World Paranormal Review
More in Heaven and Earth
Hello mates, it’s me, Bruce “Meta-Hunter” Wallaby, back again to share with you another meta-report. Let’s get started!
Today, we’re going to be talking about everybody’s favorite bit of mad science, the metal machine men we've all grown to love, Robots!
We all learned about the first appearances of Robots on the paranormal scene. From the fantastic Steam Men of the Prairies back in the 1890s, to
Considering the technology of the time, some of these boys were bloody amazing!
Doctor Vainglorious managed to build a robot that could walk, punch, grab, and even run, all in 1922! Of course without computer brains or radio control, he had to have his little six year old nephew Tommy sit in the thing and pilot it, but it was a complete terror!
Above we see Tommy going after the great Rocket Ranger with an axe! Bet Rocket Ranger was surprised when he peeled that tin man open, eh?
In roughly the same period, the Futurist became the first known Science Hero to use the now common "Robot Butler" as a guard and general all purpose appliance.
The Futurist, seen above with the first known independant "Robot Butler"
Of course, the thing wasn't much more than an impressive alarm system and voice activated porter, but it was still enough to scare the heck out of criminals!
Mind you, Robots got better, and fast! By the late 40s, Mad Scientists were sicking robot minions against the world's Science Heroes by the dozen!
Film re-enactment of the 1947 confrontation between Jake Hero and Professor Perfidius' terrible Quintibot
World War Two saw the first serious use of robots by both the Axis and the Allies. As you should have learned in school, that's when the Robo-Race really began!
Mind you, as usual in the Metahuman world, Meta-Intellect driven Mad Science continued to race ahead of conventional research. One of the first doccumented true Androids to enter the public eye was the popular crime-fighter American Steel. Rumors that American Steel was actually a midget in a powered suit continued to haunt the hero throughout his career, until his destruction at the hands of the Doomsayer in 1963. His creator, if he had one, has never come forward.
American Steel in a beach shot from 1949. The metal man's popularity with the ladies contributed to rumors that he was more than just a thinking machine.
The first line of Robo-Butlers available to the public was released by Morningstar Industries in 1955. Dependable, able to take verbal commands, three times as strong as a nomal man and powered by miniature Atomic Batteries, these beauties were absolute bleeding edge consumer robot technology! Only their hefty price tag (over $35,000 American dollars per unit, which was quite a piece of change in the 1950s) and the revelation that they were part of a plot by the nefarious Moon Maidens to conquer the world prevented them from becoming standard features of every American home!
One of Morningstar Industries Butler 2000 series, circa 1955. This picture was taken shortly before the recall.
Now here, it's worth noting just how much American and world robotics technology owes to the many alien invasions staged between the 1890s and the 1960s. For a while there, a decade didn't go by without another group of bloody spacemen trying to take over the world. Meta-Schollars are still debating why the invasions started, why they tapered off, and how Earth's Science Heroes and Metas were able to keep our world from being overwhelmed, but that's the subject of a much longer report. Why-ever and however we managed to stay free of our potential Alien Overlords, almost every one of them left a few bits and pieces of technology behind, and some of them left behind complete robots! Without the reverse engineering Mad Scientists were able to work on those lovely pieces of alien gadgetry, we might never have been able to reach the heights of robotics that we've achieved today!
A very rare 1924 photo of Patricia Peril, seen here with a group of Metal Men from Saturn
It's easy to underestimate just how far back the story of robotics stretches in Earth's own history! Recently unearthed Atlantean Brass Men have been retored to fully working condition by enthusiasts, and are bloomin' sophisticated even by today's high standards! Some of these Brass Men may even have been in service as late as the sixth century AD!
A fully restored Atlantean Brass Man, unearthed in 1972 and currently on display in the Dan Peril Institute.
More recent generations of combat robot first saw use in the Vietnam era, leading many anti-war protestors around the globe to call for boycots on all forms of robotics!
The US Army Robo-Scout, first placed into service in 1973.
It's estimated that robotic soldiers make up nearly 5% of the modern US military's on the ground troop strength, a number that's only going to go up!
US Army 2003 Peace Troopers, built under contract by General Technologies, a division of Morningstar Global Systems.
From Aliens to Metahumans to Mad Scientists to the modern armed forces, robotics and AI technologies have followed an amazing path down through the years, and things are just getting better! Within the next few years, Japanese, German and American companies are set to release a new wave of Android Servants, and this time they're almost certain not to be part of an alien plot to take over the world! Meanwhile, Japanese Giant Robot technology is seeing new applications both in industry and in the military, opeining up incredible new possibilities for all of us!
The Homeland Defender 2004, a joint project of the Japanese Space Defense Initiative and the American Air Force Robotics Program.
And that's all for now! Until next time, this is Bruce "the Meta-Hunter" Wallaby reporting for the World Paranormal Review! Be seeing you!