Magnus, Robot Fighter Archives Volume 1 (v. 1)
Older fans fondly remember the early 1960s comic bookMagnus, Robot Fighterfor two reasons. It was one of the few sf comics in an era dominated by superheroes and other genres, and it boasted the compellingly crisp artwork of Russ Manning. In 4000 A.D., when society has grown weak from overreliance on its mechanical servants, Magnus, trained from infancy by Robot 1A, uses his "steel-smashing strength" to defend humanity against evil robots and renegade humans like Mekman, who so idolizes the efficiency of robots that he coats his body with flexible metal in emulation. Aiding Magnus are his beautiful, resourceful girlfriend, Leeja, and her senator father. Relatively simple by today's standards, the stories--many written by Manning, who was obviously influenced by Isaac Asimov and his famous robotic laws--are a notch more sophisticated than most other comics of its day and remain quite readable. Their main attraction, though, is Manning's gorgeous artwork, which many fans feel he never topped in later assignments, including illustrated newspaper strips based on Tarzan andStar Wars.Gordon FlaggCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved