First giant robots piloted in comics

[quiof]

The first example that we know of is the arc "The Invisible Empire" from Federal Men by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in New Comics #8-10 (1936).

https://ultraboy8888.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/adv_9__federal_men_001.png?w=206&h=300

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-usUIgdyXcJ8/TsNG64fTk5I/AAAAAAAAYdA/Y1mh8gmjrS0/s1600/New+Comics+010-63.jpg

http://brad-ricca.com/history-proves-again-and-again-siegel-and-shusters-atlantic-rim/

https://ultraboy8888.wordpress.com/2014/08/09/new-comics-9-federal-men/

http://fourcolorshadows.blogspot.com.br/2011/11/federal-men-siegel-and-shuster-1936.html

http://dccomicsartists.com/superart/JOE_SHUSTER2.htm

http://mikegrost.com/federal.htm



The brazilian comic strip Audaz, o demolidor by Aruom (scripts) and Messias de Mello (art) debuted in A Gazetinha #445 (December 17, 1938), in this issue, Superman made debut in the country. The first arc was published until 1940.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4rM3AhgSRjw/URbt-R__t8I/AAAAAAAAA5k/ZDF_-ZyPb8w/s320/2396.jpg

Between 1948 and 1949, another arc by Lindbergh (script)  and Messias de Mello (art) was published  in the same supplement.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6CmDNldlhWg/US_qBmGMrJI/AAAAAAAABQo/wfNY8DwlZBc/s1600/2860.jpg

http://artistamessiasdemello.blogspot.com.br/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/messiasmello/

http://www.messiasdemello.com.br/

according to Overstreet's Comic Book Price Guide, Bozo the Iron Man was the first robot to appear in a comic book cover, but, however, not he, before he and the Audaz. In fact, the first robot in a magazine cover was a robot created by Hergé (creator of Tintin) in Les Aventures de Jo, Zette et Jocko, more precisely the story arc "Le 'Manitoba' ne répond plus", published in Le Petit Vingtième in 1937.

http://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Bozo-the-Iron-Man.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IZvPuL3WmQw/U5eo6V0dTmI/AAAAAAAAAh4/lqMeaSrteIo/s1600/manitoba.jpg

http://www.toonopedia.com/bozorobo.htm

Jackie Law and the Boy Rangers

Clue Comics #v1#3-4 (1943)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_eFUN75lZPhw/SrwLCtOl-AI/AAAAAAAAAmI/CPFk2yoq5JE/s400/rangersandlocoomggiantrobotman.jpg

according to Wikipedia:
"The 1880 Jules Verne novel La Maison à vapeur (The Steam House) featured a steam-powered, piloted, mechanical elephant. One of the first appearances of such machines in modern literature was the tripods of H. G. Wells' famous The War of the Worlds (1897). The novel does not contain a fully detailed description of the tripods' (or "fighting-machine", as they are known in the novel) mode of locomotion, however it is hinted at: "Can you imagine a milking stool tilted and bowled violently along the ground? That was the impression those instant flashes gave. But instead of a milking stool imagine it a great body of machinery on a tripod stand."

Mecha were popularized by Japanese anime and manga. The first humanoid giant robot is Tetsujin 28-Go, introduced in 1956. Tetsujin was controlled externally via remote control by an operator. The first occurrence of mecha being piloted by a user from within a cockpit was introduced in the manga and anime series Mazinger Z by Go Nagai, first published in 1972"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecha

http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/scale_small/6/65050/1345259-mazingerz.jpg

First japanese giant robot:
"Kagaku Senshi New York ni Shutsugen su" by Ryūichi Yokoyama
(1943)

http://i39.tinypic.com/2i260l3.jpg

source:
http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/mecha

[Yoc]

Very interesting stuff, thanks for sharing the info.

[erwin-k]

In the UK there have been a number of robotic characters, such as Robot Archie. I have no idea when the first one appeared. I'd guess not as early as these/

[quiof]

Robot Archie debuted in Lion #1, 23 February 1952


an example in pulp magazine
The Spore Doom by Earl Binder and Otto Binder in Wonder Stories, February 1934

http://www.frankwu.com/Paul16A.jpg

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?191748

[Yoc]

Ha!  I'd buy that book!

[Geo (RIP)]

Ha!  I'd buy that book!

Here's where Yoc.

http://www.abebooks.com/WONDER-STORIES-FEBRUARY-1934-Binder-Eando/940484220/bd

Geo

[quiof]

Bozo the Iron Man is an early example of powered exoskeleton:

http://www.cosmicteams.com/quality/images/bozo_crack_15.jpg

"Powered armor has appeared in a wide variety of media, beginning with E. E. Smith's Lensman series in 1937. Since then, it has featured in science fiction movies and literature, comic books, video games, and tabletop role-playing games. One of the most famous early appearances was in Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 novel Starship Troopers, which can be seen as spawning the entire subgenre concept of military powered armor."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_exoskeleton

http://futurewarstories.blogspot.com.br/2013/08/fws-topics-powered-armor.html


Tho Bozo was prominently featured on that initial cover (in fact, Overstreet's Comic Book Price Guide alleges him to be the first robot featured on a comic book cover), not a glimpse was seen of Hugh. He was inside, manning the controls — making Bozo a very early harbinger of an entire genre of anime in which giant robots with human pilots in their heads tower over Tokyo. Bozo wasn't that big a giant, tho, standing only a foot or two taller than Hazzard himself. In fact, with Hugh inside, it seems like there would scarcely be room for the mechanical stuff, especially when you consider they didn't have transistors back then, let alone microcircuits.

In essence, then, Bozo was a precursor to Marvel Comics' Iron Man in more than just half his original series title. He was more-or-less a suit of high-tech (for the time) armor, just like Iron Man's. He could be controlled from outside, but so can Iron Man's armor when the story requires it. Despite a vast difference in appearance (Iron Man didn't share Bozo's silly facial expression, and looked like a walking pile of scrap metal only in his first appearance), Iron Man is simply Bozo the Robot redux."

http://www.toonopedia.com/bozorobo.htm

http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/422/rocketman_silo.gif

"Iron Man's next ancestor is a movie serial superhero known as Rocketman He debuted in King of the Rocketmen (1949). Rocketman, played by Tristam Coffin, flies with the aid of an atomic-powered rocket suit and what looks like a very early model of Iron Man's helmet. In twelve cliffhanging chapters, Rocketman and his associates prevent the evil Dr. Vulcan from taking over the world. "

http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/422/

[quiof]

Brick Bradford and the Metal Monster (02/13/1939 – 03/16/1940) 342 strips

http://i35.servimg.com/u/f35/19/17/44/35/11421810.jpg

Cover by Alex Schomburg (1948)

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9d/b5/7a/9db57a5b117360f80d2ab199625809f4.jpg

Il terrore di Allagalla, Luciano Pedrocchi (script) et Enrico Bagnoli (art), 1946

Portuguese edition

http://static6.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_large/0/3125/5096784-mun248.jpg