10 Greatest Giant Robots of All Time

Because Siskoid and I often share a brain, we both disqualified giant robots from our Top 10 Giant Monsters lists last week. Which means that we're back with lists of our huge, mechanical friends this week.

I know a few others who are also planning to join in for our second, big, blogging crossover, so I'll update this post as I see those. Anyone can participate, so just let me know and I'll be sure to link to you. [Update: Here's Siskoid's list, and here's Ken O's from That F'ing Monkey.]

Here's my list. No special rules this time; I'll explain any caveats in the entries below.

10. Martian Tripods (War of the Worlds)



My first caveat is that I'm accepting pilot-driven mechs as "giant robots." It's not technically accurate, but since they're visually indistinguishable from actual robots, that's good enough for me. The Martian war machines from H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds are the grand-daddies of this concept and are super scary besides. Love them.

9. Warbox (DC Comics)



The only reason Warbox is so low on my list is because he's only had one, brief appearance in Metal Men (V.3) #2. On the other hand, he looks like a teddy bear and has a reel-to-reel tape player on his chest. It kind of hurts me not to have him higher.

8. Mechani-Kong (King Kong Escapes)



It's a horrible movie, but just look at that giant robotic gorilla shooting lasers out of his eyes and tell me you don't love him.

7. Mechagodzilla



I haven't yet seen any of the Toho films with giant robots like Mechagodzilla, Mecha King Ghidorah, or Jet Jaguar, so it's hard for me to love them as much as I should. I'll lump Ultraman into that same category and heck, Voltron and every anime ever made too. I have a lot of learning to do.

But Mechagodzilla is such a cultural icon with such a great look that I feel like I know him even though my entire experience with him has been in the recent Godzilla comics from IDW.

6. Grurk (It Came!)



It's name probably isn't actually Grurk, but that's what it always says, which is part of its charm. I probably shouldn't include it until the It Came! mini-series is done and I can think about it as a complete story, but it goes to show how much I loved that first issue that I want to honor it here.

5. Gallaxhar's giant robot probe (Monsters vs. Aliens)



I should have figured out how to work Susan (Ginormica) or Insectosaurus into last week's list. I love Monsters vs. Aliens and its giant robot is spectacular and funny.

4. Sentinels (X-Men)



An important part of my childhood and the X-Men's world in general. One of the few X-Men villains that still give me a thrill when they show up.

3. Experimental Prototype Robot K1 (Doctor Who)



Not only was Tom Baker my first Doctor, his first episode, "Robot" was my first episode too. So as crap as those special effects are, this giant machine is a major part of what hooked me about Doctor Who.

2. Archer (Kill All Monsters)



I feel like I need to apologize again for not only including one of my own creations (with artist Jason Copland, of course), but for putting him really high on my list. But where I'm fond of the some of the visual aspects of the creatures we created for Kill All Monsters, I'm genuinely in love with the characters. I hope you'll forgive me the indulgence.

I like all the Bots for different reasons, but I have a special place in my heart for poor Archer who so much wants to fit in as part of the Kill Team, but is having a difficult time because the human members are (perhaps justifiably) scared of him.

1. The Iron Giant (The Iron Giant)



I usually have a live-and-let-live attitude about these lists, but this is one of the rare occasions where there is absolutely a right answer. Number One has to be the Iron Giant. Has. To be.

Daily Panel | GRURK!

Behind on my Batman reading, so here's a panel from the wonderful and awesome IT CAME! #1 by Dan Boultwood, Esq. If you like '50s alien invasion movies, do yourself a favor and find a copy. It just came out last week and you're missing out.

The Marvel 52, Part Two: Midnight Sons

One of my earliest memories of Marvel's trying an imprint formula was when they put all of their supernatural books into a line called Midnight Sons. Before then, there were sort of unofficial lines (the Spider-Man titles, the X-Men books, etc.), but this was the first time I remember seeing a purposeful attempt to start a new brand. It didn't last long, but I loved it while it did. So for my Marvel 52, I'm bringing it back.

Not exactly as it appeared in the '90s though. The original Midnight Sons line-up was Blade, Blaze (featuring Johnny Blaze, who at that time wasn't the Ghost Rider, but a bike-riding carnie with a hellfire-spouting shotgun), Darkhold (about a secret group trying to limit the effects of Marvel's version of the Necronomicon), Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, Morbius, Nightstalkers (a team of monster-hunting vampires), and Spirits of Vengeance (a Blaze/Ghost Rider team-up book). It was awesome, but here's my version:

42. Fin Fang Four by Scott Gray, Roger Langridge and Richard Moore



In 2005, Marvel published a Halloween event called Marvel Monsters. My version of Midnight Sons owes as much to that as to the original Midnight Sons line. One of the several Marvel Monsters one-shots was Fin Fang Four, co-written by Scott Gray and Roger Langridge and drawn by Langridge. It featured Marvel's most famous giant monster as he teamed up with other Altas-era giant monsters (a robot, a gorilla, and an alien) to fight a microscopic warlord who'd been enlarged to giant-size. In my version, they'll continue to fight giant menaces (sort of an update on Marvel's old Godzilla comic) while drawn by Richard Moore (Boneyard), who's got a knack for drawing light-hearted, but empathetic versions of classic creatures.

41. Elsa Bloodstone by Vera Brosgol and Paul Taylor

Marvel's answer to Buffy the Vampire Slayer is Elsa Bloodstone, daughter of monster-hunter Ulysses Bloodstone. She doesn't need a lot of introduction thanks to Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen's including her in Nextwave, but my version would be more of an adventurous romp through Marvel's monsterverse for the Young Adult crowd. Balancing fun with scares is tough, so I picked two YA comics creators who already know how to do that. Vera Brosgol's Anya's Ghost is part high-school comedy/part horror story, while Paul Taylor's Wapsi Square mixes relationship comedy with some spooky Aztec mythology in a very cool way.

40. Legion of Monsters by Paul Cornell and Richard Sala



Just an excuse to team up Marvel's versions of Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster with other monster-inspired characters Werewolf by Night, The Living Mummy, Mr. Hyde, The Lizard, Quasimodo, and Zombie. Paul Cornell (Captain Britain and MI13, Action Comics) could have a lot of fun with that and I'd love to see Richard Sala's takes on all those characters. There'd have to be a cute girl though, so maybe this could be a companion to Elsa Bloodstone's solo title. Especially since Marvel's already doing one kind of like that.

39. Inhumans by Neil Gaiman and Mike Mignola

I wouldn't really want to offer any editorial input on this. Just: Gaiman. Mignola. Inhumans. Go!

38. Ghost Rider by Joshua Fialkov and Ben Templesmith



Though I'm perfectly okay giving Fialkov a jungle comic with The Savage Land, I'd be missing a huge opportunity if he wasn't also writing a horror comic. And I just love Templesmith's Ghost Rider.

37. Doom by Kurt Busiek and Fiona Staples

The first of a couple of villain books in my Marvel 52. Busiek's grounded enough in Marvel history to make a book work about one of its most classic villains, but he's also inventive and willing to shake things up. I'm not interested in seeing Doom fail at an endless succession of master schemes. I'd much rather read a series exploring his more personal ambitions and the clash between science and supernature. Staples would be perfect for that, especially the supernatural parts.

36. The Hulk by Steve Niles and Skottie Young



I've known Steve Niles for years and I know how much he loves this character. He'd be brilliant on a Hulk book. And just look at how Skottie Young draws him. I'm crying a little right now because this doesn't actually exist.

35. Doctor Strange by Alan Moore and Joann Sfar

Can you imagine Alan Moore on a Doctor Strange book? That might actually be dangerous to read. Doctor Strange should totally be a horror series. That folks keep trying to turn him into a superhero is a shame. Sfar would make it nice and creepy too.

34. Monsters on the Prowl by Steve Niles and Duncan Fegredo



Niles has already sort of worked on a Hulk comic. His and Fegredo's Monsters on the Prowl was another part of the Marvel Monsters event, but what was really interesting and cool about it was that it didn't feature characters inspired by classic monsters. Instead, it featured recognizable, big-name superheroes who also all have some monstrous qualities. '60s versions of Thing, Hulk, Beast,and Giant-Man fight a menagerie of Atlas-era giant monsters that have escaped from the Collector. I'd love an ongoing series with that team.

33. The Defenders by Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, and Eric Powell

As you've seen in the art above, Eric Powell did the covers for the Marvel Monsters books and in my dream line he'd be drawing a book too. The Defenders isn't traditionally a supernatural book, but its founders are a sorcerer, a monster, and an unpredictable menace from beneath the waves, so I'm putting it here. I've always been much more interested in the fantasy aspects of horror than actual scares anyway, so my Midnight Sons line would reflect that. The Defenders ought to sit quite nicely in the catalog next to Monsters on the Prowl and The Hulk.

Pak and Van Lente are easy choices for a book like this. My dream lineup for characters would include Doctor Strange, Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Clea, Valkyrie, Nighthawk, and Hellcat

Tomorrow: The X-Titles!

Kill All Monsters and Other Updates

It probably isn't smart of me, but I try not to post about it every Friday when new Kill All Monsters! pages go up. For one thing, I know that a lot of folks read it in chunks instead of every Friday, but I also figure that this way it makes a bigger impact when I do say you should go over and catch up. And folks, you should go over and catch up. If the image above isn't enough to do it, I'll add that page 71 features my favorite panel yet for reasons you'll find very obvious when you see it.

Mondo Sasquatch

In other news, the Mondo Sasquatch anthology will be delayed from next month to later this summer in order to make sure that it's not rushed and that the finished product will look as cool as everyone wants it to.

Robot 6



Something else I haven't regularly been mentioning here is my Robot 6 posting. Part of that is because I figure that those of you who are interested in that are probably reading Robot 6 anyway. But also, I've been doing more daily posts over there lately and it would be annoying for me to say something here every time I did something over there.

Still, I would like to direct your attention to a couple of reviews I wrote for some really excellent books: Incredible Change-Bots 2 (although I actually review both volumes in the article) and Pepper Penwell and the Land Creature of Monster Lake. I feel like Change-Bots needs less promotion, because a lot of people already know about it, but Pepper Penwell is just as good and it would be a shame if people overlooked it. Especially people who like junior detective mysteries and laughter.

Jessica Hickman's new book



Cownt Tales artist Jessica Hickman has illustrated a children's book that's coming out this Halloween. Written by Tom Waltz, Little Jackie Lantern tells the story of a young boy who's too frightened to enjoy everyone's favorite spooky holiday. I haven't read it yet, but I can't imagine a project more suited for Jess' interest in things cute and scary.

SpringCon

The SpringCon guest list has been posted (for a while now, actually) and I'm on it. Looking forward to seeing all of you who live in the Twin Cities. Jason and I are working on a second printing of the Kill All Monsters, Chapter One ashcan, so hopefully that'll be ready in time.

A review I didn't write, but am nevertheless responsible for



I meant to say something at the beginning of the month, but my contribution to the White Elephant Blogathon was Cutthroat Island. For which I owe an apology to Non-Union Mexican Equivalent. I'm sorry you had to watch it, but glad you were able to nail so firmly why that movie didn't work.

Read My Stuff: Panels for Primates

For those who aren't familiar with it, Panels for Primates is a charity anthology webcomic on the act-i-vate site that's meant to raise money for the Primate Rescue Center in Kentucky. It's entirely free to read, but if the ape and monkey stories move or entertain you at all, you're invited - but not obligated - to contribute.

I'm a huge fan of these animals, so I was thrilled when editor Troy Wilson invited me to contribute a short, two-page story. And even more thrilled when he told me I'd be working with the awesome Simon Roy. Between the two of us, we packed a ton of action into two pages including giant cephalopods, tiki-men, a sinister elephant, a mad tortoise, slime-monsters, werewolves, mummies, and I'm self-indulgent enough to have thrown in giant monsters, giant robots, and yes, gorillas riding dinosaurs. It also features that most famous of Kentucky primates, Daniel Baboon. Please go check it out.

Change-Bots and Sea Heroes

I'm struggling with allergies or a cold or something today, so if it's all the same, instead of a real post today I'll send you to Robot 6 where you can read my review of Jeffrey Brown's Incredible Change-Bots graphic novels.

Or if you'd rather, there's my article from a couple of weeks ago about my Seven Favorite Sea-Based Superheroes (That Aren't Aquaman or Sub-Mariner). I forgot to link to that one at the time, but people seemed to like it.

Thanks for letting me take the night off. *cough cough*

Kill All Monsters! Pages 9-11

It's Friday and you know what that means. Catch up with our robot-driving heroes as they try to catch a break and actually kill some monsters.

Coming Soon: Kill All Monsters!

As FallCon was approaching, I mentioned that there was something I wanted to tell you guys, but was waiting for an official announcement first. I like waiting for official announcements because then I don't look silly later on if something goes wrong and the project never takes off. Even though I'm 100% confident that the giant monsters vs. giant robots webcomic that Jason Copland and I have created will be coming soon to a computer monitor near you, I still didn't want to say anything here until the good folks at Review 2 A Kill, the website that's hosting us, did first.

But...I got all excited and wanted something to talk about at FallCon, so I made some flyers and passed them out at the show, saying that the webcomic would launch on 5 November. As you're undoubtedly noticing, that's today, but we're not quite ready to launch. This is nobody's fault; it's just technical difficulties. We're the first webcomic that Review 2 A Kill has hosted and they want it to look snazzy. It's my fault for printing a release date when it hadn't been announced yet.

But since I did - and since some of you got a flyer and may be wondering what's going on - I figured it's time to at least bring everyone else up to speed on what I've been hinting at. Jason's been talking about it on his blog anyway (and sharing art; go look!), so it's safe enough.



Without making any more promises about the launch date, here's a brief summary of what the comic's going to be about:

In Kill All Monsters! the giants have already won. It's a post-apocalyptic setting in which the world has been completely overrun by giant monsters. Pockets of humanity are hiding and surviving as best they can, but no one's found an effective way to defeat the beasts...until now. Operating out of a hidden temple deep in the jungle, the African Defense Force has created a small until of giant mechs, operated by an international team of the best pilots humanity has to offer. The story begins with the unit's first trip out of their home continent as they try to assess some of the damage done to Europe. What they learn there is even more terrifying than they imagined.

That's all I'll say for now except that we'll be squeezing in a lot more than just giant monsters and robots.  We'll also have mutant animal-people, barbarians, and secret societies of mad scientists, so keep your eyes here for more information about the launch date and watch Jason's blog for more preview art. This is going to be fun.

Art Show: Avenged by Agents Extraordinary

Mr. Freeze



By Mark Grambau. [Brother Cal]

Rogue



By Terry Moore. [Giant-Size Marvel]

Avengers '52



By Jay Piscopo. [Kirby-Vision]

Inspired by this awesomeness:



Bidi Bidi Bidi



By Mathieu Reynès.

Kill All Monsters!



By Jason Copland. So close to an announcement...

Retro-Robot



By George O'Connor.

That's not a burning bush



By Rosh.

Art Show: Don't Touch That!

This is Not Me



But Mike Maihack has a friend who sure looks like me.

Aquaman



By Erica Henderson.

Mermaiden



By Sasha Palacio. [Girls Drawing Girls]

After the break: Black Canary, The Sandman, Atomic Robo, Sherborg Holmes, a giant robot, and That Darn Kirk.

Art Show: Tiki Aliens

Pirate



By Michael Koelsch [Swing with Shad]

The Water Babies



By William Heath Robinson. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Ooooh!!



By Eric Tan.

After the break: Sheena, Frankenstein, the Creeper and Zatanna, Thor, a warrior-angel, a giant robot, and all Hell breaks loose in space.

Art Show: HULK SWEEP LEG!!!

Nola's Worlds



By MiniKim. [Robot 6]

Deep Water



By Jeremy Vanhoozer.

Sea Sketches



By Kyle Latino.

After the break: Karate Kid vs. the Hulk, Godzilla, a giant robot, spaceships, Star Wars, and Oz.

Art Show: A City of Web-Foot People Built in a Watery World

Squid Attack!



By Lawrence Sterne Stevens. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Up in the Sky!



By Al Feldstein. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

After the break: Wonder Woman, apes, lots of robots, and space girls on Venus.

Art Show: The Fantastic Night of Terror that Menaced the Fate of the World!

Onward through the Mangroves



By Chris Turnham.

The Abominable Charles Christopher



By Katie Cook.

Monsters and Heroes



By Larry Ivie. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

After the break: a giant insect, Avengers, Batgirl, Black Widow, Wonder Woman, and some space girls.