Dr. Robot was the star of the eponymous mini-comic that ran as a back up feature in Mike Allred's Madman Comics back around 1999. Somehow I never really got into Madman itself, but boy, did I ever love Dr. Robot and his absurd, mostly G-rated adventures. He bears some resemblance to Dr. Light from the Megaman series, but is about 10 times as smart (since the robots he invents never turn evil) and 100 times as badass (since he kicks ass on his own without a Megaman-analog to do it for him).
These comics were written and drawn by Bernie Mireault.
First story: A horrible monster is destroying the city! The panicked mayor reaches for the phone in desperation. Who ya gonna call? Dr. Robot, of course!
And why not? Everyone knows that giant mechas are the best solution for your giant monster problem. Nevermind that Dr. Robot's mecha looks like a toy made by Playskool. After all, he's armed with... a deck of cards?
Can I get a "d'awww?"
And so the monster learns that card tricks can be just as fun and amusing as smashing puny human cities. I love that last inset panel. And the crowd's celebration is cute, too. One man is even hugging the giant robot's leg!
Like I said, they're mostly-G-rated adventures. Dr. Robot is a very kind and gentle soul at heart. Observe his interaction with his robotic creations.
All right, so he wasn't really interacting with the robots on that page. I mostly just posted it for the cute steam-whistle robo-rooster. And the "Dr. Robot" sign in big block letters on the roof of Dr. Robot's house. And the robot washing the cow.<3
But, sadly, not all is well on Dr. Robot's farm. When he goes into the hangar, he sees his giant mecha is leaking oil all over the place. What could possibly be the matter with it?
Aww! The robot is sad. It's crying, even! Being the good-hearted roboticist that he is, Dr. Robot investigates, and finds that the robot's Self-Esteem level is critically low, down to a paltry 10%... and its Loveliness level has climed to an alarming 87%! What to do?
Well, naturally Dr. Robot assembles his smaller robot helpers, and...
...builds his giant robot a giant friend. Again, d'awww! You're a good man, Dr. Robot.
Which is not to say that Dr. Robot is all about the warm fuzzies and touchy-feely stuff. He could also throw down when he needed to. In point of fact, underneath his affable exterior, Dr. Robot is fucking hard core.
Take, for example, the time that he was peacefully enjoying a cup of tea in the privacy of his home. When...
...the evil Tyrant and his giant mecha launched a totally unprovoked assault on him! Naturally, Dr. Robot runs for Playskool-bot.
Will this potentially dangerous confrontation be solved with another card trick? Or a similar friendly gesture, even in the face of such extreme hostility?
Hell no!
And that is why you do not fuck with Dr. Robot.Truly, a Beware of the Nice Ones moment.
And then he goes back to finish his cup of tea. Dr. Robot: ULTIMATE BADASS.
But as if that wasn't enough, Dr. Robot isn't just a fighter: he's a lover, too.
Ahaha! I love how Dr. Robot dresses when he wants to make a good impression on a woman.
Anyway, score! Dr. Ingrid turns out to be a total babe! Dr. Robot shows her around his farm. Dr. Ingrin shows him her own robot, which she brought with her, and he shows her one of his gray robot helpers. Then he takes her to see his Playskool-looking mecha robot, which she loves. The two of them go for a ride in it across the countryside. They even stop for a while to watch the sun setting.
But as they begin to head home...
Whoops! Stranded.
And so they decide to make the most of it.
GodDAMN, Dr. Robot! You have a farm full of awesome robots, you kick ass on all kinds of levels, and now you've found love, too... with a foxy lady scientist! Words cannot even begin to describe how much I envy the man.
That seems to be it for Dr. Robot and his adventures. Tragically, as far as I know he was only featured in these four back-up stories over the course of four issues of Madman. I for one would loved to have seen a whole lot more. But hey, at least he got a happy ending, right?