Synopsis
Cliff Steele was a reckless race car driver, who one day gets into a serious crash. Taken to a hospital the doctors determine his body was beyond medical help, but his brain was still alive. They seek out the aid of Dr. Niles Caulder, who has developed a means to implant a human brain into a robot body, and thus Robotman was born!
However, this would not be such a joyous occasion when Cliff awakens from his coma and finds himself trapped in a metal body and he goes on a rampage through the hospital. The Robotman vows to kill the man who has done this to him, and Caulder (his identity obscured by a gas mask) manages to knock Robotman out with a gas grenade. They then have Cliff locked up in a cell until he can accept his condition and learn to live a like a normal man again. Robotman feigns being able to accept his condition in order to lull the doctors into setting him loose and he breaks free of the hospital.
Going on a rampage through the city, Robotman is able to fend off any attacks against him. When the mayor is about to give the call to destroy Robotman no matter the cost, Caulder manages to stop him and convince him to try to appeal to Cliff to make him stop. Tracking Cliff down to a baseball stadium, the Chief is about to confront him when the Robotman destroys most of the stadium, prompting armed police men to approach them with weapons drawn.
Robotman is on a rampage and only Nile Caulder, the man who put him in this condition can keep the authorities at bay so that he can talk Robotman out of his rampage. Trying to subdue Robotman with rubber cement fails, as the Robotman manages to swiftly escape before he can be completely encased. Fleeing the scene he steals some clothing from a window display so that he can avoid being spotted.
Deciding to find a place to his out, Robotman decides to seek shelter in the most luxurious place in town however he is recognized by the elevator operator and chased out by the authorities. Fleeing he is helped by a blind man and an old woman who lead them to a secret hide out where a number of freaks (including a hunch back and a midget) hide out. They ask Robotman to live with them, and at first Robotman refuses wanting to die instead of living as a freak however he begins to feel weak and collapses.
As it turns out Robotman needs a special food in order to keep his human brain alive, and the Chief fearing that Robotman will die puts an all points radio bulletin out appealing Robotman to come get the food he needs to live. The freaks decide to help Robotman obtain the food going to the appointed meeting place. However when the police nab who they think is Robotman, it turns out to be the blind man in disguise, causing ample enough diversion for the midget to escape with the food an administer it to Robotman, revitalizing him.
Thanking the freaks for their help, Robotman decides to leave them opting to get revenge against the man who put him in this condition. While elsewhere Dr. Caulder worries about Robotman, hoping that he will return and allow himself to be rehabilitated.
The Chief is still searching for the missing Cliff Steele, who was acting like a criminal because of some loose wires in his robotic head.
Cliff had gone to visit and hopefully hide out at his brother Randy's house. Randy was not sure that Cliff should stay, but his wife Helen welcomed his brother with open arms. Randy did manage to get Cliff to leave, but as he did, Cliff noticed that Randy's house was being cased by a couple of unsavory-looking characters. When Randy left with the two hoods, Cliff followed them to Davis Experimental Industries, where Randy worked. Randy and the thugs walked past numerous top secret weapons and projects, finally stopping and picking up a pair of special jet packs. Cliff also overheard the thugs tell Randy that since he had kept his end up, they would call his house and have his wife released. Once the word was given that Helen was safe, Cliff charged in, but the rocket packs allowed the criminals to easily evade him.
Meanwhile, the Mayor was after Lt. Briar to find the runaway robot, and placed a news story revealing that Dr. Niles Caulder had actually created Robotman in the paper. Cliff had sworn revenge on the man who had put him in his metal body, but he first planned to assist the flying crooks in their robberies, so that Randy wouldn't be implicated if they were captured by the police. Cliff did manage to keep the police off the thugs' trail, and then tracked them back to the experimental factory. There the crooks held Cliff off for awhile using the variety of high-tech weapons, including a powerful laser and a new tank. He captured the men and forced them to call the police and explain that Randy had been forced to work for them.
Briar had set up a trap to destroy Cliff outside the factory, but the Chief's quick thinking alerted him to the problem and he was able to get away. Randy patched Cliff's body up, and Robotman left his brother's home right before Lt. Briar forced his way in to search for the missing robot.
Robotman is still on the run, driven by a faulty connection between his too-human brain and his robotic electronic system to want to kill the man who created him -- The Chief. A TV news report alerts him to the Chief's whereabouts, and, after running from the police and practically disassembling himself in the process, he finally makes it to the Chief's office.
Entering a darkened room, he attacks what turns out to be Larry Trainor. He's stopped by Rita and the Chief, who convince him to join his fellow freaks in the Doom Patrol.
Issues
- Doom Patrol #100: Robotman -- Wanted Dead or Alive
- Doom Patrol #101: The Lonely Giant
- Doom Patrol #103: No Home for a Robot
- Doom Patrol #105: The Robot-Maker Must Die
Notes
The second story presumably takes place around the same time as "Neg Man's Last Road!", when Larry is saved by the Chief and comes to his office.
Recommended Reading
Links and References