Reading Room 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY "Hotline to Hades" Conclusion

Talk about getting your head handed to you...

...sentient robot X-51/Aaron Stack/Mister Machine has been disassembled by the Brotherhood of Hades and his brain is about to be probed by the group's leader...The Great Monitor!

Written and penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Mike Royer, this final issue of Marvel's 2001: a Space Odyssey kicks-off the saga of Machine Man, but is not included in the current trade paperback compilation of his solo appearances due to licensing restrictions tied to the legendary MGM movie, which this series was a sequel to!

Six months later, in early 1978, Jack continued  X-51/Aaron Stack's story in the first issue of Machine Man (because "Mister Machine" was trademarked by Ideal Toys) .
Kirby would stay on the book until his contract with Marvel ended in late 1978.
The book was cancelled with #9, then, after a multi-part guest appearance in Incredible Hulk 235-237 (which placed the character firmly in the Marvel Universe), the title was revived with writer Marv Wolfman and artist Steve Ditko reimagining the character, who's become a major part of Marvel ever since!
But you can read all that stuff in the trade paperback compilation now on sale at Amazon!
Tomorrow, we'll have a look at another robot (with a Marvel comic connection) who fought evil while disassembled!

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Machine Man: the Complete Collection

Today!

Reading Room 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY "Hotline to Hades" Part 1

When Last We Left X-51/Aaron Stack/Mister Machine...

...after being released by the US military (with a tracking device implanted in him), the newly-christened Mister Machine meets a stranded Olivia and her nephew Jerry.

While fixing their damaged car, the three are attacked by the minions of Mister Hotline, who recognizes the robot as an "X" prototype, and seeks to control it...err...him!

Does a machine, even one programmed with human emotions, have a soul?

Be here tomorrow to see!

Jack Kirby believed in free will and the concept that "evil" was the restraint or removal of it.
In the Fourth World series Kirby created at DC, Darkseid's ultimate goal was to find the "Anti-Life Equation" that would permanently remove free will from sentient beings and make them mindless automatons.

Written and penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Mike Royer, this final issue of Marvel's 2001: a Space Odyssey kicks-off the saga of Machine Man, but is not included in the current trade paperback compilation of his solo appearances due to licensing restrictions tied to the legendary MGM movie, which this series was a sequel to!

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Machine Man: the Complete Collection

Today!

Reading Room CAPTAIN JOHNER AND THE ALIENS "Rescue"

We Have Already Seen...

...the Aliens take the lead to rescue their friend, Johner...

Out of the frying pan and into, not just a fire, but a raging bonfire, eh?

In Gold Key's Magnus, Robot Fighter #16 (1966) creator/writer/artist Russ Manning takes us from a hidden alien conspiracy on Earth to the alien stronghold on Venus!
Several friendly aliens, a former girlfriend (whose brother is one of the leaders of the conspiracy) and Johner, trapped on a hostile world where the nearest Earth forces don't know where they are!
What could go wrong?
Find out next Monday!

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Captain Johner and the Aliens

Last Week on RetroBlogs...

The blue-and-green costumed 1960s version of The Shadow...

...ends his series by running a gauntlet of villains! in Hero Histories!

True Love Comics Tales presents the perfect "beach read"...

...a complete gothic romance in graphic novel form!

And Phantom Lady's most notorious tale gets a kinder, gentler redo...

...in the final Phantom Lady's Twice-Told Tales installment at Heroines!

What's Coming Up?

Check in next week to find out!

Reading Room WEIRD MEN'S ADVENTURES "I Walked on the Moon"

In the early 1950s, EC Comics set the pace for other companies...

...as this hybrid sci-fi/horror tale from Atlas' Men's Adventure #26 (1954) demonstrates!

You'll note the post's header reads Weird Men's Adventures, but I mentioned earlier the book was  just Men's Adventures.

It's not a typo.

The indicia title was Men's Adventures, and from 1-20 it featured war and high adventure tales.

But, with #21, it became a horror title and "Weird" was added in a graphic burst to the logo (but not the indicia).

Six issues later, the brief revival of the Golden Age Human Torch and Toro took over the book for two issues before it was cancelled.

Though the writer for this tale from is unknown, the artist (doing a credible Wally Wood imitation) is Gene Colan!

Trivia: When the story was reprinted in Marvel's Weird Wonder Tales #17 (1976), it was retitled and the splash panel was rewritten (including removing the "Weird Men's Adventure" blurb)...

Considering that, in 1976, it was over five years since the first Moon landing, I'm not certain why the editor made the change...

BTW, note the "originally-presented" caption references the wrong issue!