Magnus, Robot Fighter
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Magnus, Robot Fighter is a fictional character who first appeared in Magnus Robot Fighter 4000 A.D. #1, published by Gold Key Comics in February, 1963. The character was subsequently published by Valiant Comics and Acclaim Comics in the 1990s. In every incarnation, Magnus was a human who battled rogue robots in the year 4000 A.D. While the concept remained the same throughout the years, the way it was approached changed depending on the publisher.
Gold Key
The original series premiered in 1963. It was written and drawn by Russ Manning. The series was set in North Am, a gigantic megalopolis that encompassed the entire North American continent. By the year 4000, humanity became dependent on robots. As a result, they were oblivious to the rise of Freewills, malevolent robots that sought to overthrow their human masters.Magnus was raised by a robot known as 1A. 1A recognised the threat Freewills represented, so he trained Magnus as a warrior. Magnus grew up to be a skilled martial artist who could break steel with his bare hands. In addition, 1A equipped his charge with a device that would allow him to "hear" robot-to-robot radio communications.
For the duration of the title's original run, Magnus took on Freewills, aliens, space pirates and other threats. He fell in love with Leeja, the daughter of North Am's president who possessed limited telepathic abilities. The series was popular in the 1960s. As the 70s approached, sales began to decline, and the last issue (#46) was published in January 1977. However, most of the run was reprints. Manning only completed about 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.
Freewills
In the year 2900, fanatic terrorists who opposed the creation of total weather control used battle-robots that had been illegally created without the First Law of Robotics and had no inbitions against killing humans. This had disastrous consequences eventually, but the terrorists were defeated and weather control was established.
Valiant
In 1991, Jim Shooter obtained rights to three Gold Key characters: Dr. 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. A chain of events forced Magnus to reconsider his view on Freewills. While some of them were malevolent, others merely wanted to be free. With Magnus' help, a colony of benevolent Freewills was established. At the same time, Magnus became disgusted with North Am's elite. He journeyed to the lower levels of North Am and befriended a group of social outcasts known as Gophs.
As the series progressed, it was used to introduce other heroes to the Valiant Universe. In the 6th issue, the future version of Solar made his debut. The issue also introduced the Spider Aliens, who became a recurring threat throughout the Valiant Universe. In the 12th issue, modern readers were reintroduced to Turok, Son of Stone, and around the same time, a Japanese hero known as Rai began appearing in Magnus' title. He eventually got his own series.
During the Unity crossover, it was revealed that Magnus was actually born during the Unity conflict. He was a child of a Harbinger named Torque and Kris, the sole non-powered member of the Harbinger Resistance. The Geomancer sensed that someone like Magnus was needed in the future, so Solar transported him to the future, where he was picked up by the Solar from that time period and delivered to 1A. It was also revealed that Magnus' strength wasn't solely due to his martial arts training: rather, it was a Harbinger ability inherited from his father.
Shortly after the Unity crossover, the future Earth was invaded by Malevs, a group of alien robots that was introduced in the original series. It forced all of the future heroes to band together. Their adventures were showcased in a spin-off title, Rai and the Future Force.
After the Malev War finished, all future titles jumped twenty years forward. Magnus became the leader of North Am. He married Leeja (who's been his love interest since the original series) and had a son, whom he named Torque. Magnus spent the rest of the series battling various threats. During the Chaos Effect crossover, he was transported to the 20th century, but he eventually returned to the future.
Deathmate
Deathmate was a joint pubication by both Valiant Comics and Image Comics. In this continutiy, Magnus was given the name "Chris Torkelson", and was a child raised and trained by Battlestone, who was working for the Harbinger Foundation. In this series, Magnus's parents were both killed by Battlestone while trying to escape the Harbinger Founation. Years later, Magnus would confront Battlestone about this, and fight him to more-or-less a standstill, while Geoff McHenry, the Geomancer of the Earth, would lament that reality is literally coming to an end around them. The world ends as Magnus and Battlestone fight to the death.
Acclaim Comics
In 1995, Voyager Communications, the company that owned Valiant Comics, was bought by Acclaim Entertainment. At first, it continued publishing Valiant Comics titles, but sales began to plummet after the direct market crash and the comics division was shut down. Magnus, Robot Fighter was one of the last titles to be canceled.In 1997, Acclaim Entertainment relaunched its comic book division. All Valiant Comics characters were altered and rebooted, and Magnus was no exception. This time, Magnus was re-imagined as an insane robot fighter who, in addition to original's strength and skills, had metallic blood that repaired his injuries. The series was much more comedic and self-parodying then any of the previous incarnations.
Two years later, Acclaim Comics was closed down, and Magnus' title was one of the first to go, along with most of the line.
Unity 2000
In 1999, Acclaim Entertaiment made a final attempt to revive its comic book line, and Jim Shooter was invited to write a Unity 2000 crossover. Due to financial troubles within the company, only three issues of six were published. The Valiant version of Magnus played an important role in the crossover, while the Acclaim version was a background player.Later status
In 2002, the rights to Magnus, Robot Fighter reverted to Western Publishing (actually Random House, which now owns the rights to all of Westerns original productions), the owner of Gold Key Comics. It made a contract with Dark Horse Comics to reprint the original series.Dark Horse Archive series:
- Magnus, Robot Fighter, v1 ISBN 1-59307-269-4 (reprints Magnus #1-7)
- Magnus, Robot Fighter, v2 ISBN 1-59307-290-2 (reprints Magnus #8-14)
- Magnus, Robot Fighter, v3 ISBN 1-59307-339-9 (reprints Magnus #15-21)
See also:
External links
- [VALIANT Comics Fan Site]
- [VALIANT Comics message board]
- ["VALIANT Days, VALIANT Nights - A Look Back at the Rise and Fall of VALIANT]
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