Customer Reviews

The Metal Men Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions)

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The Metal Men was one of those tiles that so typified Dc Comics of the early and Mid-1960's. It was slightly quirky but innocent. Not groundbreaking but always fun. Many people have criticized DC for being too staid and formulaic during this era but the fact is that many of their titles, particularly like the Doom Patrol and the Metal Men are very underrated. The bottom line is they never failed to entertain the reader.

This first Archive collection reprints the first four appearances of the team from Showcase # 37 -40, as well as the first five issues of their regular series. The Metal Men debuted in March 1962, just a few months after Fantastic Four #1 and I think you can see some of the influence that Marvel's first super team hand on the development of the Metal Men. The robots were the creation of scientist Doc Magnus and one wonders if it was a coincidence that Gold Key would release "Magnus: Robot Fighter" just one year later in 1963. The five robots are Gold, Lead, Mercury, Iron, Tin, and Platinum, who have the chemical properties and abilities of those various metals. While they are robots, Doc Magnus' responsometers end up giving them human emotions as they take on the personalities of their various names. Mercury is the hot head, Iron the powerhouse, and tin the meek, sheepish one, unsure of his own abilities. And then there is the only female member Platinum, the only member given a name by the Doc--Tina. Tina is infatuated with Doc Magnus despite his repeated attempts to ship her off to a museum. It certainly shows the sexism of the times as Magnus considers everything too dangerous for her as a female...even if it is a female robot!

The team first come together to battle a flying, radioactive sting ray, a creature obviously influenced by the great giant monster films of the 1950's like "Them!" and "Godzilla". At the end of the first few appearances in Showcase the characters openly address the reader and tell them to write DC if they want to see more adventures of the Metal Men! Gosh I love the Silver Age! In Showcase # 39 & 40, they would battle the chemical construct known as Chemo, who would become one of their most frequent foes.

The Metal Men would get their own title one year later in April, 1963 as they would battle a defective, alien robot who fashioned a legion of robotic clones, using them as missiles to attack the Earth. In the second issue, Platinum becomes jealous when Doc Magnus goes out on a date, so she decides to use Doc's lab to make a robot clone of him! But the Clone has his own ideas and he soon creates his own group of Metal Men and plans to replace the old team!

Robert Kanigher writes all of the stories with art by Ross Andru and inker Mike Esposito, bringing a strong consistency to the book. Andru and Esposito teamed for years and would later go on to do Spiderman for many years at Marvel. One of the great things about the Metal Men is that even though it was a comic, it was pretty darn educational. Kids could learn the correct atomic symbols for the metal as well as other facts such as their various boiling points and properties. Fun and educational...what more could you ask for? The Metal Men had a pretty good run, lasting all the way until 1978 and while they've only been seen very infrequently in recent years, these Archive Editions are a fantastic venue to show off the silver age in all its glory.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

In the early '60s, my mother would sometimes bring home a comic book for me to read. One I remember best was a band of robots known as the Metal Men.

Constructed by the genius Dr. Will Magnus, each of these robots had abilities which reflected the metal of which they were constructed, i.e. Gold was very malleable, and could form very thin sheets or stretch to extraordinary lengths. Iron was strong, and often formed battering rams, girders, cranes, and other tools. Lead frequently formed barriers against radiation, as well as heavy objects which Iron would throw or swing against their foes. Mercury frequently boasted that he was the only metal liquid at room temperature, and so could flow into narrow spaces. Tin was physically weak, a flimsy robot easily crushed, but would sometimes form a plating over one of the other robots as a protection against some corrosive agent. Tina (the only robot with a personal name) was made of platinum, and was often observed to stretch herself into a fine wire, ensnaring their enemies by winding herself around them.

Over the years, I would sometimes recall their individual personalities, level-headed Gold, strong, resourceful Iron, stalwart Lead, boastful, argumentative Mercury, timid, insecure Tin, and most of all, Tina, the stunningly beautiful platinum robot who was more emotionally warm and loving than many human women. These were basic qualities which are seen as ideals or flaws in humans, examplified in not-quite-human form.

Each adventure would pit them against some peculiar foe which would give them an opportunity to demonstrate their personality characteristics, as well as a simple science lesson involving the characteristics of their metal bodies.
In many adventures, one or more of the team would sacrifice themselves, only to be reconstructed by Dr. Magnus, where we would be given a peek into the manner in which they were formed. As it turned out, they weren't assembled like an automobile, but more correctly cast or forged from pure metal, which was somehow animated by a device called a "responsometer". This was what allowed them to change shape without losing alignment of internal parts. They were drawn in a manner which suggested their human characteristics, with very human facial features and physiques with visible muscles, and only small hints at their robotic nature, such a exposed rivets in a few locations, notably at the edge of their face, on their abdomen, and near their wrists and ankles. They resembled living metallic statues with human personalities rather than mere automatons assembled out of parts, and the stories portrayed them essentially in this manner as well.

Most adventures included a bit of an ongoing drama of unrequited affection, in which Tina was in love with Dr. Magnus, who was obviously in denial. He would sometimes slip up and say something kind to her, then correct himself and remind her, usually in an unfeeling way, that she was "only a robot". But what a robot she was! Her cold metal body housed a genuinely warm and tender personality. I often felt her anguish when he would caustically reject her. Seeing her tears wrenched my heart just as it did years ago. Who wouldn't want a friend and companion such as Tina, robotic or not?
I was interested to learn that the Metal Men have had recurring "guest appearances" in other DC comics. The DC One Million series of a few years ago revealed that Tina at least still exists and functions 85,000 years from now, where she gives testimony regarding the identity and authenticity of Superman.

Some of the plot points in these stories from 1962 and 1963 were a little naive, for example their very first adventure has them battling a prehistoric flying stingray which has been mutated by radioactive meteorites.
In another story, an evil robot from another planet was abandoned on a "junkyard" planet, and tried to construct a "queen" to rule alongside it. Why? Apparantly because that was the natural thing to do. When it was unable to build anything other than duplicates of itself, it decided to capture Tina as its queen.
In another adventure, another planet inhabited by robots had exact robot analogies to Earth life forms, so we saw robot birds which laid metal eggs, robot crabs, robot rulers who hunted with robot falcons, etc. Food on this planet resembled oranges, lemons, grapes, etc, although with unique properties.

None of this detracted from the entertainment value of the Metal Men, who were, after all, the reason we were reading in the first place.

I was very pleased to find The Metal Men Archives, which collects their earliest nine adventures from March 1962 to December 1963 into one, hardbound volume. The book is printed in full color, on much better paper than the original comics, and includes the original cover art as well as the contents. These nine adventures were all new to me, apparantly the issues I had read came from later in their run, which lasted until December 1969. At the current price of comic books, this volume is a bargain.

Reading this was very entertaining. I was elated to see the Metal Men in action once more. It was refreshing to see their individual personality strengths and weaknesses, and especially to see Tina professing her devotion to the (totally undeserving) Dr. Magnus.

I enjoyed the team spirit of the group, their positive interactions as well as the occassional bickering between, for example, Mercury and Tina. I found these stories to be somewhat inspiring in that, ideal or not, each robot demonstrated that anyone can do the right thing. Flimsy Tin, although knowing his limited abilities, could face enemies just as bravely as strong Iron. Although unpredictable, when faced with disaster, Tina still frequently managed to think of solutions which would save the entire group. Thus, anyone of the group, regardless of their abilities or personalities, could end up being a hero.

I eagerly look forward to Volume 2 (as well as the Metal Men movie which is currently in the works).

Metal Men was one of my favorite comics as a child, even though it's a lot less well known than most. Maybe I liked it because getting super-powers is hard (the near-fatal freak accidents that were required seemed scary), while it didn't seem so impossible to become a scientific genius and invent some super-heroes who would look up to you (or even, in the case of Tina the platinum robot, fall in love with you in a kind of reverse-Pygmalion kind of way.)

Looking at the series from decades farther along, you see the plot problems- the amazing coincidences that helped Dr. Magnus (such as always having a "magnetizing ray" on hand when you need one); the fact that Dr. Magnus and 5/6 of the Metal Men had a pre-adolescent male contempt for women (apparently Tina was originally intended by Dr. Magnus only as a pretty thing to look at, and he neither thought of her as a woman nor as a useful fighting member of the team- so she had to struggle mightily to be accepted on both those fronts.) And while the series tried to be conscious of the chemical and physical properties of the metals the Metal Men represent, there are occasional goofs, my favorite being a scene of Dr. Magnus carrying Tina- it's only credible if he has the strength of a construction crane.

On the other hand, Metal Men had some of the most bizarre villains in the comics, and two of the most memorable debut in this collection: Chemo, whose chemical blasts had as unpredictable an effect on things and people as red kryptonite did on Superman; and the Missile Men, an army of duplicates created by a renegade robot who had actually been trying to create a Queen.

I can't wait for this to come out! Though I liked the various main stream DC titles (Flash, Green Lantern & the Justice League) and unlike most who liked one or the other of the "Top 2" publshiers, I also liked Marvel and,for instance, its "big guns:" the Fantastic Four & Spider-Man.

However, I always had a soft spot for DC's more "quirky" titles - the Doom Patrol, Eclipso, Metamorpho, and, not least, Doc Magnus & his very human band of robots - the Metal Men.

So, I've been waiting for years for this to come out, hoping DC would eventually put out an Archive collection or maybe a "Showcase Presents" black and white collection of their adventures.

My wife never bought and read comics as a child but can remember enjoying her brother's comics about the Metal Men - she's looking forward to reading it too!

Without wishing to sound greedy, may I next hope for an Eclipso collection...?

GREAT ! entertainment for the youngsters its aimed at." I know I certainly enjoyed it when I was a kid ! Assuming your youngsters are old enough to read, it's a great way to start a life long devotion to comics. It's a shame used copies are so expensive.

I own all the original Metal Men comics, but with this book,I don't have to take them out of their bags in the attic. These quirky tales personify the Silver Age and are as fun to read now as back in the 60s. Can't wait until future volumes are released.

The Metal Men Archives Vol.1 is a MUST HAVE for any serious DC Comics collector. They were way ahead of their time and it's easy to see after only a chapter or two why they still grab and hold your attention after all these years. The artwork is amazing and the characters seem to jump right off the pages. Don't be left out, order your copy today and enjoy...it's pure platimum from cover to cover!

I grew up from about 1st grade to high school on comic's and one of the first I remember is The Metal Men. I really loved this group and I remember nothing of the Doctor who made them only of the robots themselves. Something tells me though that reading these comics now would be a big disapoinment as I am no longer 6 years old. I also was a huge Gigantor fan (the robot theme is a recurring one for me, I loved the villan Ultron vs the Avengers, I loved the robot called The Recorder in Thor, I loved robots in TV shows like Lost In Space, movies like Forbidden Planet, it goes on and on), any way I had found Gigantor on a few VHS tapes in the early 90's (should have sold them for big bucks), and now its on Cartoon Network and watching a show that was awesome when you were 6 and seeing it now is a pretty big letdown. So, I'll just take comfort to know that what I read as a 6 year old, Metal Men, was so good that it was reprinted as a hardcover book, I always had such good tastes, lol.