Real Name: None

Identity/Class: Extradimensional (unidentified reality) robot (2090 AD) (see comments)

Occupation: Servant of humanity

Group Membership: Philip Morgan's humanoids

Affiliations: Philip Morgan (creator)

Enemies: Unidentified extraterrestrial invaders

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: An unidentified American city (2090 AD)

First Appearance: Strange Tales I#99/1 (August, 1962)

Powers/Abilities: Mr. Morgan's "monster" was one of an unspecified number of large robotic humanoids. It possessed some degree of superhuman strength (class 5 or greater), and a high resistance against injury--it apparently took the detonation of an alien spacecraft to render it inert (see comments).

Although the humanoid was semi-sentient, it was loyally obedient to the commands of humans--it could also apparently experience some degree of emotional reactions (see comments).

Height: 8' (by approximation)
Weight: 600 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Inapplicable

History:
(Strange Tales I#99/1 (fb) ) - The first robots that mankind built were dismal failures (see comments). But in the year 2090, Philip Morgan created the world's first humanoid robot; his robots were mass-produced and put on the market to replace humans in the workforce, where they performed such menial tasks as household chores and directing traffic. But many people were critical of the humanoids because they found the robots' large and imposing appearance to be frightening, while others were concerned about the chaos that would ensue should the humanoids malfunction while performing their duties. Fear of Morgan's machines spread to the point where humanity no longer trusted the humanoids, so the government ordered Morgan to destroy them all--the inventor reluctantly commanded his humanoids to walk off a cliff.

(Strange Tales I#99/1) - However, Morgan spared one of his creations from destruction, and he hid it away in a subterranean vault beneath his home--he planned to conceal the humanoid until mankind no longer feared it, for he still believed that he could prove his robots were of use to humanity. Before he left the last remaining humanoid, Morgan ordered it to stay in the chamber, where no human eyes could see it; the humanoid acknowledged that it understood Morgan's order, and that it would obey.

   Unbeknownst to Morgan, he and his "monster" were being observed by extraterrestrial invaders. After landing their spacecraft by the outskirts of town, the aliens silently infiltrated the city, then they used "hypno-gas" to place all the townspeople into a trance. The invaders went to Morgan's home and down into the underground chamber, where they found the robot. The aliens intended to take the humanoid back to their planet, where their scientists could study and duplicate it--they planned to build thousands of such humanoids, then use them to conquer Earth.

   But when the aliens ordered the robot to accompany them, the humanoid refused to obey their command--the robot insisted its sole allegiance was to mankind, and that it could serve none but human beings. The aliens sprayed the humanoid with hypno-gas, but the robot was immune to the effects; the invaders bound it with ropes, but the robot easily broke free. The aliens then wrapped the humanoid in chains and struggled to drag it out of the underground vault, but the humanoid insisted that it had to remain in the chamber, for it could not disobey its master's order.

   With great effort, the aliens finally managed to pull the humanoid out of the chamber and to the surface, then forcefully dragged it towards their spacecraft--they had to desperately fight for every inch of ground, because the giant robot resisted them. When they eventually reached the streets of the city, the aliens noticed that their hypno-gas was beginning to wear off, for the townspeople were starting to revive. Realizing that they had to keep their presence a secret from Earthlings at all cost (otherwise their future invasion plans would be ruined), the aliens were forced to explosively destroy their vessel and themselves (see comments), leaving the now-inert humanoid laying in the street.

   With no evidence of the attempted alien invasion remaining, there was great confusion amongst the townspeople when they regained consciousness; a crowd of curious onlookers gathered around the fallen humanoid--they were surprised because they thought that all of the robots had been destroyed. Then Philip Morgan and his wife came running up; Morgan admitted he had spared one of his robots, but he now saw that it had apparently disobeyed his command, for it came out of hiding. Morgan sadly admitted he was wrong to think that his robots could be trusted.

   As Philip Morgan and his wife walked away from the prostate form of the last humanoid robot--its intricate mechanism having ceased operating forever--they were ironically unaware of the truth: Morgan's trust in the "monster" had been justified, for the woefully misunderstood machine was possibly the most faithful Earthling of them all...

Comments: Created by Stan Lee (writer), Jack Kirby (artist), and Dick Ayers (inker)

This humanoid robot was only referred to as a "monster" in the 7-page story's title. Despite being attacked by the hostile alien invaders, the humanoid never actually fought them, but only resisted their attempts to capture it--possibly it was programed with Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, which prevented it from harming them.

Since it was stated that mankind's first robots were "dismal failures," then this story likely took place on some alternate world rather than Earth-616 (mainstream Marvel Universe), where numerous successful artificial life-forms have existed for years; it's unrevealed if the alien invaders have counterparts somewhere in Reality-616.

And in regard to the humanoid's ability to experience emotion: As Morgan and his wife walked away from the fallen robot, the last story-panel depicted a single teardrop rolling down the humanoid's cheek.
--Ron Fredricks.

Given how resilient Mr. Morgan's Monster proved to be, just how many of those humanoids do they figure were actually destroyed falling off a cliff? And why not just recycle their parts for the good of industry?

Along other lines--why did the explosion of the alien craft destroy the vessel and aliens, but apparently not any innocent bystanders?
Since the aliens wanted to keep their presence secret, an actual explosion would have attracted a lot of attention--maybe that "explosion" was really an electromagnetic pulse/radioactive discharge that was specifically attuned to only the unique molecular structures of the aliens, their spacecraft, and their equipment (...including those chains with which they bound the humanoid), and all were subsequently disintegrated afterward. And presumably the "explosion" also disrupted the humanoid's circuitry, causing its "death"...unless it self-terminated, to prevent the aliens from exploiting it.--Ron Fredricks

Since information deposited on the internet will theoretically exist forever, some of you reading this right now actually live in the year 2090. Mind checking your latest Marvel Comics to see if anyone's done anything with Mr. Morgan since I wrote this?

And although this story took place in the future year of 2090, the appearance of the people's clothes and cars looked like they were straight out of the early-1960s--maybe by 2090, there'll be some kind of popular "retro-fashion" craze going on, in which the people of the future adopt the styles of 130 years earlier (Yeah, it's silly, but you try to come up with a better explanation!).--Ron Fredricks

Profile by Prime Eternal. Expanded by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Philip Morgan's humanoids have no known connections to:

Philip Morgan has no known connections to:

Earlier robots

When mankind first tried to build robots, the earliest attempts were dismal failures (see comments)--at some point in time, the first such creation refused to obey commands.

Six months later, another robot (X-36) appeared on the scene--while its builders were testing the automaton, they ordered it to lift and carry a piano, but the robot instead hurled the musical instrument at its creators.

Eventually, in the year 2090, inventor Philip Morgan created and mass-produced the world's first humanoid robots.

--Strange Tales I#99/1

Philip Morgan

In the year 2090, inventor Philip Morgan was a married man who lived in an unidentified American city.

Morgan created the world's first humanoid robot; his robots were mass-produced and put on the market as labor-saving devices. Initially, the humanoids were a huge success, but some people were critical of the robots' imposing appearance, while others were concerned about the chaos that would ensue should the humanoids malfunction while performing their tasks.

When public opinion turned against the humanoids, the government ordered Morgan to destroy all his robots. Although he had faith that his humanoids would never fail, Morgan nonetheless complied--with his wife at his side, Morgan tearfully commanded his robots to walk over a cliff to their destruction.

But Morgan secretly spared one humanoid, which he hid in a subterranean vault beneath his home; before he left the robot, Morgan ordered it to remain in the chamber.

Unbeknownst to Morgan, he and his robot were being watched by alien invaders; the extraterrestrials intended to take the humanoid and duplicate it, so they could make thousands of such robots to conquer Earth.

Morgan and the people of the city were rendered unconscious by the invaders' hypno-gas; but when the aliens attempted to steal the robot and take it aboard their spacecraft, the humanoid resisted the invaders every step of the way, for it refused to disobey Morgan's order.

As the hypno-gas began to wear off and the townspeople began to revive, the aliens committed suicide and erased every trace of their existence--consequently, the humanoid was rendered inert.

When Morgan saw his fallen robot, he mistakenly believed the humanoid had disobeyed his order, and he concluded that his robots couldn't be trusted--he was unaware that the humanoid had thwarted an alien invasion.

--Strange Tales I#99/1

Philip Morgan's other humanoids

Created by Philip Morgan in 2090, they were large robots that were mass-produced and put on the market to replace humans in the workforce. The humanoids handled such menial tasks as household chores and directing traffic.

But many people were critical of the humanoids because they found the robots' large and imposing appearance to be frightening, while others were concerned about the chaos that would ensue should the humanoids malfunction while performing their duties. Fear of Morgan's machines spread to the point where humanity no longer trusted the humanoids, so the government ordered Morgan to destroy the robots.

Morgan reluctantly ordered his humanoids to walk off a cliff, and they were presumably destroyed (see comments).

But Morgan had secretly spared one of his humanoids from destruction, and he hid it in a subterranean chamber beneath his home.

--Strange Tales I#99/1

Unidentified extraterrestrial invaders

An unidentified race of hostile alien beings (circa 2090 AD (see comments) ), it was their intent to conquer Earth.

They monitored Philip Morgan via their "intrascope," and learned that he had the only humanoid robot left on the planet, which was hidden in a chamber beneath his home. The aliens wanted to steal the humanoid and take it back to their planet, so their scientists could study and duplicate it--they ultimately planned to build thousands of the humanoids and use them to conquer Earth.

In a spherical spacecraft, six of the extraterrestrials came to Earth on a mission to capture the humanoid. After landing by the outskirts of the city where the robot was hidden, the invaders used hypno-gas to render all the citizens unconscious, then they went in search of the humanoid.

When they found the robot, it refused to accompany them, for it had been ordered by its master (Philip Morgan) to remain in the chamber. The invaders chained the humanoid and began to drag it to their spacecraft, and all along the way, the robot resisted them. But because of the humanoid's defiance, the invaders' mission had taken longer than they anticipated, for the hypno-gas was wearing off, and the townspeople were beginning to revive.

The aliens' attempt to capture the humanoid became a suicide-mission, for in order to keep their presence a secret (otherwise, their future invasion plans would be ruined), they were forced to abandon the robot and employ "Tactic Z"--the aliens set off an explosion which destroyed all trace of them and their spacecraft, and also rendered the humanoid inert (see comments).

--Strange Tales I#99/1

images: (without ads)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p1, pan1 (Main Image - last remaining humanoid ("Mister Morgan's Monster") walking through tunnel of subterranean vault)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p3, pan6 (Headshot - humanoid (profile, right) acknowledges Philips Morgan's command)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p3, pan5 (Philip Morgan (left) leads humanoid to subterranean vault)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p6, pan2 (humanoid in chains, resisting extraterrestrials)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p2, pan1 (early robot refuses to obey commands from unidentified scientists)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p2, pan2 (early robot (X-36) being tested by unidentified scientists)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p3, pan4 (heartbroken Philip Morgan, after ordering humanoids to walk off cliff; Mrs. Morgan)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p7, pan3 (Philip Morgan looks down upon inert humanoid, mistakenly believing it disobeyed his orders; Mrs. Morgan)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p2, pan6 (one of the humanoids performing household chores for unidentified family)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p2, pan7 (one of the humanoids directing traffic)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p3, pan2 (humanoids standing at edge of cliff; Philip Morgan, Mrs. Morgan)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p3, pan3 (humanoids falling off cliff)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p3, pan7 (aliens view Philip Morgan and humanoid)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p4, pan1 (aliens' spacecraft lands by outskirts of city)
Strange Tales I#99/1, p4, pan2 (alien invaders walk through city streets)

Appearances:
Strange Tales I#99/1 (August, 1962) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks)

First Posted:
Last updated:

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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