Cover to Magnus, Robot Fighter #0, 1992.

Magnus, Robot Fighter is a fictional character who starred in a comic book series comic book originally published by Gold Key Comics. It was subsequintly published by Valiant Comics and Acclaim Comics. In every incarnation, Magnus was a human who battled rogue robots in the year 4000 A.D. While the concept remained the same throughout the years, the way it was approached changed depending on the publisher.

Gold Key

The original series premiered in 1963. It was written and drawn by Russ Manning. The series was set in North Am, a gigantic megolopolis that encomposed the entire North American continent. By the year 4000, humanity became dependant on robots. As the result, they were oblivious to the rise of "freewills", malevolent robots that sought to overthrow their human masters.

Magnus was raised by a robot known as 1A. 1A recongised the threat freewills represented, so he trained Magnus to combat at. Magnus grew up to be a skilled martial artist who could break steel with his bare hands. In addition, 1A equipped his charge with a device that would allow him to "hear" robot-to-robot radio communications.

For the duration of the title's original run, Magnus took on freewills, aliens, space pirates and other threats. The series was popular in the 1960s. As the 70's approached, the sales began to decline. The last issue of was published in January 1977.

Valiant

In 1991, Jim Shooter obtained rights to three Gold Key characters: Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom; Turok, Son of Stone and Magnus, Robot Fighter. He intended to use those characters to launch his new comic book line: Valiant Comics. Several months later, the company launched "Magnus, Robot Fighter".

The series began where the original one left off. The artists took great care to replicate the setting and trappings of the original series. But as the new series progressed, it began to deviate from the original concept. A chain of events forced Magnus to reconsider his view on freewills. While some of them were malevolent, others merely wanted to be free. With Magnus' help, a colony of benevolent freewills was established. At the same time, Magnus became digusted with North Am's elite. He journeyed to the lower levels of North Am and befriended a group of social outcasts known as Gophs.

As the series progressed, it was used to introduce other heroes of Valiant Universe. In the 8th issue, the future version of Solar made his debut. The issue also introduced Spider Aliens, who became a recurring threat throughout Valiant Universe. In the 12th issue, modern readers were reintroduced to Turok, Son of Stone. Around the same time, a Japanese hero known as Rai began appearing in Magnus' title. He eventually got his own series.

During the Unity crossover, it was revealed that Magnus was actually born during the Unity conflict. He was a child of a Harbinger Torque and Kris. The Geomancer sensed that someone like Magnus was needed in the future, so Solar transported him to the future, where he was picked up by the Solar from that time period and delived to 1A. It was also revealed that Magnus' strength wasn't due to his martial arts training: rather, it was a Harbinger ability.

Shortly after the Unity crossover, the future Earth was invaded by Malevs, a group of alien robots that was introduced in the original series. It forced all of the future heroes to band together. Their adventures were showcased in a spin-off title Rai and the Future Force.

After the Malev War over, all future titles jumped twenty years forward. Magnus became the leader of North Am. He married Leeja (who's been his love interest since the original series) and had a son, whom he named Torque. Magnus spent the rest of the series battling various treats. During the Chaos Effect crossover, he was transported to the 20th century, but he eventually returned to the future.

Acclaim Comics

In 1995, Voyager Communications, a company that owned Valiant Comics, was bought by Acclaim Entertainment. At first, it continued publishing Valiant Comics titles, but after sales began to plummet, tney shut down the comics divison. Magnus, Robot Fighter was one of the last titles to be canceled.

In 1997, Acclaim Entertainment re-launched it's comic book division. All Valiant Comics characters were altered and rebooted, and Magnus was no exception. This time, Magnus was re-imagined as an insane robot fighter who, in addition to original's strength and skills, had metallic blood that repaired his injuries. The series was much more comedic and self-parodying then any of the previous incarnations.

Two years later, Acclaim Comics was shut down. Magnus' title was one of the first to go.

Unity 2000

In 1999, Acclaim Entertaiment made a final attempt to revive it's comic book line. Jim Shooter was invited to write a Unity 2000 crossover. Do to financial troubles within the company, only three issues were published. The Valiant version of Magnus played an important role in the crossover, while the Acclaim version was a background player.

Current Situation

In 2002, the rights to Magnus, Robot Fighter reverted to Western Publishing, the descendant of the original owner of Gold Key. It made a contract with Dark Horse to reprint the original series. According to rumors, Western Publishing will launch another Magnus, Robot Figher series later this year.