The strange origin of Robotman

[mmcirvin]

If you're fond of Jim Meddick's frequently funny comic strip "Monty", you probably know that it used to be called "Robotman" and originally had a completely different cast of characters. What you may not know (I just learned it from Toonopedia) is that the Robotman character was originally conceived as the star of a startlingly lame 1980s cross-marketing campaign aimed at little kids, with plush toys, crappy cartoon videos and Little Golden Books. Meddick seems a bit baffled himself as to how it happened.

Comments

[iayork.livejournal.com]

I may be the only guy for whom the Robotman collection ("the elusive" second connection, not the "so rare I had to leave the country" first) was my intro to the whole Robotman schtick. It's a hilarious collection, with the warped Montyesque humour pasted on top of a Robotman with a little heart on his chest, and a family of cute kids who as the collection progressed became gradually less cute and wholesome and more twisted and perverse. It wasn't until years after that that I once against saw a Robotman strip, and that was when it was still called Robotman but morphing toward Monty. Shortly after I found it, Robotman was ousted and the strip was renamed.

I'm also the guy who read Color of Magic when it came out, as a mildly interesting, moderately amusing fantasy parody.