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Magnus, Robot Fighter 4000 A.D. #3
Magnus, Robot Fighter Archives Volume 3 by Russ Manning
Dark Horse delivers another fantastic collection of rare classics from a comics legend Russ Manning, famous for his spectacular work on the Tarzan newspaper strips of the late sixties, brought fans his "Tarzan of the future" in Magnus, Robot Fighter. While his work on the original comic series lasted only twenty-one issues, Manning's creation has survived generations, influencing countless science fiction artists and writers to this day. Fans of Alex Raymond, Mac Raboy, or Wally Wood should not miss this beautifully bound hardcover - the third Magnus archival collection and the latest addition to Dark Horse's line of science fiction classics.
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First published October 25, 2006
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Russ Manning
188 books12 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 3, 2022
Magnus, Robot Fighter 4000 A.D., Vol. 3 collects Magnus #15-21
Long story short, the third Magnus archive is the best, both in art and in story. I'm surprised at how well some of the stories hold up, as long as you ignore references to Lamarkian evolution and a vaguely racist robot Buddha. Manning had just gotten into a groove on the characters when he got the opportunity of a lifetime to do the Tarzan newspaper strip and jumped ship.
Not only is the art the cream of the crop, the stories are the best of the run as well. The best, in my opinion, was Magnus vs. North Am. Some shady robot dealers take Magnus to court, accusing him of being an alien undermining North Am's security, when really it's because of his anti-robot talk cutting into their sales and his destruction of their shitty malfunctioning robots.
Many of the panels would make great posters. Manning's art is so damn slick, a master class in drawing just what is needed in the best way possible, something later artists like Steve Rude would emulate.
I still think the concept of Magnus shouldn't work but it works very well. Stories featuring a guy in a miniskirt that mainly punches robots sounds stupid but these have to be among the best comics of the era.
Five out of five stars. If I was only getting one Magnus book, this would be it.
Long story short, the third Magnus archive is the best, both in art and in story. I'm surprised at how well some of the stories hold up, as long as you ignore references to Lamarkian evolution and a vaguely racist robot Buddha. Manning had just gotten into a groove on the characters when he got the opportunity of a lifetime to do the Tarzan newspaper strip and jumped ship.
Not only is the art the cream of the crop, the stories are the best of the run as well. The best, in my opinion, was Magnus vs. North Am. Some shady robot dealers take Magnus to court, accusing him of being an alien undermining North Am's security, when really it's because of his anti-robot talk cutting into their sales and his destruction of their shitty malfunctioning robots.
Many of the panels would make great posters. Manning's art is so damn slick, a master class in drawing just what is needed in the best way possible, something later artists like Steve Rude would emulate.
I still think the concept of Magnus shouldn't work but it works very well. Stories featuring a guy in a miniskirt that mainly punches robots sounds stupid but these have to be among the best comics of the era.
Five out of five stars. If I was only getting one Magnus book, this would be it.
September 28, 2016
There are only three comic book series that are any good. The best are Hellboy up until Mignola stopped doing the art and the original TMNT by Eastman and Laird up to and including the “City War” story.
Russ Manning’s Magnus, Robot Fighter 4000 A.D. is in that rarefied air. Written back during the 60s, it was intended as a futuristic Tarzan. It’s way better than the Marvel and DC books of that era.
Magnus is a Luddite with superhuman strength in a fantastically futuristic world where robots do all of man’s drudge work. He relentlessly preaches that by doing so they will make mankind weak and lazy and lead to human extinction.
But the series is full of marvelous paradoxes in addition to the high flying action. Because Magnus has a chip implanted in his skull that allows him to “hear” robot transmissions, Magnus is actually a cyborg. It is a robot that raises Magnus and gives him his powers. Whenever evil robots rise up to destroy mankind, there’s almost always a human hiding in the shadows pulling their strings.
Overall there is a very progressive and positive futurist tone to the books. Sure the future is complex and challenging. But it is also awesome.
Russ Manning’s Magnus, Robot Fighter 4000 A.D. is in that rarefied air. Written back during the 60s, it was intended as a futuristic Tarzan. It’s way better than the Marvel and DC books of that era.
Magnus is a Luddite with superhuman strength in a fantastically futuristic world where robots do all of man’s drudge work. He relentlessly preaches that by doing so they will make mankind weak and lazy and lead to human extinction.
But the series is full of marvelous paradoxes in addition to the high flying action. Because Magnus has a chip implanted in his skull that allows him to “hear” robot transmissions, Magnus is actually a cyborg. It is a robot that raises Magnus and gives him his powers. Whenever evil robots rise up to destroy mankind, there’s almost always a human hiding in the shadows pulling their strings.
Overall there is a very progressive and positive futurist tone to the books. Sure the future is complex and challenging. But it is also awesome.
January 26, 2022
Great old art. Great old comic. It was a great time to be a kid. Batman, Sub-mariner, Superman, Sgt. Rock, The Howling Commandos, Lulu, Little Lotta, Turok Son of Stone, Archie Comics, There were just so many wonderful adventures for $0.12 cents a copy. At a quarter a week, you could rack up quite a stack of entertainment for a rainy day. Wonderful!
February 24, 2016
It's too bad this ended when it did. Seemed like it was poised for greatness. The art was solid. The stories had gone from a bit formulaic in the beginning to bizarre and awesome. And then it just ended . Russ Manning must have been busy with something else. It's too bad. Guess we will never find out what happens to the evil robot planet….
June 15, 2018
Mechanized mayhem and fun
Magnus Robot Fighter thrilled my imagination as a child and continues to provide entertainment as an adult. These three volumes are must haves for any Magnus fans.
Magnus Robot Fighter thrilled my imagination as a child and continues to provide entertainment as an adult. These three volumes are must haves for any Magnus fans.
April 23, 2010
Loved them then, love them now.
May 30, 2013
I read this for the sake of completion. Thought I might find something to like in this volume. I didn't.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews