Broken Frontier

DC during the Silver Age was home to some daring and inventive concepts. Marvel claimed to be the House of Ideas, but their Direct Competition had their fair share of wacky ones.

DC in the sixties gave us Metamorpho, a man who could turn his body into any element he chose, Animal Man, a man who could borrow the attributes of any animal that was nearby, and the Atomic Knights, a group who had to wear suits of armor to survive in a post-apocalyptic world and who rode genetically enlarged Dalmatians as if they were horses.

But one of DC’s most inventive and enduring creations had to be the Metal Men.

The Metal Men made their first appearance in 1962’s Showcase #37 in a story by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. They were six robots created by Doctor Will Magnus, each robot was named after a type of metal—Gold, Iron, Lead, Mercury, Tin and the female Platinum—and took on the powers and personalities based on their name sake.

Magnus had created a device called a responsometer which made this change happen. Gold became a noble leader and was extremely malleable. Iron was the strong man of the team. Lead was slow, yet loyal, and could shield his teammates from all sorts of radiation. Mercury was mercurial and hot headed and could turn to liquid at will. Tin was the weakest and suffered from low self-esteem. Platinum, also called Tina, was also malleable, but thought herself to be a human and even had a crush on her creator.

The four issue tryout in the pages of Showcase proved that the team was popular enough to support their own book. The first Metal Men series started in 1963 and ran for 41 issues before going on hiatus towards the end of 1969. It returned to its bi-monthly status in 1973 and ran for five more years and fifteen more issues.

The team underwent a series of revamps, going from the Metal Men being hunted by the law, the team having to assume human identities, to Doc Magnus being brainwashed into becoming an evil mad scientist. None of these changes quite worked.

After the end of the 1978 series, the Metal Men made guest appearances in books like Brave and the Bold, DC Comics Presents and Action Comics.

The next Metal Men series arrived on the stands in 1993 and it came with another revamp. The book, created by Mike Carlin and Dan Jurgens, retconned the origin so that now the robot’s personalities did not come from responsometers at all, but that there were actual human consciousness’ trapped in the metal bodies. This series also gave Doc Magnus a robot form called Veridium.

This last revamp was done away with as per the events of Infinite Crisis, and the former status quo was returned.

Doc Magnus and the Metal Men have gone on to play a pivotal role in the 52 series and most recently guest-starred in the Superman/Batman book. A new member, Copper, has been introduced to the team.

Now, the team is starring in a new miniseries created by Duncan Rouleau. The designs on the bots have been updated, but the adventures listed within seem to be in line with the unique Metal Men adventures of the past. 

The Metal Men are the definition of quirky. But they are popular among their fiercely loyal fan base. This base is strong enough to support both an Archive edition and a Showcase reprinting the team’s adventures. And these fans do not take to straying too far from what they love about the group. It remains to be seen if this latest miniseries will be to their liking.

Also out this week:

• Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born #7

We have come to the end of the beginning. The comic book prequel to Stephen King’s popular Dark Tower series has come to an end. The telling of the early days of gunslinger Roland Deschain has been filled with romance, heartbreak, danger and betrayal. But how will it end?

The collaboration between Stephen King and Marvel has been a creative and financial success. Rumor abounds that this will not be the last of the partnership. Will we see another series in the Dark Tower line or perhaps an adaptation of The Stand or another of King’s works? Considering how well Gunslinger Born did, it should be a question of when, not if, the next project appears.  

Robin Furth & Peter David (W), Jae Lee (A), Marvel Comics, $3.99. Final Issue.

• Spider-Man/Red Sonja #1

Once upon a time, both these characters were published by Marvel Comics. During that time, the two characters teamed up (Red Sonja’s spirit coming through time to the future to inhabit Mary Jane Watson’s body) in Marvel Team-Up. They took on the evil wizard Kulan Gath, who was awaken in modern day New York.

Now, Red Sonja and her nemesis Gath are published by Dynamite Entertainment. But this doesn’t mean that Spidey and the She-Devil with a Sword can’t still team up. Both heroes are brought together again in an intercompany crossover to once again face down Kulan Gath. They are the only ones who can stop his quest for absolute power, if only they can get along long enough to do it!  

Michael Avon Oeming (W), Mel Rubi (A), Dynamite Entertainment/Marvel Comics, $2.99. Five-Issue Miniseries. 

• The Ride Home

Poor Nodo the Van-Gnome. He has lost his van and now he is homeless. He must go on a quest to refind his house on wheels. His travels will bring him across a sewer dragon, a junkyard troll, a curious cat, and a cow or two. Will his path of adventure lead him home? He sure hopes so!

The Ride Home is an all-ages graphic novel. It is good to see independent publishers such as Adhouse joining in the fight to bring kid-friendly books to the marketplace. The comics medium is big enough to support both adult fare and stuff for younger readers, too. Reaching out to the youngsters will help ensure the survival of the medium. Besides, the family that collects together, stays together.

Joey Weiser (W/A), Adhouse Books, $8.95. Graphic Novel.

• Shanna the She-Devil: Survival of the Fittest #1

The green-lighting of this series by Marvel raises some questions. Did they approve this series based on the success of Shanna’s 2005 series? Possibly. That series was a moderate success. But was it a success because of the character or because it was done by Frank Cho?

Or is Marvel trying to compete with Devil Due’s Sheena series by putting their jungle girl right on the shelves next to theirs. And how is this series written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti when both have signed an exclusive contract with DC? We might never learn the answers to these questions, but we know that the series should be pretty good.

Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti (W), Khari Evans (A), Marvel Comics, $2.99. Four-Issue Miniseries.

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William Gatevackes is a professional writer living in Mamaroneck, NY with his wife Jennifer. He also writes periodic comic reviews for PopMatters and writes title descriptions for Human Computing’s Comicbase collection management software. Links to his writing can be found at his website, www.williamgatevackes.com.