Saturday 16 March 2013

Robot Archie by Shane Oakley.

I remember reading a few stories about Robot Archie when I was very young. It must have been in the pages of an issue or two of Lion that I first read about Professor C.R. Ritchie's robot. Built to be the world's most powerful mechanical man, I can't remember him ever coming across any other robots to prove himself against but I remember him fighting tigers and men with guns. 
On reading about Archie's history, I was surprised to find out that he couldn't speak when he first appeared (in 1952) and had to wait until 1966 when he was finally fitted with a voice box, he must have had plenty to say in the first issue that followed.
Robot Archie reappeared as Acid Archie in the fabulous Zenith (2000AD) by Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell and again in Albion (by Alan Moore, Leah Moore, John Reppion and illustrated by the sublime Shane Oakley). It was great to see and read about Robot Archie again after so many years and nobody really messed with his design at all, which says alot about how memorable it is and how respected by British creators down the years. You don't mess with perfection as they say.
Shortly after reading Albion I bought a page with Archie centre stage (you'll notice a Cyberman in there as well, and I'll include cyborgs in my definition of robots for the purposes of this blog).



and also commissioned artist Shane Oakley to do me a commission, which has sat framed on my wall for a good number of years now and still makes me smile.

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