Superman robots
The Superman Robots are fictional robots from the DC Comics Universe. The robots resembled Superman in appearance and abilities.
History
Silver Age versions
Superman robots played a particularly dominant role in late 1950s and 1960s era Superman comics, when readers were first introduced to Superman possessing various robot duplicates. These robots each possessed a fraction of Superman's powers, and were sometimes used to substitute for him on missions or protect his secret identity.[1] One notable Superman robot was named Ajax, also known as Wonder Man.[2] Other Superman robots had other names, including Robot Z,[3] Robot X-3,[4] and MacDuff.[5]
The idea of Superman robots extended into Superboy stories of the period as well, where it was revealed that Superboy also possessed robot duplicates of himself. Nearly all of these robots were either deactivated or converted into adult-sized robots when Superboy grew up to become Superman.[6] There was also Supergirl and Linda Lee robots so that Superman's teenage cousin could be a hero while at the same time seemingly be at class.[7] Also while not Superman robots per se, Superman had other machines who could pass for human. For example, in one 1960 Superman story, "Mr. and Mrs Crandall" adopt Bizarro's human-looking infant son who had wandered into Midvale orphanage. The Crandalls were really robots who only pretended to adopt the baby so that their master Superman could take custody of the child.[8]
In the early 1970s, the Superman comics largely abandoned the use of Superman robots as part of a change in the books' tone and writing style; the excuse given in the comics was that Earth's pollution levels and artificial radiation had rendered Superman's robots unusable.[9]
Modern Age versions
The notion of Superman robots was reintroduced for
Once Dominus had been defeated, Superman had most of the robots destroyed. One particular robot (programmed to protect Lois Lane) was particularly difficult to get rid of.
In Superman (vol. 2) #170, Jeph Loeb wrote a story where, in defending Lois Lane from certain death, Krypto almost killed Mongul by ripping his throat out. Believing that Krypto was too dangerous to have around, Superman confined him to the Fortress of Solitude. A Superman robot nicknamed "Ned", presumably the same one programmed to protect Lois, was employed as Krypto's caretaker. The robot was programmed to occasionally give off Superman's scent to keep Krypto happy.
In a later storyline,
Other versions
In Superman: Red Son, the Superman robots are Soviet citizens who were lobotomized and fitted with cybernetic implants as punishment for speaking or acting against the Soviet regime.[11]
In
In the miniseries
In other media
Television
- The Superman robots appear in The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians episode "The Death of Superman".
- The Superman robots appear in the Superman: The Animated Series two-part series finale "Legacy".
- The Superman robots appear in the Justice League two-part episode "A Better World" as guards at Arkham Asylum in the Justice Lords' universe.
- A Superman robot, resembling Cyborg Superman, appears in the Legion of Super Heroes episode "Message in a Bottle" as a guard of the Fortress of Solitude.
- Dog-Bot, a robotic duplicate of Krypto inspired by the Superman robots, appears in Krypto the Superdog, voiced by Scott McNeil.
- The Superman robots appear in Justice League Action.
Film
- A robot inspired by the Superman robots appears in Superman: Doomsday, voiced by Tom Kenny.[16]
- The Superman robots appear in All-Star Superman.
- The Superman robots appear in Superman vs. The Elite.
Video games
- The Superman robots appear in Cyborg's ending in Injustice: Gods Among Us.
References
- ^ Action Comics #282 (November 1961)
- ^ Superman #163 (August 1963)
- ^ Action Comics #274 (March 1961)
- ^ Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #30 (January 1962)
- ^ Superman #414 (December 1985)
- ^ Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #37 (June 1959)
- ^ Action Comics #270 (November 1960)
- ^ Superman #140 (October 1960)
- ^ World's Finest Comics #202 (May 1971)
- ^ Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #3 (August 2003)
- ^ Superman: Red Son #2-3 (July–August 2003)
- ^ All Star Superman #11 (July 2008)
- ^ All-Star Superman #2 (February 2006)
- ^ All-Star Superman #9 (December 2007)
- ^ All-Star Superman #10 (May 2008)
- ^ "The Robot Voice - Superman: Doomsday (Movie)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved April 8, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.