Superman Through the Ages! Forum

I was wondering when was the first appearance by super-robots?  You know, the ones built by Superman that look just like him?  I just ran into a story involving one in the Superman daily strips from 1949.  Were Superman robots used before this?

Interesting, how sophisticated was it at that time?

I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty certain that the classic concept is Silver Age...

here you go:

http://superman.nu/wiki/index.php/Superman#Dummies.2C_Robots.2C_and_Androids

Thanks, I just read through that page this morning, and somehow missed it.

It seems as if the 1944 and 1949 comic robots weren't technically the super-robots we envision.

However, in the December 27, 1948 to February 26, 1949 newspaper strip, the robot is as we normally think of the Superman robots being.

The Daily Planet convinces Clark Kent, whom everyone believes received super-strength through a vitamin-enriched elixar, to fight Superman.  He almost backs out of this impossibly situation, but instead agrees, and we learn that in the ring is a robot posing as Superman.  This robot walks and fights just like the Man of Steel, and the ruse is quite convincing.  However, someone spikes the Superman robot's drink with more super-elixar (in order to fix the match), which causes his innards to corrode and for him to run amok.  

Now in the comics, the 1944 example was just a dummy with ventriloquism, which Superman did on a number of occasions.

The 1949 comic version was a puppet being manipulated at super-speed, and seemily intended to be seen as a robot.

The article doesn't mention the next use, only that by '58 they appear more recognizable.

This 1949 newspaper version is described as being a "sonically controlled plastic robot," but never shows Superman manipulating it, and it appears independent of Superman (at least when it is malfunctioning...)

Just thought it was interesting...

DC Comics back then use the strips to test out ideas, which if they were a hit were then introduced into the canonical comics.

One of the most famous examples was Titano the Super-Ape, who was introduced in the strip with a different name before he appeared in the comics.

Hm. How do you tell if something is a hit in the newspaper strips?  Would fans write in applauding or complaining about story lines? (I've never felt the need to write in about "Get Fuzzy"....)

Haven't gotten to Titano yet...perhaps it is in the '50s.

Ah well, back to indexing...

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Wasn't Myxzptlk (sp?) also in the comic strip first?---Al

I belive so, however I only remember this from a article that I read, I don't own any of those strips. Quite a few characters and storylines ran in the strips 1st.