DAMOON IN DA MOON...

Pas de bio en Français pour le balèze en mini jupe. "Real Name: Magnus Identity/Class: Harbinger (Mutant human) cyborg Occupation: Robot Fighter Affiliations: 1A, Tekla, Slagger, member of the Future Force Enemies: Malev Emperor Known Relatives: Kris Hathaway (mother), Torque (father), Leeja (wife), Torque (son) Aliases: None Base of Operations: North Am First Appearance: Magnus, Robot Fighter #1 (Gold Key, February 1963) Powers/Abilities: Magnus is able to smash steel robots with his bare hands. In the Valiant version it turns out that Magnus is a second generation Harbinger, the child of two twentieth century Harbingers who was taken forward in time by Solar, and thus has superhuman strength and durability. History: "No robot may harm a human, or allow a human to come to harm... This is the unbreakable law built into every robot, and the metal-men were created solely to ease man's tasks of life." (Valiant version) Magnus was born in the twentieth century, during the Unity War, the child of Kris Hathaway and the super-strong Harbinger known as Torque. Sensing that the future had need of the young second-generation Harbinger, Geoff the Geomancer took the child forward in time to the thirty-ninth century with the help of Solar, Man of the Atom. (Both Gold Key and Valiant versions) Magnus was raised in isolation from the rest of his humanity by the robot 1A, an almost unique emotional robot which foresaw a time when mankind's robot slaves would tire of their subservient role and rise up against their masters. Wishing to prepare a defense for man against such an eventuality, 1A trained Magnus to be a perfect human specimen, expert in martial arts and in destroying robots. To aid him when the time came to battle rogue robot, his mentor also implanted a receiver in Magnus' brain, enabling him to secretly listen in on robot-to-robot radio communications. Once he felt Magnus was ready, 1A introduced his protege to human society. Magnus made his home in the city of North Am, where he soon began his war on rogue robots. (Valiant version) Eventually Magnus began to question his mission. 1A was a rogue robot of sorts, after all. He started to wonder if he had the right to destroy a rogue when it wasn't threatening humanity, merely wishing to live free and not as a slave. After meeting and befriending the Freewill robot Tekla, Magnus eventually decided to end his enmity of the robots, allowing the Freewills to set up an independent city-state of Synchron, under the leadership of Tekla. Magnus, meanwhile, had grown disdainful of the North Am elite who lived in the city's Milespires, and moved to live among the "Gophs" who inhabited the city's poorer lower levels, where he made the acquaintance of Slagger, a Goph champion. North Am was then invaded by the killer robots of the planet Malev 6, led by their Emperor and seeking to turn Earth in Malev 7, their new home. To this race of alien robots, makind was only useful as a fuel source, drained for the "ectothermic energy" of their brain waves. Joining a group known as the Future Force, Magnus led the fight against the invaders. As time passed, Magnus learned of his twentieth century origins. He would marry and have a son, whom he named after his father. Following the Chaos Effect, Magnus was stranded for several years in the twentieth century, got elected President, and returned to his own time. When the Malevs returned, Magnus' wife was killed, and his son was forced to become a Psi-Lord to save his own life. Solar the Destroyer finally annihilated the Malevs, but Magnus vanished around the same time. Vesa Lehtinen informs me that the original version of Magnus turned up in Finland in the 1970's, under the name "Markos". Richard L.Anderson notes that Magnus' early training and isolated upbringing under 1A was "much like programing a robot and tossing him into a war. In fact I've always been fascinated by his early resemblance to a robot with an unwavering program. Eventually he learned to question the morality of what he did. In many ways his story is one of a human robot discovering his humanity. I've always liked the comparison between his nature and the robot menace he was sent to both fight, and preach-out against man's increasing reliance on their metal slaves. Lovely contradictions" Richard has also done a lot of research into Magnus, and assembled an impressive list of the character's appearances. Rather than paraphrase his work, I'll let him explain it himself: "The U.K.'s 'TV Tornado'produced a handful of new Magnus stories in 1967 that were never released in the States. Not covered - trading cards, card related posters, and TPB's Magnus Robot Fighter - Even before his series gets started, he's censored by flesh-phobes who add a tunic with high boots. Thereby turning his Tarzan loin cloth into a mini-skirt. Then we read as his robot master kicks him out of a moving sky car to free-fall into a perpetually menaced future (how the squeee did these people get by before he literally dropped from the sky?). But Magnus was ready. He'd been programed sense birth to battle robots (that, and preach against the over-indulgent use of robots). And by Pavlov, click, that's what he does, all in wonderful Manning glory. But, as the reprints were re-lived, Magnus pondered his programing. And he began to have doubts - doubts and Valiant questions arose about what was Rai and what was wrong. And before he realized it, he'd started questioning his software. Then suddenly some samurai pulls a knife on him, and it's BOOM, he's in the middle of an alien invasion. Finally after a long day of being Magnus, he finally returns, and before we know it, he's gophing off -- and much to Miss Clane's bile, he's no longer a robot, he's a man. But trouble always seems to seek-out Magnus, and he finds himself fighting deadly robots, keyed to his golden past. Then there's the whole zombie thing (dying heroes being all the rage), and finally, the proverbial walk into the sunset. Later an acclaimed Magnus from an alternate universe shows up. And, well, even having an inept Magnus is better than having none. Let's face it, fighting rabid robots is fraggin' GREAT entertainment. So now, without further delay, the Magnus list -old Key-Whitman comics by Russ Manning; 1 thru 21 note > Gold Key published EVERY issue of the silver age series, even after Whitman began releasing their copies. Issue #1 story note It is ironic, and perhaps fate, that Manning's first issue of Magnus Robot Fighter, would contain the seed of Malev and man's future existence. With the three Goldkey comics that introduce us to Malev-6, to Valiant's phenomenal story arc of invasion and war, to the final devastating action taken by 'Solar the Destroyer' to finally end the Malev threat. - One can not discuss the life of Magnus without including the Malev machine and it's desire for ectothere energy. In Goldkey #1, the robot H-8's harnessing of "the one thousand" for this ectothere energy, is only a HINT of what it would mean for the future of all mankind.