Discount Bin Finds

Magnus, Robot Fighter #32

Well, that certainly was a long Turkey Day break, from work as well as from blogging. I thought that after being MIA for almost a week, I should ease my way back into things. And what better way to ease into comic book blogging than by talking about a guy fighting alien robots with karate in the far future? And we all know that when that is the taste you are craving, you turn to none other than Magnus, Robot Fighter.

A little catch-up for those unfamiliar: Magnus fights robots. using karate. In the future. In all seriousness, this story takes place during the invasion of the Malevs, evil space robots who attack Earth and manage to capture and enslave NorthAm, the giant city consisting of the entirty of North America (Magnus' traditional stomping ground). As the issue opens, Magnus and several of his freedom fighter allies are in SouthAm, where the Malevs are trying to spread their conquest by destroying the rain forests in an effort to choke out all resistance. In the aftermath of stopping this plan, however, a most curious event takes place: A Malev drone develops Free Will, and is forced to ask the question of Why am I killing?

For a stand-alone story which takes place during a larger arc of an even larger ongoing saga, this comic is surprisingly easy to read. There is some continuity-stuff which will confuse new readers (who is Talon and his Steel Legion, for one), but I think most readers familiar with certain science-fiction trappings will be able to enjoy this one. Anthony Bedard (better known around these parts as Tony Bedard) poses some heavy questions for a comic from 1994. Talon, a Freewill robot, accuses Magnus of genocide, for his countless deactivations of other Freewills, while Magnus believes he acted in the best interest of humanity. The Malevelent Emperor Malev-7 questions the ramifications of a Malev gaining sentience and emotions. And poor Unit 2438, who must come to grips with the fact that it (he?) is little more than an engine designed to murder humans and harvest their base elements for fuel -- and finds quite a few people very interested in it's very existance.

Califiore's pencils are not showy or ostentatious, but he seems to enjoy rendering the various robots and sci-fi tech on display as well as the action. In a lot of ways Bedard's script embodies a lot of the strengths of a property like Magnus -- or, really, a lot of science fiction settings -- by mining the surface premise for the allegorical core. That is a generally superior aspect of this series from it's revitalization by Valiant, but here, stripped of some more commonplace superhero window dressing, the meaning rises the tope easily.

If you find this one in a discount bin someday, give it a shot. Even if you don't normally like Valiant or Magnus, this is a thought-provoking tale about morality and freedom.

Discount Bin Finds

Predator vs Magnus, Robot Fighter #1-2 -- Two of the big players in the 90s, Dark Horse (who's still kicking it solid today) and Valiant (who one can imagine is lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike after the Acclaim fiasco) join up to bring us this two part series about warrior's honor, the hunt, and duty.

In the 40th century, on the continent-spanning city of NorthAm, a group of rich and powerful 'robot hunters' get their jolly from stalking and blasting robots. But when one of their number becomes the prey for a Predator, Magnus is called in to save the day. But will Magnus, whose disgust with the "Cloud Cloppers" of NorthAm is evident, do the right thing? Or will he let the Predator finish its hunt? Shooter and Ostrader cover all the bases here, as we get to see Magnus 1) fight robots, 2) bemoan the rich and powerful of NorthAm, and 3) mack it on Leeja, and we get to see the Predator 1) hunt people, 2) kill people, and 3) make trophies out of people. Sounds about right to me. What more could you ask for? Well, I suppose you could ask for a Robot-Fighter-fu versus Alien-kata throw down, and you get that as well. Lee Weeks' art is solid, but has that sketchy, almost washed-out look a lot of Valiants had at this point. It's not bad, but to a younger reader, used to the glossy and shiny colors of todays comic books, will be taken aback.


Magnus was always a fun series to me, since with the exception of Rai it was pretty much out on its own, telling Sci-fi stories which read like a lightweight version of Phillip K. Dick but with more kung-fu. And really, my main criticism of Dick's work has always been the lack of robots being chopped in half by a guy in one piece and white go-go boots. It's a basic concept but it works well; there's a lot of stories to be told given the setting and premise alone, and the Robot Fighter was one of Valiant's main draws for the life of the company. Similarly, in the 90s Dark Horse was more than content to mine their horror and sci-fi licenses (including Aliens, The Terminator, and even Robocop) as much as possible. It seemed like there was a constant stream of new Predator miniseries. That was more my brother's area than mine, but they must have been doing something right.

The story sounds generic and to a certain extent it is, but its still a lot of fun. Seeing the Predator being hunted down by PolRobs is neat (if totally ineffective from a strategic standpoint), and the revelation as to why the Predator is there is intriguing. Plus we get to see two icons of the "Big Indies" square off. A fun if ultimately meaningless romp, I'd gladly recommened this to fans of both Predator and Magnus.