Robot Archie is a British comic character, appearing in strips published by Amalgamated Press, Fleetway Publications and IPC Magazines. Created by Ted Cowan, the character first appeared in a serial called "The Jungle Robot" in the first issue of Lion on 23 February 1952. While the initial stint only lasted six months, Archie returned 1957 and would become one of the most enduring characters in Lion, running until the comic merged with Valiant in 1974, with the majority of his adventures drawn by Ted Kearon.
Since then the character has enjoyed periodic revivals, most prominently as a guest character in Grant Morrison's 2000 AD story "Zenith" in 1989.
Creation
Edward George 'Ted' Cowan already had extensive experience writing for boys' story papers and comics, notably penning the adventures of schoolboy Ginger Nutt for The Champion. The story featured remote control mechanical man Archie aiding 'chums' Ted Ritchie and Ken Dale in hunting treasure in an exotic location, a format previously used by William Ward for the "Iron Warrior" in the pages of Gerald G. Swan's Thrill between 1940 and 1945. The initial six-month serial was rendered by Alan Philpott. Steve Holland has suggested Archie may have been inspired by Klaatu from the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Publishing history
"The Jungle Robot" concluded in the 9 August 1952 edition of Lion, after which the character went into limbo for nearly five years - though some have noted the resemblance of the robot in the 1955 strip "Flying Saucer Over Africa" to Archie. The strip itself returned to the weekly comic (having made a one-off appearance in the 1954 Lion Annual) on 19 January 1957 under the name "Archie the Robot", initially for another six months. It returned again in the 9 November edition, with Ted Kearon now as artist and Cowan returning as writer. This started a 17-year residency that would run until Lion itself folded into Valiant in May 1974. The character also became a fixture in Lion Annual and appeared in three issues of Lion Picture Library. Along the way, the serial was renamed "Robot Archie" from 9 May 1959, and in 1966 the robot received a voice-box and much greater independence - and a boastful personality that added humour to the stories. The strip also moved into more fantastical territory, notably in 1968 when the regulars received access to a rook-shaped time machine. The following year Robot Archie fought The Sludge, previously an antagonist in a separate 1965 Lion serial, also written by Cowan.
After the end of Lion the characters continued to make occasional returns. The strip returned for a six-week 'guest' appearance in Valiant in 1974, while "Robot Archie" continued to appear in Lion Annuals until the final such book, dated 1983 - though in later editions new Archie material consisted of prose stories, with picture strips being reprints.
Meanwhile the character was sold overseas with some success, appearing in France as Archie Le Merveilleux Robot ('The Marvellous Robot') and Archie l'homme d'acier ('Archie the Man of Steel'), in India and in the Netherlands as Archie de Man van Staal (also Archie the Man of Steel). The latter was particularly notable, as the strip was heavily redrawn by Bert Bus and serialised in Sjors between 1971 and 1974 before being collected in a series of albums. The Sjors material was in full colour and the art was updated, notably giving Ted and Ken a more contemporary look, both receiving collar-length hair and in Ken's case, a moustache. Archie meanwhile was coloured a bluish-silver, whereas colour material in Britain had shown the character to be red.
The Dutch strips would be used as the source for the character's appearances in the experimental all-reprint weekly Vulcan between 1975 and 1976 (published simultaneously in Germany as Kobra), translated back into English. Curiously no attempt to incorporate the updated look was made in the still-running Lion Special and Annual stories. These included an appearance in the 1980 Lion Holiday Special, where Robot Archie battled fellow Lion favourite The Spider. A parallel universe version, named Android Andy, was briefly featured in Alan Moore and Alan Davis' Captain Britain story "Jaspers' Warp".
