tully is a noted British comic writer mostly of sports and action stories. He is probably most famous as the longest-running writer of the popular football-themed strip Roy of the Rovers, which he wrote for much of Roy Race's playing career until the weekly comic closed in 1993.-Biography:From...
, an experienced writer whose work included Roy of the Rovers
Roy of the Rovers
Roy of the Rovers is a British comic strip about the life and times of a fictional footballer named Roy Race, who played for Melchester Rovers...
and The Steel Claw, would script the series. The art was initially handled by Mario Capaldi, with Kim Raymond taking over midway through the first of the two arcs.
The comic was set in a different continuity to the Gobots cartoon, with the characters hailing from the planet Robotron, and some character names reflecting the European line (for example, the Renegade Twin Spin appeared as the Guardian Carry-All, and the Renegade Vamp was named Casmodon).
First Arc (10th November 1984 – 15th March 1985)
The first arc begins on Robotron, a planet in the Proxima SystemProxima Centauri
Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star about 4.2 light-years distant in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes, the Director of the Union Observatory in South Africa, and is the nearest known star to the Sun, although it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye...
, where the organic inhabitants are very scientifically advanced people who through cybernetics
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
are now 99% machines themselves, and robots are used in every walk of life. There, a power-hungry scientist named Stron-Domez has modified two criminal Robo Machines, Cy-Kill
Cy-Kill
Cy-Kill is the name of several fictional characters from the Gobots, Robo Machines and Transformers toy line and fiction. Introduced as a toy in 1983, he is leader of the Renegade Gobot faction and the main antagonist of the animated series, where he was voiced by Bernard Erhard...
and Tank, so they can transform into vehicles. After an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the President of Robotron, Stron-Domez takes his creations to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, which he had identified in being rich in minerals to build more transforming Robo Machines. The Robotron Security Forces dispatch Ex-El and a group of volunteers in pursuit aboard the Command Centre. Ex-El has studied Stron-Domez’ blueprints for Tank and Cy-Kill, and plans to modify his volunteers in the same fashion.
Meanwhile, Stron-Domez dispatches Cy-Kill, Tank and new creation Fitor
Fitor
Fitor is the name of several fictional character in the Gobots, Robo Machines and Transformers series. He was a major character in the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon. The character transforms into a futuristic jet fighter...
to the town of Cholkham in East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, which they begin to destroy. The Security Forces, in the shape of Ex-El’s creations Leader-One
Leader-1
Leader-1 is the name of several fictional characters from the Go-Bots, Robo Machines and Transformers toy lines in 1983. The original Leader-1 was voiced by Lou Richards in the animated Challenge of the Gobots series...
, Hans-Cuff and Dozer, arrive in time to drive them off, but the town has suffered many casualties, including the parents of a young boy named Charlie Brampton, who possesses ESP
Extra-sensory perception
Extrasensory perception involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term was coined by Frederic Myers, and adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, clairaudience, and...
. This skill makes him useful to the Security Forces, and the chance to end Stron-Domez’ threat gives Charlie a reason to help them.
After a botched contact with the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, the Security Forces track Stron-Domez to an electronics factory in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, where Stron-Domez has taken the workforce hostage, and forced them to build more Robo Machines for him. The Security Force robot Truck and Charlie are able to free the humans, and the Security Forces move in and rout Stron-Domez’ forces. Stron-Domez is able to escape on Cy-Kill when the police arrive on the scene, though all his other troops are captured and disabled by the Security Forces.
Second Arc (29th March 1985 – 29th July 1985)
With most of his Robo Machines deactivated by the Security Forces, Stron-Domez experiments upon himself, and is able to modify his body so he becomes the massive robot ZodZod (Gobots)
Zod is a fictional character in the Gobots and Machine Robo story and toy line.-Gobots:Zod is a giant, even among his fellow Gobots. Savage and beastial, he is one of Cy-Kill's most powerful weapons. Zod is considered the "Godzilla" of the Gobots....
. This attracts the Security Forces, but Zod is able to attack the Command Centre, and force it into retreat. However, the Security Forces robot Carry-All accidentally tracks them to their junkyard base, only to be mortally wounded by Zod. At the junkyard, Zod and Cy-Kill have recruited a group of destitute humans to build them more Robo Machines – Zod’s planned Devil Invaders. Carry-All's signals attract the Security Forces with just one Devil Invader, Casmodon, built. The Security Forces leave one of their number, Scooter
Scooter (Gobots)
Scooter is a fictional character in the Gobots toyline, and the subsequent Challenge of the GoBots cartoon where he was voiced by Frank Welker. The character transformed into a motor scooter.-Gobots:...
, with Charlie onboard the Command Centre, but the human has a premonition of great danger, and persuades Scooter to follow them. The premonition is correct – the massive Casmodon is incredibly powerful, and in a pitched battle on the edge of London easily holds off the Security Forces attack, inflicting heavy losses on both them and the human population. Casmodon also captures Charlie, but while inside the Robo Machine he is able to destroy vital circuitry, temporarily disabling his captor. The Security Forces then retreat to the Command Centre, and withdraw to Robotron to regroup, taking Charlie with them. Cy-Kill swears to build an army and invade the planet himself.
Ending
The serial was obviously curtailed before Tully had intended, as the ending, with Cy-Kill, Casmodon and Zod unopposed on Earth and the Security Forces in retreat, is highly unusual. It seems likely Zod or Cy-Kill would have built more Devil Machines (two more, Falgos and Zarios, are seen in Zod’s vision in an episode midway through the second arc), and the Security Forces would have returned to Earth with reinforcements (most likely modelled on newer toys).Inconsistencies
Several inconsistencies appear over the two arcs: -- Most glaringly, Ex-El, commander of the Security Forces in the first arc, simply disappears before the second arc begins.
- Similarly, Zod seems to disappear in the final few installments, with the focus switching to Cy-Kill and Casmodon.
- Several characters know each other’s names without any possible reason – for example, Cy-Kill recognises Carry-All in the junkyard, even though the script implies that Carry-All was only recently built on the Command Centre. However, it is also implied that the Robo Machines’ robot modes looked the same on Robotron even before they were modified to transform (however illogical that may seem), as Cy-Kill and Leader-One also recognise each other.
Security Force Robo Machines
- Leader-One – acted as a field commander for the Security Forces, and then leader in the second arc. Powerful and fast. Turns into an F15 Eagle fighter jet.
- Dozer – a senior Security Force robot, he helped fight Stron-Domez’ forces in Cholkham, and was injured in the battle with Casmodon. Turned into a bulldozer.
- Hans-Cuff – also involved in the battle at Cholkham, and soon afterwards befriended Charlie Bampton, much to the distaste of Ex-El. His protective feelings for the human also let to a disastrous contact with the human military. Turned into a police car.
- Rest-Q – the Security Forces medic, though he still participates on the attack on Casmodon. Turned into an ambulance.
- Truck – helped free Stron-Domez’ captive workforce in Birmingham, but was seemingly destroyed battling Casmodon in London. Turned into a semi-trailer truck.
- Night Ranger – fitted with silent running technology, Night Ranger infiltrated Stron-Domez’ factory in Birmingham, but was destroyed in the battle with Casmodon in London. Turned into a Harley Davidson Electra Glide motorcycle.
- TurboTurbo (Gobots)Turbo is a fictional character in the Gobots toyline, and the subsequent Challenge of the Gobots cartoon. The character transformed into a concept car. Turbo was among the main trio of heroes of the cartoon series, and appeared in every episode along side Leader-1 and Scooter...
– a brave, loyal Robo Machine, he was involved in the battle with Casmodon, and his persistent efforts enabled him to save Dozer. Turned into a sports car. - Scooter – the Security Forces’ courier, Scooter was weak but courageous, and followed Leader-One’s forces into battle in London despite being ordered to stay behind with Charlie. Transforms into a scooter.
- Carry-All – A capable fighter, Carry-All was dispatched with Royal-T to fend off Zod when the Command Centre was attacked. He accidentally came across Cy-Kill and Zod while trying to re-establish contact with the Command Centre, and was mortally wounded by Zod. However, he was able to signal the Security Forces before dying. Transforms into a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter.
- Royal-T – Along with Carry-All, Royal-T attempted to intercept Zod over London, but was shot down. Badly wounded, he was helped to safety by Carry-All, but presumably expired when his comrade was killed before he could return with a fresh fuel supply.
Renegade Robo Machines
- Zod – In actuality, the renegade scientist Stron-Domez, who regenerated himself into a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex-like robot (which did not transform). Zod attacked the Command Centre, shooting down Royal-T, and later killing Carry-All. Zod still possessed the intellect of Stron-Domez, and was able to design the Devil Invaders, and oversee construction of the first, Casmodon. However, soon after his stabilisers were disabled after being attacked by the Security Forces, and Cy-Kill abandoned him.
- Cy-Kill – a petty criminal chosen by Stron-Domez for his experiments, Cy-Kill’s ambitions quickly grew, and by the end of the second arc he seemed to have struck out on his own, choosing to help Casmodon battle the Security Forces in London rather than attend to the damaged Zod. The only one of Stron-Domez’ original creations to avoid capture at the end of the first arc. Turned into a motorcycle.
- Tank – another petty criminal recruited and converted by Stron-Domez, Tank was rather stupid, for instance being tricked by a human into battling Cy-Kill in Cholkham. He was subsequently injured in a skirmish with the Security Forces outside the town, and then again at the Birmingham factory, courtesy of Night Ranger. He was then captured and deactivated by the Security Forces. Presumably his body remains in the Command Centre. Turned into a battle tank.
- Fitor – created by Stron-Domez on the journey to Earth, he participated in the attack on Cholkham, but was captured and deactivated after the battle in Birmingham. Presumably his body remains in the Command Centre. Turned into a jet fighter.
- Cop-TurCop-TurCop-Tur is the name of several fictional characters in the Gobots, Robo Machines and Transformers toy lines, and the subsequent fiction. They transform into futuristic helicopters. They are all based on adaptations of the character Gyro Robo from the Machine Robo toy line...
– created on Earth by Stron-Domez, and aided in the capture of the factory in Birmingham. Soon afterwards he was captured and deactivated by the Security Forces. Presumably his body remains in the Command Centre. Turned into a helicopter. - Loco – the only Robo Machine Stron-Domez was able to build in Birmingham before the Security Forces arrived, Loco suffered two defeats from Truck in his short life before he was captured and deactivated. Presumably his body remains in the Command Centre. Turned into a steam train.
- Casmodon – the first Devil Invader built by Zod, and the only one completed. Casmodon was the biggest Robo Machine yet, and possessed a huge amount of power. He took on most of the Security Forces on the outskirts of London, destroying Night Ranger and (probably) Truck, injuring Dozer and forcing them to withdraw. However, he could not follow them as Charlie had disabled some of his circuits. Turned into a flying car.