Awesome Android
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| Awesome Android | |
 Rom #14 (Feb. 1981). Cover art by Dave Cockrum |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Fantastic Four #15 (June 1963) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| In story information | |
| Team affiliations | Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, Heavy Metal |
| Notable aliases | Awesome Andy |
| Abilities | Superhuman physical attributes Ability to mimic surfaces and textures |
The Awesome Android, later known as Awesome Andy for a time, is a fictional artificial life-form in the Marvel Comics universe. The character first appeared in Fantastic Four #15 (June 1963) and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby.
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[edit] Publication history
Following its debut as "the Awesome Android" and a pawn of the villain the Mad Thinker, the character returned in Fantastic Four #28 (July 1964) to battle the Fantastic Four and the mutant X-Men. Two decades later, the creature appeared as an antagonist in Rom #14 (Jan. 1981) and The Avengers #286-289 (Feb.-May 1988). The Android was next seen, salvaged and having gained sentience, as office worker "Awesome Andy" in the 2004-2005 series She-Hulk.
[edit] Fictional character biography
The Awesome Android is a synthesis of ape DNA and unstable molecules incorporated into an almost indestructible android body with a microcomputer and a solar-power source. The Mad Thinker creates the Awesome Android as a combat instrument with no personality, and uses it twice against the superhero team the Fantastic Four. On both occasions, however, the Android is deactivated; first by the Invisible Girl [1] and then by Professor X, leader of the mutant X-Men.[2]
The Android then kidnaps Tony Stark, which leads to a battle with his alter ego Iron Man.[3] The Android has a minor encounter with Rom many years later, when the Thinker sends it to incapacitate Rom for study. The Android suffers a programming breakdown and subdues the Thinker instead. [4] The Mad Thinker repairs the android and abandons it, and it subsequently battles Captain America.[5] The Fixer reprograms it, and sends it against the Avengers, but the heroine She-Hulk deactivates it.[6]
The abandoned Android is found and reprogrammed by the Super-Adaptoid, who leads it and other robotic beings in a group called Heavy Metal. During a battle with the Avengers, the Sub-Mariner removes the Awesome Android's head, leaving the body to sink into the ocean.[7] The Android is eventually repaired by the Machinesmith and used to distract the Avengers while the other robots escape confinement, and is neutralized by Captain Marvel.[8]
The Android later attempts to kidnap Franklin Richards, and fights the superhero team the Thunderbolts.[9] The Android then has a brief encounter with the Fantastic Four,[10] and is next seen employed by Gideon Trust.[11] The Mad Thinker eventually reclaims the Android, and upgrades it to absorb abilities apart from superhuman powers, such as musical talent and animal traits. The Android later turns on the Mad Thinker, and acquiring sentience seeks legal aid from Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, the law firm that employs Jennifer Walters, the superhero She-Hulk.[12]
The firm legally emancipates the Android from the Mad Thinker, with the court recognizing its new name, "Awesome Andy", and officially considering him male. Andy becomes a general office worker for the firm, finding this more fulfilling than doing the Mad Thinker's bidding. As Andy, the Android shows that he cares deeply for his friends and coworkers and was willing to fight to protect them. As the Mad Thinker did not give him the ability to speak, Awesome Andy communicated via hand-gestures, body language, and a message board strung around his neck. Initially, the display board was depicted as a chalk board (which displayed messages much faster than could be written in real time), but was retconned into being a digital display screen with a Wi-Fi connection to his CPU.
After a brief fight with the Eternal Starfox, Andy inadvertently absorbs Starfox's pheromone-like abilities, causing Andy to gain the affections of his coworker Mallory Book. Upon realizing she does not actually reciprocate those feelings, he deactivates his powers, causing her to reject him angrily. Guilty over his inadvertent actions, he leaves the law firm to find himself.
Andy reappears as a blank slate, having reset his system and leaving no trace of his previous personality, and returns to the employ of the Mad Thinker.[13]
[edit] Powers and abilities
The Awesome Android was created by splicing unstable molecules into the DNA patterns of an ape in a manner patented by Reed Richards; using the stolen patents, the Mad thinker designed and constructed the Awesome Android's body configuration. The Awesome Android has no capacity for self-motivated activity, and is totally dependent on its programming or on the spoken commands of its programmer, and usually deactivates itself when it has no current program to run. It has a limited artificial intelligence.
The Android has a malleable gray body (hands can be shaped into blocks) with a head depicted as either a flattened rectangle or as a cube. It has no eyes, nose, or visible ears, though it has the suggestion of a mouth cavity. The Android possesses superhuman strength, stamina and durability.
The Android can also mimic certain abilities after touching an opponent, such as the strength and epidermis of the Thing or the frost coating of Iceman. The Android, however, can only mimic one attribute at a time for one hour. The Android can also emit close-range blasts of gale-force wind from its mouth.
The Awesome Android's most vulnerable spot is a fail safe built into it by the Mad Thinker: a collection of nerve ganglia underneath the left armpit that if struck will cause the Android to shut down.[14]
[edit] In other media
The Awesome Android appeared in the 1966 animated series The Marvel Superheroes, in the Sub-Mariner episode "Dr. Doom's Day".
[edit] Other versions
[edit] Ultimate Awesome Android
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, the android is only referred to as Bobby Burchill, the younger brother of Rhona Burchill (this parallel universe's Mad Thinker). When they were young, Rhona took part of Bobby's brain matter and transplanted it into hers in order to increase her brain power. This left Bobby mentally handicapped. It has not been revealed what other processes Rhona performed on Bobby to turn him into the android-like creature he became. Bobby possesses superhuman strength and his body is made of a black, malleable metal which he can use to create various weapons.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ The Fantastic Four #15 (June 1963)
- ^ The Fantastic Four #28 (Jul. 1964)
- ^ Tales of Suspense #72 (Dec. 1965)
- ^ Rom #14 (Feb. 1981)
- ^ Captain America #311 (Nov. 1985)
- ^ Avengers #286 (Feb. 1988)
- ^ Avengers #289 (May. 1998)
- ^ Avengers Spotlight #27 (Mid-Dec. 1998)
- ^ Thunderbolts #2 (Jun. 1997)
- ^ Fantastic Four #23 (1999)
- ^ Fantastic Four #43-44 (2001)
- ^ She-Hulk #14 (Feb. 2007)
- ^ She-Hulk #20 (Sept. 2007)
- ^ The Avengers #286 (May 1988)
