Robotman (Clifford "Cliff" Steele, called Automaton in first two appearances) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is best known as a member of the Doom Patrol, being the only character to appear in every version of the team since its introduction in June 1963.
Robotman has appeared in numerous cartoon television shows and films. Robotman made his first live adaptation as a guest star on the Titans television series for DC Universe played by Jake Michaels. Riley Shanahan took over from Michaels in the role. He is part of the main cast of its spin-off Doom Patrol which is also on Max. Brendan Fraser provides the voice of Robotman and portrays Cliff Steele in flashbacks in the series.
Publication history
Robotman first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963) and was created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani. According to Drake, the issue's co-writer Bob Haney was not brought on to the project until after Robotman was created. He commented on the character's original name, Automaton: That name was pretty stupid. I've been responsible for a lot of stupid things, but that was one of the stupidest, so, within two issues, I figured that out and changed his name to Robotman.
At the time, Drake didn't realize that there had been a previous character named Robotman, published in 1942-1953 during the Golden Age of Comic Books. DC's previous Robotman also had a human brain.
Robotman was the only original member of the Doom Patrol to appear with the team's second incarnation, which debuted in Showcase #94-96 (Aug. 1977 - Jan. 1978). The reboot was accompanied by Robotman getting a new body, which was designed by artist Joe Staton at writer Paul Kupperberg's request. Kupperberg explained: I was looking to update the strip, I suppose, [and] wanted to put my mark on it. There was nothing wrong with the original body designed by Bruno Premiani. In fact, ain't no one come up with a better design. Like the team's roster, I should have left that alone, too. Staton said he patterned Robotman's new body after a young John Byrne's fanzine contribution (Contemporary Pictorial Literature) of the robot character Rog-2000 "as a joke".
Fictional character biography
Robotman is one of the founding members of the Doom Patrol, along with Negative Man and Elasti-Girl. He is unique for being the only character to appear in every version of the Doom Patrol.
Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths
Cliff Steele became Robotman, initially dubbed Automaton, after the daredevil and race car driver was in an accident during the Indianapolis 500, destroying his body. Caulder subsequently placed Cliff's intact brain into a robotic body. After the operation, Cliff suffered from frequent depression because he viewed himself as less than human. A background serial in Doom Patrol #s 100, 101, 103 & 105 (December 1965 – August 1966, within 30 months of his introduction) retconned that Caulder made a mistake in the operation, causing Steele to go on a rampage, which Caulder corrected when he recruited Steele for the Patrol.
Sales of Doom Patrol had waned, and the creative team chose to kill off the entire team, including Robotman, in the final issue, Doom Patrol #121 (September–October 1968). The Doom Patrol sacrificed their lives to Madame Rouge and General Zahl (who pushed the actual kill button) to save the small fishing village of Codsville, Maine.
In Showcase #94 (Sept. 1977), it was revealed that Cliff's brain had survived and that Will Magnus, the robotics expert who created the Metal Men, had recovered Cliff's brain and built him a new body. Cliff then joined a new Doom Patrol headed by a woman claiming to be Niles Caulder's wife, Arani. Refusing to believe that Niles was dead, she formed this new team to search for him and took his place as leader, calling herself Celsius due to her heat-and-cold-based powers.
Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths
Robotman's origin remained largely the same as his pre-Crisis origin save for the fact that it was revealed that Niles Caulder had caused the accident that destroyed Cliff Steele's body. Cliff Steele was born in Brooklyn.