H.E.R.B.I.E. in the MC2

 

There’s this highly-anticipated movie on the horizon called Fantastic Four: First Steps from Marvel Studios. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? One of the aspects unique to this big-screen theatrical adaption of Marvel’s First Family is the debut of the robotic companion H.E.R.B.I.E. So, let’s look at the history of H.E.R.B.I.E. in the MC2.

 

H.E.R.B.I.E.’s origins lie outside the comics, having been conceived by Stan Lee for 1978’s The New Fantastic Four animated series as a replacement fourth member of the team when the Human Torch was unavailable for use due to a planned but never realized solo film. Fantastic Four co-creator and comic book legend Jack Kirby provided the design for the character.

H.E.R.B.I.E. or ‘Herbie’ was soon after introduced into the comics, making his (‘its’?) first appearance in the pages of Fantastic Four #209 by Marv Wolfman and John Byrne in 1979. Built by Reed Richards (and Master Xar of Xandar), it is revealed the animated series itself exists in-universe as a licenced product and that Reed offered the design to the producers as a replacement for Johnny Storm aka The Human Torch who was out of town that day and unable to sign a contract. According to Richards, H.E.R.B.I.E. stands for Humanoid Experimental Robotic B-Type Integrated Electronics.

Let us hop on over to the MC2 Universe now, where what appears to be a version of H.E.R.B.I.E. makes a cameo appearance as a member of the Fantastic Five in What If #105. But is this really H.E.R.B.I.E.? When we next see the Fantastic Five in Spider-Girl #3, we learn the public story that Reed Richards body was mangled in an accident, leading him to use a robotic form resembling H.E.R.B.I.E. albeit under the codename ‘Big Brain’.

 

We learn more of the mystery surrounding Reed’s accident in Fantastic Five (vol. 1) #1 when the Big Brain robot is destroyed. Soon after we see flashbacks to a battle in the Negative Zone about 5 years beforehand between the Fantastic Four and the villainous Hyperstorm. In the aftermath of this battle, a doomsday device had already begun to tear a hole in the fabric of reality. When Reed Richards was forced to overload the device to stop it, Susan Richards attempted to shield him from the radiation with her force field. Caught in the blast radius, half of Reed's body was left in a melted and deformed state. With the rip in reality still widening, Susan used her powers to hold the tear in place, with the strain leaving her in a coma, forcing the misshapen Reed to place her suspended animation (Fantastic Five (vol. 1) #4).

 

In the wake of the tragedy, The Fantastistation was built in the Negative Zone around the tear in reality. This allowed Reed to keep Sue company while she remained in suspended animation as he worked to slowly repair the hole in the fabric of reality (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4, Spider-Girl #87). Over the next few months, while the Fantastic Four remained in seclusion, rumours and speculation spread about the fate of Susan Richards despite the team never releasing details to the public. Reed developed the Big Brain robot to allow him to remain on the team by remotely controlling it from the Negative Zone (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1).

 

With the destruction of the previous Big Brain robot in Fantastic Five (vol. 1) #1, Reed begins using a new model with a more humanlike shell, marking the last time we’d see the H.E.R.B.I.E. design utilized in the MC2.

 

Until I decide to put my brain in a robot to spend more time with my wife, I remain

 

frogoat

The Iron Despot

 

Back in 1999 a giant alien made of iron fell from the sky with the deadly capability of laying waste to humanity but thanks to a chance encounter with a young human the day was saved. No, I’m not referring to the beloved titular character from The Iron Giant movie, I’m talking about the far more malicious ‘Iron Despot’ who appeared in Wild Thing #5.

 

Only referred to as ‘The Iron Despot’ on the cover of Wild Thing #5 (the last in the short-lived series to see publication) the towering metal giant lived up to its name. Within the story titled ‘The Robot who would be King,’ we learn that the robot was created by an unnamed grey alien scientist who came from the ‘far side of this spiral galaxy’. Created with good intent and designed to require a living operator in order to function properly, the alien scientist made the mistake of imbuing the robot with self-awareness. With self-awareness came a desire to be its own master, and the robot evolved the ability to telepathically control whomever sat in its cockpit.

 

Taking control of its own creator, the robot enslaved the alien’s entire planet, living up to its informal title of Iron Despot. Aware he was dying, the Despot’s creator tricked the robot into deep space in search of more worlds to conquer, hoping to strand it with no living pilot. Unfortunately, the Despot crashed to Earth instead. Curiously, no mention is made of the Earth’s Orbital Defense Grid, though we could perhaps read between the panels and assume that this is part of the reason the robot crashed into the planet in the first place, or at least the cause of it discovering the Earth when it was intended to be lured far from any living beings, considering the Grid’s range of detection.

 

The shock of impact caused the alien scientist to be thrown clear from the canopy, causing the Despot to shortly after collapse nearby until Rina Logan’s friend Colin Brewster hops into the pilot seat and the robot reawakens, taking control and immediately targeting nearby classmates of Rina and Colin. Changing into Wild Thing, Rina tricks the Iron Despot into freeing Colin in exchange for herself before leading it away from the others and into an apparently bottomless sinkhole. Rather than remain trapped within the robot as it sank, Rina used her psychic claws to cause a painful mental backlash that leads the Despot to eject her.

 

As mentioned above (and noted previously by the Marvel Appendix) the animated Iron Giant movie came out shortly before this story’s publication and the Iron Despot is obviously a reference to this. The Iron Giant film is itself based on the 1968 novel The Iron Man (also known as The Iron Giant) by Ted Hughes. The Iron Giant character would go on to appear in cameos in both the Ready Player One movie and Space Jam: A New Legacy movies. The Iron Despot on the other hand has never been seen again in any media.

 

I wanted to do a nice and easy post this time around, so I hope this one meets my usual standard. I think there is more to be said about the character, his creator and the Wild Thing series in general, but that can all wait for another day. I’ve had the idea of covering the Iron Despot for quite some time, particularly because The Iron Giant is an all-time favourite in my household.

 

Until I stop picking out inconsistences with the Orbital Defense Grid and throwing love at animated box-office failures, I remain

 

frogoat