Hey look, it’s a new Down, But Not Out! How ‘bout that?

Let’s get right to it.


Machine Man: The Living Robot
Original Release Date: April 1978
Writer/Artist/Editor: Jack Kirby
Letterer/Inker: Mike Royer


There’s nothing worse than having your day interrupted by a horrifying accident. In this case, a group of hikers out on the trail have encountered a little trouble: one of their own has slipped and fell; he now hangs on the sheer side of a mountain, facing a drop that no mortal could hope to survive. The rest of the hikers, the man’s friends, look on in horror.

Today these hikers are lucky, because a strange, purple-garbed… machine man is there to help! He asks the panicked hikers to stand back while he extends a mechanical arm a great distance in order to reach the hiker. Unfortunately, as the stranded hiker reaches for that extended, mechanical arm, he looses his footing and takes the plunge…

The purple-garbed, mechanical man is determined to save the life of the man, so he jumps from his safe spot on top of the mountain trail. With one mechanical arm, he grabs the man in mid-fall, and with the other arm, he grabs hold of the mountain. Soon, the two are back up top with the awed hikers.

The hikers are all thankful for the rescue of their friend and immediately launch into a barrage of questions. The man in purple gladly tells them that their friend owes his rescue to the product of the space-age. They ask who he is and this strange man replies, “Just call me… Machine Man.” With that, he walks down the sheer face of that mountain, leaving the hikers behind.

Elsewhere, at a top secret, government research installation, a man from Washington, D.C. speaks with the genius Doctor Broadhurst, a man in charge of a research project. The fellow from Washington is there to see what exactly went wrong with this particular government-funded project. Doctor Broadhurst explains that the machines he created were too successful; they developed an autonomy that eventually led them to their own destruction.

Doctor Broadhurst tells the man from D.C. of another man, an Abel Stack. This Abel was a brilliant psychologist that took one of the autonomous metal men into his home and treated it as a son. The particular model in question, X-51, eventually came to be known as Aaron Stack. This machine was given an exterior coating of tissue in order to resemble a human. As it is, X-51 is apparently the last hope for any success from this project.

The fellow from D.C. tells Doctor Broadhurst that he’s officially shutting the research complex down and removing him from it. He also has an order to pursue model X-51 in order to destroy it.

At that very moment, somewhere else, we find X-51/Machine Man/Aaron Stack strolling through the woods. He comes upon a man looking at a fallen tree. It just happens that this tree has fallen over the road the man is trying to cross. Machine Man tells the man he’ll assist him by removing the tree from the road. The man responds by telling Machine Man that he doesn’t think it possible for Aaron to remove such a massive tree by himself. Aaron then does the unthinkable: he lifts the tree and tosses it aside, clearing the road.

The formerly-stranded motorist introduces himself as Peter Spalding. Peter asks Aaron if there’s any place he could drop him off as repayment. Aaron nods and the two start off on their journey. Peter attempts to get Aaron into some small talk and succeeds in doing so. Machine Man tells Peter that it’s time for him to get a new set of clothes and a job-he just wants to live like an average Joe!

Spalding, Aaron guesses, is a psychiatrist. He deduces this because of Spalding’s “spot analysis” of him. It so irritates Aaron that he exits the vehicle while it is stopped in traffic; his purple outfit garnering a lot of attention from other motorists. Spalding has suggested that Aaron is different from everyone else, so attempting to be “johnny average” might not fit him so well.

Once on the asphalt of the street, Aaron extends wheels from his feet and speeds off between the cars, weaving in and out, jumping them as he pleases. Unfortunately, his daredevil antics get the attention of two cops in a patrol car and the chase is suddenly on! It takes little effort for Aaron to shift into supersonic speed and lift off from the ground, losing his pursuers.

Back at the government research complex of Doctor Broadhurst, the good doc is meeting up with the group of military hunters that’ll be out looking for X-51. They are led by a one-eyed man by the name of Colonel Kragg.

Doctor Broadhurst tries to convince Kragg that X-51 isn’t just some machine, he’s a real entity; a life! Kragg is having none of it. It seems that some of the Colonel’s men were the victims of some of the previous X-models that had went out of control, so Kragg is looking for vengeance! Kragg shows Broadhurst the remote for the homing device found in Aaron’s skull-the one thing that Broadhurst didn’t count on when installing the device was that it would eventually be used for this!

Machine Man, after a little traveling, has reached the outskirts of town-the place where he’ll integrate himself into society. It’s all very interesting to him-the homes, the gardens, the entire lives of the people he wants to be like.

As he ponders, a helicopter suddenly drops from the sky and blast from a weapon hits him. His attackers are using sonic weapons! The sound waves barrel at him, eventually physically disabling him. As he crawls across the ground, unable to use his legs, he develops a last-minute plan; use his weapon systems, of course!

As his attackers approach, Aaron shoots a stream of fire from his fist, putting up a barrier of flame between him and his enemies. Aaron manages to get away and to a road, where he spots a sign for Central City! That’s the place where the man in the van, Peter Spalding, lives! He’ll go there!

And with that, our strange, purple-garbed Machine Man sets off on his journey to be more human!

*****

Ah, more late-70’s material from “The King.” It seems like Mr. Kirby was never out of ideas. Here we get the Machine Man, a mechanical, humanoid that wants nothing more than to live a normal life. Sure, the story may sound cliché now, but back then? Not so much.

Also, this is a rather timely article considering Machine Man is part of Warren Ellis’ Nextwave ongoing series. As a side, how ironic is it that, once again, Mr. Ellis (whose writing I really dig) is using characters created by a man he once called “shit.”

Don’t believe me? Look it up! Mr. Ellis did indeed verbally spit on the grave of the man (Kirby had just died) that allows him to cash his checks every term… How’s that for irony?

I’ve spouted off about how great Jack is before, so I’ll save you from that here. I will say that the writing and art is up to par for his later work. So if you were into Devil Dinosaur or The Eternals, this would fit in well. I’d say this one is about as hard to find as those too, so if you’re a Kirby fan of if this just strikes ya as something pretty cool, then by all means, check it out!